Bolton Valley Resort

Reviews

• February 9, 2015
  "It is a great mountain for families. The night skiing is unique very affordable. There are no crowds to contend with in the afternoon or evening. Nor did we experience crowds when we went to the Wilderness or timberline chairs during the day. They offer great specials. The kids love the flatbread. We will definitely go back. "
  - Glb
• March 4, 2014
  "We took a chance on the Ridge Runners program 4 years ago with our son, a never ever. After 2 weeks he was skiing and off the bunny hill. Now he skis every black diamond trail there is at Bolton. The following year we enrolled his sister and have had the same amazing experience. Ed Gill runs a phenomenal program over there. Somethings I love The kids have a great time and they are good and tired at the end of the day! Once you drop the kids off, it is a parent free zone and they mean it. Don't come check on them for lunch, really they have it under control. I know my kids are riding up on the lift with other Ridge Runner parents. Bolton is so small, its like family up there. Everyone knows who has kids in the program and we all watch out for each others children. The quality of the instructors is primo. You can tell they are all excited about teaching kids to ski and many of them come back year after year Duncan, Jason, Lisa, Mike to name a few Most of all the kids really learn to ski! I am so impressed with the skills they learn in this program."
  - missmagpie
• August 18, 2011
  "Great family mountain!"
  - kerriwallis
• February 20, 2011
  "LOVE the ski instructors. We moved up to VT in the Fall and were told Bolton was the mountain to join with our 3 and 5 year old. We started with a few private lessons for them which was awesome, and now my kids are taking the group lessons. Today my just turned 4 year old took her first group lesson. She was a bit shy, and had only taken a private 3 yr. old lesson before. She was able to ask the team there if she would have a girl instructor and she did so she took the class. Throughout the class the instructor kept telling her she was to good for that class, and wanted to put her in a different class, but my daughter really loved that instructor, so she stayed. She called her her rock star skier and helper. Later in the day we saw the instructor again and the instructor yelled out to her as she was skiing down and she was so excited. We have had such a great experience with ALL the instructors. Even the head guy Ed recognized my son this morning as we arrived and called him by name. I think the smallness of the mountain helps with my kids confidence, and gives them a sense that this place is where they belong, and they feel more comfortable skiing here. There is no other place I'd have them learn! The only thing I'd change would be the parking. They have such limited parking. Staffers are able to park in the first lot for some reason. Most places save the close spaces for the customers, and staff are bussed from a satelite lot. Just makes it difficult for a single parent to bring smaller children and have them march further then their little legs would like to in the snow with all the gear. The lodge could use some updates, and the lifts could be faster, but that doesn't bother me. As I overheard another skier say to one of his friends, If you make the lifts faster and update the lodge then you get a different crowd and could loose the close family atmosphere of this place. Not to mention lift costs go up... I think it's the perfect price for what you get. With such an awesome ski school team, it makes it a great family mountain. Great job Ed and team!!"
  - kking
• September 13, 2010
  "Night skiing at Bolton Valley is great. The trails are well lit and it's a wonderful place for our tweenage son to meet his firends and safely ski in a group on his own. The trails are well groomed and with the kids off skiing it give you and your spouse a chance to get in a few run togther!"
  - tinvt
• March 1, 2009
  "My family and I have been seasonpass goers at Bolton for the past 7 years. And while we still enjoy the charm of the antiquated lodges, the local family attendance, and that it is easy to find your kids and friends on the slopes, we're starting to see changes that are making us think it is time to change mountains. In particular, we've seen a decrease in customer service and appreciation. Of course there are exceptions. There are the guys in the rental shop always willing to help fix a binding, or the longtime bartenders at James Moore Tavern, or a few of the longtime ski instructors who are still great. But here are just a few of the things we are seeing ridge runnerrider programs have fewer and fewer professionally trained instructors who know how to make it fun for the kids. plus, they have raised the price significantly making this a hard value to justify. the quality and variety of food has diminished. too many fried foods. seems like the wait staff changes each week. a large group of us went to Bailey's restaurant because they offered a 20 discount for season pass holders, of course we forgot to let our waitress know. We went back 2 days later with our receipts only to have Brian, the head of foodservice, snicker at us and tell us it was impossible to correct our bill. Nice. cleanliness does not seem to be a priority either. you will see trash pile up, tables not bussed, and a broken toilet seat go unnoticed for weeks until fixed. All in all, Bolton is still a good place to go, but we hope what we are seeing is not a trend, just a bump in the road."
  - thomas
• March 30, 2008
  "There is no better family ski value out there! This is an amazing seasonlong instructional program for kids. One year ago both my boys were neverevers. Now my 5year old is skiing parallel on blues and my 8year is doing doubleblacks! And they love the sport which to me is most important. I would recommend this program to anyone sure the building is a little worn and dated, but you're there to ski! The staff are fantastic and the woodfired pizza is really good!"
  - carchar
• March 12, 2008
  "I like smaller than the big resorts makes it easy to find friends and your kids mainly Vermonters except over a few holiday weekends old school feeling value proximity to Burlington area convenient dropoff right at the lodge almost never a wait in the lift line. I don't like a lot of flat areas for snowboarders dodging cars as you walk from the parking lot to lodge seasonal locker room is too small and cramped no sleddingtubing hill."
  - ceb
• March 12, 2008
  "High marks for the Ridge Runner program. Ed and crew do a very nice job and keep making improvements. Our kids are annual participants and joined with no ski exp now they are better than most adults. It's a good mix of instruction, technique, funexploreall in a relatively safe environment. We've been lucky to have the same instructor for our son each year. It's also great because we can easily find them on the mountain, say hi, check in, and ski with them for a bit during the day. "
  - ceb
• March 8, 2008
  "Bolton is a great place for a kids birthday party. I had both my kids birthday parties their this year 6 and 8, girl and boy and the kids loved it. The facility is part of the Nordic Ski Center. They have an indoor pool and hot tub, a bar area little used when I was there and adjacent tables that you can use for cake, or parents sitting and waiting. There are two tennis courts little used that you kids can run around, they have a couple of basketballs and hoops, and over winter break Christmas through the end of January they had two huge jumpy houses very entertaining! I even set up a pinata with the help of the staff at the entrance to the tennis courts. I brought some snacks for the parents that had to wait, and their is a small game room and ping pong table to keep parents and kids occupied while waiting for the cake to be cut."
  - coso
• March 8, 2008
  "We LOVE the Ridge Runners program at Bolton. We have participated in the program for 5 years and we love it, and the kids love it. They teach with your kids to ski, feed them lunch, take them in for hot chocolate breaks in the stormy weather, and give you the day between 945300 to brush up on your skills on the hill!"
  - coso

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