Resurgence Of A Vermont Ski Area Brings Hope To Rural Communities 

The Country needs more stories like this. - Especially when it involves a home grown shred spot.

My great grandfather (Robert Hammond) and two other business partners started the original Ascutney, I'm happy that people are keeping it going. Small areas like this are important to the entire industry and sport.

My friends and I took trip from Long Island to Ascutney in the early 80's. We stayed for 4 days. I'll never forget it, because it snowed for a day and a half and we had 2 feet + of powder. We called it the Dump of the Decade. Wonderful memories and great skiing. I had heard the mountain closed years back. I am glad the mountain has made a comeback.

Back in the late sixties, I was on a B- 52 bomber crew stationed at Westover near Spfld Mass. The base had easy access to Rt91 which is the gateway to Vermont ski areas. Our work schedules were largely erratic and if we didn’t have to fly, most of us would head up to a day of skiing. Ascutney was a smaller ski area without major difficulty of any of the larger ski areas and it was in so. Vermont within easy access to rt 91. So, we headed up to Ascutney many times and we would often meet up with fellow friends from back at the base. The ski area was small and didn’t have all the bells and whistles of the bigger areas and that also meant smaller or No crowds on weekdays. It was almost like we had our own ski area. No crowds, no long lift lines, generally pleasant skiing with a lot of our friends. What could be better? So after an enjoyable day of skiing, we were able to have an easy ride down Rt 91, be home for supper and be ready to fly the next day. Those were the days. Brings me happiness to see the area come back to life.

This is a great news story - I grew up in VT; special place in my heart!

I worked for Carson Helicopters in Perkasie PA, around 1978. We flew concrete in buckets from the base of that mountain to the lift towers using a Sikorsky S58T. Scary job.

We are old Ascutney people. My family (George and Shirley Dunning were my parents) ran the ski area one season in the early 50s and had the ski shop there for many years. I broke my leg on the main slope in 1957 when I was 7. It is an amazing rebirth - so impressed by the foresight of the Brownsville people. - Leslie Dunning O'Kelly

I adore Vermont & consider it my second home state. My family has a lakeside house in the NEK & grew up skiing, hiking & backpacking all over the state. I clearly remember a hike with friends we took up Ascutney around 1974! I’m glad to see skiing come back to the town & I hope it’s an amazing success.

This is really wonderful to see a community come together, especially for a ski area. And that others wanted to help. Skiing and snowboarding are fun sports and an eastern tradition.

Wow, wonder to see the community come together. I will try to get there this winter! I wish them the best of luck!

Once in a while you'd see Charles Bronson in the lift line. He and his wife, Jill Ireland, owned property in West Windsor. They are both interred in the Brownsville Cemetery in West Windsor overlooking the mountain.

Nice story. My son had his first lesson here. He was three years old and that was over 40 years ago. It was one of the few places that was not crowded over the Christmas holiday. Then we stayed at the brand new hotel at the base. Next year you could not even get into the hotel at the base. Eventually it all fell apart. Ended up at Greek Peak in NY which had a feel similar to the old Ascutney.

I live in Bennington and we have had nothing but rain so far this winter. I was just today wondering how this very unusual weather might impact the ski industry that Vermont's economy relies so heavily on. I figured that ski areas north of here and at higher elevations and those with their own snowmaking equipment might be faring pretty well. This story is so encouraging and so inspiring! Kudos to the people of Windsor for their determination and hard work to bring this ski area back to life!

Nice report, thanks so much. I cringed and winched when I bought my Epic pass fir the season. It's nice see an independent operation going, there aren't many any more. I'll try to get up there some day.

Vermont is such a great place to live for so many reasons.

Just moved to NH, I hike Mt. Ascutney often as I'm only 10 min away and this winter has been a bit warm so far. I love the small town feels around here. Feels like a throwback to a past time. And that general store is the Brownsville Butcher, great food and great people. Thanks for sharing

And this is why I would like to buy a cabin rental/campground up there and move! I miss New England, and Vermont is just a beautiful place to be! The community makes it worth while and can show the country a lot of what it really means to be neighborly and a part of something that isn’t just about yourself

My family and friends were just here few days ago enjoying snow tubing. The place is just right next to our hotel a beautiful place to have fun and relax during this cold winter days. We have a good memory here my kids love it.

I believe my skiing at Ascutney was the late 1960s. It was great. Too many New England ski areas have closed. Big shout out to the locals !!!

Nice to see Ascutney being resurrected. My brother and I brought his kids there for their first ski lessons. A great time. They both ended up being amazing skiers.

Grew up in the 50's and 60's in Claremont. Went to the ski area with my parents as it was just over the river. Great to see it coming back!!

Vermonters are very resourceful and no quit in them folks.

Cool people there in that area of Vermont. I wish them well!

One of the originals. If my memory serves me correctly I skied there in the early '60s. Nice little mtn.

I grew up skiing at Ascutney. I was fortunate enough to live in Cornish, NH during K-5 and Cornish Elementary had a ski program at Ascutney and I consider it a life long gift. Hoping to get back for some great skiing soon.

So great to hear this -- I skied there a few times in the late 80s while attending college in Springfield MA and it was a sweet little mountain.

Thanks for this inspiring story!

I was traveling for a week skiing around route 100 in the early 90's. Stopped by to ski Ascutney, but it was closed. It looked like a great place to ski.

A great family mountain. I have fond memories of skiing there with my kids 30+ years ago. Their greatest challenge is it’s western exposure. The mountain faces west so it tends melt in the afternoon sun and then ice up after sunset.

Awesome story . Only been to Vermont 1x. But its wonderful. Loved the small towns and toned down commercialism.

Peter at the Brownsville Butcher & Pantry is the best! Amazing store & amazing Mtn

I grew up skiing here! On some days we called it Ice-scutney but it was always a good time. I’ve been hiking and backcountry skiing this mountain for the past 6 years.

Skied there a lifetime ago but participated in the Vermont 50 a number of times in just the past decade. Vermont 50 is a mountain bike and running event. Keeping my fingers crossed for the success of this area.

Our family learned to ski at Cochran in Richmond which seems very similar. The only time I have been on a T-bar.

Dartmouth Ski Run in NH reminded of.

Had some good days there before the closure. Would love to see it go back to the top of the old triple chair someday. I'm not driving 2 hrs for what they have now. Even though I'm not going this is a great story. Perfect for the kids in the area.

Great terrain. Never got tired of that hill.

Back in the early 70s, my parents ran a ski lodge/restaurant in Stowe where I learned to ski. There was pretty much zero off-season tourism then so my dad and his partner had to take part time jobs to make ends meet. I remember my dad was selling Rath meats and his partner was peddling CCTV equipment until there was enough snow to open the slopes. But it's the opposite of that now with so many people interested in all kinds of outdoor sporting activities in the warmer weather. Man, I can't believe you have rope tows and T-bars. That's what I learned on at Toll House and Little Spruce. Best of luck to you all.

I remember when the lodge burned. I was working security at the resort that night. It was a super cold night…

I skied in Vermont when I got into skiing I haven’t skied in 25 years last year I got new equipment hopefully I will get to Vermont this time Ed Strong from Ct

I started skiing in Minnesota on a small ski area that had a rope tow (one rope tow). We moved out to Washington state and I began skiing on mountains, using chair lifts. At that time the area was “folksie”. Gradually over the years it has lost all remnants of that atmosphere. Before I kick the bucket I’d like to find an area like yours, to live near.

Good video, great job Chris.

Some of my first memories are on that mountain, as well as my brothers ashes.

I pretty much learned to ski at "Round Top". Anyone remember that one? With the climate SO much warmer now....good luck with the snow. Maybe in a few more years you guys can plant orange trees in the parking lot!

There are quite a few ski places like that in NY that are defunct. One was Deer Run😢. None had snowmaking and that was a major issue.

This is fantastic 👏

When I was first learning to ski in Pennsylvania in the 1970’s we had a few small ski areas like this. But just like in Vermont we now only have larger mountains in our state. It is nice to see the community try to operate this ski area. It makes a nice area for beginning skiers to learn and with lower costs than the big ski areas may encourage more people to ski. I hope the weather turns colder and you get much natural snow for the rest of the season.

Very interesting 🤔 Great people 👍🏽

Vermont Strong! 💚

Nice story. Perhaps some know about Nozawa Onsen one of the best ski areas/resorts in Central Japan. It went bankrupt in the 90s and was bought by the town for nothing. It was ran by them and then sold and is incredibly successful. Amazing place to visit. Of course hey have amazing snow and A LOT of it, problem in Vermont and east coast in general is that you kinda need good snow making equipment which is very expensive

Good luck. No snow this season so far.

Gotta luv skiing

One big secret to reviving the ski areas is cheap lift tickets, and the make the other money on food and other ski equipment, and other things. People can't afford a $100.00 lift ticket, but they can maybe afford a $50.00 dollar one.

As long as it remains in private hands and not sold into Corporate structures, will be a great place to invest some time and money ....

Good stuff

This is pretty cool

Murray Ridge in Fort St. James operates as a Non Profit Society. This can be another option for community ski areas like this.

What about Wilderness at Thé Balsams in NH

☘ Irish Honey Badger - "Historic"

Can't wait to visit, but what's the name of the mountain/ski hill?

Looks like a beautiful hill. I'm amazed that the population density in that part of the US cannot support the place full time

Big Tupper in NY needs everything. Any donors out there.

Naw be we have actually good skiing in Vermont Killington Sugarbush, Jay Peak smugglers notch not there tho

it aint ASPEN but its better than nothing !

The problem is the people younger than these people don't ski as much as previous generations. Ski areas everywhere face tough times.

Where is this ski resort at?

If they could get patrons to accept personal responsibility, this could become a going enterprise. The sad thing is, lawyers & insurance companies take a big cut and ruin it for the rest of us.

Save your local area!

Over 200 bucks for a day pass at Steamboat. What a deal.

Watch out for the ice.

This is a great example of what life could look like without big corps calling the shots.

If the town would have allowed a golf course 35 years ago like someone wanted, the ski area probably wouldn't have closed. Growing up next to Mt Ascutney, it was such a shame to see it close.

Interesting reporting that does not mention the ski area or town by name. Of course, one can infer it from their shirt logo's or the highway signs, but that's weird 🤷🏻‍♂️

The problem is that most VT residents do not ski. So people from out of state are expected to come and ski along with their dollars. If more VT residents skied, then there would be what as known as a 'natural market' to help sustain the local ski areas. Vermont also does a terrible job at promoting the ski industry. Many mountains have not expanded in over 40 years due to environmental regulations. For examples, Killington wanted to connect to Pico for many years, and Sugarbush wanted to build an area between its two peaks, but the state shot both of them down. There are now less than 20 public ski areas now in the state.

Build a bike park and they will come.

Why is your voiceover YELLING

Aside from maybe land management agencies leasing land to private industry, local governments have absolutely no business in the ski resort industry.

Pretty sad when to make a business work, you have to use volunteers instead of employees.

Why not just let a private company buy it?

This sounds like some kind of hippy business model.

Good for you guys-well done👏👍⛷️

Thanks for sharing Good Stuff folks!! The Vermonter BS

Reportedly "ascutney mountain." They have a Web site.

This is Socialism, dam you Vermonter's don't you know that in near by NH Larry Summer's and Sunumo? Are all upset of you doing something capitalism can not! Love and Respect.

If you like fresh air, nice views and decent people, check out VT.

great hard working Americans vs so many lazy ones today. well done VT