Quechee Lakes - Informazioni turistiche

A private resort open to the public on all but a few days, Quechee is familiar as the little area you can see below you off Route 4 on your way to Killington. If you're looking for a fine place to tune up your skills before heading to a bigger mountain; a ski school that specializes in children, young adolescents, and those who have been out of the sport for a while; or simply a laid-back day on the snow, it may well be worth turning down into the valley and exploring the place. The area is generally open from mid-December through mid-March on Fridays through Sundays. It is also open daily during the holiday periods and February school vacation. Terrain Quechee's 650 feet of vertical and 13 trails are modest by all but Midwestern standards yet are still enough to allow plenty of fun. A quad chair (new in 2006), T-bar, and handle tow provide access to this user-friendly terrain. Three trails are rated black diamond but only the shakiest novices need fear them. Most everything is intermediate in nature, although there are a few good drops sprinkled around the hill. Take Little Kings to Face or Stagecoach to the T-bar hill and you can put together a run about � of a mile long. Best of all, the hill faces the sunny south and southwest with fine views down into the beautiful valley of the Ottaquechee River. Ownership by the Quechee Lakes Landowners Association, strongly represented by young families, ensures a friendly and accommodating atmosphere for kids. A large, sunny brown-bag area upstairs in the handsome base lodge will handle the midday picnic. And while the base lodge food runs heavily to burgers, pizza, and fried tidbits, that's exactly what your kids will pester you for anyway. A sledding hill below the base of the T-bar and a few steps away from the base lodge isn't lift-served but is regularly groomed. Nice touch: the pine trees at the bottom are padded. Once the first round of snowmaking is complete and all trails are covered, crews go to work on the terrain park. A good deal of the lodging consists of privately-owned second homes and condominiums, much of it slopeside or a short drive away, but there's plenty of rental property available and the area is home to many fine inns and bed-and-breakfasts. Off-slope Fun The hill may not be huge but Quechee is truly a full-service resort. There's a game room upstairs in the base lodge, but clustered nearby is the full-service Quechee Club for members and their guests, with all-weather tennis courts, an exercise facility, and pool. Fun activities are scheduled for kids on weekends and holidays. If you prefer outdoor activities, 15 km of groomed cross-country and snowshoe trails begin right across the street from the base lodge. A further 18 km trail network is a couple miles away at Wilderness Trails. There's a fine ice-skating pond, too. The surrounding area is chock-a-bloc full of family dining options, romantic restaurants, antique and specialty shops, taverns, and galleries. Historic Woodstock is only a few minutes away, as is the Hanover and Lebanon, NH, area, where you'll find nearly every service you might need. Inside Line If you're determined to spend a day on snow but the wind is howling in the high country, Quechee's protected location makes it a good choice. And when a big storm hits, the grooming machines stay off the trails until it's over. You'd be surprised how many turns fit into 650 vertical feet of powder!