2015-16 CASTLEROCK ‘N’ ROLL DAWN PATROL AT THE MOUNTAIN Plus: Beginner Lesson Breakthrough Local Wine Experts Amazing Desserts 2015-16 JUMP IN! BLUEBERRY LAKE SUMMER TENNIS HOLIDAY Plus: Beginner Lesson Breakthrough Local Wine Experts Amazing Desserts IVING 2016 L SPRING VISIT US AT SUGARBUSH RESORT REAL ESTATE LOCATED IN THE FARMHOUSE AT LINCOLN PEAK 800.806.1070 | SUGARBUSHLIVING.COM AO Sugarbush Magazine 2015 - w bleeds.pdf 1 7/28/2015 7:47:09 PM AlAlppininee OpOptitionsons C M Y CM MY CY CMY K 20 years • 1995 – 2015 HER: BLAKE JORGENSON JORGENSON BLAKE HER: P PHOTOGRA Celebrating our 20th Anniversary of providing high quality equipment 802-583-WAXX (9299) and expertise in the Mad River Valley. www.mountainsideski.com Ski Rentals & Demos Ski/Board Tuning & Repair Custom Boot Fitting Children’s Seasonal Equipment Leasing Equipment & Accessories Conveniently located next to Rice Brook Residences in Sugarbush Village, Warren, VT. Mountainside_FPad_2.indd 1 8/5/15 12:27 PM HANS JONATHAN VON BRIESEN VON HANS JONATHAN 27 The ’Rock Is a Hard Place Welcome to one of the most eccentric (but beloved) trail networks in the world of skiing and snowboarding. BY PETER OLIVER Plus: Lessons for advanced skiers and snowboarders. 33 The Mountain Wakes Up Skinning up and skiing down as the sun rises— and the mountain crew prepares for the day. BY CANDICE WHITE Plus: After the storm ... 41 Never Too Late A skier gets back on the slopes after a two-decade break, and takes her first lesson ever. BY AMY STACKHOUSE Plus: Lessons for beginners. 45 (Blueberry) Lake of Dreams One man’s dream for his children becomes a reality for an entire community. BY PETER OLIVER 51 Courting Success Two days of tennis instruction in one beautiful Valley equals redemption on the court. BY KATIE BACON Sugarbush skier Alix Klein ripping it up on Castlerock’s Lift Line. Plus: Tennis in the Valley: Then and now. SUGARBUSH MAGAZINE PRESIDENT Winthrop Smith Jr. EDITOR Candice White AUDREY HUFFMAN MANAGING EDITOR CLARISPHOTOGRAPHY.COM Katie Bacon PRODUCTION EDITOR Amy Stackhouse ART DIRECTOR Audrey Huffman ADVERTISING MANAGER 72 Calli Willette CONTRIBUTORS John Bleh Chris Enman 14 Laura Friedland JACK GARVIN JACK Jack Garvin Inside Lines Peter Oliver 6 One on one with Win Smith, owner and Mary Simmons president of Sugarbush Resort. PHOTOGRAPHER Arts & Culture John Atkinson 8 FOR THE LOVE OF WINE In the Valley, knowledge of wine runs deep. CONTRIBUTING Plus: Wine recommendations from local PHOTOGRAPHERS experts. clarisphotography.com Eugene Krylov 12 FOUR-SEASON SECRET STASHES 8 Everyone knows about the Valley’s main Alexandra Morse attractions. Here, we lift the curtain on Michael Riddell Style Hans Jonathan von Briesen some lesser-known favorites. 38 Just desserts. Jeb Wallace-Brodeur Summertime Timeline SUGARBUSH RESORT 14 HIGH-FLYING WEDDING WEEKEND 54 A quick history of Sugarbush. 1840 Sugarbush Access Road A plane, a ski lift, and a zip line were Warren, VT 05674 all part of the fun when Beth Pollock Sugar-Kids 800.53.SUGAR and Chauncey Griffith tied the knot 56 Go mad with our Mad (River) Libs, sugarbush.com at Sugarbush. a word search, a scrambler, and Plus: Pre-nuptivities. ON THE COVER some awesome jokes. WINTER: Wintertime Sugarbush season passholder 61 Dining Directory 18 A DAY IN THE LIFE AT SUGARBUSH Darian Boyle in Slide Brook. Photographer: John Atkinson Profiles of six Sugarbushers. 65 Lodging Directory SUMMER: Training Ground Sugarbush Close-Up A summer day at Blueberry Lake. Photographer: John Atkinson 22 SHAPE UP! 68 Facts and figures about the Five personal training sessions at SHaRC mountain and the latest get the author off the couch and into shape. developments there. Plus: Beyond the training gym. 72 Events Calendar 2015–16 Mountain Life 24 #SBCOMMUNITY 73 Closing Shot 4 SUGARBUSH MAGAZINE ALPINE SHOP VERMONT (802) 862-2714 AlpineShopVT.com 1184 Williston Road, South Burlington, VT. /AlpineShopVT 2015/16 5 INSIDE LINES LLACE-BRODEUR WA At Sugarbush, we have a motto we take very seriously: Be Better Here. JEB Each year, we work hard to improve what we do so that you, our guests, will have a better experience. Annually, we make visible and quantifiable investments—in new lifts, low-energy snowmaking equipment, new groomers, new rental equipment, and lodge construction and improvements—so that your experience gets better. Another way we strive to be better is to continually work to strengthen the bonds of our community. I truly believe that we have a special community here in the Mad River Valley— this is what attracted my family here years ago. Many things go into creating a vibrant and Win and Lili at the Big Kicker at American lasting community, but it is the shared values of a community that hold it together. Flatbread’s Lareau Farm. Some of the values I see that hold this community together include a strong sense of individualism; a commitment to exercise freedom of expression (just go watch the Warren Parade!); a willingness to help each other in times of need (I think most recently of Tropical Storm Irene); and a true appreciation for the natural environment. That natural environment provides so many recreational opportunities for us to pursue, from hiking and cycling to fishing and swimming to skiing and snowboarding. But as with many things in life, there are risks comingled with the rewards of pursuing our recreational passions. This year at the resort, we will be talking a lot about safety, and focusing on the role that each and every one of us plays in staying safe at work and at play. Safety is everyone’s responsibility. Up to this point, we have put a great deal of effort into making sure our employees perform their jobs safely. You might be impressed by how much thought our housekeeping staff puts into the cleaning supplies they use, or the training that every on-snow staff member goes through. We are equally concerned about the safety of our guests, and I am asking that all of you take part as we place more emphasis on this topic. We have resources to guide all levels of skiers and riders. We publish a Winter Trail Use Policy that includes the National Ski Areas Association’s Skier’s Responsibility Code, a list of seven points that every skier or rider should know and follow. Our policy also addresses skiing in control, skiing on closed terrain, uphill travel, and skiing in the woods. In addition to policy, we have staff who support us in recreating safely. We deploy a trained group of professional ski patrollers who are on the mountain to assess when to safely open and close trails, and to assist anyone who is injured. We have ambassadors stationed around the mountain to help guests decide on appropriate routes down; these ambassadors also run free “Meet the Mountain” tours for anyone unfamiliar with the terrain. We are also very fortunate to have a clinic staffed with orthopedic physicians from the University of Vermont Medical Center who have been serving Sugarbush for the past several decades. Safety resources are not meant to take the fun out of skiing or riding. To the contrary, they are there to help all of us enjoy ourselves. I look forward to another great, safe year at Sugarbush, with you, your friends, and family. Cheers, Win Smith President, Sugarbush Resort Win awaiting the Mad Bus after a powder run in Slide Brook. 6 SUGARBUSH MAGAZINE Route 100, WWaitsfield,aitsfield,VTVT 802-496-3272 wwwwww.spor.sportiveinc.comtiveinc.com ARTS & CULTURE For the Love of WINEIn the Valley, knowledge of wine runs deep. BY JACK GARVIN A glass of pinot noir on the patio at Timbers, surrounded by mountains. any know that the Mad River Valley is filled with food geeks for Pinot Noir lovers. My Oregon experience took me through every and beer geeks—people who bring knowledge, curiosity, aspect of the wine-making process, from canopy management to M and high standards to what they create, eat, and drink. pest control, chemistry, geology, blending, and tasting. For me, Fewer know that the Valley has its share of wine geeks, too. I mean learning from the wine maker and touring the vineyards in some of passionate people without pretension who have been informing and the most beautiful areas on earth is the best education. You can truly impressing new wine aficionados and sophisticated consumers for understand wine when you see how much care is taken to ensure that years. Most of us are self-trained, introduced to the world of wine by it reflects the wine maker’s creativity and sense of place. Often wine a mentor or a singular wine experience, or just brought up in a way of makers will manipulate alcohol and sugar levels—and sometimes life where wine on the table at meals is a part of the everyday fabric this is necessary, given the vagaries and challenges of each growing of living. But there are formally trained people in the Valley as well. season—but the real masters tend to have a hands-off approach and let the wine speak for itself. My own love for wine began when I came to the Warren Store thirty- five years ago. Bill Wadsworth was the proprietor of the wine shop I’m a firm believer that a wine should be more about finesse than at the time. When I started working I heard that he was in California power. (Power wines tend to be overly alcoholic fruit bombs, such rounding up hard-to-find reds and whites from Napa Valley and was as a very oaky Chardonnay, that overwhelm the flavors of the food.