Mad River Glen
Overview
Mad River Glen doesn’t operate like most other ski areas on this list, and it doesn’t try to. It’s the only cooperatively owned ski area in the United States, run by its own skiers through publicly sold shares and Town Hall meetings where shareholders vote directly on how the mountain is managed. Founder Roland Palmedo opened the resort in 1947 with an explicit goal: build a mountain for dedicated skiers with minimal commercial development, a founding philosophy that has survived largely intact for nearly 80 years and shows up today as the resort’s well-known slogan, “Ski It If You Can.”
That slogan isn’t marketing bravado so much as an accurate description. Ski magazine has ranked Mad River Glen’s terrain among the most challenging on the East Coast, and the mountain backs that up with narrow, naturally wooded trails, minimal grooming, and gladed lines that reward experienced skiers more than newcomers. Out of 77 runs and roughly 27 kilometers of trail, advanced terrain actually outpaces intermediate here, a ratio that runs opposite to most resorts of similar size and signals where the mountain’s real character sits.
The Single Chair is the mountain’s other defining feature and one of the more unusual lifts still running in American skiing. First operated in 1948 by American Steel & Wire Company and retrofitted by Doppelmayr CTEC in 2007, it remains one of only two single-person chairlifts still in service in the country, carrying skiers up General Stark Mountain one at a time in a way that feels closer to the sport’s early decades than to a modern high-speed lift.
Perhaps the clearest sign of how seriously Mad River Glen protects its identity is its snowboarding ban. It’s one of only three ski areas left in the United States — alongside Alta and Deer Valley in Utah — that doesn’t allow snowboarding at all. The cooperative has put the question to a shareholder vote more than once, and the ban has held each time by a wide margin, requiring a two-thirds majority to reverse. Mad River Glen carries no major multi-resort pass affiliation, consistent with a mountain that has built its whole identity around staying independent rather than folding into a bigger network.
The full category breakdown reinforces that reputation: 10.18 km advanced, 9.81 km intermediate, 6.21 km easy, 0.82 km other, and just 0.05 km of novice terrain out of 27.07 km total, meaning newer skiers get very little dedicated beginner mileage compared with the advanced and intermediate share of the mountain.
Key stats
Official website — Last checked 2026-09-13
Lifts by type
| Type | Count |
|---|---|
| rope tow | 1 |
| chair lift | 4 |
Runs by difficulty
| Difficulty | Distance |
|---|---|
| easy | 6.21 km |
| other | 0.82 km |
| novice | 0.05 km |
| advanced | 10.18 km |
| intermediate | 9.81 km |
Maps
View official Mad River Glen trail map (image) →
Run & lift overview
Mad River Glen: 77 runs, 5 lifts. Generated from community-mapped OpenStreetMap data, not Mad River Glen's official map artwork. © OpenStreetMap contributors, OpenSkiMap (ODbL).
Typical conditions by month
Monthly conditions data for Mad River Glen is not yet available.
Lift tickets & passes
Mad River Glen has no multi-resort pass affiliations on record.
Getting there
Nearest airports
- Patrick Leahy Burlington International Airport (BTV) — 35.5 km straight-line
- Plattsburgh International Airport (PBG) — 66.4 km straight-line
- Rutland - Southern Vermont Regional Airport (RUT) — 74.4 km straight-line
Nearest cities
- Longueuil, Quebec — 152.6 km straight-line
- Ville-Marie, Quebec — 153.3 km straight-line
- Montréal, Quebec — 154.8 km straight-line
Also covered by
Where to stay
A dedicated lodging guide for Mad River Glen is not yet available.
Nearby resorts
- Sugarbush Resort — 6 km straight-line, 777.8 m vertical
- Bolton Valley Resort — 25 km straight-line, 474.3 m vertical
- Middlebury College Snow Bowl — 30 km straight-line, 290.3 m vertical
- Stowe Mountain Resort — 38 km straight-line, 711.8 m vertical
- Smugglers' Notch Resort — 43 km straight-line, 771.7 m vertical
FAQ
- Can you snowboard at Mad River Glen?
- No. Mad River Glen is one of only three ski areas in the United States that bans snowboarding entirely, alongside Alta and Deer Valley in Utah. The cooperative that owns the mountain has voted repeatedly to keep the ban, most recently with more than 75 percent in favor, and a two-thirds majority is required to overturn it.
- Who owns Mad River Glen?
- Mad River Glen's skiers do. It's the only cooperatively owned ski area in the United States, run through publicly available shares and Town Hall meetings where shareholders vote directly on how the mountain is managed.
- What is the Single Chair at Mad River Glen?
- The Single Chair is a single-person chairlift that first ran in 1948, built by American Steel & Wire Company and retrofitted by Doppelmayr CTEC in 2007. It's one of only two lifts of its kind still operating in the country and is a defining part of the Mad River Glen experience.
- How big is Mad River Glen?
- Five lifts, one of them the historic Single Chair, serve 77 runs at Mad River Glen, totaling about 27 kilometers of trail over a 604-meter descent. Advanced terrain (10.2 km) actually outweighs intermediate (9.8 km) here, an unusual split for a New England ski area.
- Is Mad River Glen good for beginners?
- Not especially. Ski magazine has rated the mountain's terrain among the most challenging on the East Coast, and the trail network favors narrow, lightly groomed lines over the wide groomed corridors that make other resorts easier for newer skiers.
- What does 'Ski It If You Can' mean?
- It's Mad River Glen's long-running slogan, reflecting founder Roland Palmedo's 1947 vision of a mountain built for dedicated skiers rather than heavy commercial amenities. The phrase has come to represent the resort's minimal-grooming, natural-terrain approach generally.
- What's the nearest airport to Mad River Glen?
- Of the three regional options, Burlington International (BTV) sits nearest at just 36 km, close enough for a same-day drive up from Vermont's biggest commercial airport; Plattsburgh International and Rutland-Southern Vermont Regional are both over 60 km out.
- What's the full terrain breakdown at Mad River Glen?
- Advanced terrain leads at 10.18 km, followed by intermediate at 9.81 km, easy at 6.21 km, and a sliver of novice trail at just 0.05 km, with 0.82 km logged as other, unrated terrain — a lopsided split that puts nearly two-thirds of the mountain into advanced or intermediate categories.
Data sources
Last verified: 2026-09-15
Base facts from OpenSkiMap (ODbL), OpenStreetMap contributors, Wikidata (CC0), OurAirports (public domain) and GeoNames (CC BY 4.0). See /data-sources/.