We spent a whole week here on BDR building up to the 2011 WICed Fest Snowboard trip to Burke Mountain earlier this month. The first post was a video showing the Dashney Mile terrrain park and the series culminated with a video highlighting the WICed Fest’s 2009 Snowboard Trip to Burke Mountain. This video series did a great job of amping up our group to shred Burke and boy did we! But, how did we like the mountain. That question has been asked of me more than once since my return. Rather than go into a long, drawn out review of the moutnain, I’ll give you the Cliff Note’s version of my review below. If you’re interested in a more thorough review, you can read one that I wrote over at ActionXSportsNews.com.
Cons
- Slow Summit Lift – The lift to the summit is a fixed-grip quad. No high-speed lift makes taking lots of runs difficult. It’s also annoying to be exposed for long periods of time on those cold, windy days.
- Smaller Mountain – Including the glades, Burke claims to have 45 trails. With some of those being upper trails and others being lower trails, it works out to a minimum number of top-to-bottom runs. Boredom can set in after a few days of hard riding.
- Only One Terrain Park Available – There may be more at different times of the year but I’ve only seen one every time I’m there.
- Resort Doesn’t Own Lodging – Not a big deal but it just makes booking a trip more complicated as you have to deal wit two different folks for lodging and tickets.
- No Rec Center – You’ll be hard-pressed to find a hot tub or pool to lounge in after a hard day of riding.
Pros
- Short Lift Lines – I’ve spent a total of eight days at Burke over two different trips and not once did I wait in a lift line. If you want to keep riding, this is the place to be.
- Steep Terrain – The trail system provides plenty of challenge for riders of all levels.
- Quality Grooming – The mountain is always in good shape and the trails were impeccable.
- Large Natural Snowfall – Burke averages just shy of 220″ of snow annually. There always seems to be a fresh layer to be had.
- Friendly People – Hey, it’s a Vermont resort…and not the Disneyland southern Vermont resorts either.
Overall Recommendation
Overall, Burke is a great mountain. I love riding there and I love the conditions that we typically get when we’re there. That being said, we probably won’t be heading back anytime soon for an extended trip unless the mountain is expanded. It just doesn’t hold our interest for a 3-4 days trip.
Here’s some links you might be interested in:
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