SAM Magazine—Waitsfield, Vt., Nov. 24, 2025—The Mad River Glen co-op board of trustees voted unanimously to exercise its right of first refusal to acquire 1,100 acres of land that surrounds the existing ski area. The vote was triggered after a third-party offered $2.5 million to buy the property from the current owner. 

The land the ski area is on and the surrounding 1,100 acres was all owned by Betsy Pratt, former MRG owner and the co-op’s founder. “When the idea to sell Mad River Glen to a cooperative group of owners was first hatched, Betsy realized that selling the entirety of her property was going to be too expensive of an investment, so she split the property,” said MRG marketing and events manager Ry Young.

Since then, MRG skiers have had access to the undeveloped property for side-country skiing and hiking. It has been in a conservation trust since Pratt split it off from the ski area terrain 30 years ago. 

The $2.5 million offer for the land was submitted by Lyme Mill Brook LLC, an anonymous family foundation managed by Lyme Timber Company, which is a Hanover, N.H.-based “timberland investment management company” with more than 1.3 million acres of timberland holdings in the United States and Canada. 

Following the offer, MRG had about a month to decide whether it wanted to match the offer or waive its right of refusal. Once the board voted to move forward, MRG had roughly 75 days to raise the money, which it’s doing via donations—and is off to a good start.

“The community is excited,” Young told SAM. “Since fundraising began we have raised over $500,000 in donations. There is a lot of momentum behind this effort, but we have a long way to go still.”

According to a webpage outlining the situation, “Fundraising mechanisms discussed include borrowing, donor gifts, bond issuance, or new share offerings.” MRG has 2,500 shareholders in the ownership cooperative. “The Stark Mountain Foundation has offered to partner with MRG to raise funds, leveraging prior campaign infrastructure, 501(c)(3) status, and capacity for stock and corporate match gifts.”

Young said that financing the purchase by taking on debt would put the ski area in a “position we're just not comfortable with. After 30 years, the co-op is in its strongest financial position ever and we do not want to leverage that safety net,” he said, adding that the goal is to have most, if not all, the money raised or pledged within the 75-day window. 

MRG intends to maintain the existing conservation easement. “Owning the land and keeping it in a state of conservation is the goal,” Young said. 

He described this move as “a unique opportunity to bring the entirety of Stark Mountain back under one ownership.”

Mad River Glen relies mostly on natural snow, of which it gets an average of 250 inches per winter. It has four chairlifts, including the famous Single Chair, serving more than 2,000 feet of vertical.