If you missed out on opening weekend last week, fear not!  We’re ready for more fun this Friday through Sunday!

We will be open Saturday, 12/9 from 9am-4pm.  8 trails and 3 lifts are expected for Saturday, thanks to the hard work of our snowmaking and grooming teams.  We’re looking at mostly cloudy skies with a high near 48 degrees.

Catamount Mountain Resort’s Alpine Race Team programs are designed for participants ages 6 to 20.

The program has two teams, the InterClub Team and Tri-State Team 

Interclub: The program features focused coaching at Catamount. Participants begin spending more time training on true race courses. Close attention is paid to improving form and technique, guiding them to compete at the tristate level in the future. Competitions will be held at five different ski areas per year.

Tri-State: The program is for more aggressive competitors and features coaching at Catamount and racing throughout the region most weekends of the year.

Have more Questions? – contact: catamountracing@gmail.com

Team Catamount, 
We have a few spots of boys ages 12-14 for our Inperson ELITEAM camp on July 18-23rd at Killington Mtn School. Going to be awesome with lots of workouts, learning about physiology, psychology and nutrition, tramps, hiking, games, and FUN!!!
Sign up soon as we only have a few available spots left!!
Make a commitment to become tougher strong fitter faster all while having FUN this Summer!
Doug

Greetings Catamount Race Families,

Despite the slow start of cold weather, the ever-present Covid-19 concerns, and unprecedented lift lines, this has been a truly amazing and memorable season for the Catamount Ski Team. The season that we feared might not happen turned out to be nothing short of spectacular and a welcome respite from turbulent times shaking the world. The limited race schedule has enabled our athletes to focus on skill development, and the results have been remarkable.  We’ve been blessed by consistently cold temperatures for the last six or eight weeks, and Mountain Ops have done a great job of pumping out and grooming the snow. We are grateful that management and ownership have allowed us to extend the season beyond when we normally wrap things up. As of right now, we don’t have a definitive last date, as we will continue to make training opportunities available  for  as long as we have sufficient snow, interest from the kids, and coaches able to staff training.

We want to share with you some of the plans that Catamount is working on for the 2021-2022 season.  For starters, as soon as the snow melts Mountain Ops will begin work on installing a new triple chair to replace the former Glade Chair. The new lift, and hopefully the elimination of Covid-19 social distance mandates, should go a long way toward eliminating the long lift lines that we experienced this year. Our owner,  Jim Schaefer and GM,  Mark Smith,   are also busy designing a  new dedicated  Race Arena. Preliminary plans are to cut a new 300-400 foot wide trail that will run from below Sidewinder toward the lower snow making ponds and the bottom of the Zipline. The Race Arena will be serviced by a dedicated lift which will be either a T-Bar or a chairlift. The mountain also plans to have a new snow tubing park operational by next season. We also expect continued expansion of snow making operations to ensure more consistent and better snow. We will update you over the off-season as plans develop and are implemented.

 We are anticipating another terrific weekend, with fast skiing and happy kids.  

As we head into these final few weeks we’d like to pass along a few reminders:

1. Training typically starts with chairlift loads for the Interclub and Tri-State kids and coaches at 7:30 a.m. We do this to minimize the impact of the crowds and to maximize the benefits of training on the snow. We ask that you make every effort to get your athletes out on the lift at the early load time so that they can free ski and inspect the training courses. Inspection is vital to enhancing training benefits and for the safety of the athletes.  Courses typically are set and ready for inspection by 8:30 a.m.  It is disruptive to the kids who show up on time when others arrive late and we have to halt training so that they can inspect. Please make sure that your athletes are on time and fully prepared to roll.
2. All athletes are asked to refrain from skiing fast in bunched up packs. All athletes are reminded to ski in control and to maintain a safe distance from others in their groups and the general public.
3. Athletes are not permitted to cut the lift-lines. We have received numerous complaints from the public and reports from management about athletes who are cutting lift lines and disrespecting the public. We know that the lift lines can seem unbearable at times, but we have to make every effort to be patient as we share the lifts with the skiing public.
4. Please keep in mind at all times that very member of the Catamount Race Team represents the mountain, as well as the sport that we all love. It is our responsibility as athletes, race parents, and coaches to show respect to the public and our peers, and to be good role models to each of our fellow Catamount Ski Team members.
5. Team Work Makes the Dream Work!  All athletes are required to assist the coaches after practice in pulling and slipping the courses, and neatly storing the equipment. After a proper slip, all the ruts should be eliminated from the training venue. It is also imperative that all athletes follow the instructions of the coaches to either skirt or pull Bnet after training. In the past few weeks we’ve had an increasing number of athletes who leave before the work is done, and some who have flat out refused to pitch in when directed to do so by the coaches. No athlete should leave training until all of these housekeeping chores are completed and he/she has been excused by the coach. We ask that all of our race parents discuss this obligation with your children, and that you speak directly with the coaches if you want your child to leave before these tasks are completed.
6. As always this year, athletes and coaches should continue to maintain proper social distancing and wear masks at all times.
7. At the conclusion of training this Sunday afternoon, we will be pulling Bnet from Alley Cat, inspecting it, rolling it and storing it for the off-season.  All Tri-State athletes and coaches are required to assist the Race Crew in this effort. We are also asking all parents of Tri-State athletes to join the effort. We will notify you of the exact time later, but we are anticipating it will be around 2:30 or 3:00 p.m.

Thanks to all of the kids, parents, coaches, race crew, and staff who have worked so hard to make this a season for the ages.

 We are super stoked for the upcoming weekend and some wonderful spring skiing days in the coming weeks.

                      Bruce & Colin

12/2/2020 from Directors Bruce and Colin

Greetings Catamount Race Families,

We hope that you all had a safe and happy Thanksgiving. 

It certainly does not feel like ski season is right around the corner as we continue to experience record high temperatures, but in fact we are only a few weeks away. We know that you are anxious to begin the season and want to update you on what’s going on at the mountain. We continue to work hard to bring you a terrific season, but the reality is that despite our best efforts, there are still a lot of unknowns, as we have never been through anything like this pandemic. We all just have to be flexible as we ride through this dynamic process together.

We had hoped to open in early December, but given the long term weather forecast, that may not be possible. While we had planned  to start Interclub and Tri-State programs on the weekend of December 12-13, it is increasingly looking like the target date is now December 19-20. Devos will start sometime shortly  after Christmas. Of course, if the temperatures plummet and mountain ops can make enough  snow, that’s  all subject to change. Mountain ops continue to work hard on building cabanas around the base area, and many of you have already signed up to rent one for the season.  The Miles Humbaugh start palace has been completed , and it’s beautiful. It really is a fitting tribute to Miles and his passion for the sport.

Given restrictions forced upon us by the current Covid pandemic, we expect there will be far fewer competitions this year, which means we can shift the focus this year to training, which is a good thing for many reasons. While the kids love to race, we coaches have long felt that there was too much emphasis on racing and not enough on training, so this year provides a good opportunity for us to step up our game with more skill development.

As previously noted, this season there is a great deal of uncertainty due to the pandemic and things can change rapidly. We continue to monitor developments, including  Massachusetts/NY   travel and  other restrictions that will affect our season. Catamount is unique in that it straddles the state  border, which both complicates things, and presents opportunities. The good news is that skiing is still considered to be a low risk sport in terms of the likelihood of becoming infected  with Covid. It is  important that we all do our part to keep it that way. Before we hit the snow we will prepare and forward to all of you  a list of Covid compliance procedures that we will be following this season.

 We are continuing to stay positive as we work through these challenges with the goal of providing you with the best skiing and ski racing experience possible. We appreciate your patience as we continue to plan for what is sure to be a most unusual season.

We will continue to update you as things develop.

Let’s all think snow and get ready to rip.

Bruce & Colin

Ski Haus in New Milford, Connecticut is having their annual Columbus Day Weekend Race Day this Saturday, October 10, from 4:00-7:00 p.m. Ski and boot manufacturers won’t have reps on site but are sending samples which the athletes can check out and be fit for proper sizing. Rossignol, Atomic, and Lange will have products there, at specially discounted USSSA racer pricing. They also stock race suits, jackets, warm up pants, race poles, helmets, gloves, armor, goggles, and tuning equipment. Come check it out. Call Gary at Ski Haus 860-355-2001 with any questions.