Middlebury College Snow Bowl

A far as small mountains go, they have some fun terrain. Groomed trails are hit or miss, but I think that is half the fun. This mountain definitely sets up better for skiers than snowboarders… but there is definitely fun to be had for 2-​plankers and 1-​plankers alike.
They have 4 lifts. Doubles and triples… don’t recall seeing a quad. A bit old school, so get ready or else the backs of your knees will hate you when they get racked by the incoming chair.
As I mentioned, the terrain is varied which is a lot of fun for the intermediate to advanced skier/​rider. Beginners may want to stick to the few groomed trails. It’s not out of the question to be cruising, and come along a set of moguls out of nowhere. They hold GS competitions here, so there is a great top-​to-​bottom run right down the front face… but check the schedule for race days.
Fun Fact: The race announcer’s voice bears an uncanny similarity to that of Ernie… yes, Bert & Ernie, Ernie. Nice to see he finds something to keep himself busy in his retirement… guy couldn’t live in a basement studio on Sesame Street his whole life.
A full day will you about $ 50, and half about $ 45. They offer morning and afternoon half day passes. There is also a 2-​story lodge which boasts some pretty good hot cocoa. The rest of the offerings are your basics… but they seem proud of their soups. They provide the soup du jour along with the conditions report daily.
I wouldn’t say the staff are all that friendly. It was ⁵⁰⁄₅₀ all day, and I was getting an anti-​snowboarder vibe all day.
Not So Fun Fact: They require snowboarders to have ‘leashes.’ Not sure where that came about, but you get a real small town cop with nothing to do attitude if you don’t have one. One guy even quoted some phantom Burton regulation that requires a leash. I think it’s a scam to sell the remainder of some overstock they had on hand.
To summarize… In Slap Shot they played old time hockey. Middlebury College Snow Bowl is old time New England skiing.

We recently visited the booming metropolis that is Rochester, Vermont. A quaint yet thriving tourist town in the middle of the green mountains. On our trip a group of us rented skis for a nice afternoon on the slopes at Middlebury Snow Bowl. This place is awesome! Mind you I have only skied a handful of times in the Poconos and once at Gunstock in New Hampshire, so I may not be the best judge.
We arrived at 12pm for the afternoon session, and were able to quickly rent skis and score lift tickets despite the packed parking lot! Rentals were less than $ 35 for the day — no complaints there! An adult ½ day lift ticket was $ 40 ($ 10 per hour!) also not a bad deal, especially on a holiday weekend!
As it turns out the mountain was playing host to the Eastern Intercollegiate Ski Association Championships so the full parking lot must have been athletes and spectators! Most of the runs we tried were empty, which for a sunny Saturday afternoon, I was surprised! Of course the torrential rain the day before may have scared a few people off! I found the mountain to be nicely groomed and only some areas remained icy. We did a few green runs then enjoyed lunch at the lodge. The food was expensive relative to quality, but then again it’s a small college ski lodge not a Killington resort, and short of bringing a picnic, it’s your only option!
We took our lunch outside and watched the final gates of the college slalom. It was actually kind of fun to root for my alma mater, UNH (Go Wildcats!)! Unfortunately half of the runs and one of the lifts were closed due to the college event, but we still didn’t find the mountain particularly busy — waiting for the lift took no more than five minutes tops! I will definitely be back next year!

My husband and I went skiing here and we were thoroughly disappointed. The trails were extremely icy and a few seemed as though hadn’t been groomed in days. I also didn’t see one ski
patrol person on the slopes the whole time we were out there. Next time we will spend more money and go to Pico or Killington.

1^st place I ever snowboarded in 1997. I still come here all the time as it is very close to my home and never very crowded. When we get a good storm the bowl is just as good as any resort I’ve been to. Their newly adopted open woods policy is also very welcome as there is a lot of wooded terrain with great pitch that has been underutilized for many years.
Awesome chili and Mac n cheese in the cafeteria. One of my favorite breakfasts here is a buttered up bagel, piece of cabot cheddar, and monument farms chocolate milk, for like 2 or 3 $. Great prices compared to other ski resorts.

We love this ski area. We took one child for a lesson this weekend and then played outside with our two year old (and a complimentary pair of strap on skis) while we waited. The instructor was excellent.

What a fantastic mountain! I would never have skied here if it weren’t for my stint in the Vermont Alpine Racing Association. The Middlebury Snowbowl is marked by a few very long, very varied trails, and there is a lodge at the bottom with large windows so race spectators don’t even have to go outside to watch the bottom part of a G.S. race, or all of a Slalom race.
The Snowbowl is really more of an Icebowl, but is STILL just a LOT OF FUN. The G.S. course is by far the scariest one I have ever skied, and I always dreaded racing here because the first four turns of the course are blind. I imagine that trail isn’t so easy without gates in it either.
There is also plenty of legal, off-​piste, backwoods skiing here. My teammates and I found a pond in the middle of the mountain! How cool is that?
Definitely a great hill for college students, that’s for sure. I wouldn’t bring your kids here. It’s just too challenging, and most of the hill’s patrons are probably stoned anyway.

Can you really complain about $ 100 season passes, or the free shuttle to your college’s own mountain? Not when you’re barreling down a 25% grade, ½ mile long ice cube. Frozen solid in the winter, slushy and grassy in the spring, Snowbowl will tame the average California skier. It will make him cry, curse and bleed. And then he’ll thank it and ask for another. Thanks for the good times, Snowbowl.