50!! Mad River Glen, VT

And of course I had a wonderful time. I was met by the Marketing Director Eric Friedman – a friendly, outgoing man with an easy manner – and was given a full mountain ski tour. Eric knew everyone in line and in-between hellos was able to give me the history of the mountain and a story at every stop down this wonderful (and challenging) hill. And now more on this single chairlift that so captivated me.

I have been so conditioned, in this age of faster lifts, more snowmaking and more “skier visits”, to consider this ski industry as a kind of grow-or-die business. But then there is Mad River Glen, not just doing it differently because it is different – but for a purpose. Its purpose is to give its cooperative owners and visitors a good time in the out-of-doors, to treat nature with kindness – as a true gift and lastly, its goal is not maximizing returns – optimizing investments and constantly growing – instead, this area attempts to reach a kind of steady state. Oh yea – so what does the single chairlift have to do with all this? Well, you see, they love this single chairlift so much that the members together put $75,000 a year aside for the eventual replacement of this lift – and here is the point – this set aside of funds makes no economic sense. A single chair, in this age of 6 person high-speed quads, is extremely inefficient in moving people up a hill. The members choose to fund this because it is somehow part of their, and the mountain’s, collective character and that is what is appealing and symbolic. They keep it operating because they love it, and it means something to them and they are willing to settle with the lower “skier visits” that result.