The Catamount Trail is a
long-distance,
Nordic ski trail that spans the length of
Vermont
Vermont () is a state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York to the west, and the Canadian province of Quebec to the ...
, extending more than from the border with
at
Readsboro, Vermont
Readsboro is a town in Bennington County, Vermont, United States. The town was named after John Reade, a landholder. The population was 702 at the 2020 census. The hamlet of Heartwellville is in the northern part of Readsboro, approximately nort ...
to the
Canada–United States border
The border between Canada and the United States is the longest international border in the world. The terrestrial boundary (including boundaries in the Great Lakes, Atlantic, and Pacific coasts) is long. The land border has two sections: Can ...
at
North Troy, Vermont.
History
The trail was first skied in 1984 by its founders, Steve Bushey, Paul Jarris, and Ben Rose. It was initially conceived as Bushey's thesis project when he was a geography student at the
University of Vermont
The University of Vermont (UVM), officially the University of Vermont and State Agricultural College, is a public land-grant research university in Burlington, Vermont. It was founded in 1791 and is among the oldest universities in the United ...
. Since then, the Catamount Trail has been maintained by the Catamount Trail Association, initially incorporated in 1984. The Association coordinates volunteers, publishes a guidebook, and works to protect and preserve the trail. As of 2007, twenty-nine skiers had reported to the Association that they have skied the entire length of the Catamount Trail.
Geography
The terrain of the trail ranges from challenging, for which climbing skins, metal edges and
telemarking skills are often necessary, to gentler terrain where lightweight classic Nordic equipment is more appropriate. It interconnects several of Vermont's Nordic ski centers.
[
]
References
External links
* ''The Catamount Trail Guidebook.'' Catamount Trail Association, 2003.
External links
Catamount Trail AssociationSouthern Vermont Access
Sports venues in Vermont
Skiing in the United States
Long-distance trails in the United States
Skiing in Vermont
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