Winter’s Water
Exhilaration - a feeling of excitement, happiness, or elation
While skiing finding and playing with the balance point between natural forces is exhilarating. Gravity propels one downhill while angular resistance transmitted through the skis to the movement of the snow underfoot allows you to carve turns, control speed and direction. Swinging in the fall line is addictive.
Skiing
Powder Day at Mad River Glen
Mad River Glen has been one of my favorite winter places since my college days in the 1970s. It’s perhaps the most unique ski area in North America. It is a cooperative, owned by a group of skiers dedicated to preserving natural skiing without snowmaking and very limited grooming. With limited lift service, the trails are pretty empty. You feel like you have the mountain to yourself.
Classic New England skiing
A morning ride up Mad River Glen’s iconic single chair over Chute on a powder day.
Mad River Glen offers the most challenging and diverse ski terrain in New England. Skiers can descend the entire 2,037' of vertical on true expert terrain on trails or through the woods. There are no “out-of-bounds.”
Stark’s Nest is a rustic warming hut at the top of the single chair. Kristin and I hydrating before a run down Fall Line.
Take a left at the hut to two of Mad River’s best trails - Fall Line and Paradise.
Kristin Ross in the bumps at the top of Fall Line January - 2003. That’s the top of Stowe in the distance.
Skiing the trees at Mad River Glen is always done with at least one partner. They recommend groups of three.
Mad River Glen Skiing Videos
Check out our videos which include some of skiing at the Glen
A little Mad River History
In 1948 Roland Palmedo who developed the Stowe ski area created Mad River Glen. Betsy and Truxton Pratt, avid Mad River skiers and friends of Roland eventually became part owners. When Truxton and Roland passed away in the early 1980s Betsy became the sole owner of Mad River Glen.
Betsy was a truly special person. She was dedicated to maintaining the non-commercial, natural snow and unique character of the area. Eventually Betsy put the ski area up for sale in the early 90s. But she made sure Mad River was safe from glitzy development, snow guns, grooming machines and homogenized skiing. The sale of the area was contingent upon the new owners structuring Mad River Glen as as a skier’s cooperative.
Brian Ferrell and I both bought into that idea. We both became very early members and bought shares before the deal was finalized.
Brian Ferrell, a long term friend and fellow MRG shareholder. We met in 1977 kayaking. We've skied and kayaked together 100s of times.
Looking west from the top of Mad River Glen towards New York's Adirondacks.
The goal of the Mad River Glen cooperative is to protect forever the unique skiing experience of low skier density, natural terrain and forests, varied trail character, and a friendly community for shareholders, personnel, and patrons.
To learn more about Mad River Glen go to their website and “Ski It If You Can”