Mad River Glen is on its way to becoming the first ski area in the nation on the National Register of Historic Places; the final application to the U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service seeks to nominate the MRG Ski Area Historic District whose historic significance is skiing.
The Mad River Valley Rural Resource Commission will be holding an open meeting on Wednesday, February 22, at 9 a.m. at General Wait House to take public comment on the Mad River Glen Ski Area Historic District nomination in advance of its review by the Vermont Advisory Council on Historic Preservation.
Mad River Glen Ski Area Historic District is an alpine ski facility located on a land area encompassing 700 acres on the eastern slopes of General Stark Mountain in Vermont's Green Mountain Range. Principal entry to the ski area is from McCullough Turnpike (Vermont Route 17).
The final application (available on MRG co-op’s website) calls attention to the historical significance of the ski area’s trail design and preservation of the natural landscape.
“Yet most of Mad River Glen’s carefully-placed trails become visible only to those who are descending the mountain. The design of those trails is historically one of the ski area’s most important qualities. These trails define the skiing experience and are much less intrusive to the face of the mountain than the broad, open swaths visibly apparent at other ski resorts, notably Glen Ellen (now Sugarbush North) which borders Mad River Glen to the south. Mad River Glen's trails were hand-cut and were not created with large bulldozers, machines, or dynamite. The trails follow the contours of the mountain and little effort was made to alter cliffs, rocks, or other natural features."
The application also outlines MRG’s forest management plan and conservation efforts.
“The extensive forest cover on Stark Mountain is also a fundamental part of the trail design and skiing experience, and Mad River Glen Cooperative has developed a forest management plan that is consistent with its mission to preserve the mountain ecosystem. That plan differentiates among three forests and their respective forest covers, based on elevation and corresponding tree species.”
Mad River Glen’s historic Single Chair, originally built in 1947 and restored in 2007, is carefully explained in the final application.
“The integrity of the single chair – even before the 2007 restoration – was fairly remarkable. Only a few minor changes had been made in the course of replacing some chairs which included the 20 chairs with improved footrest design in 1989.
The restoration replaced all 158 chairs with historically accurate replicas of the original chair design and renewed deteriorated parts of the towers and the lift drive appropriately to give the structure another 50 years of service. This reconstruction qualifies it to be considered contributing under Criteria Consideration ‘E’ for reconstructed resources.”
In addition, the application stresses the relationship between skier and ski area and the important historical significance of the Long Trail connection.
“Much of the ethos of Mad River Glen revolves around both a minimalist attitude and one of preserving the tradition of skiing in New England. Early recreational skiers gained access to their ski runs via hiking, a method that lends itself to a natural integration between the hiking trail and surrounding environments. Mad River Glen is one of the few places in Vermont where that history of backcountry hike-to-ski remains possible, due principally to the existence of the Long Trail along the ridge of Stark Mountain.”
The application concludes, “The overwhelming majority of the district’s acreage is covered by the trails that are 82 percent contributing and will be very nearly 100 percent contributing in only four years. Mad River Glen Ski Area Historic District is an excellent example of a significant and distinguishable entity comprised of a collection of resources, some of which lack individual distinction. It also possesses an outstanding level of integrity for an industry that is as dynamic and changeable as downhill skiing in the 20th century.”
National Historic Register approval and listing is expected this summer following local, state and federal review. To view the full application, visit www.madriverglen.coop.
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