Vermont Challenging Trails Considered one of America's best-kept secrets, Mad River Glen is attracting more skiers who appreciate the uniqueness of this mountain. Mad River Glen is one of the most unique ski areas in the country, famous for its legendary expert terrain, beautiful and varied beginner and intermediate trails, and, of course, the nation's last surviving single chairlift. The extensive trail system follows the contours of General Stark Mountain to a single base area, making it easy for families and friends to ski together.

Located in the "snow corner" of New England, Mad River's 250 inches of annual snowfall combine with uncrowded slopes free of snowboarding, and a pristine mountain environment to create a skiing experience like no other. It is a specialty mountain, appealing to those who want the challenge of trails covered by nature over many kinds of terrain. This and all the well-preserved natural beauty attracts the best skiers from all over the country. And Mad River Glen is America's only cooperatively owned major ski area. The Mad River Glen Cooperative was formed in 1995 and continues to help preserve the special brand of skiing offered here.
 

Mad River Glen's trails have a wide variety of difficulty. They range from the flat, open greens of birdland to the large number of steep, and/or moguled trails that dominate much of the mountain.

Mad River Glen is also famous for its woods skiing. It is one of the few mountains that allows and even promotes skiing off of the trails. Mad River's most notorious marked trail is a steep, rocky, thin, and usually icy trail down from the very top of the mountain called Paradise. Just to get to this trail a skier has to hike over and out of the view of the chair lift. The entrance to the trail isn't marked, although in 2004 it was added to the official trail map. The first pitch features mandatory air over a 4' high frozen waterfall that spans the full width of the trail.

Mad River Glen is situated favourably on the backbone of the Green Mountains. The elevation allows for cooler air and more precipitation than surrounding terrain. The highest ridge of the Green Mountains not only gets the same snow that blankets the rest of New England but they also pick up significant "backlash" snow after the storms have passed. Strong northwest winds behind the storms pick up moisture off of Lake Champlain and are forced rapidly upward on their perpendicular ride over the Greens. This "orographic enhancement" of snowfall is the primary reason that Mad River Glen and similar locations often average triple the snowfall of the rest of northern New England. The north and northeast facing slopes of the ski area then allow for maximum retention of the snow that does fall. By late winter or early spring, it is not uncommon for 40 inches of snow to lie on the mountains with no snow at all in nearby towns and villages.

Mad River Glen is one of the few ski areas in the United States to completely ban snowboarding. This has been very controversial and has caused significant ire in Vermont, especially among the snowboarding community itself. While the Mad River Glen cooperative seeks to preserve the area as "skier's mountain", the foremost reason for the ban remains the single chair. Snowboarders were allowed on the hill initially, but with serious problems loading and unloading on the narrow-seated single chair; the half-century old lift was designed specifically to accommodate skiers alone. The single chair serves most of MRG's fabled terrain. This created some friction between the former owner and the local snowboarders. Some of these snowboarders swore at the former owner and thus she banned all snowboarders. The co-op does not intend to upgrade to a more modern lift. Thus, the snowboarder ban will remain in effect indefinitely. In addition the ban is still enforced due to the tendency of new snowboarders to sweep more fresh snow off of the trails. With no snowmaking this is a larger problem for Mad River Glen than for other areas which offer snowmaking.

Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Retrieved on 2007-07-27

Main phone: 802-496-3551
Snow phone: 802-496-3551
Reservations: 800-82 VISIT (84748)

Email: ski@madriverglen.com
Website: www.madriverglen.com

Service Departments and Telephone Numbers

From Boston (3 hours):

• Take I - 93 North to Concord, NH
• Get on I -8 9 North
• Go all the way through West Lebanon, NH and over the bridge into Vermont
• Get off I - 89 at Exit 9, the Middlesex exit.
• At the end of the highway ramp Go Left.
• Cross under I - 89 to the stop sign.
• Go Left on Route 2 East.
• Go _ Mile then Make Right on to Route 100B
• Take 100B through Moretown Village and over the stone bridge.
• Route 100B turns into Route 100 South a mile outside of Moretown Village
• Follow Route 100 to the Village of Waitsfield.
• Go Right on to Route 17 West just past The Den Restaurant.
• Go 5 miles up Route 17 West to Mad River Glen
• We're the ones with the Single Chair. You can’t miss it.

Ffrom New York City (5 1/2 hours):

Depending on where you live and weather conditions you can take one of two routes to Mad River Glen.

The I-84, I-91, I-89 Route

This route is more highway driving and is the choice to take from Long Island, Connecticut and parts of New York

• Take I - 84 East to Hartford, CT.
• Get on I - 91 North.
• Proceed on I -91 North through Springfield, MA and on into Vermont.
• Get on I - 89 in White River Junction
• Get off I - 89 at Exit 9, the Middlesex exit.
• At the end of the highway ramp Go Left.
• Cross under I - 89 to the stop sign.
• Go Left on Route 2 East.
• Go 1/2 Mile then Make Right on to Route 100B
• Take 100B through Moretown Village and over the stone bridge.
• Route 100B turns into Route 100 South a mile outside of Moretown Village
• Follow Route 100 to the Village of Waitsfield.
• Go Right on to Route 17 West just past The Den Restaurant.
• Go 5 miles up Route 17 West to Mad River Glen
• We're the ones with the Single Chair. You can’t miss it.

or

The New York Thruway Route

• Take I - 87, The New York Thruway to Albany, NY.
• Stay on I - 87 North (The Northway) following signs to Montreal
• (Not I-90 West to Buffalo)
• Go to Exit 20, one of the several Glens Falls exits.
• Get on Route 149 East.
• Proceed through Fort Ann and Whitehall, NY on into Vermont.
• Route 149 East turns into Route 4 East.
• Take Route 4 into Rutland, VT following it through the city center.
• Follow Route 4 past the Pico ski area and over Sherburne Pass.
• After heading down the back side of the pass get on Route 100 North.
• Proceed approximately 40 miles through the towns of Pittsford, Rochester, Hancock, Granville, and Warren and on to Waitsfield.
• Go Left on Route 17 West
• Go 5 miles up Route 17 West to Mad River Glen
• We're the ones with the Single Chair. You can’t miss it.

From Burlington (45-60 minutes), Montreal (2 1/2 hours) and Points North:

• Take I - 89 South to Exit 10, the Stowe/Waterbury exit.
• Bear Right off the exit ramp to the stop sign.
• Turn Left on to Route 2 South.
• Proceed through Waterbury Village and go over the bridge.
• Make a Right on to Route 100 South
• Proceed about 7 Miles to the Stop Sign.
• Turn Right and continue on Route 100 South
• Follow Route 100 to the Village of Waitsfield.
• Go Right on to Route 17 West just past The Den Restaurant.
• Go 5 miles up Route 17 West to Mad River Glen
• We're the ones with the Single Chair. You can’t miss it.

According to one of our patrollers...

"I make the trip to MRG routinely from my house in So. Burlington (closer than Burlington to MRG) and if I go the short but preferred route over Appalachian Gap, it takes 50 minutes under good driving conditions for the 33 mile trip and if I go the long way as described above it takes an hour to drive the 43 mile distance."