This winter’s weather was challenging for alpine activities throughout New England, especially when compared to last year’s bountiful snow and wide-open back country terrain.  Thankfully, our tubing lift and rope tow operate with limited snow cover, so we were able to have a stand-out season for our school and youth programs. 
 
In other news, we are thrilled to announce that AO was just awarded a very generous grant from the Vermont Outdoor Recreation Economic Collaborative (VOREC).  See below for highlights of the winter season and more on the VOREC grant!

Ascutney Outdoors and the Ascutney Trails Association were selected to receive $262k from the FY22 VOREC Community Grant Program, a State program designed “to support communities in building their economies with outdoor recreation at the center.”  The Grant provides funding for several longer-term capital projects of AO and ATA that will improve and sustain our offerings on the mountain.  The funding is project specific, with AO receiving a bit more than half of the Grant.
 
Our application stood out amongst 104 letters of interest and ultimately 30 finalists.  At the end of the day, twenty-four projects received a total of $4.5mm.  A big shout out to AO Board members Natalie Starr for initiating and leading the grant proposal and Glenn Seward for scoping out the longer-term requirements for our rope tow, and to Aaron Day and Erik Schultz who joined the project team from the Ascutney Trails Association.   
 
The Grant funding will be used:
 
For AO to replace the antiquated gas-powered rope tow motor with an electric motor and controls.  This will increase the reliability and uphill capacity, which is particularly important for larger school events, and it will make the operation safer and more user-friendly for our volunteers.
 
For AO to extend the popular Discovery Interpretive Trail to the village and the Ascutney Resort, as well as to create and distribute a professional brochure and map.

For ATA to construct a “flow trail” (on the eastern slope, mostly above the old double chair) and “skills park” (above the event field) as part of the mountain bike network within the Conservation Easement.   The flow trail is a less technical and will appeal to a broader range of bikers, and the skills park will enable newer riders to learn technical biking skills before venturing out to the rest of the trail network.