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Story by Tim Jones

Ascutney is an easy area to reach from almost anywhere in New England; it's just a few miles off Interstate 91, not far south of the junction with Interstate 89.

Thanks in part to the big thaw of the previous few days (which kept the crowd down to nothing) and the weather (it was warm and sunny, and the snow was soft yet still very fast -- ideal spring conditions), we had what was very close to a perfect day of skiing.

You'd think that after a season of skiing some of the true glamour areas of New England, a medium-size mountain like Ascutney would be a letdown. Far from it. Even with only about 75% of its terrain open (snowmaking was the key), Ascutney showed us a very nice mix of trails with mostly steep stuff at the top. Even my hotshot boys, who think they eat double diamonds for breakfast, found enough steep terrain and jumps to keep them excited, and I really enjoyed the mix of steep, soft groomed stuff and steep, soft bumps -- soft is a key factor for me when bumps are involved. The middle part of the mountain has some nice intermediate cruisers, and lower down there are just enough easy green-circle trails to keep beginners interested until they can hit the easier intermediates.

One of the nicest features of Ascutney for family skiers is that the whole trail network feeds down to a single big, bright, clean base lodge. The boys and I could split up to ski different trails without having to make elaborate and specific meeting plans. I like that, and I'm sure other parents who ski with kids will as well.

Like many other ski areas in New England, Ascutney thought it was in the condo and real-estate business in the boom years of the 1980s. It put its money into buildings, instead of into the updated ski lifts and snowmaking capacity that attract more skiers. Unfortunately the subsequent bust forced the mountain into bankruptcy and closure.

Now that the mountain is back up and running under new ownership, it has more than ample slopeside accommodations, and prices are reasonable. It's my understanding that some new lifts are in the plans for future years. That will eliminate the current bottleneck at the bottom of the triple chair -- which is the only lift that serves the wonderful terrain at the top of the mountain.

On the day we we visited Ascutney, there simply wasn't enough of a crowd to make lift capacity a factor. Once again, the boys and I were able to ski our legs to jelly -- which is a big part of our enjoyment. Any day you can get as much skiing as you want on fast, soft snow and uncrowded slopes, you've had a perfect day of skiing!

For more information, see the Ascutney Web site at www.ascutney.com or call (802) 484-7711.