TWIN FARMS

If you think youve seen the beauty that is Twin Farms, you really havent seen anything until youve seen the rolling hills covered in snow. The snowfall in New England this year has been excessive to say the least and it has created a veritable winter wonderland in Barnard, VT.

For our second stay at Twin Farms, we booked through DavidO / Virtuoso which availed us a bottle of Dom Perignon, chocolates, and a generous upgrade. And since our stay was on a Sunday night, the property also allowed us to take advantage of their mid-week package which included spa services and late checkout. All of these benies, added to the already all-inclusive nature of the property, made for a tremendous value. And I was really missing those crackling fires which made winter an ideal time to visit.

As with our last visit, service was pleasant and very casual. Most of the staff somehow knew who we were and treated us more as friends than as customers. We arrived late morning in order to do some skiing and were told that our room wasnt ready so we were shown to the Washington Suite in the main house for a comfortable place to change.nice

By lunchtime, we were shown to our room, the Perch Cottage. While the overall fishing theme was clever, the best part of this room was undoubtedly the bathroom with its gigantic copper bathtub made famous by zigzag in the unforgettable bathtubs thread. The tub had views through the woods and out over the ski trails. As with all rooms, there was original artwork throughout and a fabulous wood-burning fireplace. And even in the dead of winter, the cottage was within comfortable walking distance to the pub and the main house.

Most of the outdoor activities were accessible from the warming hut just off of the main house. Inside, there was a wood-burning stove and a gentleman to help you with all of the supplies needed for your outdoor adventurethe latest skis, boots, snow-shoes, sleds, toboggans, hand warmers, a bottle of water, etc. We tried just about everything and the scenery while cross-country skiing and snow-shoeing was divine.

Our main activity was downhill skiing. Mr. Ericka used to be a ski instructor and he would tell you that while this was certainly not the best skiing in New England, there was something to having not only the whole run, but the whole mountain to yourself! The Twin Farms poma lift is gone (too costly to maintain) and in its place is what they call the sherpa...a very large snowmobile with seats made to transport skiers up and down the mountain. The runs were short so that after you were dropped at the top, you and the sherpa met down at the bottom at the same time, ready for the next trip up! No lines, no waityou just kept skiing until youd had enough. They dont make snow at Twin Farms but they do a good job of grooming. Unfortunately, there was sleet the night before we arrived and there were only two runs (one blue, one green) out of six maintained enough for comfortable skiing. The black run couldnt be groomedits only skiable during ideal conditions, and there was no bunny hill, however the sherpa could drop novice skiers off partway up any of the runs, which is how I got myself re-acclimated. Most of the time, it was just Mr. Ericka and me, which was pretty amazing.

The next time we visit, we will make time for ice skating and the sleigh rides which I believe happen on Saturdays.

The Japanese furo and the in-room massages provided a nice break for our tired muscles.

As before, there were no menus at Twin Farms. Instead, they kept our food preferences on file from our last visit. We are not foodies, but always think our meals there are superb. Our favorites from this trip include the souffl pancakes, a melt-in-your-mouth roasted pork shoulder, and simply the best hot chocolate EVER garnished with homemade whipped cream. We had a great picnic lunch delivered to the room on the second day. Our only complaint would be with one dessert where the chef appeared to be trying too hard, packing too many layers, or flavors, into the one dish.

We had dinner in front of a roaring fire in the pub where we watched the Superbowl (yay Packers!). The wines were excellent and included a Chateau Montelena cabernet and a Meursault Burgundy white.