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Stephen Hultquist
from Cumberland RI
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Oct 13, 2007 |
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Overall Rating: 4.8   |
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It had been a few years since I had skied Burke when I went last year in early March. I am happy to say it is as great as ever. There was lots of natural snow and East Bowl which happens to be about my favorite trail anywhere skied great. Small irregular powder bumps everywhere on East Bowl. If you want steep and groomed The dipper trail is awesome. I love just about every trail at Burke. I am just sorry I missed going there for a couple of years. That wont happen again. I put my 6 year old daughter in a ski class when a picked her up to ski in the afternoon she took me to her new favorite trail it was in the woods. She loved the class and had a great time.It may be true that the summit quad is old and a little slow but there is almost never anything resembeling a line. Ski Burke and you just might have a new favorite ski area.
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Erica
from Connecticut
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Oct 5, 2007 |
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| Overall Rating: 2.0 |
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Willoughby chair needs to be a high speed quad. Mid-Burke needs to be updated. Ginn looks to be promising!
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teddy patsos
from Cohasset Mass
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Oct 26, 2006 |
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| Overall Rating: 4.8 |
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Burke is the best mountain everrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr! Challenging and easy terrain. The service is simply delightful.The crowds, well its hard to talk about the crowds because there isn't any! However, the mountain has been going up in money. They now have a nicer logde, and a new high speed qaud! The snow making has gone up to 85%! The activities are great. There is sledding on the Bunny Hill wich is alot of fun! Value is great. Ski for cheap. Burke, simply better.
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Eric
from Dartmouth, MA
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Jul 24, 2006 |
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| Overall Rating: 5.0 |
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I have to say this is the best family ski resort I've been to. The summit qaud is unfortunate because it takes way longer to go up than down on it. A solution? Take the POMA Lift next to it. It's detcahable, so it goes at least twice as fast as the quad, but it only goes about 3/4 of the upper mountain.
The East Bowl trail isnt as fun as it seems, because you have to walk for over half of it. Another solution? Go to the slpit right next to Eas Bowl, which consists of the dipppers, dear run, and a few others, and you get steeper trails, and easier acsess.
Overall, Burke is a really great resort.
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Darryl K. Lewis
from Jamaica, New York
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Mar 16, 2006 |
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| Overall Rating: 4.0 |
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Skitown Review
Ski resort reviews can be helpful only if you know the skill level and skiing perspective of the person authoring the review. I am a middle age advanced skier with no interest in jumping off cornices or cliffs. I will often at high speeds hit a small lip in the terrain and get a little air, but thats about the extent of it. I venture in and out of moderate mogul fields in an attempt to become a better all-around skier, but I tend not to spend a majority of my ski day dealing with the bumps. Me and two other ski buddies just finished a weeks skiing trip in Vermont and Quebec, Canada. We selected lodging in East Burke of the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont (see my review of the Village Inn of East Burke). We were just a 5-minute drive from Burke Mountain, a 60-minute drive from Jay Peak, and a 90-minute drive from Mont Sutton, Quebec. With that said, here are my impressions of Burke Mountain:
Terrain Rated 4.0:
Every time I mention Burke Mountain in Vermonts Northeast Kingdom, skiers say, Whaaa? Wheres dat? How you hide 250 acres and 2,000 feet of vertical excitement is certainly a mystery to me. Burke is such an undiscovered gem that I am truly reluctant to review this place for fear of the masses spoiling what is currently there. The main racing trail, Upper Warrens Way is an advanced/expert trail that extends approximately 1,000 feet of vertical straight down the face of the mountain, and is steep with never a let-up for almost the entire distance. Many of the gladed entrances were closed due to the poor snow year, but still looked inviting and entertaining. Burke has some of the most entertaining intermediate runs that I have ever skied. Upper Dipper and Dipper start from the top and roll down two thirds of the mountain to the Mid-Burke Lodge. This trail is an intermediate (blue square) with dips and lips that you cannot see what is beyond, until you commit yourself over the lips. Hit the lip, get a little air and then crank those ski edges hard. Oh what fun! And many of the other intermediate trails display those same characteristics. Powderhorn is an intermediate trail that is somewhat narrow and twists and turns then gives you the option of taking a moderately moguled, gladed black diamond trail called Y-Not, which is short and a lot of fun. What also impresses me about Burke is the clarity of the trail signage. You always know what trail youre on and the direction that it is taking you, even when merging or crossing other trails. From the Mid-Burke Lodge to the upper mountain, there are no beginner runs. The beginner trails are relegated to the lower portion of the mountain. Intermediate, advanced, and expert skiers never have to come into contact with the beginner environment. Hallelujah!! The main Sherburne base lodge services the beginners, while the intermediate and above crowd can be serviced at the Mid-Burke Lodge. The lower portion of the mountain even has intermediate/beginner glades. The terrain at Burke will not disappoint you.
Service Rated 4.0:
At Burke there is a laid-back, down-home, friendly but efficient approach to service. When I asked the food handler at the Mid-Burke Lodge if I could sample a spoonful of chili before purchasing it, he reacted like this was a normal and logical request. He gladly accommodated me (I chose a hearty and well-stocked bowl of clam chowder over the chili. The chili had a soap-like flavor. Bleaaah! Thank goodness he let me taste the stuff first). One of my ski buddies was having problems with his binding. He was immediately directed to the ski shop at the Sherburne Base Lodge. When I attempted to catch up to him in the shop, I had to ask for directions. I was not merely directed, but escorted to the ski shop by a Burke Mountain employee. There is a sense of pride and dedication within the staff members of Burke Mountain.
Crowds Rating 5.0:
Zippo! Zero! Nada! None! No one! It started snowing on Thursday afternoon of March 9th. By 3:00 p.m. we had at least four inches of fresh snow at the summit. In all my years of skiing, I have never entered a trail and made first tracks with no one in front of me in sight. We took the black diamond trail Shoot to the Upper and Lower Willoughbys, and made first tracks all the way back down to the Mid-Burke Lodge without seeing another skier. I expected this during the mid-week, but never did I expect this during a weekend. Two days later on the following Saturday, Burke had a marketing promotion where lift tickets were half price. I would have bet my grandmother that there would have been a little bit of crowding, but even then there were no lift lines whatsoever.
Activities Rating 2.0:
Burke is in the boonies of the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont, and downtown East Burke is about a half mile long. If in the winter you dont ski, board, or snowmobile, then you are definitely in trouble.
Value: - Rating 5.0:
The lift ticket prices at Burke in themselves are a pretty good deal, and relatively speaking are quite reasonable. But if you amend that with the 31% mid-week discount and the 44% weekend discount that we received on lift ticket prices by staying at Village Inn of East Burke, you get some really super-savings. At the Mid-Burke Lodge, my bowl of clam chowder set me back just a little over $3, well below what most ski resorts charge.
In summary: Burke is a cant-miss trip. I had an absolute blast and enjoyed all three of the mountains we skied. Remember, my perspective is focused on the terrain, and weighted with regards to the actual experience of skiing (Terrain/Crowd factors). With that in mind, my favorite of the three resorts are in order as follows: #1, Mont Sutton; #2, Burke Mountain; and #3, Jay Peak. If you are interested, go to the review sections of the aforementioned resorts to see my comments on each one.
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Danny
from potland,Connecticut
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Mar 5, 2006 |
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| Overall Rating: 5.0 |
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Everything is exeptional!
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Jo Ann Medeiros
from Dartmouth,Ma.
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Feb 8, 2006 |
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| Overall Rating: 5.0 |
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This past year I have just discovered,"Vermonts best kept secret". I just spent christmas week there at the new slopeside condo. we just purchased at Powderhorn village and cannot believe how great it is. My boys have only skiied for 3 years and with this condo located right near the J bar...they love the independence of going off on there own and skiing right back to the condo for lunch or hot chocolate. It is such a family friendly mountain that I feel completely secure. We rent the condo and have heard nothing but praises for Burke Mountain. I cannot believe the feeling of skiing down the mountain and getting right back on the lift with no lines.It's unheard of...even the week of christmas was great. I highly recommend coming to Powderhorn if you have small children.It is so convenient to not have to lug everything to mountain in you car.
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Michael
from Upper Valley, Vermont
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Jan 31, 2006 |
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| Overall Rating: 5.0 |
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Burke is the best and it is only getting better. I've skied here since 1990 and this season there has been more positive energy and changes than in the previous years combined. The new High Speed Quad on Lower Mountain is a nice ride and opens up new opportunities to ski the "entire" mountain (all 2,000 vert) and to take some warm-up or long cruisers down there after a long day.
The Sherburne Lodge is nice and clean now--great work. MidBurke still has its rustic feel and Bear Den Lounge has a new flatscreen TV.
Dashney Mile got a welcome facelift with more snowmaking and a new terrain park (all of the parks have improved greatly).
Snowmaking and grooming have always been good--the place gets lots of natural snow and holds it well.
Best thing is the terrain variety--no place comes close and I've skied around. Want steep cruisers? Got it. Want bumps? Got it. Want REAL glades? Got those too. Want a run where you can do all of the above? You can have it. Never a crowd.
I'm a passholder this season and it has been great--good service and great community atmosphere. We just need more snow!
Lots of great work has been done, but still good old Burke, my home.
Now a new HSQ on the summit would be stellar....rumor is that it is on the way along with more snowmaking work on upper mountain (this season they have upped capacity and it shows--ability to cover 3-4 trails at once is a huge improvement).
Get up to Burke and see what you are missing.
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James Popek
from Meredith, New Hampshire
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Dec 15, 2005 |
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| Overall Rating: 4.8 |
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Burke is the best. I've been working there for 3 years now and i love it. I have also been skiing there for well, all my life. The other mountains that i skied at are not as good and not as fun. The most fun part is the skiing and riding on the newly groomed or fresh powder trails. even the unmarked trails are fun. You get top quality snow and instructors if you want a lesson. The cost of the tickets is nice too. if you ever get a chance, come to Burke and try out the trails. They even put in a new Sherbourn lift that is even faster. Great food, great service, great teaching, great trails, great everything that you can think of. all you need to bring is yourself. It might be small for a mountain, but it has some really tough trails. I still cant help but falling at least once on one of the double blacks. Burke is THE mountain to go to. The events are fun and so are the day(s) you spend there. If you want a mountain with chalenging trails and beginer trails come to Burke. THE BEST MOUNTAIN IN THE WORLD. Besides, what mountain in NEW ENGLAND is better than Burke? I Love Burke.
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Jay
from Steele, AL USA
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Dec 7, 2005 |
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| Overall Rating: 5.0 |
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Yea, that's right....Alabama. Grew up in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont and have skied Burke since the late 1960's (as in when the Mid Burke Lodge was the MAIN Lodge)! Burke has always been a super place to ski! Great terrain, layed back atmosphere....simply the best. It's amazine that it still remains the best kept secret in Vermont....just don't tell everyone! See you there again this year!
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Lynda
from Westport, MA
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Oct 25, 2005 |
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| Overall Rating: 5.0 |
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I love Burke. It is the best place to go skiing. The trails are nice glading trail not to short like some mountains.
