Yes, two ways. The Lake Champlain Bridge at Chimney Point runs year-round and free to Crown Point, and a small cable ferry crosses from Shoreham to Fort Ticonderoga in the warmer months for a modest toll.
Some, and it is refreshingly low-key. The Middlebury Snow Bowl sits on VT-125 at Middlebury Gap with cross-country trails at Rikert nearby in Ripton. For big mountains you drive over the gap to Sugarbush or south to Killington.
VT-125 east over Middlebury Gap through Ripton, or VT-17 over the Appalachian Gap, both climbing from open farmland into the Green Mountains within a few miles. Lincoln Gap Road is the most dramatic of the three and is closed every winter.
Very, outside Middlebury. This is dairy and orchard country with small villages, farm stands and long views west to the Adirondacks, and it stays much less crowded than the ski corridor even in foliage season.
Live prices for every hotel and inn in the area — free cancellation, updated daily.