​By 12:40pm, all teams had left the Snow Bowl to begin Stage A, an expansive trek through the Green Mountain National Forest, and their first checkpoint, CP5 proved to be a worthy journey in its own right, requiring precision off-trail navigation through potentially thick Vermont vegetation.
 
Teams had their first crux decision after CP5: to stay on the full course or skip optional CPs – on this course, those designated with a letter. So early in the race, it’s tempting to go for all of the checkpoints, but this is a long and linear course, and RDs warned teams at the pre-race briefing that smart decision-making early would pay dividends later in the race for teams that don’t expect to complete the full course.
 
As of this writing, Spurious Reasoning, Double Trouble, Vibes AR, Edge of the Wild, Nerdquist, and Wild Roots have all elected to skip points in the optional pocket between CPs 5 and 8.
 
Full-course and short-course teams converged again at the summit of Mount Moosalamoo for their first expansive vista of the race. Over the next seven days, teams will have the opportunity to take in the sweeping views of the Green Mountains of Vermont, New Hampshire’s Whites, the Adirondacks in New York, and the ranges of southern Canada.

​This year’s race begins on June 21, the Summer Solstice, and teams will have almost sixteen hours of daylight during the race. For those that are making their way toward CP 9 in the dark, though, they will do well to pay close attention. The maps suggest a clear trail leading to the point, and in daylight, that trail is relatively easy to follow. At night, though, they may get tripped up by overgrowth and inconsistent blazes. Keep an eye on those dots for back-of-the-pack teams, and send thoughts for a smooth night on the maps.
 
Eventually, teams will descend out of the mountains at CP12, a trailhead at the Chittenden Reservoir, where they will pick up their packrafts from awaiting race staff and round out the stage on the water. There is one mandatory point and a few additional optionals – including a paddle-up campsite on a small island, where volunteers with cider and donuts may provide enough inducement even for teams keen to head straight to TA 1.
 
And indeed, the TA will have a powerful pull. After a full day on their feet, racers will no doubt be happy to see their bikes. From there, they’ll head out on the first long ride of the week, which will highlight some of Vermont’s iconic purpose-built single track.

The third edition of the Endless Mountains Adventure Race begins today in Middlebury, Vermont. The event, presented by Rootstock Racing, takes the thirty-five competing teams on a 500-mile journey through ten of the fourteen counties in the Green Mountain State. Race directors Brent Freedland and Abby Perkiss have called it a love letter to Vermont, a highlight reel of the outdoor spaces, historical and cultural sites, and communities that make the state home.
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This year’s course begins with a twist. In order to receive their race maps, teams first have to complete a series of four checkpoints around Middlebury’s storied Snow Bowl. One of the earliest ski sites in Vermont, the first trails were cut at the Snow Bowl in 1934. Today, the spot boasts seventeen groomed runs, all running from its historic mountain lodge, the “oldest standing base lodge in the nation” according to Middlebury College, sponsor of Stage A – perfect for warming up over a cup of cocoa in the winter, or studying maps for a seven-day adventure race, which racers will receive upon swapping out their prologue passport

Once they get themselves organized, teams will depart on the first stage of the race. Each edition of the Endless Mountains Adventure Race has featured an expansive trekking stage, occupying the pointy-end of the field for close to 24 hours and others for potentially much longer, and this year that section leads off the event. The Moosalamoo National Recreation Area encompasses almost 16,000 acres of forestland, providing teams the perfect introduction to the Green Mountain State. Moosalamoo is derived from the Abenaki word mozalômo, or moose call, and lucky teams will be treated to the sounds (and sights) of one of the 2,000 grand animals that reside across the state. The trek itself includes a number of off-trail stretches and the first of several mountain summits along the course, with sweeping vistas to the higher spine of the Green Mountains to the east. Teams will pop out of the woods at the north end of the picturesque Chittenden Reservoir, but they have one more leg of the journey before they reach the end: a short packraft to the southern boat ramp, where they will find their bike boxes waiting.
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Though the majestic Green Mountains through which teams will have just trekked often get top billing in Vermont, the state is widely known for its diverse mountain bike networks, from rugged and technical to smooth and flowy. Stage B’s 87-mile ride strings together three of the many pockets of machine-built trails that dot southern Vermont: the Pine Hill Trails in Rutland, the Sherburne Trails in Killington, and the Green Mountain Trails in Pittsfield, host to the annual, and iconic, Spartan Death Race, which takes place in 2025 just a few days after Endless Mountains racers pass through. Roughly halfway through the stage, teams will get a chance to stretch their legs with a short embedded trek to the summit of Shrewsbury Peak. At 3,710 feet, it doesn’t quite reach the status of the state’s five 4,000 footers, but the views from the top are still worthy of a photo-op – especially for teams who reach it as the sun descends on Day 2. Unlike in past years, the 2025 Endless Mountains course is fairly linear, and with significant opportunities for short-coursing, this early stage will become a crucial decision point for many teams in the field. Smart strategy here will pay dividends in the days to come.

TA 2 brings teams to the banks of the White River,  one of the last free-flowing rivers in the state of Vermont, making it a destination site for recreational whitewater paddling (and where RD Brent Freedland learned to run whitewater as a pre-teen). In Stage C, presented by MRS Packrafting, teams will enjoy 25 miles of splashy, whitewater fun. At typical levels, the river offers a perfect balance: enough spice to keep teams on their toes, but nothing so consequential as to require us to institute a Dark Zone. As of this writing, water levels are running quite high, so dot watchers may see a mandatory stop put into effect depending on the conditions when the first teams arrive.

If there is a Queen’s Stage in this year’s Endless Mountains, State D might be it. This multi-sport journey, presented by the Aloha Foundation, brings together unimproved “Class IV” roads, scenic mountain biking, trekking, and stand-up paddleboarding for an iconic Vermont summer adventure. Racers begin in West Hartford and travel north through a network of abandoned roadways. In the town of Stratford, they will marvel at Elizabeth Mine’s awe-inspiring gorge, where vestiges of nineteenth and twentieth century copper extraction have left an iridescent hue in the west branch of the Ompompanoosuc River. When they reach Fairlee, teams will arrive at Camp Lanakila, one of the state’s oldest summer camps, where they will be greeted by an oasis of comfort, care of the Green Mountain Adventure Racing Association. Teams will drop their bikes and undertake a circuit on foot to the far end of Lake Morey. From there, teams will have the option of paddle boarding back across the lake to their bikes – a nod to Lanakila’s Purple Albatross tradition, in which the hardiest of campers swim the perimeter of the lake each summer.

Coming out of Groton, racers will remount their bikes for Stage F: Border Run, presented by the Jay Peak Resort. The ride takes racers into Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom. Heading north from TA 5, they will hit the Hardwick Trails, a circuit of purpose-built mountain bike tracks, and then they will make their way to the Craftsbury Outdoor Center, site of the much-anticipated orienteering relay. Here, teams will have four stages to complete - two loops on bike and two on foot - and each racer must complete at least one stage on their own. An homage to the iconic Untamed New England Adventure Race, which included an orienteering relay in each edition, this stop at Craftsbury will also offer another Untamed-inspired luxury for teams as they pass through: the famous Pancake Paradise.
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From the Outdoor Centre, racers continue north to Jay Peak, the highest mountain in the region and home to one of Vermont’s most renowned skiing destinations. If racers had their cell phones turned on, chances are good that they would see a Welcome to Canada notification on the screen. Teams will drop their bikes at the Jay Peak Resort, but instead of kicking back in luxury and visiting the on-site waterpark, they will have the chance to trek through a short circuit of CPs on and around the mountain, highlighted with sweeping views across the border upon Jay’s lofty summit. After they leave the resort, racers will descend by bike to Enosburg Falls, where they will transition to boats to start the penultimate stage of their Endless Mountains journey. After several days of racing, for most teams, this will feel like the beginning of the end.

Stage G, also sponsored by MRS Packrafting, joins together two 25-mile paddle legs. The stage begins with a packraft on the Missisquoi River, once an Abenaki canoe route connecting Lake Champlain with the St. Francois River. Rife with fish and home to a diverse cross-section of wildlife including elusive but playful river otters, evidence suggests that the Missisquoi has supported human activity dating back more than 13,000 years. Racers will travel this ancient waterway to Swanton Village. Along the way, they will bypass two rugged dams using portage routes established for the Northern Forest Canoe Trail.

When they reach Swanton, they will transition from their inflatable rafts to three-person canoes and tandem kayaks, readying for the variable conditions they are likely to face as they cross the Missisquoi Bay to Lake Champlain. Home to the oldest known fossil reef in the world, more than 10,000 years ago the lake was a saltwater sea, encompassing sections of current-day New York, Vermont, Ontario, and Quebec. In July 1609, renowned French explorer, cartographer, and navigator Samuel Champlain first encountered the moody waters of what is now considered the eighth largest body of water in North America. Known among the Abenaki nation as Pitawbagok (“The Lake in Between”) and the Mohawks as Kaniatarakwà:ronte, the lake served as a major trading corridor, allowing the area’s indigenous nations, and later colonial powers from France and England, to travel extensively in the region. On the distant horizons, two great mountain ranges frame the verdant valley: the Adirondacks to the west and the Green Mountains – “Les Verd Monts,” as Champlain reportedly wrote – to the east. At Endless Mountains, teams will travel through the relatively protected northeast corner of the lake, between the Hero Islands, ending at Alburgh Dunes State Park. Still, when the winds kick up, the lake starts to feel more like those ancient seas that once covered the region.

Coming off Lake Champlain, to start Stage H, sponsored by Citizen Cider, teams will ride the pristine Colchester Causeway Trail. This fourteen-mile bike path arose out of a grassroots effort in 1980 to convert the existing abandoned railroad grade into a bike path. Though the project received strong support in the region, its creation unwittingly launched a lawsuit that wound its way to the US Supreme Court and ultimately paved the way (pun intended) for the transformation of thousands of miles of rail beds into multi-use trails across the nation.

One of the highlights of the route here – for recreational users and racers alike – will no doubt be “the Cut,” a 200-foot break in the trail where teams will load their bikes onto a small motorboat and enjoy a brief reprieve as they are ferried to the other side, at which point they will continue the ride to shore. Once they reach the waterfront in Colchester, racers will hand off their bikes to awaiting race staff and embark on the final stretch of the course: an eight-mile trek along the Winooski River to the finish at St. Michael’s College. After upwards of 168 hours on the course, they’ll be ready to put their feet up and begin to reflect on the journey they’ve traveled. And oh, the stories they’ll tell…

For more information on the 2025 Endless Mountains Adventure Race, visit the live coverage landing page on the event’s website. You can also follow along at the Rootstock Racing facebook and instagram pages, and on all of the ARWS social media channels. Live tracking is available here.
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