Long weekends: The Manchester Falcon On the prowl with Vermont’s birds of prey The allure of Manchester, Vermont, has traditionally been its snow, its scenery, and its New England serenity. Visitors arrive by the Volvo load to strap on their backcountry equipment and glide into the woods or to unload their parabolics or snowboard and head down the slopes at Stratton Mountain. All is relatively tranquil here, unruffled. Provided you ignore the state’s newly resident meat-eating birds. Two years ago, Manchester’s elegant and historic Equinox Hotel opened the British School of Falconry, using a curriculum and some instructors imported from the long-established falconry program at its sister resort, The Gleneagles Hotel in Scotland. Housed in a renovated cow barn on the hotel’s 1,100 acres, the Equinox’s falconry school is now home to 12 Harris hawks, aloof raptors with four-foot wingspans, as well as to a Russian steppe eagle and an African lanner falcon, all bred in captivity. In a 45-minute introductory lesson ($65), a professional falconer presents a mini-history of this 4,000-year-old sport, once the Completing the introductory lesson qualifies you for the two-and-a-half hour Hawk Walk ($130), during which you’ll learn the proper techniques of hawk handling and free-flying along the rugged, heavily wooded trails of Equinox Mountain. (The birds in these lessons do not hunt.) If you become completely engrossed by the birds and the sport, you can sign up for a four-day course To fill the hours between falconry classes, the Equinox Hotel’s Ski Touring Center (802-362-4700) has 35 kilometers of groomed cross-country trails ($10) and can arrange guided, full-day backcountry tours ($80). Twenty miles down Route 11, the Viking Ski Touring Centre has 40 kilometers of trails, offering expansive views of Vermont’s famous Green Mountains (802-824-3933). Even Doubles at the Equinox are $169 per night; call 800-362-4747 for reservations. The hotel is located in Manchester Village, about a mile from the center of Manchester itself. The surrounding area is also packed with more than 70 bed-and-breakfasts and inns; for information or reservations, call the chamber of commerce, Manchester in the Mountains, at 802-362-2100. The Dorset, |
Long weekends: The Manchester Falcon
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