E
ver wonder how the trails at the Stowe Mountain Resort got their names? Does the Lord have some religious connotation? Does S53 refer to the number of turns on the trail? Is the Starr simply a misspelling of “star” because of its double-black diamond, “Experts-only” designation? Is it called Tyro because someone didn’t know how to spell Tyrolia after the famous region in the Alps? Grab a beverage and get ready. You are about to embark on an historic journey of how the ski trails on Mount Mansfield got their names. To begin with, tracking down the origin of trail names is tricky. In several cases, the trails that exist today are definitely not the same trails they were in earlier decades. For example, trail designer Charlie Lord began work on the original Chin Clip in July 1934 and cutting began that fall. The trail hosted a race on February 23, 1935—the results are now unknown—but it was located far from where we find the current Chin Clip. It originally plunged from a ridgeline below Taft’s Lodge on the Long Trail straight down into Smugglers’ Notch near the state picnic area. Well into the late 1950s, the swath from this old trail was still evident although it is now completely overgrown. Determining the origin of Stowe’s trail names is not an exact science. Versions can vary based on who is telling the story, and Stowe Mountain Resort archives provide precious little supporting documentation. Compounding it all is the fact that the pioneers who came up with the original names are now all gone. The origins of newer trails are easy to prove. The relatively new Hackett’s Highway officially opened in the 1998-99 season. This trail, under the Triple Lift, takes skiers back decades to the time when stumps, rocks, and other hazards were the norm. This is a trail for traditionalists. It was named after fourth generation Stowe native Edson Hackett. Ed, a member of the Mt. Mansfield Ski Patrol from 1963 to 1997, supervised volunteer patrollers and can be seen today routinely pounding the bumps here, there, and everywhere around the mountain. Another new trail made its official appearance during the 1994-95 season. Tres Amigos Glades had long been skied by the locals. Over the years, three of those locals spent considerable effort clearing away dead trees and small brush, which brought more and more skiers into the woods. Eventually it became an official trail. There’s no documentation as to how Houghton’s got its name. Dating from at least
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1935—perhaps even earlier—it might have been an old logging road. The best info comes from Jason Michaelides who tells us that a tree farmer named Greg Williams cut trails on Mt. Mansfield and he was friends with Houghton Freeman, whose family connections to the Mountain Company go back to its beginnings. Williams may have named the trail after either Houghton, senior or junior. How about Tyro? Is it really a misspelling? This English noun actually means “beginner.” Although not really a beginner trail it began life as a near-perfect trail for intermediate skiers. Dalton was named after longtime Stowe native Dalton Wells, who worked at the resort for many years. He did a number of jobs including selling tickets. He may have also been the worker who was injured in the 1950s while working on a tower of the single chair. The lift operator mistakenly started the cable in motion without ensuring that everyone’s hands were clear. When viewed from Stowe, Mt. Mansfield has the distinct appearance of a face looking skyward. For obvious reasons, key portions of the mountain have always carried anatomical names such as The Nose, The Chin, The Adam’s Apple, The Forehead, etc. From these features, the connection to trail names was pretty much a natural progression. Since being cut in 1934 and 1935, Stowe’s most famous trail has always been Nose Dive. It was originally known as The Barnes Trail, for Barnes Camp, the rustic building that sits at the entrance to the resort. Charlie Lord noted that his first run—maybe the first ever?—down the new trail was on April 4, 1935. The first sanctioned race on Nose Dive was held Feb. 23, 1936, when Bob Bourdon won the Vermont Downhill Championship in 2 minutes and 30 seconds. This two-mile run drops from under The Nose down through a natural corner in the mountain and ends at the parking lot. It was the second trail cut on the mountain and until 1940, only accessible to those who hiked up due to the lack of lifts. The trail has undergone radical changes over the years, and old photographs show a remarkably different trail. In the 1940s the base area we see today was known officially as the Nose Dive parking lot. Not only have some trails migrated around the mountain, but several have specific sections that have their own individual names and characteristics. Originally, Nose Dive featured Seven Turns as it departed from the Toll Road. The turns were steep, narrow, and winding— hence the Dive in Nose Dive. It wasn’t until 1965-66 that the Seven Turns were reduced to the current number—three. The Shambles was the spot where many an early racer crashed when trying to avoid a couple of trees that once sat dead center on the trail. Virtually every sec-