Mad River Glen
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| Mad River Glen | |
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| Location: | |
| Coordinates: | Coordinates: |
| Top elevation: | 3637 ft |
| Base elevation: | 1600 ft |
| Runs: | 45 |
| Lift system: | 4 (1 single, 3 doubles) |
| Terrain parks: | None |
| Snowfall: | 250" |
| Snowmaking: | 15% |
| Night skiing: | no |
| Web site: | http://www.madriverglen.com |
Mad River Glen is a ski area in Fayston, Vermont, United States. Its terrain has been ranked by Ski Magazine as the most challenging on the east coast of the United States.[1] Located within the Green Mountain range, it sits in the Mad River Valley close to the larger Sugarbush Resort. Though not considered a large ski area, it has a vertical drop of 2,037 feet.
It averages over 250 inches of snow a year and maintains a traditional form of New England skiing that emphasizes snow preservation on narrow trails instead of man-made snow on wide boulevards. Mad River Glen also does very little grooming and prefers to leave its trails with whatever naturally forms. It has one of only two single chairlifts left in the country and does not allow snowboarding. It is one of a very limited number of ski cooperatives. Individuals purchase publicly available shares and attend regular "Town Hall" meetings, voting on issues regarding the area and management of the cooperative.
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[edit] History
Mad River Glen was founded in 1947 by a group of investors including members of the Rockefeller family (the Rockefellers continue to own property on the mountain to this day) and headed by Roland Palmedo, one of the businessmen involved in Stowe Mountain Resort. Feeling disenfranchised by what he felt was excessive commercial development, Palmedo wanted to create a ski area for truly dedicated skiers, with a minimum of commercial interests and amenities. The Single Chair, a marvel of engineering at the time, was completed and first operated in 1948. Additionally, five trails and a small base lodge (still referred to as the "basebox") were also completed at that time. Over the next few decades, 3 double chairlifts and a rope tow for a children's learning area, and many new trails were added. However, the general character of the area changed very little.
In 1972, the ski area was bought by Truxton Pratt, then passed on to his wife, Betsy, after his death in 1975. It remained relatively unchanged until she sold it in 1995 to a group of skiers who formed a cooperative to own and manage the ski area. Betsy now owns a small inn a few miles from the mountain called the "Mad River Barn," as well as all the land between there and the mountain.
[edit] Management
The cooperative holds annual elections for a board of trustees, who oversee the management and business of the ski area. They also hire a general manager to handle day-to-day operations.
Despite several challenges, the co-op has been very successful.[citation needed] The mortgage on the ski area was paid off within a few years. Additionally, the ski area has remained profitable through several poor ski seasons, including the 1998 Ice Storm,[citation needed] and has managed to fund the replacement of the double chairlift and the upcoming restoration of the single chair.
[edit] Single Chair
Mad River Glen is one of two ski areas in the country to utilize a single chairlift. The other single chairlift is operated at Mt. Eyak which is located and owned by the City of Cordova, Alaska, and operated by the Sheridan Ski Club.
The original chair was manufactured by American Wire and Steel. In the summer of 2007, Doppelmayr CTEC was contracted to renovate the chairlift, while maintaining the classic New England feel. The tower foundations were new, along with close replicas of the chairs, grips, drive, and end terminals.[2] In addition, all the towers were taken to Maine for painting.[2]
[edit] Meteorology
Mad River Glen is situated favorably on the backbone of the Green Mountains. The elevation allows for cooler air and more precipitation than surrounding terrain. The highest ridge of the Green Mountains not only gets the same snow that blankets the rest of New England but also picks up significant "backlash" snow after the storms have passed. Strong northwest winds behind the storms pick up moisture from Lake Champlain and are forced rapidly upward on their perpendicular ride over the Greens. This "orographic enhancement" of snowfall is the primary reason that Mad River Glen and similar locations often average triple the snowfall of the rest of northern New England. The north and northeast facing slopes of the ski area then allow for maximum retention of the snow that does fall. By late winter or early spring, it is not uncommon for 40 inches of snow to lie on the mountains with no snow at all in nearby towns and villages.
[edit] Trails
Mad River Glen's trails have a wide variety of difficulty. They range from the flat, open greens of Birdland to the large number of steep, moguled trails that dominate much of the mountain.
[edit] Snowboarding
Mad River Glen is one of the few ski areas in the United States to completely ban snowboarding. This has caused significant discussion, especially among the snowboarding community.[3] While the Mad River Glen cooperative seeks to preserve the area as a "skier's mountain", the foremost reason for the ban remains the single chair. Snowboarders were allowed on the hill initially, but there were serious problems loading and unloading on the narrow-seated single chair. The half-century old lift was designed specifically to accommodate skiers. The single chair serves most of the most popular terrain. This created some friction between the former owner and the local snowboarders. Some of these snowboarders were disrespectful to the former owner and so she banned all snowboarders.[citation needed] The co-op does not intend to upgrade to a more modern lift, so the snowboarder ban remains in effect indefinitely. In addition, the ban is still enforced due to the tendency of new snowboarders to sweep more fresh snow off the trails.[citation needed] With no snowmaking this is a larger problem for Mad River Glen than for other areas which offer snowmaking. Fortunately, nearby Sugarbush welcomes snowboarders and has ample snowmaking, so visitors to the Mad River Valley have the choice of two excellent resorts that has some of the best terrain in the East.
[edit] Additional information regarding the ban
Mad River Glen was, ironically, one of the first places in the United States to allow snowboarding during the 1986-87 season and lasted until the 1991-92 season. Unloading issues with the old single chair led the owner of the resort, Betsy Pratt, to limit them to the Sunnyside Double and the practice area chair.[4]
This compromise caused a great deal of friction and ultimately led to two encounters that triggered the ban. The first incident involved a young man who had grown up in the area and who had spent many years skiing the mountain before getting into snowboarding in the mid 1980s. This young man had served on the ski patrol, as his father had for 30 years. The young man and a friend went to have a conversation with Betsy Pratt, the lady who owned the mountain, in order to see if they could talk her into allowing boarders to have access to the single chair again. The discussion was futile, because the reason for the ban was more mechanical than political, and Betsy could not be persuaded.[citation needed]
As the young men turned to leave, one of them allegedly made a comment to the effect that being a boarder in the 1980s was like being black in the 1950s. Betsy Pratt, irritated by the comment, replied that in that case they could just stay off the mountain altogether. Betsy might have changed her mind when she cooled down, but a second incident occurred shortly afterward. Allegedly, some younger boarders approached Betsy in the local supermarket under the guise of doing an interview for a high school newspaper. The conversation didn't go well. There may have been some rough language, and if so at least some of it likely came from Betsy, who would be unlikely to be described as timid. This seemed to cement the ban for good.[citation needed]
Four years later Betsy Pratt sold the mountain to the Mad River Glen Cooperative. During the 1999-2000 season the co-op sold the 1,667th share to pay off its mortgage. The mountain is now owned by the co-op, who addressed the snowboard ban with a vote. Over 75% voted to keep the ban, and it will take a 2/3 majority to overturn that, making it unlikely that the ban will be lifted soon.
[edit] Woods Skiing
Mad River Glen is also famous for its tree skiing. It is one of the few mountains that allows and even promotes skiing off trail. Mad River's most notorious marked trail is a steep, rocky, thin, and usually icy path down from the top of the mountain called Paradise. To embark, a skier has to hike over and out of view of the chair lift. The entrance to the trail is not marked, although in 2004 it was added to the official trail map. The first pitch features mandatory air over a four foot high frozen waterfall that spans the full width of the trail. Nearby Sugarbush also has some superb off-piste wood skiing in its fabled Slidebrook Bowl and there is an annual race between Mad River Glen and Sugarbush.
[edit] Telemark
While Mad River Glen does not allow snowboarding, it does have a larger than normal proportion of telemark skiers and regularly hosts the North American Telemark Organization's yearly festival weekend each March.
[edit] References
- ^ Reade, Nathaniel. Mad River Glen, Rank 8 East. Retrieved on 2006-08-31.
- ^ a b Mad River Glen Ski Resort, Vermont.
- ^ Burton, Jake. Burton Snowboards ad disses Mad River Glen. Retrieved on 2001-09-26.
- ^ http://www.madriverglen.com/ MadRiverGlen.Com]
