Alpine resorts in Europe are often seen as pilgrimage sites for city-dwellers in need of pure air and healthful pursuits. In the ski towns of New England, however, you pick up a more lighthearted vibe, in which a love of winter is a little nonsensical — but ever-present. The season is frigid and the days are short, but visitors and residents alike head outdoors anyway to fly down mountainsides or huddle around holes in the ice.
In the northern Vermont town of Stowe (and the world-class Vail Resort of the same name), the locals never lose their streak of winter irony, no matter the temperature. This spirit perhaps shines brightest during the Stowe Winter Carnival, which will celebrate its 46th “Stowzen in Time” edition from January 23-26, 2020.
Stowe Winter Carnival
If you’ve never been, the SWC is a festival of ice-carving competitions, live-music dance parties, snow volleyball and golf competitions, a carnival for kids, and a general pub-crawl atmosphere. The Carnival dates back to 1921, even before downhill skiing became part of Stowe’s allure. Events like ski jumping and tobogganing on a modest local hill were the original draw, but by 1935, according to the town’s official history, the Carnival “included extremely competitive races in both alpine and cross-country skiing.”
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For locals like Sara Lory, marketing manager at Stowe’s prestigious Topnotch Resort, the event is a perennial highlight. “It’s part of the town’s winter tradition,” says Lory, whose lodge hosts one of the visiting ice carvers every year. “If you’ve been around Stowe or lived here for any number of years, inevitably you have a good Winter Carnival story to tell.”
Jamborees of this sort come together only with tireless organizing — and in Stowe, the organizer who never tires is Huntly Armbruster, who’s been running the show since 1996. Ice carving seems to call for the most preparation, so Armbruster begins wrangling contestants months in advance, always with enthusiasm. “Stowe is a great competition for the top carvers, so we would show up there anyway,” says Jeff Blier, a chef and restaurateur from upstate New York who took first place last year. “But it still seems like the guys all go there to see Huntly.”
There are two opportunities for spectators to watch the ice carvers. On Friday, they’ll be spread throughout town doing demonstrations in front of more than 20 local businesses, including the local-favorite Von Trapp Brewery, which had its very own frosty tribute in 2018 (best paired with one of their classic lagers and crisp alpine views). Then on Saturday, the official competition begins to unfold at 11am with the professional three-hour timed contest and the two-hour amateur contest, followed by this year’s new “speed competition” at 3pm.
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For Saturday’s main events, ice-sculpting masters are welcomed to the landmark brewery and visitors center of The Alchemist, another renowned local craft brewery that produces the beloved Heady Topper and Focal Banger, along with some specialty brews. After the power saws growl and the ice chips fly, finished works go on display on the Alchemist Brewery grounds.
“We’ve got a wonderful outdoor space that gives the artists plenty of room to work and spectators a great view of the competition,” says Hallie Picard, an Alchemist staff member. “…the event will have an amateur division, which I’m thinking will be quite interesting to watch — people with ice chainsaws who’ve maybe had one quick lesson in how to carve.” The brewery will host an amateur ice class on opening night — no pros allowed.
Of course, this art is of the impermanent sort — after all, none of it ends up in the lobby of an office building. “The second the judging is over, each piece is on its way to becoming a memory,” says Blier. “The sun hits your work and it starts to disappear in front of your eyes.” As for that judging, it is scrupulously official, administered by the National Ice Carving Association, a governing body that sets rules and standards.
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Other activities feel less like a winter tradition. Snow volleyball sounds like lunacy, but it plays very much like beach volleyball, and isn’t too different from the regulation game played in gymnasiums. When the all-day schedule of setting and spiking ends on Sunday, the awards ceremony morphs into a standard happy hour gathering.
Meanwhile, the Carnival’s golf tourney is a frozen (and somewhat futile) ode to the lush warmth of summer. Grooming machines rumble down from the ski slopes to cut “fairways” into the driving range of snow-covered Stowe Country Club, and each player carries one “club,” which can be a baseball bat, a hockey stick, or a regulation golf club. Scot Baraw of the family-owned Stoweflake Mountain Resort organizes the event and “designs” the course anew each year.
“It’s a distant cousin of real golf,” says Baraw. “But we do set up the course so there are par-3, par-4, and par-5 holes. The serious players compete in the Tiger Woods division, and the people who come out to drink beer make up our Lost in the Woods division.”
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Naturally the elements come into play — some years it snows, some years there’s a January thaw that makes the tournament a relatively balmy outing. “Events of all kinds are an important contributor to the success of this town, all four seasons of the year,” says Baraw. “Some of them are serious, others are more like snow golf.”
Whether you’re interested in witnessing time-honored traditions or zany takes on summer sports, the Stowe Winter Carnival offers a taste of the New England town’s vibrant wintry enthusiasm — and an opportunity to hit the slopes, too.
Tradewind offers charter flights to Stowe year-round. To reserve a charter, call us at 1-800-376-7922 or click here. Learn more about the Stowe Winter Carnival and explore the schedule of events here.
Featured Photo: Mark Vandenberg