Committee Seeks to Run Mt. Ascutney as Non-Profit

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10 July 2015

Push to The Latest: No

SAM Magazine—West Windsor, Vt., July 10, 2015—An eight-member committee is working to form a non-profit organization that would manage and maintain the assets of the West Windsor Town Forest, including reopening Mt. Ascutney ski area.

Officials estimate it will cost $905,000 to purchase Ascutney and the 1,581-acre town forest; and about half of those funds have already been raised. The Vermont Housing and Conservation Board has contributed $300,000, and an online fundraising campaign has raised more than $111, 000. Last October, West Windsor voters agreed to allocate about $100,000 toward the purchase of the 469 acre ski area, which has not operated since the 2010-11 season. The Trust for Public Land, a national conservation group, has led the fundraising effort.

A newly formed non-profit, Mt. Ascutney Outdoors, plans to form a board composed of a representative from the town's select board and from the Mt. Ascutney Property Owners Association. Committees would be focused on activities such as skiing, mountain biking, events, and an equine group.

Ted Siegler, West Windsor selectman, has been leading negotiations of the easement agreement that would govern the recreational area. “The biggest question will be the relationship between the conservation easement and the town. We need to figure out who would be ultimately responsible and how it will be managed,” Siegler said.

Siegler said he has asked financers to include three new lifts in the capital upgrade plan. According to Siegler, the Vermont Land Trust has agreed to alpine skiing as an activity, but wants to limit the environmental impact of ski lifts, and has not yet agreed to the number and location of possible lifts.

Rebuilding the base lodge, which burned down last January, is also being discussed. Officials are weighing the feasibility of financing the project through a grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Officials said the property is currently a safety and possible environmental hazard due to debris and old underground fuel tanks.

Mt. Ascutney underwent foreclosure proceedings in 2008. An attempt to liquidate the area two years later failed, and Ascutney did not open for the 2010-11 season. In 2012, Crotched Mountain, N.H., bought the area's high-speed quad. Pats Peak, N.H., bought Ascutney's triple chairlifts in 2014.