There is still time to visit Vermont for a special sugary adventure this April.
By Kimberly Ashton
As winter gives way to spring, one of New England’s premier ski destinations is celebrating a shared cultural connection with our northern neighbor and offering sweet deals to visitors.
Vermont’s Jay Peak is launching its Temps Des Sucres event, named after the Quebecois term for sugaring season, when nearly 60 million taps across Vermont and Quebec flow with maple sap.
The resort’s maple-themed homage to this regional tradition is being held the first three weekends of April. It features live music, horse-drawn carriage rides, sugar-on-snow samples, fireworks, and a maple brunch—all with a discounted stay at the resort. The package also includes a choice of lift tickets or admission to the Pump House, the state’s only indoor waterpark. Temps Des Sucres, says event manager Ted Fleischer, is about “enjoying timeless traditions…while celebrating spring with family and friends.”
For more than a century, Vermont has been the country’s top producer of maple syrup. Last year, more than 3,000 sugarhouses across the state produced over 3 million gallons of the good stuff.
One of those producers is Jordan Kane, a fourth-generation sugarmaker and owner of Kane’s Sugaring Outfit in Richford. Kane and his family are providing Jay’s guests with sugar-on-snow, a treat only enjoyed for a few weeks every year. Traditionally, this goody is made by ladling syrup across snow and rolling it up in a popsicle stick as the liquid hardens. But during the first Saturday of Temps Des Sucres, unpredictable April weather made snow scarce, and Kane improvised by moving operations indoors at the resort’s Clubhouse and offering guests snow cones, or maple drizzled over ice.
Meanwhile, Jeff Simpson, owner of Brownington-based The Kingdom’s Horse Drawn Wagon and Sleigh Rides, and his two Belgian steeds shuttled guests from the resort’s Clubhouse to its Tramside Base. There, the blues-rock group The Seth Yacovone Band treated an après-ski crowd to homegrown jams. Saturdays top off with a fireworks spectacular, weather permitting.
On Sunday, guests enjoy a buffet-style maple brunch at Alice’s Table restaurant. The menu includes cheeses, pastries, eggs, roasted vegetables, pancakes, bacon, freshly carved ham and lamb, and more. Each dish has a maple element, which sounds like it could be cloying but is done subtly enough to not leave diners with a sugar high, or a postprandial crash. Rather, one feels fully fueled and ready to take on Jay’s legendary ski runs. It’s a sweet feeling indeed.
For more information about Temps Des Sucres, including rates, visit jaypeakresort.com/things-to-do/events/temps-des-sucres-weekends.
