About Matt Sutkoski

Matt Sutkoski is a freelance writer and a staff reporter for the Burlington (Vermont) Free Press. He also operates a small property maintenance business. In his spare time he enjoys recreational snowshoeing, trail running and hiking.

ALL POSTS BY THIS AUTHOR:

Jay Peak Area a Fun Snowshoe Epicenter

Until recent snows in the western part of the country, it’s been a pretty brown snowshoe-free winter in much of the country. Northern New England has some snow, but it’s not the huge deep powder layer most of us have … Continue reading →

Despite Irene’s Havoc, Vermont Trails Ready for Snowshoers

Snowshoeing in Vermont is alive and well this winter, despite a deadly punch from Tropical Storm Irene less than four months ago.

The August 28 storm’s flooding destroyed hundreds of homes and businesses across Vermont, killing at least four people … Continue reading →

How to Host and Organize a Snowshoe Race

Have you ever participated in or watched a snowshoe race and wondered why there was no such event near your town?

Vermont’s Trail Running Aplenty

It will be months before the trails are covered with enough winter frosting to keep a New England snowshoe enthusiast happy. Yet, we want to stay in shape, and we want to keep enjoying the outdoors, even if it doesn't include a three-foot layer of powder.

Team in Training Hosts Snowshoeing Event in Rocky Mountain National Park

People run, bike, walk and swim for charity. So why not snowshoe?

On the last weekend in February, 17 people tried just that, snowshoeing around Loche Vale Lake and Black Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park near Estes Park, Colo.

The Magestic White Mountains of New Hampshire

The White Mountains of New Hampshire have something for every snowshoe enthusiast.

The adventurous can explore the summits of the Presidential Range, which is every bit as challenging as many remote Western mountains.

Three Snowshoeing Books to Get You Started

Early season snowstorms have already dusted parts of the Northeast United States and Rocky Mountains, which means its time to plot strategy for a winter of snowshoeing bliss.

Aaron Robertson Takes First at Smuggler’s Notch Snowshoe Race

Vermont's changing weather vexed the racers, as usual, at the Eighth Annual Northern Vermont Snowshoe Race at Smuggler's Notch Feb. 8.

Vermont Destinations for Snowshoers

Snowshoeing is recession resistant. Once you have your shoes, the sport is free. There's no expensive lift tickets, no parking fees, no admission prices. Just head off into the woods. It helps to know where to go. Here's an insider's list of places to go snowshoeing in central and northern Vermont.

Snowshoeing the Birches Resort – Rockwood, Maine

One sign you've picked the right time for a snowshoe getaway in Maine is when you're greeted by Olympia Snowe as you arrive in the state. Not U.S. Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine but her namesake, a 122-foot tall snow-woman looming over the town of Bethel. There she was, beaming with her snow tire eyes, batting her eyelashes made out of skis, and waving her arm, which was a 15-foot spruce tree. There was more than enough snow to make Olympia the tall curvy and proud snow-woman she was. This certainly boded well for snowshoeing.

A History of Sherpa

The company that made Sherpa Snowshoes went out of business years ago, but the shoes themselves are still the workhorses of the backcountry.

The Snowshoe Almanac – April 2006

April 1: Winter wasn't over in southern New England on this date in 1997; Boston was clobbered with 22.4 inches of snow.

USSSA Lights the Way to Bolton Valley Resort for the 2006 National Snowshoe Championships

The 2006 United States National Snowshoe Championships were a bit like a debutante ball for the sport. Snowshoe racing, once a quirk, then a sideshow, was ready for its close-up.

The Snowshoe Almanac – March 2006

March 4: The snowshoe tours are beginning to focus on spring. One example: Naturalists at Mad River Glen in Vermont will bring snowshoers today out into the woods to find signs of migrating birds. On March 5, they'll do some wildlife tracking.

The Snowshoe Almanac – February 2006

Feb: 2: Groundhog Day. We hate to break the news to the few who believe in the furry little guy's forecasting skills, but he really can't do long range winter forecasts. The whole thing is based on superstitions that if Candlemass Day (Feb. 2) is nice, the second half of the winter will turn out stormy and cold.

Snowshoefight at the BV Resort

Any illusions that the March 24-26 United States National Snowshoe Championship in Bolton, Vt. would turn out as a late season breeze for competitors evaporated on Jan. 8.

The Snowshoe Almanac – January 2006

Jan. 1: Six people will help Herm Hoffman celebrate the New Year. The Vermonter has hiked or snowshoed every Jan. 1 for about 10 years. He's taking six people along, as part of a Green Mountain Club event. No word on the club's Web site or where he's going.

The Snowshoe Almanac – December 2005

Dec. 2: Nature news: Watch bighorn sheep smash heads on Specimen Mountain and North Sheep Mountain during early December in Colorado, according to the Boulder County Nature Association in Colorado.

The Snowshoe Almanac – November 2005

Nov. 3: Time to start thinking snowshoeing. In that spirit, members of the Sierra Club's Great Basin group in Reno, Nev. plan to meet and talk with experts on starting out in the sport, backcountry snowshoeing, and a little bit about snowshoe racing, according to the group's Web site.

A Yeti Like No Other

Marc Campbell, if nothing else, is flexible. He's the chief organizer of The Yeti Mountain Snowshoe Series, the popular winter races up in the parks, hills and mountains of British Columbia.

Smugglers Notch Primitive Biathlon: Snowshoeing Through the Past

The figures milling around Jeffersonville, Vt., early on a crystalline January morning seemed straight out of the Revolutionary War era. People carried old-style muzzleloaders, and walked around on old-fashioned wooden snowshoes. The crowd warded off the subzero cold in animal pelts and bulky 18th-century wool coats and wraps. Not a stitch of polypropylene or GORE-TEX in sight.

A Slice of the Good Life at The Mountain Top Inn

Early winter in Vermont was warm, wet and windy, more Seattle than snowshoe. Searching for decent snow in those trying days of early December meant seeking out the high spots, and even there, the pickings were slim.

A Vermont Every Snowshoer Should Discover

For proof that smart ski area operators must cater to the snowshoeing crowd, all Pam Cruickshank of Vermont's Okemo Mountain Resort has to do is glance at the slopes before the lifts start running.

The Catamount Trail: A Destination Snowshoers Can be Proud of

A snowshoe enthusiast's work never ends.

It'll be months before anybody can tromp through the Vermont woods on snowshoes, but people associated with the Catamount Trail from the Massachusetts border to Canada are quietly working to keep it open.

Over the River and Through the Parking Lots

The 2004 Tubbs Vermont State Snowshoe Championships in Essex Junction was not exactly an escape to the wilderness.