CELEBRATING OUR 60TH SEASON!
A History of Ascutney
The Mountain. The Legend.
Written by Jonathan Robinson
(For full history article, click here )
"Vermont is a state I love. I could not look upon the peak(s) of Ascutney....without being moved in a way no other scene could move me."
President Calvin Coolidge, September 1928.
It was on the western face of the mountain in 1938, that a 13-member group called the Mt. Ascutney Ski Club, headed by 23-year-old president Robert Ely, cut out a ski trail at roughly the same location of what was soon to become the Cushman Slope, later Main Slope, and now Screaming Eagle (the trail names would change several times over the years). The group would hike up and ski down, as was the custom before the advent of mechanized lifts, which would not arrive at Mt. Ascutney until the year after World War II concluded in 1945.
Catharine Cushman had moved from New York City in 1944 to allow her three children, Carol, 12, Charlie, 10 and Bobby, 9, to grow up, as she put it, "in a rose-covered cottage in the country". She purchased the Juniper Hill estate in Windsor, once owned by industrialist Maxwell Evarts, and turned it into an inn. Looking for attractions that might interest her guests and the local community as well, in the summer of 1946 she came upon the idea of initiating the first real estate development of the mountain, and a small ski area on the western slopes of Mt. Ascutney was born.
"Kip", as Mrs. Cushman was known, was ably helped in her new endeavor by Richard "Dick" Springer, Bob Bishop, Bob and Margaret Hammond, Karl Stevens and of course, Bob Ely. This group was, in fact, the first Board of Directors at the new area, and was incorporated as Ascutney Slopes, Inc.
Besides the board of directors, there were many others willing to pitch in, including "Bets" Rudolph, Dave Patch, Ann Woods, Roger Maher, Lena Niboli, and Lena's soon-to-be husband, Benny Smith.
That summer of 1947, Kip began selling stock in the new area, at fifty dollars a share, to raise revenue for the area's upkeep and operation.
Two rope tows were installed on the Cushman Slope, now Screaming Eagle. The lifts came from Suicide Six, Bunny Bertram's ski area in Woodstock, and were installed one above the other on the right side of the slope. The first one was 1,000 feet long, which took the skier up to the top of the Cushman Slope, while the quicker 800 foot tow above took the experts up to the top of the Ely Schuss (the Face of Screaming Eagle), the Springer Slalom (Terminator) and the Jenny Trail, a connector trail between the two.
Despite objections from her Board, Kip purchased a Tucker Sno-Cat for mountain maintenance and snow grooming. It was "shocking pink" and according to Kip, "it photographed well in color". It was also used to take skiers up the toll road (at a dollar a run) for a 3-1/2 mile run from the top of the mountain. It was nicknamed "MASA", which was simply an acronym for Mt. Ascutney Ski Area, but it was replaced by another 'cat two years later.
The third year saw the debut of a third rope tow above the first two, accompanied by another four trails. Later in the year, another tow was installed in the "Snow Bowl", a new beginners' area, to the left of the Cushman Slope, later known as Little Eagle. The new ski school director was Lucien Gould, while Dick McCarthy took over for Dave Patch as new director of the ski patrol. Ralph Plumb became new area manager while Mrs. Plumb sold tickets.
By the '49-'50 season, the graduated season pass pricing was inaugurated with prices starting at $15 per pass in October ending at $20 in December, with a family season pass at $45! After another winter of little snow, and subsequent low skier turnout, the area fell behind in its payments and was subject to a sheriff's foreclosure. Kip's brother, Percival Ranney, who was also the holder of the area's mortgage, bought it all back for $5,000 and gave it back to Kip for a second chance, and she leased out the area for several years.
Finally, in the winter of 1955-56, George and Shirley Dunning took over the management of the mountain, and although they did manage to establish a very successful kid's program, the area still only grossed $1,348.47, with a net profit of $590.63, to be split among themselves, Kip and two other families. Subsequently, the Dunnings opted out of renewing their lease with Kip.
A local businessman, John Howland, was talked into buying the ski area by Shirley Dunning's father, board member Dwght Cooke. He suggested the purchase would be "like buying a good horse for your kids". Howland paid Kip $2,000, half cash and half in a short-term note from his company, Windsor Machine Products, which he ran with Bob Ely, and took ownership of the area for the 1956-57 season. The area's assets consisted of four rope tows, a warming hut for a base lodge, and assorted equipment, but no land. The land under the ski area was still being leased from Alice Brown and Ray Blanchard.
It was on election night, November 6, 1956, while Eisenhower was getting re-elected, that Howland looked out his window to see the warming hut going up in flames. With the help of builder Red Eastman, the new warming hut was up before New Year's.
The next winter, Howland and Ely were the first to bring snowmaking to Vermont, which they knew would be one of the biggest factors in a successful winter. It was at that time that he, his mother Flora Howland and Ely each ponied up $4,000 as incorporators, in creating the Mt. Ascutney Ski Area, Inc.. He then began to sell stock in the new company, and the first customer was Valley News owner and publisher Walter Paine.
By September 1957, enough cash had been raised to buy and install a new T-Bar lift on the left side of the renamed Main Slope. More snow-making equipment was put in and the warming hut was doubled in size. It was about this time that Windsor High ski coach Mickey (Gordon) Cochran, patriarch of the famous ski-racing Cochrans, started the popular weekly Lollipop Races each Sunday for the kids, which continued for many years. By this time, it was becoming obvious that the success of the area was undeniably tied to the continued support of skiing families. Everything about the area catered to them, and they responded in greater numbers every year.
In 1959, a newly installed lift proved to be quite unsuccessful. It's unclear who came up with the idea, but Windsor Machine built and installed what was called "The Iron Monster", a chair lift that moved up the hill on tracks on the ground, similar to Cranmore's Ski-Mobile. It ran from below the parking lot up 1,200 feet to just above the beginner's hill. However, its achilles heel was the bunching up of the chairs at the bottom of the lift and its constant need for supervision and maintenance. It was scrapped after only one year.
It was in January of 1961 that the area began to exercise its land lease options and bought the land on which the area operated from Brown, Blanchard and Stewart Barrows, who owned 200 acres west of the Main Slope. In the next 14 months, they spent almost $70,000 acquiring nearly 900 acres that completely encompassed the ski area.
It wasn't long however before the service on that debt became difficult to maintain and Howland began to fall behind in the payments. This forced their lender, the National Life Insurance Corp. to call in the note and begin foreclosure proceedings. Fortunately, board member A. Luke Crispe, a lawyer from Woodstock, bought up the note at the board's annual meeting, and the mountain was back in business once again.
Later that year, they installed a second T-Bar on the newly opened West Slope, with new trails 9 Lives and 10 Lives (Terminator and Gunbarrel), along with another increase in snowmaking capabilities.
Finally, in the summer of 1962, the plans for the new base lodge were being finalized and the liftline was getting cut for the new summit chair. This was followed by the design and cutting of 15 new trails by Bob Ely and everything was finished in time for opening day the following year on December 15, 1963. What a shame that with such an effort, because of an incredibly warm winter, the area was open only 19 days the entire season! More than likely, the most money made by the area that year was in the new third-floor watering hole called the Polar B'ar Lounge, complete with a stuffed polar bear peering down from the balcony.
In the fall of 1964, Board member Bob Jones and his family built Jones' Cabin high up on the mountain, just off of Fifth Ave. (Cloudspin). It remains as a popular destination on the Cabin Chute Trail.
Unexpectedly, Paine fired Howland on August 25, 1965 and Fred Bocks became the area's new manager. This upset Bob Ely so much that he said that he would also quit in protest, but Howland was able to convince him that it would only hurt the area and the community. He stayed for another three years.
Also changing was the ski school director in those early '60s: Joe Harty, Jerry Hickson and then Jon Putnam. Putnam's tenure saw the debut of another Vermont (and New England) first: videotaped ski lessons, to help the students with a visual record of how they could improve.
The old warming hut, after extensive redecorating done by instructor Dody Belski, was renamed Ye Olde Lodge and reopened for the first time in years, and was a big hit with the night-skiing crowd, serving sandwiches, draft beer and snacks, to be enjoyed in front of the roaring fireplace.
At the end of the '69-'70 season, the new East Chair was installed, which offered the beginners and intermediates a whole new playground, and served as the night-skiing area after moving over from the Main Slope, where it had been located since the '50s.
By the spring of 1972, Paine was ready to get out of the ski business. He was tired of his expensive hobby and decided that he'd had enough, finally selling the area to John and Sarah Giles on October 3, 1972. Bob Paron, who had worked for Paine as general manager for several years, stayed on the first year with the new owners, as did ski school directors Marshall and Maggie Doughty. Lift operators Ray Stillson and the legendary Hazen Clay did as well. Who can forget Hazen, with his crazy costumes and wigs! He was definitely one of the most memorable characters in Ascutney history.
Over the 12 years that John and Sarah ran the area, they expanded the resort activities by offering fall foliage chair rides, tennis club memberships and booking the locally popular Davis Brothers Garage Band. In the late '70s real estate boom, they built the Mountainside condominium complex. At the beginning of the '80-'81 school year, the Giles allowed the town of West Windsor to use the base lodge for classes while renovations were being finished in the Albert Bridge School.
After a successful decade of ownership, the Giles sold the area to Dr. Ronald Massa on July 27, 1981.
Massa, from Woburn, Mass., took over with his daughter Diane. Massa loved this area and said this mountain is: "an irreplaceable treasure that belongs to the people of the area". That fall, the lounge on the top floor of the lodge was reopened as "The Side Step", and soon opened year-round. Three old trails were recut, the Fifth Ave. Glades, West Glades and 10 Lives (Bushwacker, Whispering Pines and Gunbarrel), which had been overgrown and unskiable for years. The old Lollipop Races were revived under the title of "Races for Ribbons" and an annual Gelandesprung Jumping Contest was initiated. After two ski seasons, Massa closed the area on March 5, 1983. Four months later, in July '83, a company called Uptick Resources, Inc. purchased the mountain.
Uptick was a company owned by Joseph Grano, an executive with Merrill Lynch Securities in New York City. When they came onboard with Ascutney, they took the name Summit Ventures, Inc., and built a 100-unit hotel at the mountain base, with restaurants, a health club and single family homes to create a year-round ski area village.
As the point man for the "Guido Group", which included fellow Merrill Lyncher Lou Guido and Philly businessman Ira Lampert, Grano wowed the locals with lavish presentations of what lay ahead for the area. They then proceeded to build nearly everything they'd planned, culminating with the addition of the Village Triple Chair and the Novice Triple, and converted the summit double into a triple chair as well in 1986.
Things began to unravel, however, in early 1990. After investing $80 million to build the resort, Summit Ventures was forced to file for bankruptcy.
For the next three winters, Ascutney lay dormant, until June 25, 1993, when Steven and Susan Plausteiner, securities and banking professionals from New York City, bought it all at auction. Steve's parents, John and Lucille Plausteiner, came to Ascutney with extensive experience in ski area management. John was instrumental in the creation of Mt. Snow in 1956 and as general manager at Whiteface Mountain in Lake Placid, NY, he oversaw the development of the ski area for the 1980 Winter Olympics. Lucille was the first female director of a ski patrol in the country, with a staff of 60 under her supervision at Mt. Snow in the 1960's.
Steve and Susan made an initial offer that was rejected in the fall of '92, but didn't really think about it again, until the auction was scheduled. They went on a lark, not thinking that they'd really have a chance at getting it, considering the other heavy hitters with deep pockets that would no doubt be there. They found themselves bidding against other interested parties including liquidators eager to buy everything and sell it for a quick buck and other prominent ski area owners.
When the Plausteiners bid $1 million, only the liquidators stood between them and their new home. After the salvagers countered, Steve and Susan realized that they could not let such a beautiful ski resort be reduced to a mere memory, and placed the winning bid. Besides expanding the mountain's snow-making capabilities to 95%, they installed the new North Peak Express high-speed detachable quad chair in 2000, extending the height of the area to 1800 vertical feet, also adding more new trails.
Over the past 12 years, the Plausteiners have become the longest running owners of the mountain since its inception in 1946. Father John, as general manager of the resort, continues with the day-to-day mountain operations, while Lucille welcomes the guests as hotel manager. As president and chief financial officer, Steve and Susan have succeeded in maintaining the area as one for families, first and foremost, and have contributed immeasurably to the local community.
During the area's 1947-48 season, Boston Herald sportswriter Henry Moore had this high praise to say about the first owners:
"The whole atmosphere is one of community and family fun.... stemming from the fact that the creators of the area are people of taste, discrimination and enthusiasm for the sport of skiing". It more than applies to the current owners as well. Here's to another 60 years!
This story was made possible with the vision of Bill Henne and the generous assistance of Carol Stratton, Charlie Cushman, Dick Springer, Lena Smith, John and Sarah Giles, John Ely, Steve and Susan Plausteiner and the West Windsor Historical Society.
