Vice President JD Vance’s visit to The Valley to ski Sugarbush led to protests in Warren and Waitsfield and at various road intersections along the way. The protests were vocal and lively and made national and international news reports on Saturday and Sunday, March 1 and 2.
The plan for Vance and his family to visit and ski was reported February 24 and quickly went viral on social media. Original plans to stay at The Pitcher Inn in Warren were scrapped in favor of a private home on Stagecoach Road in Fayston on February 28.
While some media reports suggested that protesters had chased the Vance family out of Warren to be relocated to an unknown location, the change in venue was reported Friday afternoon well before the Vance family arrived and a full day before the planned rallies to protest and support Vance.
NOT REALLY UNDISCLOSED
The undisclosed location in Fayston was only unknown until the VP’s motorcade made its way, past Vermont State Police cruisers, up Bragg Hill and over to Stagecoach Road. The VP’s motorcade was highly visible while in town with portions of it and his Secret Service details ascending Bragg Hill throughout the night and into the early morning hours on Saturday.
Protesters began gathering in Waitsfield around 8:30 a.m. and in Warren about the same time. Vance’s motorcade headed to the mountain at approximately the same time that morning with some protestors stationed at the intersection of Bragg and Stagecoach Roads.
In Warren pro-Palestinian protesters were very visible along with others protesting Vance and the Trump administration policies. They were initially joined by two counter-protestors supporting Vance and later joined by several Trump-flag laden vehicles and more supporters.
UKRAINIAN FLAGS
By 9:00 a.m. the sidewalks in Waitsfield were filling up and people were standing two and three deep with signs and chants and Ukrainian flags. That number swelled to well over a thousand, possibly two thousand at the height of the demonstration that saw people lined up five-deep on both sides of the street and cars honking and waving their own signs and flags. The protests stretched from the intersection of Routes 17/100 north beyond Carroll Road and into historical Waitsfield Village.
Things were peaceable with no law enforcement reports of fisticuffs or altercations. Bystanders reported some shouting and shoving between demonstrators and those driving the large trucks with Trump flags, but law enforcement did not provide any reports. In addition to people gathering in Warren and Waitsfield, there were protestors and some supporters at Sugarbush in the base area and on the slopes and lifts. Protestors also took to other intersections along the way on West Hill and German Flats.
Pictures and videos of the protests went viral as they began to be uploaded online. The Valley Reporter saw 156,000 impressions on Facebook and 23,000 on Instagram as well as close to 100,000 impressions on Twitter/X. Mad River Valley Television took two short videos of the projects, which had been viewed over 40,000 times on YouTube as of Monday, March 3, at midday.
ON THE SLOPES
At Sugarbush, skiers and employees reported very little disruption from having a VIP on the slopes. JJ Toland, vice president of sales and marketing for the resort, said that anyone who wants can book a private ski lesson and ski lifts (using the ski school lift line) with their instructor. He said that with the Vice President and his family that is how it worked.
In the run-up to the Vance family, resort personnel shared information about the resort, the slopes, roads, etc. with the Secret Service which had a significant security present at the resort and around it, including on the ground and in the air, Toland said.
“Operationally, though, it was just like any other private lesson. Guests skiing through the lift line with resort personnel,” he said.
He said the level of attention to detail and synchronization by the Secret Service was impressive and said they were consummate professionals – which was to be expected since they protect the president and vice president.
The Vance family left The Valley late morning on Sunday in its motorcade, encountering protesters near the Burlington Airport on the way out of town. In news reports this week, Vance said he barely noticed the protestors.
