Mad River Glen
Ski Resort · Fayston, Vermont
A ski area at Fayston that has spent seventy years refusing to modernise, on purpose. Its single chairlift - first run in 1948 and rebuilt in 2007 - is one of only two left in the country and the only one in the east. It is the only cooperatively owned ski area in America, bought by its own skiers in December 1995, and one of three ski areas in the United States that completely ban snowboarding, a rule the shareholders voted over seventy-five per cent to keep. Ski magazine has called its terrain the most challenging on the east coast. The slogan is "Ski it if you can" and it is not entirely a joke.
Mad River Resort Road, Fayston, Vermont, 05673, United States
⚠ WINTER ONLY IN ANY MEANINGFUL SENSE, and the season depends on natural snow: with ONLY 15 PER CENT SNOWMAKING this mountain skis what falls, so early and late season can be very limited and CHECKING CONDITIONS BEFORE TRAVELLING IS NOT OPTIONAL. The season runs roughly mid December to early April in an average year. ⚠ SNOWBOARDING IS COMPLETELY BANNED and the rule is enforced at the ticket window - Mad River Glen is one of only three ski areas in the United States that still prohibit it. Lift tickets are sold day by day at modest prices by eastern standards. ⚠ THERE IS NO LODGING ON THE MOUNTAIN; stay in the Mad River Valley at Waitsfield or Warren. Parking at the base is free and fills early on powder days. ⚠ ROUTE 17 OVER THE APPALACHIAN GAP IS A STEEP SWITCHBACK MOUNTAIN ROAD and is serious in winter - approach from Waitsfield instead unless you know it. The mountain is cooperatively owned by its skiers.