Set amid 6,000 private wooded acres, with a base elevation of 2,100 feet, Bolton Valley provides 165 acres of ski-able terrain with 6 lifts and 61 trails. It’s summit is at 3,150 feet with a vertical drop of 1,704 feet.  Open since 1966, Bolton welcome downhill and cross country skiers as well as boarders. Riders of varying skill levels can try out 3 different, onsite terrain parks.

Find out how top snowboarder competitors stay in shape and work their signature moves during the off-season when we catch up with three, young national snowboarding champs from the Mount Mansfield (Vermont) Ski and Snowboard Club.

Snowboarding has seen a 240% increase in participation in the last 10 years, making it the nation's fastest growing sport. And Vermont is "Snowboard Central" in the east. It's home to Burton Snowboards and the annual U.S. Open at Stratton. Equipment and teaching methods have changed drastically since Jake Carpenter started Burton in 1977, making learning to ride a much more enjoyable experience. The Burton "Learn to Ride" (LTR) program incorporates equipment designed for beginners. The LTR snowboards have a beveled edge and are designed to be very soft torsionally, which is the ability to twist them. Today's technique uses a lot of twists in teaching, too. The technique makes it easier for folks to get from their heel edge to their toe edge, and vice versa, without actually catching the edge. A number of snowboarding schools feature the LTR program. In a typical beginner lesson, riders learn to balance on the board, make turns, and stop before they are allowed to progress to the lift. Being able to load and unload a lift is an important part of a beginner snowboarding experience. But thanks to improved teaching methods, first-timers can expect to progress rapidly and get to the point where they are able to ride the lift on their first day. Host Marianne Eaton joins Ted Fleischer of the Stowe Snowboard School at Spruce Mountain for her first step in learning to ride.

Discover the sport of snowkiting! Skiers and snowboarders no longer need to wait in lift lines. With a little wind to fill their kites, they can cruise a frozen lake or field. Snowkiters can reach speeds of 60 mph, jump and land gently back on the ground. Host Marianne Eaton takes a lesson from Rachael Miller, a certified instructor from Stormboarding, a Vermont business that specializes in wind sports. Then we visit Sand Bar State Park, and the frozen surface of Lake Champlain for the 3rd Annual Stormboarding Kitestorm.