• Ryan Smith
• Backcountry skiing at Bolton Valley

A new year symbolizes a clean slate. It might not be easy to wipe away the challenges and heartbreak of 2020, but we can enter 2021 with renewed hope for the days ahead. With a new president set to take office and more COVID-19 vaccines on the way, change is already in the air.

Here in Vermont, we see the possibilities in a generous snowfall. Since everybody loves to make fresh tracks, we sought out the white stuff for this issue of Staytripper, Seven Days' road map to safely rediscovering the state during the pandemic. Even if socializing is still limited, we can commune with Mother Nature off-piste on powdery slopes, shooting down a sledding hill on a Mad River Rocket, or carving the ice on frozen Lake Morey.

Or, for a new perspective, take a winter birding walk at the Green Mountain Audubon Center. You'll likely realize two things: First, we're never truly alone. And second, as Emily Dickinson wrote, "'Hope' is the thing with feathers."