VT SKI + RIDE 2023-24 HOLIDAYS issue

VT

HOLIDAYS 2023/24

SKI + RIDE

Vermont’s Mountain Sports and Life

175 Once &

Future Ski Areas

www.vtskiandride.com

GREAT NEW GEAR FROM VT 8 LITTLE HILLS YOU HAVE TO TRY WHY THE COCHRANS KEEP WINNING STOWE’S NEW GM CHECKS IN A MODERN VERMONT BARN HOME

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Peter Morgan #5 of United States moves the puck against Slovakia during a men’s hockey game at the 2023 FISU World University Games on January 13, 2023 in Potsdam, New York. (Photo by Isaiah Vazquez/FISU Games)

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Ivette Guttmann, MD of SVMC Orthopedics and While we’ve been partners for years, Southwestern Vermont lead physician at the 2023 FISU Winter World University Games

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CONTENTS

HOLIDAYS 2023/24

FEATURES 39 | At Home in the Hills

What could a modern variation on the Vermont barn look like to a an urban couple moving to the mountains? The collaboration among designers, builders and the owners, is stunning.

36 | The Ski Hill Revival

If you want to see where ski history is alive and soul of skiing is thriving, head to one of these 8 community ski hills.

46 | The Mental Edge

If you ever wondered how three generations of Cochrans became the winningest family in sports history, read this excerpt from Barbara Ann Cochran’s new book, Hike the Course.

COLUMNS & DEPARTMENTS 10 | FIRST TRACKS | The Next Base Village

52 | COMPETITION

The Slow-Growing Rewards of Ski Racing

With funding in place and extraordinary new designs by a giant in architecture, Killington’s new base village is moving forward.

The costs of ski racing keep rising. For winners, so do the rewards.

16 | SKI AREA NEWS | Trail Notes

55 | RETRO VT | Lost & Found

19 | PERSPECTIVE | The Myth of the Black Skier

61 | GREEN MOUNTAIN CALENDAR

A new backcountry cabin, a new chairlift, new ski delivery services.

Here’s what’s happening around the Green Mountains.

Black skiers are here. But are they really being seen?

25 | GEAR | Great Gear from Vermont

More and more outdoor companies are producing great gear here in the Green Mountains.

A new exhibit looks back at some of the 175 ski areas that were once part of Vermont’s vibrant ski scene.

64 | CHAIRLIFT Q/A | Meet the New Boss

Shannon Buhler on how she came to run Stowe Mountain Resort; plus, her thoughts on paid parking, the Smugglers’ Notch connector and more.

COVER: Brooks Curran laps up the leftovers from the December 2020 storm that dumped 52 inches on Mount Ascutney. Photo by Ansel Dickey THIS PAGE: It’s all smiles on a powder day at Saskadena Six. Photo courtesy Saskadena Six. vtskiandride.com Holidays 2023/24 5

VT

SKI + RIDE EDITORIAL

Publisher Angelo Lynn angelo@vtskiandride.com Editor/Co-Publisher Lisa Lynn editor@vtskiandride.com Creative Director David Pollard

Contributing Editors: Victoria Gaither, David Goodman, Ali Kaukas, Brian Mohr, Lindsay Selin, Doug Stewart, Jeb Wallace-Brodeur

Visit our website for the portfolio of this home and more!

ADVERTISING SALES & DISTRIBUTION For general advertising and media kits: lisa.lynn@vtsports.com | 802-388-4944 Greg Meulemans greg@vtskiandride.com Dave Honeywell dave_golfhouse@madriver.com Wilkie Bushby willbush7@gmail.com

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FROM THE TOP

Alive and Thriving

V

ermont has seen more than 175 ski areas come and go, according to a new exhibit at the Vermont Ski & Snowboard Museum, (see p. 55.) Many have gone out of business, but many are still around and, to paraphrase Mark Twain, the rumors of their death may have been greatly exaggerated.

SkiVermont currently counts 20 operating members—but that doesn’t include some of the tiny community hills we write about in “The Ski Hill Revival,” p. 36.

Not only are many smaller hills coming back, they are growing.

Witness the Middlebury Snowbowl which just added a new quad chair (photo above) and is introducing night skiing. Or Magic, once defunct, which will also open a new chairlift this season.

Backcountry skiers have helped revive trails at former ski areas such as Dutch Hill¬ and towns such as St. Albans and Brattleboro and Brownsville have made their rope-tows as essential to the fabric of the community as the local ballfield.

Many of Vermont’s ski areas were born from their towns and communities.. Now, with the arrival of a new base village in Killington, we may see a new town born out of a ski area. Either way, Vermont’s ski areas are not just alive and well, they are thriving. —Lisa Lynn, Editor

CONTRIBUTORS

Bolton Valley 8 Holidays 2023/24 vtskiandride.com

p. 19 Victoria Gaither

p. 30 Glen Allsop

p. 46 Barbara Ann Cochran

is a broadcast journalist who writes about the “Myth of the Black Skier” in this issue. Our newest contributing editor, Gaither is a Killington skier and writes regularly for The Mountain TImes.

shoots with a sense of authenticity and a love for natural light. Allsop photographed this issue’s Dream Home. His photos of architecture and fashion have appeared internationally.

is an Olympic gold medalist and coach.

She writes about “the Cochran way” and how she developed the mental edge that helped her win in this excerpt from her new book, Hike the Course.

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FIRST TRACKS WHAT’S NEW AT SKI AREAS AROUND VERMONT.

THE NEXT BASE VILLAGE With funding settled, permits nearly in place and stunning architectural plans, Killington is close to creating the largest new base village the East has seen in a decade.

10 Holidays 2023/24 vtskiandride.com

W

alk Montreal’s riverfront and not far from the cobblestone streets and 400-year-old buildings of the old port city you come to Habitat 67. The apartment complex on the St. Lawrence looks something like a stack of odd-sized concrete boxes balanced atop each other, holiday packages waiting for a UPS pick-up.

Habitat 67, which Architectural Digest has called a “modular masterpiece,” is striking, oddly beautiful and has been remarkably functional. It has also aged well since it was first designed as a university thesis by a 25-year-old McGill student named Moshe Safdie and built for the 1967 Montreal World’s Fair.

Safdie went on to apprentice with noted architect Louis Kahn. He has since designed landmarks such as the triangular, five-story Salt Lake City public library, the wave-like arches of the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts in Kansas City, and the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles. Safdie’s Boston-based firm’s portfolio includes the Jewel Chengi airport in Singapore with its indoor rainforest and an enormous waterfall that spills free-form from the ceiling to a pond below, a mosque in Dubai, and an art museum in Japan, among many other large projects.

Soon, Safdie’s portfolio will also include the largest new development Vermont has seen since Spruce Peak at Stowe: a 450-acre new base village for Killington Mountain Resort with a new base lodge, restaurants, shops and more than 225 housing units (that includes single-family homes and 193 condos), and 32,000 sq. ft. of commercial space. That’s just Phase 1.

The project has been in planning for nearly two decades. But in March 2023, voters in the town of Killington approved an infrastructure and financing plan that will allow the project to move forward. Then, in October 2023, Great Gulf, the Canadian developer of the proposed new village, announced that it had scrapped the previous drawings for what had been called “Six Peaks” and revealed fresh designs by Safdie Architects. “The design we had was good, but we wanted great,” says Michael Sneyd, Great Gulf’s President of Resort Residential.

A rendering of Killington’s new base lodge, The Crystal, that will replace Ramshead and Snowshed.

A New Lodge, a New Village Safdie’s new designs call for combining the current Ramshead and Snowshed base lodges into one big, beautiful lodge, The Crystal, located near where the current Snowshed parking lot is. Its large glass façade will look out over the mountain trails and open onto a huge “ski beach” as Sneyd calls it, a flat expanse where skiers can soak up the sun on spring days.

The lodge will face a second, semicircular building, The Crescent, that will rim the edge of the current Snowshed snowmaking pond, near the Killington Grand Hotel. “The old plans filled in part of the pond but we wanted to celebrate it,” says Sneyd. The new plans envision a walkthrough in The Crescent. From The Crystal, you will have a view through the walkthrough to the pond.

The snowmaking pond will be reengineered with a dammed area to keep the water level consistent as the rest of the pond level

vtskiandride.com Holidays 2023/24 11

FIRST TRACKS fluctuates. Shops, restaurants and a waterfront promenade will line the lower level of The Crescent with luxury condos above.

Safdie, who spent his early years farming and raising goats on a kibbutz in Israel before his family emigrated to Canada, is noted for integrating nature into his designs. With the Great Gulf project he has said that his goal “is to capture the spirit and character of a Vermont village in a contemporary rendition of vital public spaces for all seasons.”

Tree-lined walking paths and park-like open spaces will lead to new buildings in the base village that will have apartments, shops and restaurants and even a gym, dubbed “the Fitness Grove” – designed with large windows to look out at the mountains.

In announcing the Safdie partnership, Great Gulf noted “Their design philosophy is rooted in the metaphor, ‘For Everyone a Garden,’ perceiving architecture as a generous act of creating meaningful spaces that serve as catalysts for vibrant public life.”

“Previous designs were focused around cars moving through the village,” notes Sneyd.

The new design puts parking underground to create a pedestrian village with shared, open green spaces. “Wherever we can, we are prioritizing skiers over cars,” Sneyd says. For instance, the mountain access road will dip under a ski bridge. “We want people to be able to come down from Ramshead and ski right to the new lodge,” Sneyd notes.

Live Killington The design emphasizes a four-season village.

Sneyd also helped to develop Blue Mountain, a ski resort north of Toronto near Georgian Bay, that integrates entertainment with outdoor activities. “You might go for a hike on the trails and find a piano player in the middle of the woods—those are the types of fun things I hope we can do here,” he says.

For Sneyd, it’s not the size of the mountain that matters but what’s going on in the base village. “Blue Mountain only has 700 feet of vertical but it sees 750,000 skier visits a year and nearly 2 million annually,” he notes. By comparison, Vermont’s 20 public ski areas combined average close to 4 million skier visits a year.

For Sneyd, a Canadian who has been skiing Killington for over 20 years, this project has personal significance. “When I moved back to Toronto after living in the Calgary area for some time, I was looking for a big ski area in the East. Killington was that area. It wowed me,” he says.

Previously, Sneyd was a managing director of the resort developer Replay, founded by former executives from Intrawest, the developer that previously owned Stratton, Whistler-Blackcomb and other ski areas. Within a week of joining Great Gulf in 2022, Sneyd got the go-

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The map (top) shows the new Crystal lodge and The Crescent, which rims the current snowmaking pond, near the existing Killington Grand hotel. The pedestrian village (center) will include eateries and shops and a “Fitness Grove” (above). Parking will be underground and a skiers’ bridge will connect to the Ramshead trails.

FIRST TRACKS ahead to bring the Killington project to his new employer. Great Gulf has developed residential villages and resorts around North America.

What it Will Take?

On Town Meeting Day, March 7, 2023, more than 75% of Killington’s residents voted in favor of using a $47 million TIF bond (tax increment financing, which essentially acts as a loan against future increased tax revenues) to fund the expansion of the municipal water system and improvements to the Killington access road that are crucial to development. “Without those, this development could never happen,” noted selectboard member Jim Haaf.

On May 3, 2023 Great Gulf closed on the $43 million purchase of 1,095 acres near the base of Snowshed and Ramshead from SP Lands.

While the previous plans had Act 250 permits (Vermont’s land use law), the new plans will be submitted for Act 250 approval in January 2024. Sneyd is hoping that pending those approvals, work could begin in the spring of 2025. To save on on-site work, Sneyd foresees some of the new village’s modular construction being done at Great Gulf’s manufacturing facility near Toronto.

The town of Killington has a year-round population of just over 800. Infrastrucure projects have been few and far between so there have been some big hurdles to overcome. In 2024, work will begin on a pipeline to bring water up from the Route 100 valley to the top of Killington Road. The access road will be redesigned with bus pullouts, crosswalks and a side path. And workforce housing will go in.

“Workforce housing: that’s probably one of our greatest needs right now,” said Killington Resort CEO Mike Solimano as the plans for the new village were unveiled at the K1 Lodge in late October.

At that meeting, Solimano and Sneyd also held up a simulation of a large check -- $700,000 the two organizations are contributing to the town to convert a 70-acre plot into 250 to 300 housing units over the next several years. Those will include 6 to 8 apartment buildings and 16 to 20 duplex or single-family homes. ““We all know the area is in need of this type of development, which will provide housing for the workers who support the whole community and will be integral to the success of the new ski village,” Solimano said. The resort currently has a co-op work training partnership with the Castleton campus of Vermont University which gives students onthe-job training in various roles at the ski area.

Killington Ski Resort has already been growing. The resort, which is owned by POWDR and accepts the Ikon pass doesn’t share skier visit numbers. However, Solimano did note that the new K1 Lodge sold 70,000 orders of French fries in the 2022/23 season (up from 20,000 in years prior) and nearly three times the number of tossed salads.

The lift-served mountain bike park, which has more than 30 miles of downhill trails, has also seen an increase in usage, going from 30,000 visits a year in 2018 to 51,000 in 2023.

Unlike the development at Stowe’s Spruce Peak, which is targeted primarily at vacationing skiers and riders and has few year-round residents, Sneyd hopes the new base village will help Killington become the primary residence for people who currently come for vacations. “With the ability to work anywhere, why wouldn’t you want to work from here?” he asks. —L. Lynn

14 Holidays 2023/24 vtskiandride.com

Killington’s new base village will be a chance for Israeli architect Moshe Safdie to bring his acclaimed design work, which melds community with nature, to a mountain setting. Safdie designed the modular “Brutalist” apartment complex (above, bottom) when he was 25. The project, Habitat 67 was built for the 1967 Montreal World’s Fair. Since then, Safdie has created such stunning designs as Singapore’s Jewel Chengi Airport with its interior rainforest and waterfall (middle) and the Kauffman Center for the Arts in Kansas City (top.)

Safdie’s firm is based in Boston where he lectures at Harvard on design. His projects take him around the world to create museums, airports and apartment complexes.

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FIRST TRACKS

TRAIL NOTES

What’s In a (New) Trail Name?

Names mean a lot at Saskadena Six. The oldest ski area in America changed its name a few years ago from Suicide Six. The original name, considered insensitive, referred to how steep the face of Hill #6 was and was replaced by the Abenaki name “Saskadena” for “Standing Mountain.” Saskadena Six’s trail names continue to honor the hill’s evolving ski history. Bunny’s Boulevard is named for Wallace “Bunny” Bertram, who set up America’s first ski lift here, a rope tow. Perley Wheeler was the Woodstock ski area’s original lodge keeper, holding court with a hand-carved pipe and bushy white beard. He lent his name to the mountains’ Perley’s Peril trail as well as to the base lodge watering hole, Perley’s Pourhouse. This season there’s a new name on the trail map: Duane’s Drop. The connector trail is named for Joe Duane, and a path he often skied. Duane served the mountain for two decades, most recently as Ski Patrol Director and passed away at the age of 58 in March 2023. The connector trail covers a backcountry route that patrollers often took to get from one side of the mountain to the other, connecting Road Way to Lasky’s Lot. And who was Lasky’s named for? To find out, you’ll have to visit.

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Ski Runners

SKINNING FOR 3 MILLION FEET In 2016, Aaron Rice, a University of Vermont grad, set out to break the record for the most number of human-powered vertical feet skied in a year. His quest took him as far as Patagonia, where he skied some remarkable backcountry (that story, “Return of the Backcountry Badass” is up at vtskiandride. com and covered in the film, “2.5 Million”). Now, another Vermont skier is setting out to top Rice’s 2,506,500 feet and make it to 3 million. Noah Dines (at right on Mt. Mansfield) is a teacher at the Mount Mansfield Ski Academy. He has already skinned to ski 29,000 feet in a day, the vertical equivalent of Mount Everest. He also biked from Flagstaff to the Grand Canyon (75 miles) and then ran the Canyon rim to rim — 42 miles —on a day when temperatures hit 106 degrees.

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$ 215

That’s the price for an adult season pass that gets you access to 12 New England ski areas, including Bolton Valley Resort, Bromley and the Middlebury Snowbowl in Vermont as well as mountains such as New Hampshire’s Dartmouth Skiway and Waterville Valley, and Saddleback, Maine.

The catch? The new Uphill New England Pass is only good for, you guessed it, skinning uphill. The pass comes with an app that allows digital check-in at each ski area and an identifying arm band.

Passholders have to agree to abide by each ski area’s uphill policies. The app also allows you to track vertical and win prizes. Sponsor L.L. Bean, for instance, is giving away 100 gift certificates of $25 each to those who record the most vertical using the app.

A NEW BACKCOUNTRY HUT If you are looking to truly get away from it all, the Green Mountain Club has a new backcountry hut at Wheeler Pond, near Barton in the Northeast Kingdom. The new Jean Haigh Cabin, just off the Long Trail and about a halfmile ski in from the Route 5 parking area, is one of two backcountry rental cabins at Wheeler Pond. The 400-sq.-ft. uninsulated cabin opened in Nov. 2023 and features bunks for 8 and a wood stove. Everything else is BYO. Use it as a base for exploring the Willoughby State Forest and some of the gladed areas the Northeast Kingdom Backcountry Alliance has established there.

Reservations at the hut are $95 per night via the Green Mountain Club.

Ready, Set, Race Uphill Uphill skiing (more often known as skinning) has become so popular that it feels like the early morning hours at many resorts are an informal competition. Locals race to get their workouts in before the lifts start spinning and their jobs start. At Bolton Valley, though, the after-hours scene can be fun to outright competitive with everyone from beginning splitboarders, to teleskiers, to aspiring Olympic skimo meeting up the Catamount Trail Association’s Green Mountain Skimo Series. The series is presented by Dynafit on Tuesday nights. Expect 6 pm starts from January 16 through February 27, with the Jan. 30 event being held at Stowe. Cost is $10 and you will need an uphill lift ticket.

Magic’s New Black Line

Your Ski Butler Delivers

The Red Chair at Magic Mountain has become almost as iconic as Mad River Glen’s single chair.

But this season, its sister chair, the Black Line, may finally be up and running. Magic Mountain purchased the Poma Alpha quad from Stratton and over the past four years has been installing the towers. This past summer’s floods, which also dumped more than 10,000 gallons of silt into the ski area’s snowmaking pond, set operations back. The Black Line Quad, which is adjacent to the Red Chair and runs to the summit, replaces an old triple. When it is fully operational the quad should triple the number of skiers who can reach the summit in an hour.

Imagine that instead of heading to a rental shop the day you roll into town you could find all your gear waiting for you at your hotel or condo. This season, Stratton Mountain Resort is making that happen through a program it calls Ski Butlers. A dedicated team of experts takes the time to get to know your preferences and skill level, ensuring that the equipment you receive is a perfect fit and then delivers it to your door.

Burton Snowboards took this idea national when it launched its rental program in October, 2022. The program lets you sign up to have rental gear (apparel, snowboards, boots and bindings) delivered to you anywhere in the U.S. – be it at your condo at Pico or hotel in Jackson Hole.

Another Vermont company, KitLender of Stowe also operates nationally. KitLender rents out entire skiwear outfits, from jackets and bibs to mitts and goggles so if you have friends or relatives who are new to snowsports, they don’t have to invest in a full kit—or borrow your gear.

vtskiandride.com Holidays 2023/24 17

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PERSPECTIVE

The Myth of the Black Skier Black skiers and riders are here, skiing and riding, racing gates and hitting the jumps in the parks. But what will it take for us to be seen? By Victoria Gaither at the finish line.

Of all the winter Olympic sports, downhill skiing was my favorite to watch because I could identify with the feeling of excitement; it was the same kind of excitement I got when I accomplished something big, like when I spoke in front of the D.C. City Council and shared my thoughts on why we needed a playground in my neighborhood.

One day, in my teens, on a school trip to Liberty Mountain in Pennsylvania, I got a chance to see what it felt like to ski downhill.

After a how-to from a ski instructor, I was ready, feeling like the next Olympic hopeful.

But my dream of being a skier crashed and died that day. It was a disaster! Either I should have paid more attention to my lesson, or skiing just didn’t come as naturally to me as I thought it would. I was sitting on the side of the slope with tears in my eyes when a Black woman skied next to me and helped me get up.

She asked if I was okay. I cried, saying no, that skiing wasn’t for me, and I didn’t belong here. Like lightning, her response to me was: Never say that! You always belong here on this mountain.

It wasn’t until college, when I took a weekend trip with friends, that I really started skiing.

After a bad first experience on snow, broadcast journalist and author of this article Victoria Gaither picked up the sport again in college. Now she’s a regular at Killington where she spends her winters.

J

anuary 15 is a holiday that celebrates Martin Luther King’s birthday. It also marks one of the most popular and busiest ski weekends of the year. Yet, in many places and on many mountains, there is still a myth that Black people don’t ski.

Growing up in Washington, D.C., my only exposure to skiing was on television and usually the Olympics. It was a thrill to watch skiers race down the mountain, lean into turns, and throw their hands up

We Are Here!

I am now a skier and have had a successful career as a broadcast journalist. While I know that even today only 1.5% of the ski population is Black, every time I reflect on that first experience learning to ski, I remind myself that Black people have been skiing for as long as we have had snow on the ground.

We aren’t new to this! Failing to acknowledge that Black people are in the mountains skiing and have been forever is saying we don’t exist. Diversity and inclusion for People of Color in the ski industry are separate issues from acknowledging the already active and thriving Black ski and snowboard community.

vtskiandride.com Holidays 2023 /24 19

PERSPECTIVE You only have to look at the National Brotherhood of Snowsports (NBS), a non-profit organization that lists over 57 chapters all over the U.S. made up of AfricanAmerican skiers. Some of those chapters date back to the early 1970s when its members were leading the way for inclusion.

Henri Rivers, the president of NBS who works tirelessly to promote youth and underrepresented communities in the sport, has said: “We have been skiing as long as there has been snow. We have been doing this since I was a little child; long before my father and his father. We didn’t have communication at the level that we have now with technology. Now, you can open up your phone and see Black people skiing all over the world.”

The NBS has ski racers in the pipeline and supports Black athletes in the industry who are looking to push their way to the top. The organization’s Olympic scholarship fund has helped 45 athletes since it was launched and can now count two NBS athletes in the Paralympics (Bonnie St. John and Ralph Green), and two in the Olympics (Seba Johnson and Errol Kerr), both representing Caribbean Nations.

Last season, Stratton Mountain School skier Bronson Culver, 17 —also supported by the NBS—finished in the top 30 in slalom at the 2023 National Championships in Sun Valley. Rivers’ son and three daughters (triplets) are accomplished ski racers. His son, Henri Rivers IV races for Gould Academy and two of his daughters, Helaina and Henniyah, for Holderness.

In snowboarding and freestyle, Black skiers and riders are already in the media spotlight. An example is pro snowboarder Zeb Powell. Powell is a Stratton Mountain School grad who won a gold at the X Games.

Both he, and Okemo Mountain School and NBS skier LJ Henriquez, 15, are sponsored by Burton, Oakley, Red Bull and a host of other major brands.

A Growing Presence Every winter at my home mountain of Killington Ski Resort I am meeting more and more Black skiers and riders. In fact, I met my best friend Nichelle Sanders, who is a person of color at Killington, the mountain she calls home.

Sanders, a marketing executive who lives in Mendon, shared this story: “My father, Harold Sanders, was a Black man who was born in 1940 in North Carolina and he fell in love with skiing. He was famous with his friends at Howard University for taking them skiing despite the fact that in the early 1960’s they were likely the only Black people that might have ever skied at some of these hills in Virginia, West Virginia and Pennsylvania. He instilled a love of skiing in me, and I’m continuing the legacy and the love of the sport with my family, especially my son, who is four years old now.”

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I met another Black snowboarder, Justin Bibb, from Boston at the Killington World Cup; he talked of his father teaching him to snowboard, but he struggled. “I am at a point now where I am loving it, and it’s one of the best sports around,” said Bibb.

Bobby Johnson, another Killington local, was the first African-American ski school director in the U.S. He’s been skiing since 1978 and has been a member of the Professional Ski Instructors of America for over 30 years.

Johnson has a lot to say about what he has seen over time. “In the 1970s, I was often the only Black skier, but now that’s no longer the case. However, there’s still a lot of ground to cover professionally in snowsports. I still face a lot of skepticism about my abilities as a PSIA Gold Shield [Level 3] instructor and professional because of the way I look—that is, until they ski or ride with me,” he says. “Now that I’m outside of a ski school environment, my focus is on introducing and welcoming other people of color into the sport through my club, Follow the Snow.”

Johnon now privately coaches skiing, telemark skiing, and snowboarding. He set up “Follow the Snow” on Facebook to welcome everyone into the snowsports

The author (bottom) and some of her Killington friends including Follow the Snow club founder Bobby Johnson, left, and his partner Nichelle Sanders, top and Michael Buccerio, right.

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lifestyle and to fundraise for nonprofit organizations driving inclusivity on the snow.

Schone Malliet, Chief Executive Officer and Founder of Winter4Kids, a non-profit organization in Vernon, New Jersey, focuses on getting kids on the mountain to ski and race. When I spoke with him at the Killington World Cup, he noted that growing diversity in our sports is about making space for everyone, “’Welcoming’ means making a safe place for everybody and that you embrace that it doesn’t matter what you look like — whether you are male or female, black or white, able-bodied or not.”

‘Welcoming’ also means the media will show Black skiers and snowboarders as we are: people who enjoy snow sports. Don’t relegate us to a sound bite, a quote in a story, or picture for an article when you need us.

Remember, we are here all the time! We must escape

this old narrative of the Black Skier, being new on the mountain.

The Black Skier isn’t like Big Foot or the Loch Ness Monster; you can see us, we are alive, breathing, in the lodges, on the slopes, lifts, and ski shops— not something invisible but already here. Let’s acknowledge it, cheer for it, and celebrate it!

Perhaps the myth of the Black skier will fade if we see a Black racer push off from the starting gate at professional-level events like the Killington World Cup. That’s a visual that wouldn’t be lost on the world. At the Killington World Cup, I saw a young Black girl in the stands watching Olympian Mikaela Shiffrin race.

She had the same excitement on her face that I did as a child watching the Olympics on television. u

JOIN THE CLUBS More and more organizations are devoted to helping Black, indigenous and people of color (BIPOC) get on the slopes and enjoy outdoor sports. Two new ones in Vermont include Bobby Johnson’s Killington-based Follow the Snow Club (on Facebook) and Powered Magazine (on Instagram), which amplifies and helps promote BIPOC participation in outdoor activities. They join the following more-established (in the case of the National Brotherhood, long-established) groups that regularly provide access to snowsports to both seasoned athletes and aspiring participants.

National Brotherhood of Skiers: Since 1973, the National Brotherhood of Skiers has been gathering Black skiers and riders for events such as its National Summit (to be held in Big Sky, Mont. Feb. 24-March 2) and serves as an umbrella organization for more than 57 local chapters around the U.S. The NBS mission is to identify, develop and support athletes of color who will win international and Olympic competitions and to increase participation in snowsports. In addition, for the past few years, the NBS has also partnered with the non-profit Women of Winter (shown above) and Professional Ski Instructors of America to provide scholarships to its PSIA Level I and Level II instructor training and certification camps (also held in Big Sky, Mont.).

To find a local NBS chapter, visit nbs.org.

Outdoor Afro: A national non-profit with 11 chapters in the Northeast, including one in Burlington, Vt. Outdoor Afro celebrates and inspires Black connections and leadership in nature. Its mission is to “reconnect Black people to our lands, water, and wildlife through outdoor education, recreation, and conservation.”

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Outdoor Afro provides leadership training and helps participants get involved in outdoor activities that range from fishing, hiking and biking, to kayaking, skiing, and more. outdoorafro.com Unlikely Riders: Founded in Vermont in 2020 by skiers and snowboarders, Unlikely Riders helps break down some of the barriers of entry for the BIPOC community by providing gear, lessons and lift tickets as well as fostering community. Through partnerships and donations, Unlikely Rider’s Winter Gear Closet has already provided over 1,900 pieces of winter gear to BIPOC Vermonters at no cost—everything from skis, snowboards, jackets, boots, helmets, gloves, to splitboards and more. The group’s mission is to “mobilize our community to find healing with the mountains while claiming space in the snow sports industry and culture.” unlikelyriders.com

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GREAT GEAR FROM THE GREEN MOUNTAINS When you think of gifts or gear from Vermont, you might think of a bottle of maple syrup or cheese. But for skiers or riders, there’s something even better: The Green Mountains are continually spawning innovative new brands and attracting new outdoor gear companies.

Companies such as Burton Snowboards and Renoun have reimagined boards and skis. Darn Tough Vermont and Skida jumped into the crowded hat and sock market and thrived because their products are just that different and that good. In the last few years, new brands such as Hootie Hoo, a line of skiwear for children, Thuja custom hoodies and Bivo water bottles have emerged here. You can find some of these products at local retailers or you can buy direct.

BAIST GLOVE SYSTEM From southern Vermont comes a revolutionary way to keep your hands warm and dry during any winter sport. This system allows you to customize your gloves for the specific needs of your activity, whether you’re skiing, snowboarding, or just spending time outdoors in the cold. The Baist Glove System includes a base layer glove and a variety of interchangeable outer layers that can be easily attached or removed depending on the weather conditions. The base layer glove is made with moisture-wicking materials to keep your hands dry and comfortable, and the outer layers are designed with waterproof and windproof materials to protect against the elements. The Baist Glove System ($99-$169) offers a range of benefits, including increased warmth, versatility, and convenience. With the ability to mix and match outer layers, you can easily adjust your gloves to suit the weather and your preferences. Baistgloves.com

QUEEN CITY FOOTWEAR HOUSE SHOES The ultimate house shoes are made in Vermont from full grain bison leather, with a merino wool footbed on the inside and suede leather sole. Available on the Queen City Footwear website for $150, or $200 if you add the optional rubber sole. queencityfootwear.com

BIVO TRIO WATER BOTTLE Bivo is a performance product company, and their first offerings are sophisticated metal water bottles designed for cyclists and Nordic skiers. Bivo is based in Richmond, and was founded by a former cross-country ski racer at the University of Vermont. The Bivo Trio is an insulated stainless-steel bottle that fits in universal bike cages, has a patented technology that allows for a high flow rate (pours faster than you can squeeze plastic) and pulls apart for easy cleaning.

Plus, it’s dishwasher safe. The perfect gift for the cyclist in your life. You can find the Bivo Trio ($49) in local shops as well as on the website, drinkbivo.com.

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SPONSORED CONTENT SKIDA CHATEAU HAT The Chateau Pom ($44) is crafted in a performance knit engineered to maintain warmth and adorned with a faux-fur pom pom on top. The Chateau Collection was conceived from a longing for elevated performance accessories suitable for chilly urban streets and mountain towns. Founded by Corinne Prevot, a Vermont ski racer from the Northeast Kingdom, Skida is based in Burlington and their hats are, as always, made in the USA. Stop by the Pine Street shop. Skida.com

DARN TOUGH FUNCTION 5 One of Darn Tough’s most tech-heavy snow socks, the new Function 5, ($33) was reengineered at their Northfield headquarters to provide maximum comfort and warmth for skiers and riders. Made from midweight merino wool, these ultra-smooth socks make all the difference if you head back out after lunch. Terry cushioning in the shin and the ‘X’ on top of the foot provide warmth while added heel durability protects you run after run. Darntoughvt.com

HOOTIE HOO VISTA SNOWSUIT Hootie Hoo is a woman-owned company based in Chittenden County that provides top-tier technical apparel for children. The company believes that many of life’s most valuable lessons and habits are cultivated through outdoor experiences. The passion lies in creating high-quality gear designed to empower children to “Outplay The Elements.” The Kids Vista Insulated Snowsuit ($220) features 100% recycled polyester 2L fabric, 20,000MM waterproof rating and 100g PrimaLoft® insulation. It gives kids maximum protection and warmth on those cold winter days. Hootiehoo.com

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BURTON STEP ON® GROM SNOWBOARD BINDINGS Independence is a powerful learning tool.

Designed in collaboration with Burton employees and their kids—many of whom work at the Burlington headquarters—the kids’ Burton Step On® Grom Snowboard Bindings ($349) make it a cinch for even the smallest riders to achieve snowboarding independence. Built specifically for kids, there are release levers at the toe and heel for added ease of use. Like the name says, it’s a step on and ride scenario. Burton.com

GEAR

THUJA CUSTOM BURROW HOODIE This is the perfect all-around mid-layer. Constructed with Polartec© Power Grid™ fleece, it is moisture-wicking, and warm, yet breathable and lightweight and made from 93% recycled Polyester. The Burrow Hoodie ($120) is custom-made here in Williston, Vt. Mix and match colors for the body and choose from a variety of original patterns for the pocket. There are thousands of possible combinations, so yours can be completely unique. ThujaVT.com

GORDINI WINDWARD GLOVES Ready for your day on the slopes, the Windward gloves ($119.99) from Gordini of Essex Junction feature superior flexibility, warmth, and weather protection. The exterior of the Windward is made with a bluesign®-approved shell, water-resistant CLUTCH® synthetic leather palm, fingers and trim, while the interior features a GoreTex insert, THINDOWN® plus Sorona® insulation fabric, moisture wicking lining and gauntlet cuff. Available in men’s and women’s sizes. Gordini.com

PARADIS SPORT SEAMLESS BIKINI The Paradis Sport Seamless Bikini is designed to wick moisture, dry fast, prevent chafing and riding up, and move with you with 4-way stretch. It’s made with super-soft nylon yarn that is made in the USA and BPA-free, using high quality construction that is built to last. Seamless design means you don’t have to worry about chafing or annoying tags. With a stay-in-place promise, you’ll never know they’re there--so you can focus on edging, not wedgies. Proudly made in the USA. The bikinis are $28 each or 5-pack for $119.

Paradissport.com

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VERMONT GLOVES The raddest leather ski gloves this side of the Himalaya are hand-stitched in Randolph, Vermont. Made of 100% goat leather and waxed canvas, these leather ski gloves are perfect for riding the lifts or backcountry skinning up secret glades. The versatile Vermont Glove ski gloves ($150) come with a removable merino wool liner to keep your digits extra toasty. You can run the leather glove shell while climbing, lay in the wool for the downhill, or even pack an extra pair of liners for the long haul to swap out the sweaties for the freshies. Vermontglove.com

SLOGGN SKI SLIPS Keeping road grime, grit, salt, and water off your skis has never been easier thanks to Sloggn Ski Slips. Designed by the Burlingtonbased Sloggn, these heavy-duty, 4 ml. PackTuff™ bags ($17.50 for a pack of four) fit any length of skis, so even long trips in messy conditions can be a breeze. Use them for seasonal storage or to securely hold your skis in a hitch or roof rack. Plus, they’re reusable and easily repairable with duct tape if they tear. Ready to hit the slopes? Slip on the Sloggn Ski Slips! Sloggn.com

RENOUN ENDURANCE 88 The Endurance 88 is the all-mountain ski of choice, designed by a Vermonter for Vermonters. With a redesigned camber profile for 2024, the 88 is more versatile than ever while still having incredible grip and edge hold that has set it apart from the beginning. Engineered with Renoun’s proprietary VibeStop™ Technology, it’s no wonder Renoun, based in Chittenden County, has continued to grow year after year. Renoun.com

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Nordic and alpine skiing, winter trails, snowshoeing, ice fishing, cold water plunge... all from your own backyard.

This is Vermont.

Dream Home

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AT HOME IN THE HILLS

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HOW A COUPLE FROM NEW YORK PULLED TOGETHER DESIGNERS FROM VERMONT AND AROUND THE COUNTRY TO CREATE A MODERN TAKE ON THE CLASSIC BARN.

BY LISA LYNN | PHOTOS BY GLEN ALLSOP

Simple, barn-like shapes, a palette drawn from the rocks and trees, minimalist landcredit

scaping of birches and grasses by Wagner Hodgson. These elements helped make this home, finished in 2022, feel as if it anchors a high meadow to the mountains.

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HIGH ON A HILLSIDE, WITH VIEWS TOWARD THE WORCESTER RANGE sits what at first glance looks to be a simple home. It is not too large – a bit over 4,200 square feet. It is not fussy or showy.

In a starkly Yankee way, it anchors the end of a field to the mountainside beyond.

This is the home that a couple from the New York area dreamed of. To build it, they pulled together ideas they’d been harboring for years and handpicked the team --- architect, builders and designers-- who contributed from as far as Long Island and Los Angeles.

Yet the house they built with its wood beams and stone floors, and its palette of earth tones drawn from the granite and hemlock of the surrounding hills, feels rooted in Vermont.

The couple, who asked to be called by their first names, Zach and Jen, bought 30 acres high on a hillside with views to

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Jay Peak, well before the pandemic. It was 2018 and they were living in New York. Zach had been coming to Vermont to ski for more than a dozen years.

“We’d been living in 300- to 500 -square-foot apartments and envisioned eventually building something that might be just a vacation home,” Zach recalls. “Our realtor, Judy Foregger of Pall Spera, originally sent us listings in Stowe but we really wanted to be in Waterbury for its restaurants and its village and its nearness to the airport. Then she showed us this property.”

They mulled it over and after a time, made an offer.

Zach had been envisioning his dream vacation home for some time. “Somewhere in the basement I have files of magazine articles, photos and clippings that I’ve been saving since 2008,” he says. Zach’s background as a restaurateur, as well as business

experience in real estate development and glass manufacturing, also fed into his design aesthetic.

He even knew what artwork he would hang on the walls. He’d been visiting a Santa Fe, N.M. gallery that his mother first introduced him when he was 21 that showcased renowned Native American artist Poteet Victory.

“I would visit the gallery every few years, but I couldn’t afford Poteet’s work. I hoped that someday I would.” In addition to Victory’s artwork, on his wish list for a dream home were a cellar and humidor for his favorite wine and cigars, a movie screening room and a shower for his Giant Schnauzer.

“We had planned to build in 2019, but we could not get New York banks to see our vision so went with a local bank (NEFCU). It took a year for us to get that straightened out. But that was a good thing because our aesthetic for the house totally changed. I’m glad we waited,” he says.

By then, the couple had sold off all but 10 acres, which included the vast meadow. They had also lined up friends to help work on the house. A buddy, John D’Anna, ran Copperdog Construction out of Shelburne. Another friend of a friend, the architect/designer Ameé Allsop of East Hampton, N.Y. helped with the interior design. Zach and Jen had already lined up noted Vermont architect Joan Heaton to draw the lines of the home.

The kitchen island

Wood beams and paneled walls and ceilings; soapstone surfaces and stone finishes are used throughout the home, tying it to the landscape. The wine cellar, below, was designed by Jason Atkins, who also designed a wine shop for the owner in Brooklyn. “I searched all over to find just the right wine crates to finish the look,” says Zach, the homeowner.

INSPIRED BY BARNS

Heaton had grown up in Warren, not far area and the steelfrom the home site. “I started to think clad fireplace. about what a contemporary Vermont barn might look like for someone coming from New York and how can we play that up,” she recalls. “One thing that made it easy is that it’s appropriate in a barn to have these big openings. That allowed us to do the big square windows that maximize the views and the high ceilings.”

It also allowed Heaton to create two main structures – both rectangular — and join them. To the south, the kitchen and living room have their own wing, with a door extending to a covered porch. (The porch was added in fall of 2023, after these photos were taken). Zach’s office sits above the kitchen, in an open loft that looks out over the living room.

To the north, the “sleeping” wing, as Heaton calls it, includes two bedrooms and two baths on the ground floor and a giant suite on the top floor (a 22-foot by 36-foot space) with vaulted ceilings.

Linking the two is the entryway and stairs, which face giant looks out to the living

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“We wanted a warm, moody kitchen to contrast with light walls used in the rest of the house,” noted designer Jason Atkins. The kitchen has Vermont Soapstone counters and Cle New California tiles in bracken and British Standard Cabinets by Plain English. Across the bridge that connects the two wings a painting by Poteet Victory is visible.

glass windows, and a second-floor bridge that connects Zach’s study to the owners’ suite. To the north side, a small mudroom is outfitted with a soapstone sink and even a shower designed just to give their Giant Schnauzer a good wash-down.

The stairwell also leads down to the basement level where, wait for it, Zach got his wine cellar, humidor, home theater and even a bunkroom that sleeps four.

Heaton’s plans were originally going to be built by D’Anna’s firm Copperdog Construction. But D’Anna suggested partnering with Bensonwood to do the exterior build. The New Hampshire firm has created buildings such as Rumble’s Bistro at Sugarbush’s Lincoln Peak and Burr & Burton Academy’s Mountain Campus in Peru, Vt. “Bensonwood ended up being a great solution,” Zach says

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of the design/build firm that’s dedicated to high efficiency building, and has a special focus on timber frame construction.

“We design and build many of our projects here at our facility in New Hampshire,” explains Bensonwood’s Jonathan Wright, who helped complete the project.

“That allows us to do the millwork here, put in the R-35 insulation and even fit the Marvin windows into the panels.

Then the whole panels — interior and exterior walls, the stairs and even the bridge, were delivered on-site. Once everything is finished in our shop — which can take about 6 months — we can typically build a home on-site in as little as three weeks.”

The firm also works with outside designers and does highly customized projects.

As a result, Zach and Jen’s home went up faster than they might

A small dining alcove off the kitchen was designed by Allsop and Atkins and custom built by Snowfield to match the cabinets. Below: The main bedroom has an open floor plan that features twin soapstone sinks, a massive tub and a large walk-in closet.

have anticipated: like a barn raising, it took just over a few weeks for the walls and structure to come together. “We also planned to be able to add things on later, like the porch which is going in now,” says Wright.

Bensonwood’s Douglas fir timbers were exposed throughout the interior and finished with Vermont Natural Coatings. Their staircase was white oak. After the house was framed, D’Anna brought in Rob Hunt of Snowfield Woodworking in Morrisville to do the finish carpentry, including the built-in benches and drawers in the kitchen and the 4-foot by 8-foot island of white oak in the kitchen, topped with Vermont Butcher Block.

MAKING IT HOME

The vision was all coming together – perhaps not as originally planned but in an evolutionary way. As the project progressed, Allsop, pregnant with her second child, found she could only devote so much time to the project. Zach called in another favorite designer, Jason Atkins who had helped him design his Brooklyn, N.Y., wine shop, Spirit Animal.

“I was living in California at the time but I knew Zach and I wanted to capture the landscape and materiality of Vermont,” Atkins said. Working with Zach, Atkins came up with the contrast of the darker materials used in the kitchen to create a moody atmosphere and the light airiness of the other rooms.

Both Allsop and Atkins worked remotely and never saw the home while doing the work.

In the meantime, the couple’s lease on their apartment in New York came up. “Rather than look for a new place there, we just decided to move,” Zach recalls. “One day in 2022 we found ourselves pulling up the driveway and realizing this was our new home. There was a moment or two of panic. I was thinking this was either the worst decision of my life or the best,” he says. “It was the best.”

Now, on Monday mornings Zach joins a group of buddies to ski Mad River Glen. His year-old Giant Schnauzer, Faust comes romping in from a snowy day to his own shower, set in a mudroom that features Vermont soapstone counters and a custom sink. A fire roars in the fireplace, whose black steel casing rises 28 feet to the living room’s cathedral ceiling. Several paintings by Poteet Victory hang on the walls.

The couple work from home now – Zach in his loft office over the ceiling, Jen in on one of the downstairs rooms. They take time to walk the meadow, to sit out by the firepit that Wagner Hodgson created near a boulder at the far end of the field, and to take Faust for walks.

The humidor and the wine cellar get used for entertaining, and over holidays, extended family settle into the bunks in the screening room.

“Soon, that will be used more by family,” Zach anticipates. He and Jen are expecting a child soon. What started as a vacation spot, is now truly their home. n

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When a freak December storm dumped 52 inches on Ascutney in 2020, skiers came from all over the region. Brooks Curran (shown here) drove from Burlington.

The trails on the top half of Ascutney are no longer lift-served, which makes them prime backcountry terrain, especially after a storm.

Photo by Ansel DIckey

WITH FEW CROWDS, CHEAP LIFT TICKETS AND GREAT VIBES, NO WONDER SO MANY OF VERMONT’S SMALL, COMMUNITY-SUPPORTED SKI HILLS ARE NOT ONLY SURVIVING BUT THRIVING.

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BRINGING VISITORS TO THE MOUNTAINS In 1934, in Woodstock, Vt., a Dartmouth College ski coach named Wallace “Bunny” Bertram hooked up a rope-and-wheel system to a Ford Model T engine and created the nation’s first

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Ansel Dickey

I

t’s a Friday afternoon, and snow falls steadily. Cars rush north on I-91, wipers clicking, roof racks loaded with skis. At exit 2 in Brattleboro, many pull off, headed for Bromley, Stratton, or Magic.

Some stop in at the Vermont Country Deli on Route 9 to pick up a jar of maple syrup or muffins for breakfast. Stocked up, the weekenders drive on to their condos and ski houses. In the morning, they will race the crowds to get the first powdery tracks. But just past the deli, a few cars make a left and then a quick right turn into Living Memorial Park, the town rec area.

Here, less than two miles from the I-91 exit ramp, the weekend has already started.

Lights beam out across the broad, open slopes of Brattleboro Ski Hill. Skiers and riders are letting out whoops as they carve loose S turns. To one side of the hill, four teenagers are shoveling snow over a section of drainage pipe to make a mini-DIY terrain park.

At the base, cars keep pulling in—mostly Vermont plates.

Parents shuffle kids through the gap in the chain-link fence, the perimeter of the town softball field at the bottom of the slope. They pay $5 at a small shack (cash or check only, a sign reminds), and then until closing time (9 p.m.) it’s unlimited rides up 204 vertical feet to the “summit.”

Christina Gilchrist watches her husband load the T-bar with their 4-year-old son. “This place is amazing,” she says.

“Everybody kept telling us to come. I can’t believe that in all these years skiing Vermont I never did until now.” During the pandemic, the Gilchrists had decamped from New York City to her family’s house in Townshend, Vermont.

“Don’t get me wrong, we love Vermont’s bigger mountains.

But for my son to have a lesson and lift ticket it’s often at least $150 at the bigger places,” she says. Here, kids under 5 ski free.

A season pass at Brattleboro Ski Hill is $75; $200 for a family.

“This place takes all the pressure off,” Gilchrist says. “I love that it takes all the elitism and the expense and the competition out of skiing.” As she speaks, she gets more animated, her voice reaching a passionate crescendo. “This,” she says, waving her mittened hands wide, “This is what skiing should be all about.”

uphill ski tow. That was the start of a hill that was named Suicide Six and recently renamed Saskadena Six (Abenaki for “standing mountain).

Now owned by the nonprofit Windham Foundation (which also owns the posh The Woodstock Inn), Saskadena Six has ample snowmaking and this season, a new connector trail. The ski area once known for its steeps now draws skiers who want a quiet, uncrowded experience. On weekends, both visitors and locals gather around the bar at Perley’s to share stories.

Back in the 1930s, it didn’t take long for other towns to realize that putting in a rope tow could help drive tourism. East Corinth’s Northeast Slopes put in a tow in 1936, Lyndon Outing Club and Stowe both opened rope tows in 1937. Middlebury College which had been cutting trails since 1934 put in its base lodge in 1938.

By 1938, Brattleboro had a ski area as well. Its rope tow rose 1,100 feet. Powered by electricity, the rope traveled on Ford Model A wheels affixed to 16-foot poles. The tow could run 300 skiers to the summit in an hour. On a busy weekend, the ski area would see more than 1,500 visitors, some coming from as far as Connecticut and Rhode Island. In 1938 Brattleboro also launched the nation’s second ski patrol (after Stowe). The following season, lights were hooked up. Night skiing tickets were 25 cents. A full day cost 35 cents.

Ruth Lane moved to Brattleboro in the 1950s, around the time a T-bar replaced the rope tow. She joined the ski patrol in 1956 and served for 41 years, initially as one of 60 members who rotated around Brattleboro Ski Hill, Hogback Mountain, and Maple Valley. “It’s what we did on weekends, something the whole family could do,” she says. “My daughters grew up skiing here. We were devastated when Hogback and Maple Valley closed, but I still ski Brattleboro.”

Spencer Crispe, a ninth-generation Vermonter and a lawyer in

Clockwise from top left: Gertrude Suokko skins up Mt. Ascutney (photo by Ansel Dickey). The top half of Ascutney is not lift-served but its old trails make for great backcountry skiing. Wade Pierson has taken over from his father in making sure Northeast Slopes’ rope tow and T-bar serve the local community. Spencer Crispe grew up skiing Brattleboro Ski Hill, where lift tickets are just $5. The ski hill sits at the edge of the town’s Living Memorial Park, near the summer baseball diamond. Photos by Oliver Parini vtskiandride.com Holidays 2023/24 39

Brattleboro, learned to ski at Brattleboro Ski Hill as soon as he could walk. “I’ve been skiing here my whole life,” he says. “It’s the reason I’m a skier.” Crispe, 42, has skied all 110 mountains in Vermont over 3,000 feet, both those with trails and lifts and those without. His grandfather, Luke Crispe, helped start Stratton Mountain. “We lived in town, and our parents would just turn us loose at Brattleboro. I still ski there. It’s one of my three favorite places in the world,” he says.

Brattleboro Ski Hill went through its financial ups and downs and, after a low-snow year, even closed in 1995 for two years. Then the townspeople rallied and formed a nonprofit.

Two years later it reopened with the land owned by the town, but everything else—the Dopplemeyer T-bar, the grooming machine, the snow guns—belonged to Brattleboro Ski Hill, a nonprofit. “We rely a lot on donations,” treasurer Hannah Neff says. “Everyone is a volunteer.”

A FAMILY GATHERING About 100 miles north of Brattleboro, in the village of East Corinth, Wade Pierson gears up for a busy Saturday night at

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CLASSIC COMMUNITY SKI HILLS

With new lifts, snowmaking and night skiing, many of Vermont’s smallest community ski hills are seeing a resurgence in popularity.

These are places where lift tickets are inexpensive, the slopes are uncrowded, liftlines are short, and the parking (and sometimes even the skiing) is free. Keep in mind that many of these are only open a few days a week. While the Middlebury Snowbowl and Saskadena Six are larger and have extensive snowmaking, gear shops and rentals, many of the smaller areas —often run by volunteers—don’t. Their operation is often dependent on conditions so check the websites or social media before planning a visit ASCUTNEY OUTDOORS Brownsville Stats: Eight trails, 26 skiable acres; one rope tow, one T-bar; vertical drop 450 feet. Don’t Miss: Skinning the upper part of the mountain for fresh tracks after a storm or Ascutney’s lift-served tubing park, a relative rarity in Vermont. Eat & Drink: Brownsville Butcher & Pantry for breakfast fare and hearty burgers and sandwiches. Stay: A Holiday Inn resort is handily located just below the base, while in nearby Windsor, the Windsor Mansion Inn and the Snapdragon Inn are historic properties. Details: Tickets $20/$10 youth, T-bar runs weekend afternoons and holidays.ascutneyoutdoors.org BRATTLEBORO SKI HILL Brattleboro Stats: Two trails, two skiable acres; one T-bar; vertical drop 204 feet.

Don’t Miss: Family Fun Day with hot dogs, s’mores, and a costume party (usually in early March). Eat & Drink: Brattleboro has lots to choose from, and top-notch breweries Whetstone and Hermit Thrush.

Stay: The Latchis Hotel, a downtown Art Deco landmark. Details: Tickets $5 (cash or check only). Open Fridays 4 – 9m, Sat. 10-9pm and Sun. 12-4 pm. Plus select Thursdays and holidays. brattski.org COCHRAN’S SKI AREA Richmond Stats: Eight trails, 25 skiable acres; two rope tows, one T-bar; vertical drop 350 feet. Don’t Miss: Mid-March “Rope-A-Thon” fund-raiser. Eat & Drink: Pub food and house brews at Stone Corral Brewery. Stay: Burlington, 14 miles away has many options, including the boutique Hotel Vermont. Details: Weekdays (Tues-Thurs, 3 pm to 6 pm. $10/$8 youth); weekend $19/$14 youth; Friday nights $5. cochranskiarea.com

At Hard’Ack, top, a small terrain park keeps snowboarders busy after school.

More than just a training ground for Middlebury College’s D1 ski team, the Snowbowl and its classic base lodge are a gathering place for locals and students alike. Oliver Parini

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HARD’ACK RECREATION AREA, St. Albans Stats: Two trails, 2 skiable acres; one rope tow, one T-bar; vertical drop 100 feet. Don’t Miss: The 4K Nordic loop is lit for night-time cross-country skiing and plays host to the Hard’Ack Challenge 5K/10K cross-country race on Feb. 18. Eat & Drink: St. Albans is home to some top breweries, get a brew at 14th Star Brewing or pair a local draft with BBQ at Mill River Brewing, BBQ and Smokehouse.

Stay: Back Inn Time B&B, or the Hampton or La Quinta inns.

Details: Tickets are free. Donations welcome. Open most weekend afternoons. stalbansvt.myrec.com/ MIDDLEBURY SNOWBOWL Hancock Stats: 17 trails, 600 skiable acres; 3 chairlifts (including one new quad), one surface lift; vertical drop 1000 feet. Don’t Miss: New this season, night skiing ($29) from 4 pm to 9 pm, Wed.-Fri. Or head down the road to cross-country ski or fatbike at the Rikert Outdoor Center. Eat & Drink: The Waybury Inn just down Route 125 or locals’ favorite Two Brothers in Middlebury. Stay: The elegant Swift House, the Waybury Inn or the Middlebury Inn. Details: Tickets $45-$65, $29 for night skiing. Middleburysnowbowl.com LYNDON OUTING CLUB Lyndonville.

Stats: 10 trails, one rope tow, one T-bar; vertical drop 433 feet.

Don’t Miss: Night skiing and riding. Eat & Drink: Estella’s Bar and Grill for classic pub fare or Mosaic which has vegetarian specialties.

Stay: Fairbanks Inn or Comfort Inn in St. Johnsbury or the posh Rabbit Hill Inn, about 10 miles east. Details: $15, open Sat./Sun. with night skiing 6 pm to 9 pm, Wed.-Saturday. Skilyndon.com NORTHEAST SLOPES East Corinth Stats: 12 trails, 35 skiable acres; two rope tows, one T-bar; vertical drop 360 feet.Don’t Miss: Full-moon skiing under portable lights, announced via Facebook as weather permits. Eat & Drink: You can’t beat the ski hill’s own Nor’easter Burger: local grass-fed beef, caramelized onions, melted Cabot cheddar. In nearby Bradford, look for Colatina Bakery and the Little Grille at the Mille. Stay: Make a weekend of it at Lake Morey Resort, about 15 miles away.

Details: See website. northeastslopes.org SASKADENA SIX, South Pomfret Stats: 3 lifts, 28 trails, 100 skiable acres; 1 quad chairlift, 1 double chair, 1 J-bar; vertical drop 650 feet. Don’t Miss: A chance to ski the oldest ski area in the U.S. or head to the Nordic center for occasional evenings of live music and fly-tying lessons with an Orvis expert.

Eat & Drink: Grab a local brew at Perley’s Pourhouse or head into Woodstock to the Au Comptoir cocktail bar and then to Worthy Burger for a meal. Stay: Book a room (and a spa treatment) at the tony Woodstock Inn. Details: Tickets, $69-$89, open 9 am to 4 pm Wed.-Sun. and holidays. Saskadenasix.com Living large at the Lyndon Outing Club

Northeast Slopes. “Yankee ingenuity, that’s how we keep going,” he says, gesturing toward the two rope tows that have been whisking skiers up the broad hillside every winter for decades.

These are the oldest continually running tows in the U.S., he estimates. The area’s tagline is “Keeping It Real Since 1936.”

Beyond the addition of a T-bar, the ski hill doesn’t look much different than it did in the 1930s. Back then, the “groomers” were Percheron draft horses that dragged farm tillers across the snowy fields of what was then Eugene Eastman’s sidehill farm.

Across Route 25, behind a split-rail fence, a bull nuzzles a hay bale. He glares at the skiers booting up in the dirt parking lot and slowly chews his cud. The short winter afternoon fades into a clear, starlit night. The air is crisp, and the Milky Way appears as a brightening streak across the big northern sky.

Soon, lights flash on for night skiing, and by 6 p.m. the parking lot is full.

There’s a party atmosphere here. Everyone seems to know each other. The attire is more Carhartt than Patagonia, and the gloves are mainly Kinco work gloves—for good reason, as you need the leather palms to grasp the rough, inch-thick hemp rope. Not many folks use poles. It’s too hard to grab the tow rope while holding them.

Kids latch onto the rope, get jerked up the hill, then skitter off at the summit. They form free-range packs, screaming and catching air on small jumps on the 360-foot vertical run to the bottom. In the lift line, there is chatter, flushed faces, and a sense of unbridled joy.

At the base, firepits are burning and there’s a lean-to outfitted with discarded furniture: tattered overstuffed armchairs, mismatched chairs and tables. “Pretty much everything here is recycled,” Pierson says with a shrug.

Nearby, someone is grilling burgers on a steel griddle fashioned to fit a two-burner Coleman stove. The smell of the sizzling meat wafts uphill, and a line forms before the first patty is flipped. Made with grass-fed local beef from the Waits River Country Store just down the road and topped with cheddar and grilled onions, the $6 burgers at Northeast Slopes rival the best $20 burger in Stowe.

Pierson, a sixth-generation Vermonter, inherited his role as a Northeast Slopes volunteer from his father. “My dad was a farmer and a mechanic—he helped put in the T-bar and volunteered here for 50 years,” he says. “In the fall, he’d go down to the ballfield and scoop up the outhouse with his tractor and run it up to the hill.

Put a road sign over the holes in the two-seater, and that was our summit lift shack.”

In the early 2000s, after a few lean snow years and a dwindling number of visitors, Northeast Slopes was at risk of closing. “My dad and a few others decided that what we really needed was a T-bar here, so we managed to raise about half the $180,000 it was going to take,” Pierson recalls.

Then a local patron named Leland Blodgett, a former Middlebury College skier, heard of the effort. “He called my dad and says, ‘How much do you need?’ My dad estimated about $72,000,” Pierson recalls. A few days later, that exact amount magically appeared in the ski area’s bank account. Blodgett

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farm. Sometimes we hunt and snowmobile. Mainly we ski.”

“What would you do if this place went away?” I ask.

There’s a long silence. “Oh, I just don’t know,” the cousin says, gazing up the hill as the thought sinks in. It’s something he seems never to have considered in his 13 years of life in East Corinth. “This place is my family,” he says quietly. “I just don’t know.

THE ONCE AND FUTURE SKI HILLS passed away not long after. A grooming machine, a hand-medown from a ski area out West, is named “Leland” in his honor.

When not running the ski area, Pierson operates a bus service, and recently he shifted his focus to transportation for people with special needs. “We want to make sure that every kid who wants to ski here can, regardless of need,” he says. Less than a mile down the road is the Waits River Valley School, and the school kids come to ski here every Wednesday afternoon— and whenever else they can.

On this Saturday, three middle schoolers, two brothers from nearby Haverhill, N.H., and their cousin who lives in East Corinth, kick out of their skis to warm up in the lean-to. As I write notes at a table, blowing on my fingers to warm them, they become curious and approach.

“What are you writing about?” the older brother asks.

“This place,” I reply. “How often do you come here?

“Every day it’s open.”

“Really, every day?” I query.

His brother jumps in. “Every day.”

“What else do you do when you’re not skiing?” I ask.

There’s a pause, and then the cousin says, “I help my granddad

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According to the New England Lost Ski Areas Project, at one time there were 119 ski areas operating in Vermont—an impressive number considering the state has 251 towns. The ski hills were to each community what baseball diamonds are today: places to play, to exercise, and to gather with neighbors.

Today, there are 22 ski areas with uphill lifts that are regularly open to the public.

Seven of the largest are owned by ski resort conglomerates: Vail Resorts’ Stowe, Okemo and Mount Snow; Alterra Mountain Company’s Stratton and Sugarbush, and Powdr Corporation’s Killington and Pico. Two are private ski clubs (Hermitage Club and Quechee). Jay Peak is now owned by Pacific Resorts Group and Burke is still in receivership, following the EB-5 scandal.

Four are still independently owned: Bolton Valley, Bromley, Magic, and Smugglers’ Notch.

Nine are run as nonprofits. Middlebury Snowbowl and Saskadena Six, have the backing of, respectively Middlebury College and the Windham Foundation. A co-op of passholders owns Mad River Glen. The rest are small, communitysupported nonprofits: Hard’Ack, Brattleboro Ski Hill, Lyndon Outing Club, Northeast Slopes, Cochran’s, and Ascutney.

Without the help of large corporate overlords or multi resort passes (Middlebury and Saskadena have Indy Pass agreements), these smaller areas are defying trends. Many are not just surviving but growing.

On the outskirts of the St. Albans, Hard’Ack Recreation (owned by the city) has continued to grow as a recreation area with a rope-tow, sledding, horse-drawn sleigh rides and even a cross-country course that’s lit up at night. The skiing is free but “Wolf Pack” members who pay a nominal donation can also get free hot chocolate each time they go.

At Middlebury Snowbowl, some of the impetus’ behind adding night skiing this season was to encourage high school and college students – Middlebury has turned out such greats as Olympic downhiller Doug Lewis— to train there. It’s also a place where students and townspeople mingle: ski patrol is run by Middlebury College students. February graduates have traditionally skied down the mountain in caps and gowns.

“These smaller places are so important to the future of skiing,” says Molly Mahar, president of the trade organization SkiVermont. “These are the feeder hills that get people and kids into skiing. Even the big places know the roles they play and often try to help them out.” Mount Snow, for instance, sends its ski instructors to Brattleboro Ski Hill on weekdays to teach local kids for free.

Up until 2010, Brownsville’s Mount Ascutney was a “big

Photos ©2016 Durston Saylor

Clockwise from top left: Saskadena Six is a local favorite for skiers who want to escape the busier places on weekends. At Northeast Slopes, the summit lift shack (now refurbished) once served as the town baseball field’s outhouse. Northeast Slopes still claims the oldest and fastest rope tow in the United States.

Photos by Oliver Parini

place,” a full-fledged ski resort that was trying very hard to make a profit. In the 1930s, skiers began cutting trails on the 3,144-foot monadnock that looms over the Connecticut River Valley. In 1947, the first two rope tows went in. Over the years, Ascutney added five chairlifts and a base lodge.

Condos and second homes mushroomed around the trails. A hotel went in at the base and is still run by Holiday Inn Club Vacations. One of the ski area’s owners, Summit Ventures, invested $80 million in the mountain operations.

Despite efforts by a number of owners to make Mount Ascutney financially viable, the resort repeatedly failed. In 2010, it closed, seemingly for good. By 2014, all its chairlifts had been sold off. In 2015, the base lodge burned. It was a little bit like the Grinch taking the last Christmas light bulb.

“This was a time when we were at risk of losing our school, our restaurants, our general store, and our post office—we had to do something,” says Glenn Seward. Seward, a former operations manager at Ascutney, was chairman of the selectboard at the time. “Brownsville had lost its identity as a ski town.”

Seward and his wife, Shelley, now both retired, met when they were on junior ski patrol at Ascutney; when they married, they held their reception at the mountain. Shelley, a Brownsville native, has never lived more than a mile from the base area. “My dad was a ski patroller and my mom sold lift tickets and I literally learned to ski here at 2,” she recalls.

In 2015, villagers packed into the town hall and voted overwhelmingly to purchase what remained of the ski area: 470 acres. Working with the Trust for Public Land, they raised more than $900,000 and founded Ascutney Outdoors, a nonprofit.

The Sewards personally kicked in for a used T-bar they found in Quebec. A tubing lift went in just above the Holiday Inn hotel, and an 800-foot rope tow went up too. In 2018, an attractive 4,000-square-foot base lodge was completed.

“We didn’t need or want someplace as big as what Ascutney had been,” Shelley says. “It had to be right-sized, and it had to work for the community. We charge $15 for an afternoon. A family can ski here for $25.”

Skiers began returning to the area, and the town’s fortunes started looking up. The local school is stronger than ever. A group of community members purchased the general store and leased it to executive chef Peter Varkonyi, a New England Culinary Institute grad, and his partner, Laura Stevens. Their Brownsville Butcher and Pantry now stocks fresh oysters, housecured meats, local cheeses, and Friday-night takeout meals that locals claim rival the best in central Vermont. (“Who would have thought a while ago that you could buy Alaskan king crab and sushi-grade tuna in Brownsville?” asks Glenn Seward.)

As part of the strategy to “right-size” Ascutney, the T-bar goes only partway up the mountain, leaving the steeps and glades of the upper portion for a growing number of backcountry skiers to explore. When a storm dumped 52 inches at Ascutney in December 2020, skiers left at dawn from as far as Burlington and Stowe to ski the untracked powder that piled up here.

“We’re growing, but at our own pace,” says Jim Lyall, an architect who helped design the new base lodge. He was also

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It’s a crowded day at Cochran’s when the dirt parking lot is filled.

part of the volunteer effort to cut a network of mountain bike trails on Ascutney, making it a summer destination too. As Lyall clicks into his backcountry skis to skin up, he adds, “Making people skin up keeps the slopes from getting overcrowded.”

Over near the rope tow, Laura Farrell is setting up gates, something she does every day the ski area is open. Farrell founded Vermont Adaptive, the state’s largest adaptive sports organization, at Ascutney in 1987. That program has moved on to bigger mountains and Farrell is no longer involved but her mission now is to get local school kids skiing, regardless of their ability to pay.

Farrell’s own kids, Bobby and Brad, learned to ski at Ascutney and became top ski racers, going on to train at Stowe’s Mount Mansfield Academy, where their dad, Jim, also coached.

Bobby made the U.S. Ski Team, while Brad has been a coach for U.S. Ski & Snowboard’s Eastern Development Team.

“The thing about skiing is this: I’ve seen it change people’s lives,” Farrell says. “What we do here is we make this accessible to people who may have never thought they would be able to ski, be it for physical or economic reasons. Skiing is challenging, and for a kid to be able to control and master speed, that gives them the feeling ‘If I can do this, I can do anything.’”

Ascutney, at its current size, is perfect for this, she believes.

“This place isn’t intimidating—it’s cozy and welcoming. And for those who come from out of town, when they get here, they are not just weekenders who are skiing by themselves.

When you come to a small area like this, you become part of a community.”

THE TRAINING GROUND If there is an outlier in this grouping it is Cochran’s Ski Area. While it didn’t open until the early 1960s, when it did, it embodied all the characteristics of Vermont’s first community ski hills.

Ginny Cochran grew up in Brownsville and met her husband,

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Gordon “Mickey” Cochran, a teacher at Windsor High School, in the 1950s while skiing at Ascutney. Mickey coached the high school ski team. They married and introduced their own kids to skiing on that same mountain.

But then a job change took the family to Burlington. Mickey went to work for GE, and after a couple of years they bought a farmhouse on 600 acres in Richmond. They put up a rope tow on the hill behind it, strung up lights, and began selling lift tickets in 1961. Their house was the warming hut, and their kids became the ski instructors (daughter Barbara Ann remembers being just 11 when she started teaching adults to ski).

Ginny and Mickey’s four kids went on to make the Cochrans one of the winningest family dynasties in sports history. The eldest, Marilyn, won the overall World Cup in giant slalom in 1969; Barbara Ann won the Olympic gold in 1972; son Bobby, a downhill racer, became the only American ever to win a gold medal in Austria’s legendary downhill race, the Hahnenkamm; and the youngest, Lindy, raced World Cup as well and finished sixth in slalom in the 1976 Olympics. And their children, in turn, have competed at the highest level as well.

On any given day, you can find many of the Cochran clan still involved in the Richmond ski hill where they grew up.

Grandson Jimmy Cochran, a four-time national champion and two-time Olympian, manages the ski area. His aunt Barbara Ann, a professional coach who works with some of the sport’s top athletes, is the ski school director and created the Ski Tot program, where parents learn how to teach their kids skiing.

On weekends, other Cochrans can be found running around, setting up gates, tending the firepit at the base, or serving Friday-night lasagna dinners at the long picnic tables in the base lodge. In the lodge, the family’s historic race bibs hang on the walls.

Today it seems as though the whole family is here. Jimmy is at the summit of the rope tow. Barbara Ann is at the base lodge.

Her son, Ryan Cochran-Siegle, and her nephews Tim and

skiers. Is it that “if you ride surface lifts you double your time on snow,” as Tiger Shaw, a two-time Olympian from Stowe and former president of U.S. Ski & Snowboard, has said?

Ryan thinks for a minute. “There is certainly some of that.

Riding a rope tow or T-bar, you learn how to make your skis track and you use a lot of muscles you wouldn’t if you were on a chairlift.”

Former world champion Lindsey Vonn and current U.S. Ski Team racers Paula Moltzan and Mikaela Shiffrin all grew up skiing at small ski areas with surface lifts: Vonn and Moltzan at small hills in Minnesota, and Shiffrin, for the most part, at Burke in northern Vermont.

Ryan continues: “But there are two parts to it. First, it’s a great opportunity to focus on your form and develop as a skier. Second, emotionally you find a different connection to skiing than say if you went up to Stowe every weekend.

You’re a little more invested. Growing up here and making do with what we had was a big part of it. If there was no snow, we would go make a jump and do that all day. There’s a certain stubbornness and determination and New England mentality you get from skiing here.”

I ask him the same question I asked the kids at Northeast Slopes. “What would happen if this place or others like it went away?”

His answer is quick and simple: “You would lose skiing’s soul.”

Then he adds, “A goal of mine is to ski every little area in Vermont.”

A version of this story originally appeared in Yankee Magazine. n

Photos ©2016 Durston Saylor

Robby Kelley (Lindy’s sons) are at the sugarhouse next door, boiling down sap from their maples for their Slopeside Syrup.

The dirt parking lot is packed with families pulling race skis and helmets out of their cars. In 1998, Cochran’s became the first ski area in the nation to become a tax-exempt 501c3.

“It was always a nonprofit—it just became official then,” jokes Bobby. The mission is: “No child will be denied the opportunity to ski or ride.”

Tiny bobbleheads in helmets lumber up the slopes to the lifts, balancing skis on two arms in front of them like waiters carrying trays full of glasses. A stray kid falls, starts to cry, and gets picked up by another parent. This weekend is Rope-AThon, the time when Cochran’s Ski Area raises the money it needs not only to operate and but also to provide skiing and lessons to kids whose parents might not be able to afford them.

At Rope-A-Thon, donors pledge a certain number of dollars to skiers, who then do laps on the high-speed rope tow all weekend. The only scores kept? How many donors and how many dollars. At the end of the weekend, Cochran’s will have raised $115,446 from 1,788 donors. Barbara Ann is already furiously scribbling thank-you notes in the lodge.

I find her son, Ryan, in the steamy sugarhouse. In 2018 he competed in PyeongChang. In 2022, he won the silver medal in Super G at the Beijing Olympics “It’s good to be home,” he says—he is healing from an injury. “I’m hardly ever here at this time of year. I miss sugaring because I’m usually in Europe racing.”

I ask him what it is about Cochran’s that turns out such good

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COACH

The Mental Edge In her new book, Olympic gold medalist and acclaimed coach Barbara Ann Cochran dives into what it takes to win at the highest echelons of sport, the Cochran Way and the mental edge that helped her persevere and win.

By Barbara Ann Cochran Editor’s note; If there is one book to read this ski season it is Barbara Ann Cochran’s Hike the Course: A Journey of Family, Passion and Olympic Success for Inspiring and Transforming Athletes of All Ages. Cochran is, of course, the legendary coach, Olympic gold medalist in slalom and mother to an Olympic silver medalist, Ryan Cochran-Siegle.

She is also part of the Cochran clan which founded and still runs Cochran’s Ski Area, a non-profit that has helped teach children of all abilities and backgrounds to ski. In Hike the Course, Cochran tells the story behind her family’s ski area, the “Cochran Way,” and how the Cochrans became one of the winningest families in sports history. She also describes the struggles she and her family faced and how she overcame them. In this excerpt adapted from the book, she discusses what gave her the mental edge. The book is available at local bookstores.

Author Barbara Ann Cochran, left, won the gold medal in slalom at the 1972 Olympics in Sapporo, Japan. Fifty years later her son Ryan Cochran-Siegle (above) took silver in the Super G at the Beijing Olympics. Good genes? Perhaps. A strong Cochran mental edge? Definitiely. Photo left by Oliver Parini, right by Dustin Satloff/US Ski & Snowboard

A

fter the Olympics, I began to think deeply about what it was that allowed me to win the gold in slalom in Sapporo, Japan in 1972. Was it skill? I asked myself. Was it luck? While I recognized that both of those factors played a part of it, there was something more that allowed me to ski faster on those two particular runs, on that exact day, and under those conditions. vtskiandride.com Holidays 2023/24 47

The Cochran clan grew up at the tiny ski hill their parents started behind their house in Richmond.

From left, standing: Former Olympian Jimmy Cochran, World Cup racer Tim Kelley, Ryan-Cochran Siegle and his mother, Barbara Ann Cochran. Seated, Barbara Ann’s two sisters, both Olympians: Lindy Kelly and Marilyn Cochran.

Bottom: Barbara Ann after winning gold at the 1972 Olympics. Photo top by Oliver Parini

I realized that the additional factor was that I had the mental edge to win because of the way that I had been trained for so many years.

In thinking back over the lessons that my father, Mickey Cochran, gave me and my sisters and brother so many years ago, I am greatly appreciative of the “Cochran Way” that was taught to all of us. In turn, we have been able to pass it down to our own children and I have been able to teach it to many young people who come to me for instruction.

Taking one specific lesson as an example, I can see how Dad’s emphasis on learning the course greatly benefited me more than I can say. Today, the system is set up differently and athletes do not have time to memorize or visualize the whole course. In fact, coaches will say, “You don’t have to hike the whole course, just memorize the tough spots!”

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My dad saw it differently. When he first put up the ski area with its rope-tow and 14 gates behind our house in Richmond when we were young, he noticed something important. The hill was not very big at all, only about 14 to 16 seconds long, but he recognized that when we and our friends trained, it was not until the third or fourth practice run that our skiing time suddenly improved.

At that point, Dad started to think, What’s going on?

Why all of a sudden on that third or fourth run are they going so much faster? He finally recognized that it was not until that point that we felt comfortable enough with the course because we had gotten to know it and began to expect what lay ahead.

From that moment, he started to train us to hike the course and think ahead. “In a race,” Dad told us, “you won’t be able to run the course 2, or 3 times to really get to know it. That’s why if you memorize it and visualize yourself running it before you get there, then it will be easier for you.”

I really believe that Dad was onto something critical.

I think that athletes gain a lot by visualizing running the entire course and developing that skill over time.

Every time a skier visualizes running the whole course, they will create a pathway through their brain and their reaction time will be that much quicker when they actually go through the run.

Another thing that both Dad and Mom always taught us is that we were capable of winning. This especially helped me in my Olympic race. Leading up to that day, I fully believed that I was able to win. I didn’t know if I would, but there was no doubt in my mind that I was as good as anyone else on that hill.

In 1972, I won a gold medal at the winter Olympics in Sapporo, Japan. I’ve often wondered why I won. My sister, Marilyn, and brother, Bob, were there as well and had just as much talent as I did. Why didn’t they win?

Although there are many factors that contribute to the outcome, the most important is mental preparation.

At the Olympics in 1972, I prepared better mentally than I had for any other race.

Many athletes—and parents and coaches, for that matter— assume that the result of any competition is because the athlete, or team, demonstrated better skills in the competition. However, that would greatly underestimate the power of mental preparation.

At any level of sport, whether you are a beginner or a world- class athlete, I believe the final outcome depends far more on the mental skills you have mastered than the technical skills you have learned in your sport. In fact, if you had to break it down, into a formula, I would say skill accounts for 10% and mental preparation for 90%.

Of course, this is not to say that if you’re a Little League pitcher, you could do well in the major leagues

COACH just because you have mastered the mental skills necessary to perform well. What it does mean, however, is that with mental preparation, you would do well within your level against other Little League teams.

When you play a sport, with a few exceptions, you often have roughly the same skills as others you are competing against. In that sense, it is not so much the difference in technical skill that makes the difference, but how well you create an inner climate through positive mental preparation to access the skills you have already developed.

Are there contests in which the most skilled athlete did not outperform all the other lesser skilled athletes? Of course! What is the difference? Mental preparation, or all of those things that go on between the ears during a competition including goals, thoughts, attitude, and beliefs, and then, ultimately, what the body experiences emotionally.

When I competed in the Olympics, I was 21. I had been racing since the age of five. I had been a member of the U.S. Ski Team for six years. It was my fourth year of racing abroad and my very first time in Japan. Yet, for this race, I prepared better mentally than I had for any other race. Some of that was accidental, but some of that was part of my routine.

Here is a look into my own process, what it took for me to succeed and the advice I give young racers today: Become mentally tough: I loved competition. Even when I didn’t think that I had a chance of winning, I wanted to compete against the best. I liked to watch others and to see what they were doing that I was not.

Often, my performance improved when I skied with better racers. I also could judge how much more I had to improve to get to that higher level.

Set goals: As a youngster, I had set a goal that I wanted to win a gold medal in the Olympics. I did not obsess about it, but that thought was always there like a planted seed—just waiting for the right conditions and waiting to be nurtured and to blossom. The goal that I focused on overall was to do my best. That did not mean to be the best, just to do my best. If I skied faster than any other racer and that was my best, so much the better. But I also had to accept the times that I had performed to the best of my ability and lost, which occurred far more often! For example, in 1972, the same year that I won the gold medal at the Olympics, I actually only won two total races—the slalom at the Olympics and the Sugar Slalom at Stowe, which was a long-standing, fun race in the spring where racers were treated to sugar-on-snow.

Reduce pressure: I only allowed myself to think thoughts that reduced pressure. I told myself, Just do the

best you can. Work on your skills and let the results take care of themselves. If the French can win, I can win, too!

At the Olympics, when I found myself in the lead after the first run, I did start to get nervous. I started to think, What would it be like if I did win? What if I did win? But I realized that I had to calm down or I was not going to be able to do anything. So, I told myself, Okay, you’ve won the first run and not very many people have done that! No matter how this race turns out, you can always be proud of your first run. I thought about my dad and what he had told me two years before the Olympics at my competition in the World Championships. After the first run, I was in 6th place. I wanted to move up and win a medal. Dad was standing at the top of the course before the second run. I was nervously waiting for the start. I confided in Dad that I was worried about how I was going to do. He responded, “I always thought you were ‘the cool cucumber’ in the family!” And I thought about that and agreed, “Yeah, I guess I am!” Then I stopped worrying and continued with the race and went on to win the silver medal. At the Olympics, I thought about that same conversation, and it calmed me down.

My last comment to myself was, You should do all right!

Ryan Cochran-Siegle, currently the top-ranked man on the U.S. Ski Team, prepares for a training run at the Birds of Prey World Cup in Beaver Creek, Colo. in Dec. 2023. Photo Dustin Satloff/U.S. Ski & Snowboard.

Choose a positive attitude: The subconscious mind believes anything you tell it. So, I just told it, You can do this! Maybe not as well as you’d like, or as well as someone else, but you can do this! With practice, I knew that I would get better. In training, I didn’t worry about the 59 turns that were bad. Instead, I thought about the one turn that I did well. I knew that if I did one turn well, I could do more. I concentrated on my skills, not my results. I could control what I was doing, but I had no control over what anyone else was doing. I also gave myself the freedom not to win. No matter how the race

vtskiandride.com Holidays 2023/24 49

COACH

turned out, as long as I had tried to do my best, I knew that I was a good person. I was okay!

Believe in yourself: I believed that if I worked hard enough, anything was possible. I knew that I had developed the skills to win the slalom and the giant slalom. I also believed that the most important thing was striving to reach my goals. I learned tremendous lessons through the whole attempt. The gold medal was the icing on the cake!

Barbara Ann Cochran’s Olympic gold earned her a place on a commemorative stamp.

Practice affirmations: When I was 21, I had no idea what an affirmation was. It wasn’t until many years later that I became aware of them. An affirmation is a positive declaration stated in the present, as if the desired result is already happening. I reinforced the beliefs that I already had with similar thoughts and overcame any undesirable beliefs with new ideas. I realize now that I had already practiced affirmations before the Olympics simply because I answered the same questions over and over. Reporters wanted to know how the U.S. Ski Team would do in the Olympics. They also wanted to know what my chances were of winning a gold medal.

My response was always the same: “The U.S. has a very good chance of winning medals. There is a lot of talent

on the team. Both the men and the women are capable of winning.” I told them, “I know I have the skills to win.

I don’t know if that will happen on that particular day, but yes, I am capable of winning.”

Visualize doing well: In every competition, I ran the courses in my head before I ever left the starting gate.

I knew where the gates were, where the bumps were, where the ice was, what line I wanted to be on, where I should start my turn, and where I could step to gain more speed. I saw myself completing the course and completing it to the best of my ability.

Control emotions: All of the seven things listed above led to this next part where I was able to create an inner climate that was calm, confident, focused, and truly loving what I was doing. Because my emotions were under control, I could do my best. And I already knew that my best was good enough!

Before going to the Olympics, I didn’t know if I would win but I knew that I could win. I won the gold in the slalom and came in eleventh in the giant slalom.

I believe that my gold medal performance was directly related to my mental preparedness. u

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COMPETITION

The Slow-Growing Rewards of Ski Racing Though superstars such as Mikaela Shiffrin can earn millions in endorsements, prize money has traditionally been far less in racing than in other pro sports. Is that starting to change? By Malachy Flynn

Sam Morse finished 14th at the men’s World Cup downhill in Aspen, Colo. last March, one of his top World Cup finishes. Photo courtesy Dustin Satloff/U.S. Ski & Snowboard

S

am Morse is on a 12-year plan to graduate from college. As part of Dartmouth’s D-Plan, the Maine skier can take time off from his studies and campus life to compete as a ski racer for the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Team’s Alpine B Team. He’s now 27, recently married and has a target of earning his undergraduate degree in mechanical engineering by 2029. In December 2022, Morse skied to his first top10 finish in a World Cup (10th). At the men’s downhill in Aspen in March 2023 he was 14th.

For Morse, who was the Junior World Champion in downhill in 2017, and for many other U.S. racers

competing on the international circuit, ski racing is a cash-negative sport.

“Last year was a really expensive year for me since despite racing on the World Cup I was having to self-fund much of my season,” said Morse, recently. “I spent around $65,000 to represent my country and that didn’t even cover my full cost since later on in the season after some strong results, the U.S. Ski Team began to cover more of my expenses,” he says. “So realistically to race at this level costs around $100,000 a year per athlete and that isn’t even including paying a service technician since I tuned all my own skis last season.”

For aspiring World Cup racers, it’s a chicken and egg scenario: the better they do, the more the U.S. Ski Team will fund them.

In 2018, while she was still a full-time student at the University of Vermont and on a hiatus from the U.S. Team, Paula Moltzan took off her Christmas break, raised $50,000 privately and paid her own way to race World Cup events traveling with her then-boyfriend, now husband, Ryan Mooney (a Green Mountain Valley School graduate) as her ski tech. That investment paid off in results: she earned enough World Cup points to make it back onto the U.S. Ski Team, where she is now the top ski racer after Shiffrin.

But while Mikaela Shiffrin may be approaching the level of earnings of top athletes in other sports, there remains a huge disparity in what ski racers can make just in winnings.

In the 2022/23 season, Shiffrin, a Burke Mountain Academy graduate earned $1.04 million in prize money, beating out previous record-holder Marco Odermatt’s $1.01 million. That also was three times over what the second highest-earning World Cup woman, Italy’s Sofia Goggia, made.

But to compare with other sports, Shiffrin’s season-

vtskiandride.com Holidays 2023/24 51

COMPETITION

The women’s team at the Stifel Killington World Cup with, from left, Paula Moltzan, Mikaela Shiffrin, AJ Hurt and Elisabeth Bocock. Photo courtesy DAWSY/U.S. Ski & Snowboard

long World Cup prize money still pales nest to, say, the $1.476 million that golfer Erik van Rooyen made after winning one tournament, the 2023 World Technology Championship in Los Cabos, Mexico.

This season, Stifel, the financial firm that sponsors the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Team, is hoping to goose World Cup prize money. Starting with the Stifelsponsored Killington World Cup in November, Stifel and the U.S. Team announced that prize money awarded at all domestic races will see a 30 percent increase, making the awards the highest they have ever been. Last season Stifel also began awarding $5,000 (The Bibbo Award) to the racer who shows the biggest improvement between their first and second run.

At each U.S. World Cup race, the top men and women will be awarded 58,000 CHF —Swiss Francs— or $64,000) for first place,₣27,000 CHF ($30,000) for second place, and ₣15,000 CHF ($16,000) for third.

This season’s U.S. World Cup schedule includes the Stifel Killington World Cup, the Xfinity Birds of Prey at Beaver Creek, the Stifel Palisades Tahoe Cup, and the Stifel Aspen Winternational.

The new increases in prize money put most races in the States ahead of their European counterparts for winnings.

On the men’s side, most of the World Cup races in Austria, Bulgaria, France, Germany, Italy, Norway, and Switzerland all award 47,000 CHF ($53,855) to winners, ₣22,000 CHF ($25,202) to runners-up, and ₣12,000 CHF ($13,750) to third-place finishers.

There are two outliers in the European men’s schedule. The Zermatt-Cervinia race in Switzerland offered ₣60,000 CHF ($68,751) to winners, ₣30,000 CHF ($34,375) to second place, and ₣17,000 CHF ($19,479)

52 Holidays 2023/24 vtskiandride.com

for third, and the famed Hahnenkamm Rennen in Kitzbühel, which offers the biggest payout in Europe, awarding ₣100,000 CHF ($114,585), ₣50,000 CHF ($57,282), and ₣25,000 CHF ($28,646) to first, second, and third-place winners respectively.

On the women’s European schedule, two races stray from the norm. Flachau, Austria, offers winners ₣59,500 CHF ($68,178), second place ₣29,500 CHF ($33,802), and third place ₣17,000 CHF ($19,479), and Zermatt-Cervinia, Italy, which offers the highest pay of any women’s race, matches the venue’s men’s prizes of ₣60,000 CHF, ₣30,000 CHF , and ₣17,000 CHF for first, second, and third place.

As the U.S. Women’s Alpine tech team had their first race on home soil in Killington, they shared their thoughts on the increased prize money during a prerace press conference.

“I have to say thank you to Stifel for setting a new precedent in the sport about the worth of the athletes and the work that we do,” Shiffrin said. “It takes all our time, all our effort, all our energy, and the idea behind this—and my big, big hope—is that other nations, other organizers, other partners, will follow suit.”

Yet, for many athletes, prize money is not much of a factor. When Alpine Team C member Elisabeth Bocock, 18, was asked about the prize money increase at the Stifel Killington World Cup press conference, the newcomer to World Cup racing admitted: “I was unaware that that happened, so it doesn’t have a huge role in my motivation.”

World Cup veteran and University of Vermont alum Paula Moltzan had a similar answer.

“Any opportunity to make money in this sport is amazing,” she said, adding “But I don’t know if it plays necessarily into motivation. I don’t think money is what drives us to be fast skiers at any point in our career; I think we all just want to be fast skiers,” said Moltzan.

“For me, I don’t think it plays too big of a role. I mean, it’s a great perk.”

After Killington where she had two 8th place finishes, Paula Moltzan ranked second in earnings for American women on the World Cup and thirteenth overall, with a total of ₣17,250 CHF ($19,817). Shiffrin had already taken home ₣159,000 CHF ($182,665) in winnings. And that was before she placed third in each of the giant slalom races at Canada’s Mont Tremblant and had a surprise win at the St. Moritz, Switzerland downhill.

Morse and the other American men on the World Cup circuit have not been so lucky. The canceled Xfinity Birds of Prey races at Beaver Creek in December 2023 would have been the first chance for the men to take advantage of increased prize purses at U.S. races. The men now must wait until February to race on American soil at the Stifel Palisades Tahoe Cup. u

vtskiandride.com Holidays 2023 55

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RETRO VT

Lost & Found

A new exhibit at the Vermont Ski & Snowboard Museum showcases the fascinating history of the rise and fall of 175 ski areas around Vermont. By Lisa Lynn

T

Dutch Hill, top, in its heydey when skis were long and narrow. Today, the defunct ski area has reemerged as a backcountry haven. Above, the sign that sparked a search for more stories.

here is an old hand-painted wood sign on the back wall of the Vermont Ski & Snowboard Museum in Stowe that reads “Sno-Cat” and “Ride up Toll Road - $1 per trip.” “It’s been there for years but we didn’t know the story behind it until recently,” says Poppy Gall, who co-chairs the museum’s board with Retro-Ski author Greg Morrill.

As she and others began to do the research for the museum’s latest exhibit, “Searching for Vermont’s Lost Ski Areas,” the story behind that sign, as well as some other fascinating history, came to light.

Perusing old newspaper archives that are now online, Gall discovered that on the night of December 20, 1947, Morris Tucker and his Tucker Sno-Cat rolled into the town of West Windsor, Vt., after making a 168-hour non-stop trip from the Tucker headquarters in Medford, Ore. For the rest of the season, Mrs. Elizabeth Rudolph, a registered nurse, licensed

electrician and major in the Canadian Red Cross, piloted the Tucker Sno-Cat 3.5 miles up the Mount Ascutney Toll Road once a week. Skiers paid $1 for the ride up and then skied down. “Who knew that Vermont had snowcat skiing back then?” Gall asks.

Ascutney continued to expand and grew with chailifts, condos off its slopes and a base lodge. But after going in and out of financial straits several times, Ascutney eventually shuttered its operations in 2010.

Its lifts and equipment were sold off and its base lodge burned in 2015.

Ascutney could have remained one of Vermont’s “lost” ski areas except that the ski hill was purchased by the Town of Windsor and the Trust for Public Land.

In 2016, a rope tow went in and a few years later, a T-bar was run halfway up the mountain. Today, there are no snow cat rides but skiers often skin up the top half of the mountain for fresh tracks down the old runs.

The current exhibit documents the rise, fall and, in some cases, the return of 175 ski hills (“defined as anything that once had an uphill lift,” Gall says) around the Green Mountain state.

The project was a collaboration between the museum and Jeremy Davis, of the New England Lost Ski Areas Project (NELSAP).

vtskiandride.com Holidays 2023/24 55

Tracking the history of Vermont’s defunct ski areas has been a passion for Davis ever since he started NELSAP in the late 1990s as a student at Lyndon State College in Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom. His online site, NELSAP.org, currently counts 119 “lost” Vermont ski hills, plus 8 that have reopened.

Davis began collaborating with Vermont Ski & Snowboard Museum curator Meredith Scott more than 20 years ago on what they hoped would eventually be an exhibit. The task proved daunting.

But, as he says, “When we picked this back up we discovered even more, ones I didn’t have on the list, particularly a few up north in Newport. I asked my grandmother, who lives there about them and she said ‘oh sure, we used to ski there.’” Gall also discovered there had been a rope tow just behind the property in Manchester where she grew up. “I never even knew it was there,” she exclaimed.

In recent years, the research has become easier

56 Holiodays 2023/24 vtskiandride.com

thanks to technology and the online availability of newspaper and other archives. “We now have the geolocation tools and are able to pinpoint where these places actually were,” notes Gall. Using that information, the museum was able to create a largeformat map of the state that shows 175 ski ares and their status: lost, found, revived. “I know it’s already out of date,” cautions Gall. “But that’s ok because we want to hear from folks about what we missed. That’s

The museum located and cataloged 175 ski areas.

The current exhibits showcases stories and treasures from the ones south of Route 4.

RETRO

why we called the exhibit ‘Searching for.’”

The current exhibit focuses on ski areas south of Route 4 and will run through October 2024. “There was too much for one exhibit so next year we’ll cover the ski areas north of Route 4,” notes Gall.

Among the 175 ski areas listed on the exhibit map

and legend are ones that have enchanting names such as Hedgehog Hovel (a rope tow set up in 1936 in Woodford with a warming hut that sold coffee and sandwiches and rented skis ) and Glimmerstone, a tow that went up behind the stone mansion of the same name in Cavendish. Nearby there was also a bobsled run and Penguin Hill Ski Tow. There are tiny ones — essentially personal playgrounds — and larger public ones that grew. Snow Valley (1941-1983) was, at one time, one of the largest areas in the East with Vermont’s first T-bars, rope tows and six trails. In 1983, the year it closed, it hosted the first National Snowboarding Championship.

The exhibit also showcases the contributions even some of the smallest lost ski areas made to the sport.

In addition to snow cat skiing and an experimental chairlift on rails (a concept that never caught on), Ascutney also installed the state’s first snowmaking system in 1957. In 1955 at Hogback Mountain, Brattleboro’s Cliff Taylor pioneered the Graduated Length Teaching Method helping beginners to learn using shorter sticks, which he developed into his “Shortee Skis.” Night skiing under lights was common at many of these ski areas as early as the 1940s. In 1967 the now-defunct Maple Valley hosted the first

Skiers at southern Vermont’s Hogback Mountain (far left) used a T-bar. You can now drive to the top of the defunct area. Above, architect and 10th Mountain Division vet Fritz Dillman’s snowman became the logo for Snow Valley, near Manchester.

vtskiandride.com Holidays 2023/24 57

RETRO

Top: the opening of the exhibit at the Vermont Ski & Snowboard Museum, which found not only this image of the original rope tow at Gilbert’s Farm (middle) but also several other early Woodstock ski areas. Bottom: VTSSM board chair and exhibit curator Poppy Gall with Jeremy Davis, who founded the New England Lost Ski Areas Project.

58 Holidays 2023/24 vtskiandride.com

night ski jumping competition.

Most were run more for love, than for profit. Opened in 1960, Burrington Ski Area (with a vertical rise of 200 feet) marketed itself as “The Smallest Ski Area in the World,” a play off neighboring Mount Snow’s rather inflated claim as “The Largest Ski Area in the World.”

The marketing slogan may not have been such a good idea: Burrington closed in 1978.

“The war, a few bad snow years, the rising cost of insurance – all of these led to the demise of ski areas around the state,” says NELSAP’s Davis. Some, such as southern Vermont’s Magic Mountain or Haystack Mountain have been revived by new teams, (the latter now as part of the private The Hermitage Club).

Others, such as High Pond in Brandon, are in a private landowner’s hands but still run an old surface lift behind their home for friends and family.

The Dutch Hill Ski Area in Readsboro went out of business in the mid-1980s, but even with the lifts long gone, local backcountry skiers kept using and maintaining some of the trails. Now, the Dutch Hill Recreation Area (DHASH), in collaboration with the Green Mountain National Forest and the Catamount Trail Association, has maintained the trails as one of southern Vermont’s most vibrant backcountry ski zones.

Round Top near Plymouth Notch was listed for sale in 2018. In 2021 the price for the ski area dropped to $6,500,000 for 750 acres, 28 trails, 1,100 vertical and an 8,000-sq. ft. lodge with a fully equipped kitchen and bar area. At the time, that included a double chairlift, snowmaking pond capable of 100% coverage, outbuildings, maintenance garage, and equipment necessary to maintain the ski area and grounds. The lift and related ski area equipment are gone now and the property, in the hands of a Pensacola, Fla.-based LLC. is off the market.

So, what remains of Vermont’s “lost and found” ski areas? At present, the trade organization SkiVermont counts 20 members, public ski areas that range in size from Lyndon Outing Club and Cochran’s to Killington and Stratton. What the SkiVermont number doesn’t count are community ski hills such as the Brattleboro Ski Hill (formerly Guilford Rope Tow) or Hard’Ack Recreation Area or Harrington Hill in Strafford. It also doesn’t count the two dozen or so private lifts that Vermonters maintain in their backyards around Vermont, ones Kim Brown wrote about last year in this magazine in “The Backyard Rope Tow Revival.” In one year, Brown was able to ski 37 ski areas in Vermont.

In the same small towns and backwoods hills where skiing first started, there may be a quiet renaissance in the works. u

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ANNOUNCING THE

ADK TOUR6 DE SKI

A new, exciting XC race series:

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venues, multiple distances.

Race hard and spend a weekend in the spectacular Adirondacks.

Race all six or pick and choose.

(Discount when you register for all six.)

Dec. 2: Mt Van Hoevenberg Jan. 6: Saranac Lake, Dewey Mountain Jan. 14: Tupper Lake, Frenette Trails Feb. 10: Lake Placid, Scotts Cobble Feb. 25: Lake Placid, Cascade Mar. 10: Paul Smiths, VIC

Sign up: www.paulsmithsvic.org/adk-tour-de-ski

THE GREEN MOUNTAIN CALENDAR NOVEMBER 24-25 | HERoic Stifel Killington World Cup, Killington Watch the best female racers in the world compete on Superstar in a giant slalom on Saturday and slalom on Sunday. Plus, a tent village, free concerts by national artists, fireworks, parties and a VIP tent. Killington.com 25 | Snowlight in Vermont, Stratton Snowlight in Vermont reception and village tree lighting. Sponsor a lighted tree ($625$725) and dedicate a plaque in the Stratton Village or in Manchester for the winter 23-24 season. Stratton.com

DECEMBER 2 | ADK Tour de Ski, Mt van Hoevenberg, Lake Placid, NY The kick-off of an exciting ski race series in the spectacular Adirondacks. Six venues, multiple distances, December through March. Race all of them or pick and choose (discount on the racing fees when you register for all 6). Race hard and then spend the weekend. paulsmithsvic.org/adk-tour-de-ski/ 2-3 | Audi FIS Alpine Women’s World Cup, Mont Tremblant, QC Following the Killington Cup, the world’s top women tech ski racers head to Mont Tremblant, QC for two days of giant slalom races on the Audi World Cup. Tremblant.ca 8-10 | Wassail Weekend, Woodstock Enjoy 1890’s holiday traditions and a cup of Wassail punch at the Billings Farm & Museum in Woodstock. Dip your own candle or make a mince meat hand pie. Festive holiday trees and decorations fill the Visitor Center and historic barn where there’s also a gingerbread house contest on display. Woodstockinn.com 9 | Brew & Ski Weekend, Smuggler’s Notch Resort BrewFest showcases a mix of local craft and regional brews as well as classic favorites.

Don’t miss samples from Vermont’s own Zero Gravity, Long Trail, Harpoon, 14th Star, Shed, Otter Creek, Fiddlehead, Von Trapp, Switchback, and Burlington Beer Company.

More breweries are being added. A DJ spins the tunes, too. smuggs.com 9-10 | Rodgrigues Sprints & Kendall Memorial, Craftsbury Outdoor Center On Saturday, World Cup-style Nordic sprint racing comes to the masses through the Royal Court format. Everyone does a qualifier, and everyone does three heats. Fast skiers move up the bracket, slower skiers move down, and you’ll always find yourself racing against appropriate competition Sunday come for the mass-start 10K skate race for the Kendall Memorial. nensa.net 9 | Sugarbash Celebration, Sugarbush Come to the Gate House Lodge for the return of the SugarBash from 6:00 PM -9:00 PM with live music featuring the Grippo Funk Band, plus an Ugly Sweater contest. sugarbush.com 16 | Stratton Parks Showdown Series, Stratton Get ready to roll on Betwixt with the first event of this season’s Showdown Series. This jam format event consists of medium sized features to get you dialed in for the start of the season. Skiers and snowboarders at all skill levels are welcome to register. This event is free. stratton.com 17 | Santa Sunday, Bolton Valley Dress head-to-toe in a full Santa Claus get-up and get a free lift ticket for the day.

Santa Group Photo: 11 am, slopeside of Main Base Lodge toward Mid Mountain Lift – don’t worry, you won’t have trouble finding the Santas. boltonvalley.com

21 | Winter Solstice Celebration, Smuggler’s Notch Gather on the Green for a bonfire with glow sticks followed by music and fireworks.

Start winter with a bang. smuggs.com 24 | Vermont Reindeer Visit, Smuggler’s Notch Meet Dasher & Cupid from the Vermont Reindeer Farm, 12:30 to 3:00 pm, before they trek to the North Pole. .The reindeer live on the Broe Family Farm in West Charleston, on land that has been in the family for 5 generations. Smuggs.com 26 | Warren Miller’s “All Time” Film, Stratton Warren Miller Entertainment’s 74th film, “All Time” comes to Stratton. The film features new footage with Donny Pelletier as well as historic footage of Glen Plake, Scot Schmidt, and the Egan Brothers along with more recent shots of Michelle Parker, Marcus Caston, Seth Wescott, Madison Ostergren, Mckenna Peterson, Lexi duPont, Simon Hillis, Kaylin Richardson, Wendy Fisher and many more. warrenmiller.com 27 | VINS Meet & Greet, Sugarbush The Vermont Institute of Natural Science is at Sugarbush. Stop by and learn defining characteristics that make a bird a raptor and their adaptations for life as a predator on the wing. Touchable artifacts and educational, informational materials round out this experience. Sugarbush.com 31 | New Year’s Eve Hike, Stratton The hike starts promptly at 7:30 pm from the Courtyard, as the fireworks are planned to hit the sky at 8:30 pm. After, descend the mountain and finish with a fire and hot chocolate. A spectacular way to take in fireworks from a new perspective. stratton.com

JANUARY 1 | Recovery of the Bears, Stratton An uphill, family-friendly snowshoe race to mid-mountain and back down to the main base area. There is a swag bag for the first 200 sign-ups. If you need snowshoes an additional fee is required. Registration will close 12/31 at midnight. Participants will meet by the Ski School building at 7am for a 7:30am race start time! stratton.com 6 | Mad River Glen’s 75th Anniversary, Waitsfield Party like it’s 1949 at a huge bash to celebrate three-quarters of a century of memories at Mad River Glen. This will be an event that should not be missed with dinner, dancing, live music, fireworks and more. madriverglen.com .

6 | Bogburn Classic, Ripton New England skiers return this year to Rikert Nordic Center for the classic crosscountry ski race first held in 1986 and that the Haydocks still run. Rikertnordic.com 6 | ADK Tour de Ski, Harrietstown, NY Take part in this new cross-country ski race series in the spectacular Adirondack Mountains. The second stop on the Tour de Ski is at Dewey Mountain. paulsmithsvic. org/adk-tour-de-ski 6 | NE Rando Skimo Race, Berkshire East, MA Mass start time is 9:30 (no advance announcement), w/ 1:30 schwag, food, and beer (non-alcoholic!). nerandorace.blogspot.com 14 | ADK Tour de Ski, Tupper Lake , NY The third stop on this new cross-country ski race series is at the James Frenette Sr. Recreational Trails. paulsmithsvic.org/adk-tour-de-ski/

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THE GREEN MOUNTAIN CALENDAR 14 | Family Tournament, Mad River Glen, Waitsfield This tournament originated as the Father-Son Race and dates back to 1942 when it was originally held on the flanks of Mount Mansfield (Stowe). In its modern form, it is a race open to anyone. Racers complete a family-friendly GS course where a racer’s best time from two runs (attempts) is counted. The time is then added together with other family members (by blood relationship) and prizes are awarded. The Family Tournament is the first leg of the MRG Racing Triple Crown. madriverglen.com 17-21 | Winter Rendezvous, Stowe Celebrating 41 years, join hundreds of LGBTQ winter enthusiasts for 5 days of worldclass skiing and boarding at Stowe. This fun-filled event offers a host of outdoor activities, parties, and entertainment winterrendezvous.com 18-24 | 50th Stowe Winter Carnival, Stowe The town of Stowe shines with over 20 major activities for both young and old, zany sports events, ice carving competitions, ski movies, and the infamous snowgolf and snowvolleyball tournaments. gostowe.com 19 | 40th Farmer’s Appreciation Day, Jay Peak Farms are given up to four free lift tickets to ski or ride Jay Peak, with an option to buy more at just $25. Have your coop or farmer’s ID ready and register by emailing dwright@ jaypeakresort.com in advance. jaypeak.com 21 | Lake Placid Super Tour, Eastern Cup, Lake Placid, NY. The second stop on the Eastern Cup tour is at Mt van Hoevenberg. Saturday is a classic sprint, Sunday is the freestyle with interval starts for 7.5, Open, 5K and U16. Nensa.net 27 | Rikert Fat & Adaptive Bike Roundup, Rikert Nordic Center, Ripton Guided group fat bike rides for all abilities, one set of rides in the morning, one in the afternoon, followed by bonfires and fun. addisoncountybikeclub.org 26-28 | Smuggs Ice Bash, Smuggler’s Notch Vermont’s ice climbing festival features talks, demos, clinics and more. Put on by Petra Cliffs with on-site demos and vendors at Smuggler’s Notch’s ice falls. smuggsicebash.com 26-29 | Craftsbury Nordic Marathon & Super Tour, Craftsbury Friday is freestyle sprints. The classic marathon races (50K and 25K) are on Saturday with the freestyle 15K and 30K on Sunday. craftsbury.com 27 | Level 1 Rail Jam, Sugarbush Level 1 brings back the magic of freeskiing with a nationwide rail jam tour. Both amateur and pro skiers compete for cash and prizes at the base of Mt. Ellen. This event will have a morning registration and open practice before the early afternoon qualification jam.

There will be 30 total spots and the top 10 will advance to the late afternoon finals with up to 10 invited pros. There will also be raffles, music, and more. Sugarbush.com 28-1 | Wounded Military Heroes Weekend, Bromley This event consists of adaptive skiing and riding for veterans and their families with Bart Center instructors. Come join as we honor our veterans. Bromley.com

FEBRUARY 3 | Kandahar Mountain Race, Mad River Glen The second leg of the MRG Triple Crown, the Kandahar channels the spirit of all -mountain races that were once commonplace. The version held in the 1980s began on Creamery, descended onto Moody’s, before taking on (Grand) Canyon. At the bottom of Canyon, racers went straight across Easy Way, over the cliff on One Way, and over S-Turn Cliff onto Lower Periwinkle and finished by t the Double. Whew! The modern version still rewards those who can ski gates as well as terrain on the trail. madriverglen.com

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3 | NE Rando Skimo Race, Bromley “The Sun” race is for recreational skiers interested in a fun Saturday challenge, as well as elite ski mountaineers. The race’s unique dual format gives everyone a chance to participate and learn from the best, including World Cup champions and U.S. National Team members. Mass start time is 10:30 (no advance announcement,), w/ 1:30 schwag, food, and beer (non-alcoholic!). nerandorace.blogspot.com 10 | ADK Tour de Ski, Lake Placid, NY! The fourth stop on the ADK Tour de Ski is at Scott’s Cobble Nordic Center in Lake Placid. paulsmithsvic.org/adk-tour-de-ski/ 14 | Cloud 9 Nuptials, Mount Snow Here’s your chance to have a free wedding or renew your vows at the top of the Cloud 9 lift at Mount Snow, a tradition that’s been going on for years. Mountsnow.com 17-18 | Harris Hill Ski Jump, Brattleboro The world’s top male and female ski jumpers compete on a 90-meter jump, and soar more than 300 feet at speeds of nearly 60 mph. The event has a festive atmosphere for the whole family with food, music, and a beer tent. harrishillskijump.com 18 | Andy Parry Tell A Friend Tour, Killington This traveling freeskiing demo tour focuses on fun and eating pizza! Come ski with Andy Parry and crew at one of our Woodward Killington Mountain Parks. Stay tuned for full list of guest skiers and demo products. killington.com 25 | ADK Tour de Ski, Lake Placid, NY The fifth stop on a new cross- country ski race series is at the Adirondack Mountain Club’s Cascade Welcome Center. paulsmithsvic.org/adk-tour-de-ski/ 22-26 | Lake Memphremagog Winter Swim Festival, Newport Join swimmers of all abilities from around the world who travel to Newport to plunge into a pool cut into the ice and compete for fun and prizes. kingdomgames.co 24-25 Kare Anderson Telemark Festival, Bromley Come join expert tele skiers at Bromley Mountain with clinics all weekend for all skill levels whether you’re a beginner or advanced. Cap off the weekend with a race to test your skills. Bromley.com 25 | Extreme Challenge, Smugglers’ Notch The Smugglers’ Notch Ski and Snowboard Club hosts this chance for junior and adult freeskiers and riders to show their big mountain skiing. Spectators will be treated to a birds’ eye view from Madonna I lift. Smuggs.com 25 | 79th Stowe Derby, Stowe Ski from near the top of Mt. Mansfield’s Toll Road trail all the way to town or wherever the 20K course runs. Also, a 6K short course and 16K fat bike division. mmsc.org

MARCH 1 | Vertical Challenge, Burke A series of free casual ski and snowboard races held at ski resorts throughout the Northeast. The VC includes a festival element, featuring activities for all ages and prizes. Skiburke.com 1-2 | Slash & Berm Banked Slalom, Killington Snowboarders gather at The Stash terrain park to take advantage of the natural terrain and all the creative elements the mountain has to offer for a great cause: proceeds from the event will be donated to the Friends of Rutland Skatepark. Killington.com

2 | Vertical Challenge, Smugglers’ Notch A series of free casual races held at ski resorts throughout the Northeast. The VC includes a festival element, featuring activities for all ages and prizes. Smuggs.com 2 | Carinthia Classic, Mount Snow The Carinthia Classic is back and powered by Rockstar. Watch top freestyle athletes throw down on the Junkyard terrain park and compete for a piece of the $20K prize purse, plus enjoy a live DJ, giveaways, and more. Mountsnow.com 23| Jack Jump World Championships, Mount Snow Watch as racers careen down the slopes on homemade jack jumps, single skis with seats mounted to them. It’s a Vermont tradition. Mountsnow.com 3 | Vertical Challenge, Bolton Valley A series of FREE casual ski and snowboard races held at ski resorts throughout the Northeast. The VC includes a festival element, featuring snowy activities for all ages and prizes. Boltonvalley.com 5 | John Kearns Memorial Town Meeting Day, Mad River Glen Vermont high school, middle school and elementary school students ski for FREE! A Town Meeting Day tradition, U12 and U14 racers descend on MRG for the annual John Kearns Memorial Race. madriverglen.com 8-10 | Red Bull Slide-In Tour, Killington X Games gold medalist Zeb Powell returns to Killington with another stacked roster of Red Bull athletes. Don›t miss your chance to meet and ride with the pros!

Killington.com 10 | The Bobcat Loppet, ADK Tour de Ski, Paul Smith’s VIC, NY The last stop on the ADK Tour de Ski is the Bobcat Loppet at Paul Smith’s VIC. paulsmithsvic.org/adk-tour-de-ski/ 9-10 | Vermont Open Banked Slalom, Stratton Riders will give it their all in a downhill slalom course featuring berms, bumps, jumps and rollers twisting down Big Ben. Riders will be individually timed, and the fastest at the end of the weekend will go home with trophy prizes. Registration will be capped at 300 riders: 150 riders in 17 years old & under, and 150 riders 18 years old & over. stratton.com 16 | Rockefeller Challenge, Mad River Glen The last event of the MRG Triple Crown, and an annual test of fearlessness and speed, the Rockefeller is a downhill-to-uphill ski race. Starting on the Practice Slope, competitors try to carry their speed down a designated race lane and up the Rockefeller trail. Like the sport of ski jumping where the skier who goes the farthest wins. madriverglen.com 16 | 12th Annual 24 Hours of Stratton, Stratton A one-of-a-kind opportunity to ride Stratton at night under lighted trails into sunrise.

See how much vertical you can rack up. Compete in the Vertical Uphill Challenge, the team costume contest, or on-hill scavenger hunt. There’s also a ski and snowboard flat boots race, an outdoor glow dance party and nighttime team trivia. New in 2024 is the #Shred4Nate alpine slalom race for mental health and suicide prevention. stratton.com 16 | Vertical Challenge, Pico A series of FREE casual ski and snowboard races held at ski resorts throughout the Northeast. The VC includes a festival element, featuring snowy activities for all ages and prizes. Killington.com 16-17 | Blauvelt Banks, Bolton Valley Pro rider Jake Blauvelt designs a banked and bermed course that’s the blank palette for an expression session like no other. Benefits the Waterbury Skatepark. Boltonvalley.com

17 | Vertical Challenge, Bromley A series of FREE casual ski and snowboard races held at ski resorts throughout the Northeast. The VC includes a festival element, featuring snowy activities for all ages and prizes. Bromley.com 22-24 | Homesick, Stratton Celebrate the history, tradition and progression of snowboarding, the sport that got its start at Stratton. Three days of events with legends, pros, and up-and-comers. Watch the events, peruse the WITNESS Photo Gallery, get nostalgic in the Vintage Board Room, learn what it means to stand sideways from the beginning with The Dawning Exhibit, ride demo snowboards, get your East Street Archives book signed by the biggest names in the game, and après with live music and legends of the sport. stratton.com 23-24 | Reggaefest, Sink or Skim, Duct Tape Derby, Mount Snow It’s a wild weekend with live reggae music in the main base area throughout the weekend, plus Sink or Skim pond skim on Saturday and the famous Duct Tape Derby (make your own craft and race it down the mountain) on Sunday. Mountsnow.com 30 | Spring Brewfest Weekend, Smugglers’ Notch.

Enjoy a mix of local craft and regional brews as well as classic favorites! Don’t miss samples from Vermont’s best brews. A DJ spins the tunes, too. smuggs.com

APRIL 6 | Bear Mountain Challenge, Killington The annual mogul competition and springtime party heats up once again as amateur bumpers take to the slopes of Outer Limits to battle for a place in the finals. The top 32 men and 16 women will compete in a head-to-head competition. Killington.com 7-8 | Solar Eclipse - White Out, Jay Peak Directly in the path of the solar eclipse, Jay Peak celebrates with talks from meteorologists at Clips & Reels, performances by Pink Talking Fish (a band that covers Pink Floyd and the Talking Heads) and special lodging packages. Jay Peak.com 13 | Pond Skim, Killington It’s back and open to the first 100 entrants. Killington.com 13 | Vertical Challenge, Jay Peak A series of casual ski and snowboard races held at ski resorts throughout the Northeast. The VC includes a festival element, featuring snowy activities for all ages and prizes. Jaypeak.com 20 | Dazed and Defrosted, Killington Celebrate the season with soft bumps, cold brews, and of course, great live music.

Your finest spring attire is greatly encouraged. It’s also Season Passholder Appreciation Day: Beast 365, Winter 23/24, and Midweek passholders will be eligible to receive a free BBQ lunch. Killington.com 20 | Rasputita, Jay Peak One of the nation’s best-loved gravel bike events, Rasputitsa celebrates 10 years with a new start at Jay Peak. Amateurs and pro cyclists come from all over the country to ride the muddy, snowy dirt roads of the Northeast Kingdom in a fun event that features Pearl Jam cover band Five Against None this year. Jaypeak.com

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CHAIRLIFT Q/A

By Lisa Lynn

Meet the New Boss supportive. Someone in our company recently came up to me and said, “Hey Shannon, when you came out it made me comfortable to come out.” Vail Resorts now has an affinity group, the Rainbow Room, that supports LGBTQ+ people.

What’s been the best part about coming to Stowe?

I’d say the team here. It’s a really terrific group of professionals who have been really welcoming. I also love the change of seasons.

If you could change one thing at Stowe what would it be?

I’d widen the trails! Coming from Colorado and Califorinia I can’t believe how narrow these Eastern trails are.

S

hannon Buhler (top left) moved her family (wife, Megan,and daughters Addison, left and McKenzie, right) from California to Stowe Mountain Resort this past year to take on the role of general manager. Buhler is the first woman to hold the job and, at 36, also the youngest. But she has a lifetime of experience doing pretty much every job in the ski resort industry. Most recently, Buhler served as Director of Mountain Operations at Northstar-At-Tahoe in California where she earned the nickname “Boss Lady.”

How did you get into the ski business?

My parents had me on skis when I was 14 months old. My dad was in the business and retired as the COO at Breckenridge Ski Resort. I started there when I was 15, checking guests into the ski school and worked my way up to being a manager. Skiing was always part of my life but I was heavily involved in sports and thought I would go into sports medicine, which is what I got my degree in.

How have things changed for women since you started?

When I started, there were no women general managers, now Vail Resorts alone has 10 women running resorts. I’m proud of that success—it’s been intentional. When Vail acquired Whistler-Blackcomb we adopted a program called P.O.W.D.E.R. which stands for “Providing Opportunity for Women through Diversity, Equality and Respect.” We also have a Women & Allies Employee Resource Group that I co-lead. In 10 years I hope the work is done and it’s normal to see a female GM or CEO. Do you know of other openly gay general managers?

I don’t know of anyone else right now. I have been openly gay for 15 years and my friends, family and colleagues have been really

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And what would you wish for from Stowe skiers?

First, give us feedback. The guest experience is what drives our business and keeps people coming back. But the other thing I would ask for is that the folks who skin up in the morning please follow our rules and policies. It’s truly for skiers’ safety. We want to keep being able to offer this experience.

There’s been a lot of talk of a lift or another way to connect Stowe and Smugglers’ Notch. What’s your take on that?

I really appreciate our partnership with Smugglers’ Notch and our continued conversations. And I respect the State’s view. We’re not announcing anything right now, but is this something we’ll continue to look at in the future? Absolutely.

Paid parking Fridays through Sundays at Stowe has been a flashpoint for many skiers. Is it working?

The goal of the paid parking program is to reduce traffic and the data we have collected through year one has shown that. Last year we only had one day with more than a 30-minute backup on Route 108 versus 16 days the year before. We also saw 46% of the cars that came into the paid area had four passengers, which means they park for free, so carpooling is working. And Green Mountain Transit, which operates the bus system, had their highest ridership ever. Still, we are looking at expanding our lots and at which lots should be free.

All revenue we collect from parking goes back into transit and traffic.

You took third in the Vermont Steinholding Championships?

Yes, I tried it for first time at the von Trapp Oktoberfest last fall and managed to make it to the finals. I’m not going pro but I will work on improving my place next year. u

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