Open Road Ski Company and trail map artist James Niehues have partnered with Mad River Glen for a Kickstarter project to fund an all new hand-painted image of the mountain, with plans to use it for trail maps and mountain signs.
Building on the success of their Kickstarter-funded book, “The Man Behind the Maps,” Open Road Ski Company has turned toward crowd-sourced funding to raise money for new Mad River Glen trail maps and signs with proceeds going to the Stark Mountain Foundation.
The Kickstarter campaign launched on September 3, 2020, and will finish on October 2, 2020, -- the start of Mad River Glen’s Green and Gold weekend and the traditional kick off to the ski season. In the first 36 hours of the campaign, the Kickstarter raised sufficient funds to back the painting and exceeded its goal by 1,000%. All additional support will help create trail maps and all new on-mountain signs utilizing the artwork.
“Mad River Glen is a unique mountain with a storied history and a deep community connection that can’t be found anywhere else,” said Niehues. “Painting the mountain’s new map and at the same time supporting their cooperative model and the Stark Mountain Foundation is a privilege.”
With the help of the Mad River Glen community, once the map is painted, this legacy will be used for printed trail maps and signs for years to come.
“Working with Jim on this project is a dream come true for Mad River Glen,” said marketing and events director Ry Young. “A Niehues map is the map to have for any mountain, and Jim does an incredible job filling in every trail, tree and rock. Mad River Glen has plenty of those.”
Learn more about the Mad River Glen and Niehues collaboration and support the Kickstarter at www.kickstarter.com/projects/orsc/a-ski-legend-paints-mad-river-glen-a-new-trail-map?ref=522q4c.
About The Mad River Glen Cooperative (MRG)
The Mad River Glen Cooperative aims to forever protect the classic skiing experience by preserving low skier density, natural terrain and forests, varied trail character, and a friendly community atmosphere for the benefit of its shareholders, personnel, and patrons. It boasts the only single chair in North America and it’s the only skier-owned cooperative in the US. The Mad River Glen Cooperative has always been and intends to remain fiercely independent. More: https://www.madriverglen.com/
About The Stark Mountain Foundation
The Stark Mountain Foundations is a charitable organization with a mission to preserve and protect the environment and ecosystem of General Stark Mountain, including its recreational access and historic value, and to support programs that promote and sustain that environment for the enjoyment of present and future generations. More: https://www.starkmountain.org/
About Open Road Ski Company
Open Road Ski Company was formed by two passionate skiers, Ben Farrow and Todd Bennett, in 2018 to create a book cataloguing Niehues’ life work. With over 200 hand painted trail maps and 292 pages, the hardcover coffee-table necessity The Man Behind The Maps: Legendary Ski Artist James Niehues, was funded as a Kickstarter project and raised more than $590,000.00 making it the #1 Art Illustration campaign of all-time. More about James Niehues and Open Road Ski Company: jamesniehues.com/pages/about
About James Niehues
James Niehues has painted over 200 trail maps that are used by hundreds of millions of people to navigate ski resorts across the world. As everything goes digital, Niehues maintains his analog approach, hand painting every trail, tree and rock, with details so accurate the maps can be used to navigate unmarked and unnamed areas of the mountain. He was recently nominated to the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame and has defined the look of an entire sport, capturing the unique character and soul of mountains worldwide. Jamesniehues.com
