Burke Mountain is, both geographically and spiritually, a monadnock–an isolated, solitary mountain.

Geographically because, well, we say it's too much mountain to be part of a range. Geologists say the mountain is made up of rock resistant to erosion, so as the surrounding landscape eroded down, it remained. Spiritually, it's a similar story. As the surrounding ski landscape changed, Burke was resistant. Now, as some resorts have (by some opinion) eroded away into treeless, homogenized, corporate-run experiences, Burke remains.

WE'RE NOT ANTI-CHANGE. WE'RE FOR IT.

Sometimes we create it. As long as it makes sense. As long as it stays true to the sport, making it more accessible to more people by pulling the skier and rider up and not flattening the experience down. But first, a little history. The Earth cooled. Snow fell. Vikings skied it. Then, in 1932, men cutting a road to the summit of Burke Mountain decided to also cut the Wilderness and Bear Den Trails. Non-Vikings skied them. When the road to the summit was completed in 1935, Burke became a popular skiing destination, holding the first of many, many downhill races in 1937. More races took place. Then, in 1970, an aspiring ski racer asked legendary coach Warren Witherell to train her full-time. He agreed, and they created the Burke Mountain Academy–the first of the now-ubiquitous ski academies and home of over 50 Olympic racers. Genuine change for the better. Later, on the rolling trails and steep pitches of Burke, the s-curve was first taught, giving skiers a more natural and efficient way to control their speed–a technique that changed the way new skiers were taught for decades.

LOW-DENSITY, ULTRA-EFFiCIENT HOMES will keep costs and waste to a minimum. Homes that give you a sense of space without wasted space. Homes that fit into the community, both visually and in their need to make the most out of every material that goes into them. And we're not looking to create a contrived "village" that doesn't fit in with our surroundings. We have a real village. One with great restaurants and a country store. One that's been around for awhile. One that, oddly enough, seems to open up a shop or restaurant or inn just as soon as people need it and not before. And that's worked out pretty well over the years. And don't worry about things getting crowded–this is Vermont. We've got space. We just prefer to use it a little more prudently up North. Initial plans for yet another golf course have been shelved, with the thought of reclaiming some of the land for a farm that will help feed our community or be a local resource for restaurants. We love that kind of change.

But the kind of change we don't love, and can't stand for, is changing the Vermont skiing and riding experience. We're dedicated to narrow trails that ride a mountain's natural contours. We'll always preserve or add to our 100+ acres of glade skiing. Don't worry about crowding. We could more than double our terrain. It's just that with THE LOWEST SKIERS PER ACRE IN VERMONT, we don't need to just yet. And we won't expand for expansion's sake. Sure, people will disagree. Good people. Friends of ours. They'll point to ski areas putting more money into their amenities than their ski trails and say that's the way to go. Areas that we feel may not have a clear vision of who and what they are (or were). But we hope those friends see our sensible, true path and stick with us. Sure, our decisions might not be so showy and our trails not so crowded. But, oddly enough, we're OK with that. Burke is used to standing alone.

Sometimes it’s just what we’ve always done. Other times it’s not so easy and calls for a change in behavior. But either way, we love the outside–this is Vermont, it’s kinda what we do best–so we’ve committed to doing everything possible to take care of the land–as long as it passes the incredibly unscientific East Burke Market Test. If people at the market think it makes sense, it probably does. If they think it's a little overboard, costly or trying too hard, it probably is. With that test in mind, here are some efforts from our ever-growing list. 

Local sourcing
Local is important to us. We are, after all, locals. Up here, you don't use your neighbors products because it's cool or trendy or someone invented the word localvore. You do it because it makes more sense. It's closer, so it's fresher. Less fuel is used in transportation. And, you have a better sense of the people involved in raising or growing what you serve to your guests. Not to mention we're supporting local farms. That's why, whenever possible, we use locally-sourced ingredients in all of our kitchens.

Vermont sources:

We are always looking for new local sources and our list will be updated as we invest in more of our neighbor's products.

We're proud to announce our recently awarded status of Green Restaurant in the Green Mountain State by the Vermont Business Environmental Partnership.
 
Wind turbine
The Burke Wind Turbine was installed in Summer, 2011, and supplies 15-20% of our energy needs with clean, renewable wind power. Enough to more than offset the energy of the new Mid Burke Express Lift, giving us, in effect, a net-zero high-speed quad. Something we’re pretty happy about.

Composting, recycling and green materials
But it's not just about where we get food and energy. We're committed to making the small decisions that add up to huge benefits for the land.
As we move forward and new advances and opportunities become available, we'll take a look and see if it makes sense to add them to our
growing list of efforts, including:

•Burke Mountain helped launch an ongoing a community composting program in alliance with businesses in Hardwick and surrounding areas.  
•Oil and grease from our kitchens is reused in various forms.
•Our maintenance building is heated with used oil.
•Recycling bins are located around the resort, and we encourage all guests to recycle everything possible.
•We use green products wherever financially possible around the mountain.
•Our marketing materials and trail maps are printed on paper made from post-consumer waste.

For years, you’ve been saying “Make things better, but don’t change a thing”.  A pretty tall order, but OK.

A lot of people have worked very hard, and we think we have plans in place that will make things better without changing the true nature of Burke. Initial plans had a golf course, but that didn’t ring true–a bit too genteel maybe. People have used a lot of words (good and bad) over the years to describe Burke, but genteel isn’t one of them. So no golf course.

Instead, we’re looking into turning that land back into what it once was–rolling Vermont farmland. We’ll probably start out partnering with a local agricultural school. They can learn as they use the land and teach us the newest, best practices of getting the most from–and giving the most back to–that land. Then, if all goes well, that farmland could be surrounded by single-family homes. Homes where people spend their summers on a farm and winters on a ski mountain. They could work the farm–if that’s their thing. Or spend their days riding Kingdom Trails and come back to food raised, quite literally, in their back yard–a new look at community agriculture. But we’re getting ahead of ourselves a bit. More to come on the future of the land as we finalize things.

Another possible addition that we’re pretty excited about is a small, boutique hotel, with unparalled views of the surrounding countryside. Nothing big and flashy. Just a nice, Vermont-feeling place for guests to rest up after a day on Burke’s winding trails. We need to grow a bit to get there, so there's nothing solid on this, yet. It’s been a long time coming–so a little bit more time to get it right shouldn’t bother anyone. We’d rather not rush and stay true to Burke, our community and the people who come here to make the most out of their time.

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