Highland Lodge Will Open President’s Weekend

The Highland Lodge will open President’s week, February 15 – 24 for individual room reservations.   Contact Willie at [email protected] with inquiries and to make your reservation.

The rate is 150.00 + 9% tax = 163.60 per room per night. This includes morning coffee or tea and use of the Highland Lodge kitchen for meal preparation. Cross-country skiing will be provided on the Highland Lodge trails by the Craftsbury Outdoor Center, to whom you can make your donations when you come to ski.

The Lodge is also open for the December 15th and the February 2nd Craftsbury race weekends for the same rate and terms.

Willie and David Smith have already announced that The Lodge will be open for groups of 8-9 rooms during the rest of this winter.  The rate is 175.00/night/room for one night and 150.00/night/room for multiple nights. This includes morning coffee and use of the Lodge kitchen for meal preparations.

Craftsbury NENSA’s Eastern Cup race is looking for volunteers

Craftsbury Outdoor Center has fired up the snow guns this week and this year’s Mt. Craftsbury is growing in the lower field! After the recent  dusting of natural snow,  it’s time to start planning for this winter’s events. The first big race will be the opening weekend for NENSA’s Eastern Cup series, December 15th and 16th. Saturday will feature a classic sprint; Sunday will be a mass start skate race.  A large field of New England skiers, and likely some Canadian competitors as well are expected.   Please consider joining as a volunteer for one or both days of the weekend. You’ve receive  lunch,  morning snacks, and hot drinks as well. If you’d like to help out, drop  a line at [email protected], and indicate which day(s) you can work, as well as any preferred tasks. Volunteers make it possible for the Center to host the broader ski community at these events – thank you for making it possible!

2013 Cross Country Marathon registration is OPEN…

The 2013 TD Bank Craftsbury Marathon registration is now online at Skireg.com. As is custom, the 2013 25 or 50k classic technique ski event will be capped at 1000 participants. This combined with a graduated entry fee schedule means now is the time to register for the February 2nd point-to-point race!

If you are planning a trip to Greensboro over the first weekend in February, plan to go and cheer on the participants.  See Craftsbury Outdoor center for more information.

Craftsbury Outdoor Center will maintain Highland Lodge XCC trails this winter

The Craftsbury Outdoor Center has agreed to maintain most of the over 60km  winter trail system that Highland Lodge has set up and maintained over these past fifty years.   The Outdoor Center will maintain the Marathon Trail over Barr Hill, through Skunk Hollow and back toward Craftsbury through the Fisher Sugarbush, as well as many of other commonly used Greensboro trails. The frequency of grooming will vary depending on when the snow comes and how much use the trails get, with a minimum goal of having the trails in good shape for the weekends and major holidays.  The Center will collaborate with a volunteer group to keep a warming hut (former ski shop) behind the Lodge open and manned, at least, on weekends and vacation weeks; they hope to provide some shuttle service between the hut and the Outdoor Center.

Maintaining the Greensboro trails will cost the Craftsbury Outdoor Center about $10,000 this winter. Many Greensboro winter residents have volunteered to raise that money, man the warming hut, work on the trails in the fall and spring and join the Center.    The Greensboro Association has contributed $1000 as seed money to get this effort up and running.   However, all who are interested in maintaining this wonderful resource should consider at a minimum joining the Craftsbury Outdoor Center as a member, and also should think about contributing with a tax deductible donation to help defray the Outdoor Centers costs.  The Craftsbury Outdoor Center is a non-profit organization whose mission includes both life-long sports and land stewardship.   Yearly membership (as little as $25 for students and seniors) grants year-round access to the trails, rowing opportunities, ski rentals and a broad variety of programs.  For more information on memberships, please go to www.craftsbury.com .