Kingdom Trails Nordic Update

Ski Vermont Reciprocal Nordic Program

Ski Vermont Reciprocal Nordic Program

Kingdom Trails will be participating in the Ski Vermont Reciprocal Nordic Program again this year.

The program offers season pass holders from any participating Nordic area a one-time, complimentary trail pass for a single day of Nordic skiing or snowshoeing at any other participating Ski Vermont Nordic ski area.  Restrictions apply at some areas and season pass holders should all be encouraged to contact the Nordic resort they intend to visit for specific restrictions.

The following Nordic areas are participating in the Reciprocal program this year:

• Blueberry Hill
• Blueberry Lake XC
• Bolton Valley Nordic Center
• Brattleboro Outing Club
• Kingdom Trails
• Catamount Family Center
• Craftsbury Outdoor Center
• Grafton Ponds Nordic Center
• Hazen’s Notch Association
• Hildene Ski Touring Center
• Jay Peak Nordic Center
• Memphremagog Ski Touring Foundation
• Morse Farm Ski Touring Center
• Mountain Meadows XC Center
• Mountain Top Inn and Resort
• Okemo Valley Nordic Center
• Ole’s Cross Country Center
• Rikert Nordic Center
• Sleepy Hollow Inn Ski and Bike Center
• Smugglers’ Notch Nordic Center
• Stowe/Mt. Mansfield XC Center
• Strafford Nordic Center
• Stratton Mountain Nordic Center
• Timber Creek XC Ski Center
• Trapp Family Lodge
• Viking Nordic Centre
• Wild Wings Ski Touring Center
• Woodstock Ski Touring Center

You may use your current Kingdom Trails Membership card as proof of KTA membership.  If you are wondering when your membership expires, you will find the expiration date on the back of your card in small print under the line where your name was written in at the time of purchase.

Thanksgiving 2011 Trail Manager’s Report

Here we are at the start of the Holiday Season, and as we anticipate snow and the beginning of our Nordic ski season, we look back and would like to thank all of you for visiting us and making this a successful summer!  The past summer was an exciting one, with the opening of our new Burke Bike Park, new trails on Darling Hill, and the success of such events as the CircumBurke Challenge and hosting our first ever Eastern Collegiate Cycling Conference Mountain Bike Race.  Thanksgiving is just around the corner, and we all need to remember to thank the real reason all this is possible… OUR LANDOWNERS!  They’re the heart and soul of this whole operation and without them we would not have the amazing trail system we have today.  So the next time you’re out enjoying the trails, whether it be on a bike, skis, or on foot, think about how lucky we are to have such gracious and charitable landowners.

With that said, we all here hope you have great Thanksgiving and look forward to seeing you on the trails this winter.  It won’t be long now before we transform our system from killer mountain bike trails into nicely groomed Nordic ski trails for all to enjoy!  Here’s to the start of a great winter season!

Sincerely,

CJ Scott

Mid October Trail Manager’s Report

As much as I love riding this time of year, with the cool air exploding into your lungs and the spectacular colors of the leaves blurring by your peripherals, it sadly also means the season is closely drawing to an end.  This season was one to remember here at Kingdom Trails, and is this reason that I just don’t want to let it go!  We had great weather give us unbelievable riding conditions throughout the summer, buffed up some of our old favorite trails, and built new trails that still bring a smile to face hours after riding them.

I’d like to thank all of you for coming out and riding our trails that we absolutely love to maintain and truly appreciate your dedication!  This summer could not have been as successful as it was without the incredible hard work of my crews, and the collaborative work done with Knight Ide, Luke Thompson & Toby Cascade, Matt Lafferriere, and countless volunteers.  Kingdom Trails had over 350 volunteer hours worth of work done on the trails this summer, this involvement was not overlooked or under appreciated and we cannot thank those individuals enough.

We’ve changed our gears over to prepping for the Nordic ski season and look forward to providing you all with well maintained classic and skate ski trails.  So for now, get as many rides in as you can, because before we know it the snow will fall, the bikes will go into hibernation and we’ll be dreaming of that first spring day when we dust off the bike and take it out for the first ride of the season and the pain of not riding the trails all winter is a distant memory.

See you out on the trails!

CJ Scott, Trails Manager

September 2011 Trail Managers Report

Each day as the sun’s presence in the sky dwindles, we find ourselves entering our best and busiest time of year here at Kingdom Trails, but sadly that also means our mountain bike season is quickly coming to an end.  While the start of the season was wet and dreary, from July on we’ve been treated with ideal weather and riding conditions.  But enough of being all nostalgic… let’s talk about what you really want to hear about, THE TRAILS!!

This season my crews have been killing it on the trails and with about a month left to go,we still have some time to get a few more surprises completed for everyone.  The crew on the mountain has been busy getting Jester completed and as of last weekend, Jester is open and has been getting ridden hard!  Have you seen the bridge at the bottom?  It’s insane and we should all thank the hemlock trees that gave their lives for our enjoyment.  It’s the type of trail that you can ride again and again, never get sick of it and want to come back for more!  If only the lift could be running 24/7… now there’s an idea!  If you haven’t ridden this trail lately, do yourself a favor and get up here and ride it.

The Darling Hill Crew has pretty much put themselves on the map for being the raddest crew ever with the construction of Troll Stroll, a sweet sister trail to Tody’s and Tap n’ Die.  If you like what they’ve done so far, wait till they get done with the even newer trail, Eager Beaver!  Oh yeah, they’ve also pretty much been dominating on Burnham Down and getting even more bridges laid out.  If you don’t like bridges, this trail will be your worst enemy, if you love bridges it will be nirvana.  If you want to ride the longest bridged trail in the universe, then check out Burnham Down and roll along thousands of feet of bridging.

I’d write more and go on and on about how epic this place is, but I’d rather press the save button, upload this to the newsletter and GO RIDE!  See ya on the trails!

CJ Scott, Trails Manager

Kingdom Trail Association

June 2011 Trail Manager Letter

Trail Manager’s Report      

Is it just me or was this spring really wet?!  It was as if the rain gods held a grudge against us for having a super dry and epic summer riding season last year and really wanted to take it out on us to start the 2011 riding season.  With that said, the past two holiday weekends were a wee bit wetter than we would’ve liked and the trails are showing the signs of such saturation in certain areas… but fear not my non-motorized, two wheeled, pedal driven enthusiasts!  My crews are out there braving the man-eating blackflies, flesh terrorizing horseflies, and the sweat dripping, heat stroke inducing summer sun to remedy all the spots that make us all go, “Holy *%#@! this is a blown out, muddy mess!”  Gravel is being dumped and graded in certain areas, bridge construction is underway, and re-routes are flagged and cut to make your experience high and dry, fast and flowy, and just what you would expect when you come up here!  Will it all happen overnight? ARE YOU CRAZY?!  Make no mistake though, hardening and draining is job numero uno for my crews this year!

Also on the plate is the start of the construction of the new machine built trail for the Burke Bike Park!  The plan is to have the top of Enchanted Forest and the bottom of Black Forest become the new intermediate, machined jump trail.  The goal is to also have as much of the original singletrack still exist, so that rippers can get rowdy on the jumps and the folks who prefer to have their tires remain on the ground most of the time can get their flow on through the woods all the way to the bottom of the lift.  Knightslayer is also getting some love… in the form of a sweet wall ride!  The construction of all these are forecasted to start June 1^st.

See you all out on the trails!

CJ Scott

Trail update for May 6-8

PRE SEASON VIDEO

Back in the Saddle

Join us to celebrate another season as we kick it up at the Tamarack Grille with the NICK CASSARINO TRIO

Doors open at 8 PM

18 year and older

$10 tickets.