WCAX.COM Local Vermont News, Weather and Sports-Skiin' With Ian: New lift speeds skiers up Burke Mountain

"We had a really busy offseason this year," said Tim McGuire of Burke Mountain.

For decades, the only knock on the Northeast Kingdom's hidden ski gem, Burke Mountain, was the snail-paced quad chairlift that runs to the summit. But that is no longer a problem.

"It's a lift that a lot of our longtime skiers and riders have been waiting for for a long time, so that was a big project for us," McGuire said.

This year, Burke debuted the Mid-Burke Express chairlift, a detachable high-speed quad that has cut the old lift's ride time in half.

"Seven minute lift ride? That's nothing. Before you'd be on the lift for 14 minutes and rip down the hill for about 10 if you're lucky!" snowboarder Cody Sanders said.

Excited Burke skiers and riders say the new lift has them making twice as many turns.

"It's great, it's really great. A fantastic improvement to the mountain," skier Jim Wiggins said.

"We used to complain about it taking 14 minutes to get to the top and it takes so long to get up here. Now it takes six minutes... and now were complaining that we don't have enough time to rest in between runs!" skier Tom Conte said.

And with the new chairlift comes five new trails, adding an additional 10 skiable acres to Burke's terrain.

One of the more visible new additions to Burke Mountain is a 123-foot wind turbine. It provides about one-fifth of the energy needed to power the resort. The turbine essentially offsets the power consumption needed to operate the new high-speed chairlift.

"A nice green project that reduces our carbon footprint and really makes the mountain more sustainable," McGuire said.

One of the most popular places at Burke is the Dashney Mile-- the mountain's terrain park. The skiers and riders say that even in a down snow year park conditions are as good as ever.

"That's the really cool thing about Dashney. There's a lot of kids that ride through here, so I feel like it's kind of a priority for snowmaking-- to get snow in here so the majority of people that ski and ride here can come through the park," Sanders said.

But if you prefer powder turns in the trees over flips and spins, the wait is still on.

"It's been an enjoyable ski season," Conte said. "I wish we had a little more powder. Not a lot of powder skiing, but we make the best with what we have."

"We need a good one," Wiggins said. "Beginning of March, maybe a two-footer. That would be good!"

Heading toward the last holiday week of the season the search for powder continues.