2017/18 EGAN’S VERTICAL REALITY INDEPENDENTS’ DAY Plus: Woods Craft Valley Shopping Spree Artisan Bread & Butter sugarbush.com 800.53.SUGAR #SUGARBUSH Adventure Awaits There’s something more to the Sugarbush experience than our legendary terrain variety, meticulous snowmaking and grooming, fabled history, and authentic Vermont mountain setting. Come discover what makes Sugarbush different. For the best deals on season passes, discount tickets, lodging and more, visit sugarbush.com. Former Golden Lion – NEWLY RENOVATED IN 2016 – 3 miles from Sugarbush Rustic Farmhouse Chic Style with riverfront access to the 12 Standard Rooms Mad River, hiking & biking trails. ������� 1 Three-Bedroom House We offer room blocks for 5 Condos 1/4 mile from Lodge weddings and special events. (802)496-3084 731 Route 100 Warren, VT 05674 [email protected] TheWarrenLodge.com Always Good Times Good times is what Elan is all about, and the best times are those spent with friends and family in the mountains. Whether it’s a family weekend road trip to your favorite local destination or a backcountry adventure with your best buddies, it’s always good times when you surround yourself with the ones you’re closest to. HJVB 29 Independently Yours In a ski resort economy increasingly defined by corporate conglomerates, Sugarbush and neighboring Mad River Glen stand out. BY PETER OLIVER Plus: Sugarbush Joins the Mountain Collective 37 The Wilderness Among Us The well-loved Green Mountain National Forest, with its 900 miles of multi-use trails, celebrates its eighty-fifth anniversary. BY KELLY AULT Plus: Life on the Long Trail 42 Getting Schooled At Green Mountain Valley School, students don’t need to choose between elite skiing and school life. BY KIMBERLEY REYNOLDS Plus: Launching Pad 48 Vertical Reality Extreme skiing legend John Egan has made a career of testing his limits—and teaching others to test theirs, too. BY KATIE BACON Photo: Green Mountain Valley School’s Abi Guimond racing on Inverness SUGARBUSH MAGAZINE JA Inside Lines PRESIDENT 6 One on one with Win Smith, owner and Winthrop Smith Jr. president of Sugarbush Resort EDITOR Wintertime Candice White 8 WORKING HIS MAGIC MANAGING EDITOR An afternoon out on the slopes with Terry Barbour, Katie Bacon Sugarbush’s new Ski & Ride School director Plus: Specialty Camps and Programs PRODUCTION EDITOR Amy Stackhouse Summertime ART DIRECTOR 12 LESSONS FOR A LIFETIME 12 Sugarbush’s offerings for junior golfers go Audrey Huffman beyond the basics of the sport. ADVERTISING MANAGER MAD RIVER GLASS GALLERY MAD RIVER GLASS Food Jen Schonder 14 VALLEY FARM TO TABLE CONTRIBUTORS Where to find local meat and produce from some of Kelly Ault the Mad River Valley’s larger farms Cory Ayotte John Bleh Shopping Nadine Mumford 16 RETAIL THERAPY Peter Oliver Finding high style and one-of-a-kind items in a Kimberley Reynolds valley (thankfully) low on chain stores 16 Plus: Local Ski and Ride Shops STAFF PHOTOGRAPHERS John Atkinson Environment Hans Jonathan von Briesen 20 GREEN MOUNTAIN CONTRIBUTING How Sugarbush is shrinking its carbon footprint Plus: Meet the SEW Committee PHOTOGRAPHERS Eugene Krylov Training Ground Brian Mohr/Ember Photography 22 WOODS CRAFT Jason Morris From Eden to Paradise and beyond: Tips for Jeb Wallace-Brodeur skiing in the trees at Sugarbush SUGARBUSH RESORT Mountain Life 1840 Sugarbush Access Road MORRIS JASON 26 Photos of the Sugarbush community. Warren, VT 05674 Style 800.53.SUGAR 34 ARTISAN BREAD & BUTTER sugarbush.com 34 Sugar-Kids ON THE COVER 54 MIND GAMES WINTER: John Egan on Lift Line Discover Sugarbush with a crossword Photographer: John Atkinson puzzle, word search, and riddles SUMMER: A view from the Long Trail, looking south toward Mt. Ellen. 58 Dining Directory Photographer: Brian Mohr/Ember Photography 62 Lodging Directory For comments or suggestions about Timeline Sugarbush Magazine, contact us at [email protected]. 64 A quick history of Sugarbush Sugarbush is operated Sugarbush Close-Up under special use 66 Facts and figures about the mountain permit with the Green Mountain National and the latest developments there Forest and is an equal 72 – opportunity provider. Events Calendar 2017 18 HJVB 73 Closing Shot 22 4 SUGARBUSH MAGAZINE Route 100, WWaaitsfielditsfield,VT T 802-496-3272 wwwwww.spor.sportiveinc.comtiveinc.com The Largest Bogner Selection in Northern New England INSIDE LINES JA People often ask me, “What is your exit strategy for Sugarbush?” As we approach our seventeenth year owning the resort, and with the growing consolidation in our industry, this is a logical question to ask. Sugarbush is owned by a small group of families, with my family holding the majority interest. We enjoy being independently owned because it gives us the freedom to manage Sugarbush in a way that we feel is best for our guests and for the Mad River Valley community. This is a responsibility we take very seriously. As the ski industry consolidates, the question arises of whether smaller, independently owned and operated resorts can compete with the emerging Goliaths. We respect the larger corporations, their financial firepower, and their breadth of reach, but we believe there is room for independents like us. To be successful, we have to offer a quality product and excellent service to those guests who value what we have to offer. By remaining independent and privately owned, we can focus on the long term and not be intimidated by and beholden to quarterly performance. We do not have to grow for the sake of growing, and can make quick decisions, placing our guests’ interests first. Our decision makers are not located in a remote boardroom, but, rather, in the lift lines, on the mountain slopes, in the restaurants, and on the golf course with you. This year we joined the Mountain Collective, a group of sixteen independently owned ski areas in the United States and Canada, with affiliates in Chile, France, and Japan. As the only eastern resort in the Collective so far (we took Stowe’s place upon Vail’s announced purchase of the resort), we are honored to partner with such an exclusive group of western mountains. (See “Independently Yours,” page 29.) Our mission here at Sugarbush is to cultivate a spirit of lifelong adventure and camaraderie. Decades ago, my family chose Sugarbush over other ski areas for those two notions: adventure and camaraderie. We came not only to enjoy skiing and recreating, but also for the camaraderie we discovered here. Since our earliest days, we have felt that life is better here in the Mad River Valley. Now, as owners, we are committed to making Sugarbush even better in the years ahead, operating in as responsible an environmental fashion as we can, and supporting our local community along the way. We begin the 2017–18 season with two new fixed-grip quad chairlifts: the Village Quad at Lincoln Peak and the Sunshine Quad at Mt. Ellen. These will greatly enhance our beginner experience at both mountains. We replaced the snowmaking pipe on Which Way at Mt. Ellen, making the trail more accessible to all levels of skiers and riders. We purchased additional low- energy snowmaking guns, and replaced an older air compressor with a new adjustable compressor that allows us to control the amount of air we produce, and thus reduce our energy consumption. We just replaced our scanners with RFID gates, significantly enhancing the guest experience in the lift lines. Since our purchase of Sugarbush in 2001, we have installed seven new lifts, and invested $65 million in the mountain. I have enjoyed seeing our community expand as families have moved into Clay Brook, Rice Brook, and Gadd Brook Slopeside—our newest condominiums. When you visit us next, I hope you will stop in and see these ideal four-season homes, which represent one of the last opportunities to own slopeside—with ski-in and ski-off convenience. We look forward to seeing you this season and sharing some adventure and camaraderie with you. Cheers, Win Smith President, Sugarbush Resort 6 SUGARBUSH MAGAZINE An unmistakably authentic atmosphere. A genuine Vermont country setting. A local spirit that reflects the diversity of characters who live here – farmers, artisans, and adventurers, to name a few. Come discover Sugarbush living. Two-, three-, and four-bedroom slopeside homes now available at Gadd Brook Slopeside. SUGARBUSH RESORT REAL ESTATE Sugarbush Resort, Warren, VT 800.806.1070 SugarbushLiving.com JA WINTERTIME Working His Magic An afternoon out on the slopes with Terry Barbour, Sugarbush’s new Ski & Ride School director BY JOHN BLEH Sugarbush Ski & Ride School director Terry Barbour 8 SUGARBUSH MAGAZINE h Your Perfect Retreat. Where rustic charm and luxurious comfort combine to welcome you to your home away from home. Three Course Gourmet Breakfast Cozy, Well-Appointed rooms Gas Fireplaces, Steam Showers hWhirlpool Tubs 1661 E. Warren Road, Waitsfield, VT 802.496.2276 www.theroundbarn.com t was an incredible April day, full JA of the type of peel-away corn snow photographers dream about when they Ilook to shoot spring skiing. I’m not talking a 65-degree day with push-piles of mush. This was true corn snow that had frozen overnight before thawing just enough in the afternoon to make stellar conditions. I had planned to take a run or two with the new Sugarbush Ski & Ride School director, Terry Barbour, before heading indoors to interview him. But it turned out that the skiing was just too good, so we combined chairlift interviews with spring turns as I took in pointers from Terry. I’d learn about him on the lift; he’d improve my skiing on the hill. It seemed like a more appropriate way to get to know a ski school director.