Stowe
Stowe is a Vermont ski town with soaring church steeple, covered bridges, and no chain stores in sight. Ii is a ski resort, with a Main Street that is as folksy as a yellowed New England postcard. All of these could explained Stowe’s recent $400 million upgrade, with a shiny gondola and a new pedestrian village with a private club and outdoor fire pits galore. But beneath all the modern glitz, Stowe still feels like an old-fashioned town where no one locks the door and folks still dress like The Beatles.
The picture shows a store that has been around since the 1890s. Pick up a rabbit-fur hat or an Icelandic wool sweater at Shaw’s General Store on Main Street.
The highest point of Stowe is the summit of Mount Mansfield. Once your legs get warmed up, follow the speed demons over to Nosedive, a steep chute that is among the oldest trails in Vermont. For tree skiing, head to Hayride, a gently sloped glade run with evenly spaced spruces. Don’t expect an ordinary cafeteria on the top, lunch there means a casual sit-down at the Cliff House.
The nearest major airport is in Burlington, Vt., about an hour west of Stowe. JetBlue has nonstop flights from Kennedy Airport starting at about $150. Stowe is about a five-hour drive from New York City.
Stowe Mountain Lodge is the only ski-in, ski-out hotel at the mountain. The 139 units offer marble baths, balconies, fireplaces and goose-down feather beds, from $199. A few miles from the mountain is the Topnotch Resort and Spa (Be sure to get a room facing the slopes, not the parking lot. Rooms start at around $300. Photos by: Denny Lee
