Headline News
Mad River Glen Dedicates Restored Single Chair, Gets Poached by Snowboarders
Loyal Mad River Glen skiers gathered Dec. 15, 2007, to dedicate its newly restored Single Chair. At the last minute, they were joined by a large group of snowboarders who hiked up the mountain to poach this iconic ski area that bans snowboarding.
All in all, it turned out to be a respectful event as skiers and snowboarders greeted each other, snowboarders passed out donuts and drinks to the crowd, and MRG marketing guru Eric Friedman passed out trail maps to the snowboarders and encouraged them to become shareholders so they could help shape the ski area's future.
The poach, organized by Burton Snowboards founder Jake Burton, came on the heels of an announcement the day before from Taos, which has decided to end a longtime ban and open its resort to snowboarders beginning March 19, 2008. The snowboarders, dressed in white tyvek suits with "Mad River Glen: Poach It If You Can" stickers on them, held up signs saying such things as "Listen to Taos," "Ride It If You Can," "We Love Snow" and "MRG Is For Lovers."
Afterwards, the snowboarders went into the cafeteria to order breakfast: "We'd like 35 poached eggs, please!"
As for the dedication ceremony, it recreated Mad River Glen's opening day in 1948, complete with Miss Vermont 1948 Jean Peatman on hand to help Miss Vermont 2007 Rachel Ann Cole "unlock" the restored chair so it could be revved up for the day. Others present for the dedication included MRG President Jamey Wimble, Vermont Commissioner of Tourism Bruce Hyde, and General John Stark (Stark Mountain's namesake, portrayed by Alan Moats).
If you'd like to see photos of the dedication ceremony and the snowboarders who poached the mountain, go the the LetsPlanTrips.com photo galleries and look for the "MRG Single Chair Grand Opening" picture album.
Some History
The Single Chair has long been the embodiment of the mountain’s rugged, practical and unique personality. For 58 years, the Single Chair brought generations of skiers to the top of General Stark Mountain. Not surprisingly, it recently started showing its age. While shareholders did consider replacing it with a conventional double chair—which would have cost about $300,000 less than the restoration—they decided that the ski area just wouldn't be the same without the Single Chair.
So this past summer “Old Faithful” received a $1.54 million historic rehabilitation. The restored Single Chair has the identical lift capacity (500 skiers per hour) and, to the untrained eye, looks nearly identical to the original. All the components and the drive are new. The lattice towers and the return station framework were refurnished and are being re-used. They were removed, sandblasted, re-painted and re-installed on new concrete bases.
The project was made possible by the Single Chair Capital Campaign. The ski area developed a unique partnership with two non-profit groups: the Preservation Trust of Vermont and the Stark Mountain Foundation. This collaboration allowed Mad River Glen to raise charitable dollars to finance the project. Preservation Trust’s involvement also ensured that The Single’s historically significant design was preserved. To date the campaign has raised more than $1.4 million towards the $1.54 million goal. For more information about the Single Chair Campaign or to make a donation, you can visit www.madriverglen.com/single.