Vermont Birthplace of the American Ski Industry

Author: Lindsey Whitton Features Editor

Skiing is the major source of winter tourism in Vermont and one of the largest industries in the state. With over 20 alpine ski resorts, about 50 nordic ski centers, 4,500 skiable acres, 900 trails and 150 lifts, Vermont is the prime destination for eastern United States skiing.

Vermonters have been very successful in competitive winter sports. Vermonter Bill Koch is the only American Olympic gold medal winner in nordic skiing. Vermont is the native state of incredible alpine skiers such as Betsy Snite, Andrea Meade, Suzy Chaffee, Billy Kidd and members of the Cochrane family. Ross Powers, a snowboarder from Stratton, VT recently won the bronze medal in the 1998 Nagano Olympics, which was the first Olympics to include snowboarding.

It all started in 1934 when a group of Vermonters attached a long loop of rope to the engine of a Model T Ford and created a ski tow that pulled skiers up Gilbert's Hill, outside of Woodstock, Vt. This was the first lift in the United States, and suddenly new industry was created centered around the first commercial ski areas: Suicide Six, Bromley, Mad River Glen and Mount Mansfield. Soon New Yorkers were taking the "ski train" to Vermont, and winter tourism took off.

Skiing became increasing popular across the country, although Vermont remained the primary ski state. Stowe soon had both the longest ski lift in the world, and the United States' first ski school. Vermonters also developed many of the innovations that made skiing more accessible and enjoyable.

It was in the Green Mountains that the next snow sport was developed and perfected in the 1970s. "Snow surfing" involved riding a single board with a rope tied onto the tip. In 1982, Vermonter Paul Graves organized the world's first snowboarding championship at the ski area Suicide Six, again near Woodstock. One of the competitors involved in this event was Jake Burton Carpenter from Stratton, VT, now the founder of the largest snowboarding company in the world.

The longest cross-country ski trail in America is the 300-mile long Catamount Trail. Three Vermonters started the trail in 1984 with the aim of creating a single cross-country trail that stretches across the entire state. The Catamount trail is currently 92 percent complete.

Today, skiing is a billion dollar industry that directly employs 11,000 Vermonters and indirectly employs 22,000. The President of the Vermont Ski Area Association, David Dillon, said that the ski industry is the "primary engine of the tourism market" in the Green Mountain State.

In just under 70 years, skiing in Vermont has progressed from the first contrived rope tow to the enormous, luxury resorts that millions of tourists from all over the world travel to today.

Statistics courtesy of www.1-800-Vermont.com