OKEMO VALLEY ACTIVITIES AND EVENTS

The Spring House, a fitness and aquatic center, opened in December, 2006, at the Jackson Gore base area. In 18,000 square feet, it features a two-lane lap pool, small kids' pool with frog slide, 10-person hot tub, racquetball court, weight and cardio room, and aerobics and yoga classroom. When the Spring House opened, the fitness center in the Jackson Gore Inn was converted to a full-service spa.

Also new at Jackson Gore in 2006 was The Ice House, a covered ice skating rink with an adjacent warming hut.

A few miles south on Route 103, the Castle Hill Resort has a wonderful full-service Aveda spa (226-7419). In a former carriage house that's listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the spa has four cozy treatment rooms, a hair salon, and manicure/pedicure stations upstairs and a fitness center on the main floor. Outside is a year-round heated pool, hot tub, and solarium. During ski season, the spa is popular, so book treatments well ahead.

The Okemo Valley Indoor Golf Training Center (228-1396), at the country club, is a 6,000-square-foot facility with a nine-hole putting green, swing stations, and a full-swing golf simulator where golfers can tee up one some of the world's best courses, such as Pebble Beach and Pinehurst.

Combine your vacation with a weekend course at the Fletcher Farm School for the Arts and Crafts (228-8770). Choose from such offerings as watercolor, funky felted hats, decoupage and rug hooking.

Ludlow also has a moderate array of specialty shops with clothing, antiques and gifts.

Chapter XIV is a book-lovers dream, with a thoughtfully chosen selection of books mixed in with women’s clothing and jewelry, children’s clothing and toys and other fun and artsy items.

Blue Sky Trading has a nice selection of Vermont-made pottery and jewelry. Noah's & Garden has dried floral arrangements. Chrisandra's Interiors sells eclectic distressed furniture. Hunter Lea has fine art and prints.

One of the best browsing stores in the Northeast, the Vermont Country Store is in nearby Weston on Rte. 100. It’s jam-packed with clothing, housewares, funky specialty foods (sample everything) and hard-to-find but useful little items -- things you never knew you wanted but once you see them, you wonder how you’ve lived without them.

A more genuine country store experience is had at Singleton’s, about 3 miles south of the mountain, just off Rte. 103 on Rte. 131, in Proctorsville. You can purchase antique guns as well as some of the best bacon and ham we’ve ever tasted. As for the cheese: Singleton’s goes through four or five wheels a week!

The Green Mountain Sugarhouse, about five miles north on Rte. 100, is another spot to buy Vermont cheese, maple syrup and gifts.