FROM THE TOP | A PLACE TO PLAY

EDITORIAL

Publisher Angelo Lynn angelo@vtskiandride.com

Editor/Co-Publisher Lisa Lynn editor@vtskiandride.com

Creative Director David Pollard

Contributors: Brooks Curran, Dan Egan, David Goodman, Ali Kaukas, Bud Keene, Brian Mohr, Lindsay Selin, Doug Stewart, Jeb Wallace-Brodeur

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A PLACE TO PLAY

If you’ve lived in Vermont for a while you may take for granted the access we have to the outdoors. But consider this: Nearly 25 years ago, a mountain biker who moonlit as a lawyer drafted an act that would protect landowners from liability. What Gary Kessler did back then not only led to the founding of one of the country’s strongest mountain bike organizations, theVermont Mountain Bike Association, it also helped preserve access to private land for a variety of sports.

The Vermont Rivers Conservancy is doing similar work in providing access to waterways. Its campaign to protect a swimming hole in every town has helped to save places that generations of Vermonters and visitors have enjoyed. We tell that story and profile some favorites in “Saving Vermont’s Swimming Holes.”

Then there are rail trails. With the help of state and federal funding, groups around the state have helped to shift some of Vermont’s former railbeds into rail trails, as author David Goodman describes in “Rail Trail Revival” in this issue.

In May, Governor Scott announced that an unprecedented $5 million would be given out in new grants to help grow outdoor recreation projects around the state. Many of the grants will be going to ski towns, including $262,000 to West Windsor and Ascutney Outdoors to build out new bike trails (shown above) and more than $400,000 to the Mad River Valley to build a recreation hub and trails.

It’s a combination of these laws, this type of investment and the hard work of volunteers around the state that makes Vermont the state it is, one where outdoor recreation is a priority. We’re grateful for that. — Lisa Lynn, Editor

CONTRIBUTORS

Contributing editor David Goodman, best known to skiers as the author of Best Backcountry Skiing in the Northeast: 50 Classic Ski and Snowboard Tours in New England and New York, takes us on a tour of Vermont’s rail trails in this issue.

Vermonter Tara Schatz has been visiting Vermont swimming holes since before she could walk. Here, she shares some of her favorites with us, starting on page 26. Schatz now lives in Bennington and blogs about her travels at Backroads Rambler and Vermont Explored.