Earlier this year, Alan Henceroth, who’s the Chief Operating Officer of Arapahoe Basin, asked the public for help in acquiring one of their old single chairs. A few weeks later, it was announced that someone stepped up to the plate, Yesterday, A-Basin announced that they now have one of their single chairs on public display.

This single chairlift, which serviced the upper mountain at Arapahoe Basin, was installed in 1946. The chairlift opened during the 1946-47 season, and it operated at Arapahoe Basin until around 1960. From there, it went to the now-defunct Fun Valley ski area in Lakewood, Colorado. One of the remaining chairs was passed around until it reached Rob Diehl’s house. This past fall, he sold it back to A-Basin, and it now hangs from the ceiling next to Marnie’s in the 6th Alley Bar & Grill.

Image Credits: Arapahoe Basin

Whether you’re sliding down ice in Wisconsin, neck-deep in powder in Utah, or cruising in the sun in California, we all ski or snowboard because of the love of the sport.

That love drives us to experience mountains all over the country. These five “Pilgrimages” are experiences that are essential for every American skier to experience in their lifetime.

Collect ’em all!

1. Corbet’s Couloir- Jackson Hole

^Kings & Queens of Corbet’s 2022. Credit: Red Bull Content Pool

There are lift-serviced trails that are more difficult than Corbet’s, but none match it in mystique and legend.  The Couloir is named after Barry Corbet, who claimed in 1960 “Someday someone will ski that.” S

even years later local ski patroller Lonnie Ball was the first person to ski the infamous couloir.

Corbet’s is now home to one of the best free-skiing and snowboarding competitions in the world- Kings and Queens of Corbet’s. The couloir is a proving ground for skiers and snowboarders to show their skills.

2. The Single Chair- Mad River Glen

^The Single Chair. Courtesy: New England Ski History

The Single Chair at Mad River Glen is the only one of its kind remaining in North America. The chair has been ascending General Stark Mountain since 1948, and has established itself as a legendary fixture in North American skiing lore.

I encourage you to read more about the history of Mad River Glen. We owe so much to the pioneers of skiing of the early-mid 20th century.

*Sorry snowboarders… I know Mad River only allows skiing…*

3. KT-22- Palisades Tahoe

Shane McConkey referred to KT-22 as “The best chairlift in North America”, and he’s probably not wrong. KT-22 serves up some of the best lift-serviced terrain in not only North America, but probably the world.

KT-22 offers 2,000 ft. of chutes, cliffs, steeps, and challenging terrain. I honestly don’t think there’s much more I can say about it.

If Shane McConkey thought it was the best chairlift in the world, do you really need more of a recommendation?

4. Alta Ski Area

^Credit: Alta Ski Area/Rocko Menzyk

Alta is one of three mountains left in the country that doesn’t allow snowboarding. While I personally think that’s pretty whack, it is kind of cool being on a mountain only surrounded by skiers. Just in uniqueness alone.

Alta is a skier’s mountain, and probably will be for the foreseeable future, but that’s not the main draw. It’s the snow.

There’s a reason that Alta is consistently ranked as one of the top ski resorts in the world. The 500″ of dry, light, powdery snow, and challenging terrain is enough to satisfy any skier.

You just have to ski Alta at some point in your life. It’s that simple.

5. Alyeska Resort- Alaska

^Credit: Alyeska Resort

Alyeska seems to be a name that is whispered about by skiers and snowboarders around the country. The legendary resort is undoubtedly a place that every American skier hopes to experience someday.

Alyeska boasts the most average snowfall of any North American ski resort at 669 inches! Pair that with 2,500 ft. of vertical and amazing terrain, and you have yourself a mighty-fine ski resort.

Experiencing Alyeska Resort is something that every skier and rider dreams about.

Mad River Glen is hosting a free vaccination event where recipients get a free lift ticket for their iconic Single Chair to check out the incredible New England fall foliage. HERE’S THE DEAL:

On Saturday, October 2nd, Mad River Glen will be hosting a pop-up COVID-19 vaccination site facilitated by the Waterbury Ambulance Service. Anyone who receives a FREE vaccination shot will then be given a ticket to ride the Single Chair (valid Saturday only) for fall foliage leaf-peeping. The Waterbury Ambulance Service will be administering free Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson vaccination shots to any eligible individual 12 years or older. No advanced reservations are required.

From the State of Vermont Department of Health website:

Vaccines are the best tool to help slow the spread of COVID-19. Vaccines help your body fight off the virus. When you are vaccinated you are much less likely to get sick and less likely to transmit the virus to others. Anyone who is not vaccinated is still vulnerable to experiencing the worst of COVID-19 and can continue spreading the virus. The more people who get vaccinated, the fewer chances for transmission and mutations, and the faster we can end the COVID-19 pandemic.

Cover image by Brian Aust

I pulled up to Mad River Glen around 9 AM on a Tuesday morning. There was a thick layer of fog that blocked our view of the top of General Stark Mountain, but I could see the famous single-chair disappearing into the mist. The hair rose on the back of my neck. I was in for a truly unique experience at MRG.

I have skied all over New England, but until this day had never made my way to MRG. I heard whispers of the extreme terrain, and have seen stickers adorned on helmets across the country that read “Mad River Glen. Ski It If You Can.”.

Admittedly, I was under the impression that MRG followed a similar model to Mount Bohemia, MI. Somebody once told me that MRG didn’t groom their slopes or make any snow. I found out after getting off the Single Chair that this clearly wasn’t true, and honestly I wasn’t disappointed.

My first run started on the skier’s right off the Single Chair on Upper Antelope. I was immediately entranced by the old-school style of MRG’s groomed runs. Upper Antelope is a narrow winding trail with great pitch. I was carving tight turns with trees flanking close by. This is an experience you can’t find at a modern-style resort with “super-highways” jam-packed with skiers.

MRG’s Single Chair keeps the slopes open and free of traffic. On this particular Tuesday I didn’t wait in any lift lines, but I can imagine that, on a weekend, lines could potentially build up. However, after talking with locals at MRG, they don’t mind the wait. They’re willing to trade a line at the bottom for open slopes up top.

I can’t argue with that reasoning. We’ve all seen those horror videos of hundreds of skiers coming down the slopes at the same time. I can guarantee you will never experience that at MRG.

The Single Chair is obviously the most unique feature at MRG. It has run on General Stark Mountain since Roland Palmedo built it in 1949. But what sets MRG apart from any ski resort in the world is the ownership.

MRG is the only co-operative ski resort in North America. This means that shares of the resort are owned by every-day people that ski MRG. Translation: Big corporations or commercial interests are simply not a factor at MRG. Rather, the skiers and community have a say in how the resort operates.

These shareholders are the ones who elected to refurbish the Single Chair in the early-2000s, with custom parts, and at a great expense, rather than put in a new lift. The shareholders believed in preserving the history of MRG rather than turn it into a modern-style resort with flashy lifts and accommodations.

Skiing comes first at MRG, and boy does the resort have some terrain to serve-up. Paradise on the skier’s left side of the mountain is a must-ski tree run with incredible views of the valley below. Lower Antelope is a long ungroomed trail that had my quads screaming with delight.

Lastly, ask a local and maybe they’ll show you their favorite line in MRG’s side-country runs called “The 20th Hole”. I found fresh untouched snow 3 days after MRG’s most recent storm.

I was enchanted by the experience at MRG. The resort feels like a time-capsule to 1960, and I promise you that’s a very good thing. It was refreshing to be in a place that values the skiing experience above all else. The community at MRG is keeping the traditional experience alive through preservation of the Single Chair, great ski runs, and friendly faces.

Mad River Glen strikes again with a brilliant low impact marketing strategy….flip on your resort cam and challenge us to #viewitifyoucan. If you’re in sweatpants and sucking on a pedialyte popsicles after 5 too many sodas at last nights Super Bowl festivities, this ain’t a bad way to spend the morning.

You might remember that the folks at Mad River have a great sense of humor as evidenced by their hilarious conditions reports:

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“When people come here, it’s like if they’ve never been here before, it’s like, ‘Poof!’ Their minds are exploding trying to figure out how this chair, this machine works.”

A great season premier of Powder Magazine’s online show ‘Iconic Lifts’ featuring Mad River Glen’s Single Chair. If you have never had the pleasure of riding the Single, you have to put it on your skiing bucket list. Mad River has an excellent written history of the Single Chair….here’s an excerpt:

“Mad River Glen first cranked up its now famous Single Chair on Dec. 11, 1948. Roland Palmedo, the mountain’s founder, had built the Single Chair at Stowe in the 1930s. Early on in Stowe’s skiing history, he became disenchanted with vying commercial interests there and became committed to developing a new ski area where sport, not profit, would be the objective…” -to read on go HERE.

If you’re interested in more Mad River history go ahead and watch this 40 minute documentary:

Looking forward to season two of Powder Magazine’s web-series “Iconic Lifts.” Powder Productions Original teamed up with Strafe Outerwear and will feature Mad River Glen’s Single Chair, Whistler’s Peak Express, and Snowbird’s Aerial Tram in this season’s webisodes.

Check out my favorite webisode from last season on KT-22:

“you don’t have a lot of opportunities in life these days to have 10 or 12 minutes alone” – Eric Friedman, Mad River Glen

Mad River Glen is synonymous with ski culture and there’s a reason why the Vermont ski hill so iconic.

Related: NEO – Mad River Glen [Ski The East]

Located just outside of Waitsfield, VT, MRG is as old school as it gets and there’s a reason why its faithful following continue to favor the antiquated single over the speed of detachable quads. It’s all about solitude, skiing, and soul.

*Video courtesy of Great Big Story

#TBT: Dawn Patrol 3/20/2014

If you have never had the pleasure of skiing one the true icons of the east do yourself a favor and carve out a weekend next winter to head up to Mad River Glen.  While the place is a throwback in itself (it has one of the only two remaining single chairlifts in operation in America)…the terrain is on par with any modern standards. Chances are if you haven’t skied it may have seen one of these bad boys in your local resort’s parking lot….

….do as the bumper sticker says and you wont regret it!