63 minute read
LOCAL HERO | BEAUTY AND THE BEASTS
Local Hero
BEAUTY AND THE GROOMING BEASTS
Most days, mechanic Halley Riley-Elliott, 21, is using a wrench on ski resort grooming machines. Her side gig involves other tools: high heels, bobby pins and curling irons.
Last winter, Halley Riley-Elliott of Proctor, Vt., spent most of her days working as a mechanic on Okemo’s Prinoth Beast grooming machines. This winter, she’ll be rolling up her sleeves to do similar work on Killington’s fleet of Pisten-Bully groomers. In her spare time, she’ll be preparing for beauty pageants. Yes, beauty pageants.
Growing up in Mount Holly, there were a few things Halley RileyElliott really wanted to do. She liked to snowboard and she thought about competing in beauty pageants, “but we really didn’t have the financial means to do that,” she says. Most of all, she wanted to own a
Riley-Elliott working as a mechanic at Okemo last winter. Next season she’ll be wrenching at Killington. Jeep Wrangler. “I really, really wanted that car and when I finally got one, I paid way too much for it. then I found it was going to need some work, which would cost even more,” she said with an eye roll. Her solution: “I said, ‘You know what? I’m going to do the work myself.’ And that’s how it all started.”
So, at 16 she learned how to do a tub swap. “I did the brakes all the way around. And I learned to do a clutch, a coil pack on the engine, spark plugs—a full basic tune up. Then I cleaned the frame completely because it was super crusty,” she remembers.
She got so into repairing the vehicle that she switched from studying nursing at Stafford Technical Center and working at the Springfield Hospital to getting her degree in Diesel Power Technology at Vermont Technical College in 2021 and working as a mechanic at Okemo.
It wasn’t hard to get the Okemo job— her brother worked there, and she had been working as an instructor there since 2015. “When I got the job as a mechanic my first boss there, Eb Kinney said ‘why didn’t you come here sooner?’ ‘
Pretty soon, she was overhauling the groomers. “One of the mechanics had left so I took his job. In the summer, we’d bring in a groomer and we completely tear it apart. We’d check the suspension, check the motor and the valves and then put it all back together and fix what’s wrong with it,” she says. “In the winter, hardly a day goes by when there’s not something to fix.”
Most of the day, Riley-Elliot was busy working, but she could snowboard on her lunch hour. In her spare time, she decided to pursue one of her other dreams: competing in a beauty pageant.
“I’d talked to a former beauty pageant competitor, and she said: ‘You should totally do it,’” and I thought, ‘I totally should!’” RileyElliott’s first pageant was Miss Vermont USA in 2021. Contestants are judged in three categories: Personal Interview, Swimsuit and Evening Gown.
The scariest thing she’s done in recent years is, in her words, “walk onto the stage
in six-inch heels in front a huge room full of people with thousands more watching on Zoom.” She’d only worn heels twice before, at her high school prom.
She competed again in 2022, when she was awarded the Miss Congeniality award at the Miss Vermont USA pageant. “The year before, I’d noticed that often the other girls would misplace something, and they’d have to run around trying to borrow it.”
For the 2022 pageant, Halley Riley put together small emergency “tool kits” of sorts for all the other women competing. “There were extra hair ties and bobby pins and a bunch of other stuff that I thought that they would need, and everybody loved them. The other girls vote on the Miss Congeniality award, so I think that’s what really did it but I was also willing to help if anybody needed help with their hair or makeup — as long as it wasn’t too complicated.”
Along the way, she has learned to do her own hair and makeup – two skills she doesn’t need in her day job. She also learned something else. “Competing in the pageants, I really learned a lot about myself —and about others. And I got a lot of self-confidence.”
So much so that when an opportunity arose to work as a mechanic at Killington, she jumped at it. “They have, I think, 20 Pisten-Bully groomers and I wanted to work on those machines,” she says. After that? “I like being a mechanic and it pays well.” n
Halley Riley-Elliott, far right, at the Miss Vermont pageant. In May, she was named Miss Vermont Sweetheart after completing the national draft for that pageant series.
91 MAIN STREET, STOWE VILLAGE 802.253.3033 ~ STOWE@FERROJEWELERS.COM
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Dream Home
ONE MAN’S HOME...
A collaboration among the owner, Middlebury architects McLeod Kredell and Stowe’s Sisler Builders produced this stunning one-story home for an art collector and avid cross-country skier.
If you could have a home designed just for you, and you alone, what would it be? This skier saw his vision come true on a hillside in Stowe.
When Jim Zajac got to the point where he was ready to build a home in the Green Mountains, he turned to the Middlebury-based architecture firm McLeod Kredell. He gave them a rough sketch of what he wanted in a ski home. “His drawing was a square with four boxes, each marked with a function,” says architect John McLeod.
“It was a very elemental scheme of four or five rooms,” Zajac explains. “I wanted a single story because at the time I had a Corgi and they don’t do so well with stairs. I needed a living area, sleeping area, cooking area and mudroom. It was very important to have some kind of a workspace where I could get dirty and stay warm in the winter.”
But a box-like home was not what Zajac, who has a keen interest in the arts, was looking for. He wanted something more creative and gave the architects broad reign.
“I could not have envisioned what we got,” says Zajac.
Like a piece of origami or a child’s cootie catcher, McLeod Kredell unfolded the squares of the box into a cruciform with an enclosed courtyard in the middle. With its jutting gabled metal roofs, the onestory home looks a bit like a futuristic plane ready to soar over the field below and out across the mountains.
The roofline is as functional as it is aesthetic.
At the entryway wing, the gabled overhang juts out far enough to function as a carport. Off the living room, it provides shade to the concrete cantilevered porch. Off the bedroom wing, it protects an outdoor shower and off Zajac’s workshop, it covers the sliding glass doors where Zajac brings his skis into the workshop.
“I had rented in Stowe for seven years before making the decision to buy land and build something of my own,” says Zajac, a lawyer who works in New York City and has a home on the eastern end of Long Island. “I love Nordic skiing and would often go to the trails at Trapp Family Lodge.” What attracted him in part to the land he bought was that it was near the VAST (Vermont Association of Snow Travelers) trails. “I can literally ski out my backyard all the way to Sterling Valley or to the Stowe Rec path,” he says.
Each wing of the 2,400-sq.-ft. house has its own entry to the outdoors. Coming back from a ski, Zajac can slide open the doors to what he calls his “no-car garage,” and put his skis on the tuning bench. An avid potter, the other side of the room houses his turning wheel. Sliding doors shut the area off from the main part of the house.
The main entry opens into a shallow hallway facing a partial wall with custom cabinets and closets that Sisler Builders, the builder on the project, fabricated. The cabinets frame a piece from Zajac’s art collection, a work by contemporary Dutch artist Marian Bijleng that uses delicate fish scales floating on a web of microfibers.
Behind the wall is a laundry area, bright with the natural light
Light streams into the south facing living room of Jim Zajac’s home in Stowe. Architects McLeod Kredell drew inspiration from some of the early examples of modern architecture from the 1930s, such as Stowe’s Hob Kmob Inn and Mount Mansfield base lodge. The interior courtyard (top) with its simple gravel and granite is reminiscent of Japanese gardens. Sisler created the custom cabinetry throughout.
that spills in from the large windows that open onto the small central courtyard. Directly across the courtyard is a small bathroom and beyond that, hidden behind another partial wall, the sleeping wing.
There, a bed is tucked into a wall of cabinets almost like a Murphy bed. Just beyond is a stunning bathroom, paved with dark gray ceramic tiles, an open shower and a sunken bathtub. An enclosed toilet is off to one side and just out the door beneath the cantilever is an outdoor shower as well.
What is remarkable about the home is that other than for the toilets and the closets, none of the interior walls rise to the ceiling and none of the wings or “rooms” have interior doors. This gives it an open and airy flow.
What further adds to the feeling of airiness is the roof and ceiling appear to float on an exposed internal frame. Posts placed a few inches in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows support massive beams that stretch the length of each wing. The wood panels on the ceiling extend past the exterior walls to the eaves. Stowe’s Sisler Builders craftsmanship is evident in the joinerwork, trim and custom cabinetry.
The kitchen backs to the interior courtyard with a window acting as a backsplash behind stove. Beyond the kitchen island, the living area/dining room extends toward the southern end of the house which is all glass and sliding doors, giving extensive views of the field and mountains beyond.
Tucked into the walls of the living room are the fireplace and a work area. “John [McLeod] called those ‘saddlebags,’” says Zajac. “I didn’t want to have the fireplace sticking out in the room, particularly because if I wanted to put down a carpet it would be very difficult to deal with that. So John came up with the idea of a cantilevered fireplace. And then the desk followed suit.”
Doing so allowed the lines of the living room to remain streamlined with the exterior cantilevered areas hidden from most views of the house.
The house is not a big place. There is no basement, no garage, no attic. As McLeod notes, this house is not for everyone. “We designed this house for Jim and I can’t imagine designing it for anyone else. “
“It’s not a house for a family with children, it’s a house for one or two,” says Zajac. “The decision to build in that way opened up a whole lot of potential. If you think of places like the Farnsworth house or the Glass House. They’re very similar. You don’t need doors if there are no people who need to be excluded,” he says, referring to the groundbreaking modern designs by architects Mies van der Rohe (Farnsworth) and Philip Johnson (Glasshouse).
But it is one man’s castle. n
The window behind the kitchen looks into the courtyard, giving the room a feeling of greater space (top). The workroom holds a turning bench and pottery wheel. The bathroom walls feature handmade tiles from Heath Ceramics in California. Opposite page: The paneled ceiling on the carport matches the interior ceiling. The cantilevered fireplace sits flush with the interior walls. From the air, the cruciform shape stands out with two red Herman Miller chairs on the concrete deck.
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THANKS TO THE WORK OF A FEW GROUPS, PUBLIC ACCESS TO MANY OF VERMONT’S PRISTINE SWIMMING HOLES HAS BEEN PRESERVED
Just off the access road to Stowe Mountain Resort and on state land, Bingham Fall is a place where freeskiers send it in the summer.
“W hen I first moved to Vermont to attend college, I discovered one of this state’s lesserknown but magnificent features,” says Steve Libby, the executive director of the Vermont Rivers Conservancy. “On a muggy August day, my Vermonter friends drove me down twisting and turning back roads, and when I was certain we were hopelessly lost, we pulled off the side of the road, scrambled down a vague path between boulders and brush and plunged into a pristine swimming hole—a perfect spot to cool off from the summer heat.”
Like our favorite powder stashes, many of our favorite swimming holes are tucked deep in the woods on public land. Sometimes, the same riverbeds we ski down in late February are the same ones we hike up in July. You might have to bushwhack to get there or to follow what looks like barely a trickle until it plunges over a cliff into a deep pool worn into the granite. Here, in the heat of the summer, in the shade of the forest, the water is crystal clear and cold. The banks are covered in ferns and moss. You may not see another soul.
But there are other holes that are easy to find, places where generations of Vermonters have been gathering each summer. After, they spread out on a warm, sun-kissed slab of rock to warm up and dry off before driving off to find the nearest creemee stand. All part of a Vermont ritual.
Thanks to Libby’s work with the Vermont Rivers Conservancy, and various other agencies and organizations, access to many of the swimming holes has been preserved. In 1990, the Vermont River Conservancy was formed by a few volunteers who were noticing more and more swimming holes, kayak and canoe put-ins, fishing access, and waterfalls were being posted with “No Trespassing” signs. Suddenly, they were off limits to people whose families had used them for generations.
The organization responded by starting a program called “A Swimming Hole in Every Town.” With over 200 known swimming holes in the state (80 percent of which are on land that is privately owned) they began working with town recreation committees and willing landowners to protect public access.
One thing that has helped; Vermont’s liability laws protect the landowner in the case of accidents, laws that have benefitted trail building and public access on private land for all sorts of recreation, from mountain biking to plunging into a cool pool. The VRC will either work with landowners or, in some instances, try to buy the land around the swimming holes. As Libby explains, “More than a decade ago, VRC received a phone call from a supporter warning that the land surrounding a beloved swimming hole known as ‘Journeys End’ was up for sale as a residential lot. With the invaluable support of the local community, and with the patience and openness of the landowner to consider a conservation alternative, this pristine place was purchased and conveyed to the town as a permanent public resource.”
The same threats can occur across the Vermont landscape, especially if those using the holes have not respected the landowners, neighbors, or the property. “Often, loss of access is preceded by abuse and misuse,” says Libby. “Without proper and thoughtful management, many exceptional swimming holes are overcrowded or degraded by unthinking users. If Vermont’s swimming holes, waterfalls, gorges, and other popular sites are to be well cared for, we need to be excellent
stewards of the lands along Vermont’s waters.”
More than just a guardian of swimming holes, the VRC has also helped create paddlers’ trails along many of Vermont’s rivers, establishing campsites along the way and ensuring there are places to park, put in and fish. In the spring of 2022, The Vermont River Conservancy and White River Partnership were awarded one of 24 state-sponsored grants aimed at improving outdoor recreation by the Vermont Outdoor Recreation Economic Collaborative. The two organizations are now collaborating to improve whitewater access at multiple sites, coordinate stewardship efforts, and pilot the Vermont River Access Collaborative with the goal of increasing access to flowing water for all.
The VRC website (vermontriverconservancy.org) lists all of its completed projects – including the swimming holes, paddlers’ trails, campsites, and more.
10 AMAZING SWIMMING HOLES
Tara Schatz has been exploring Vermont swimming holes since before she could walk. Here, she shares some of her favorites. Take advantage of that rare sweltering day in Vermont and head to one of these spots.
Trout River Falls (Three Holes), Montgomery Center, Vermont Three lovely waterfalls. Three magical pools for swimming. The official name of this stretch of the Trout River in Montgomery Center is Trout River Falls, but as kids, we always called it Three Holes.
Three Holes gets its name from the three separate swimming areas. The first is filled by a 10-foot waterfall. It’s a large, shaded pool, surrounded by cliffs on three sides. This is a tricky spot to get to, and perfect for you Vermont cliff jumpers and hard-core adventure types.
The second hole is much smaller, but nice for just chilling out and taking in the scenery. The third pool gets the most sun and is the most popular spot for cooling off on a hot Vermont day. Visit this swimming hole during the week to avoid the crowds.
This swimming hole is a bit tricky to get to, so you don’t want to make the journey with a huge beach bag, fancy cameras, or tiny children strapped to your back. Instead, pack a towel and wear good water shoes for this adventure.
Directions: From Montgomery Center, take Route 58 east and park in the small gravel pull-off. It’s a steep trail down to the river. From here, you will have to walk upstream (maybe in-stream) until you come to the swimming area. —T.S.
Journey’s End, Johnson Journey’s End is a spectacular swimming hole and waterfall carved in the bedrock of Foote Brook, a cold, steep stream that flows to the Lamoille River in Johnson, not far from Smuggler’s Notch.
Journey’s End, is one of the swimming holes the Vermont River Conservancy helped to save. The land next to the falls was up for sale and could easily have been posted with “No Trespassing” signs. Instead, by partnering with the landowner, the town of Johnson, several community partners, and the Vermont Housing and Conservation Board, VRC permanently protected public access. The protected property includes 25 forested acres along 2,500 feet of Foote Brook, and helps ensure the high quality trout habitat in the Brook.
The town of Johnson is now the long-term owner of this beautiful area and will manage it as a natural and recreational area. The conservation easement assures that permanent access continues and that the 25 acres will remain in their natural condition.
Directions: From the village of Johnson (Route 15/Main St.), head northeast on Pearl St, and continue up Clay Hill Road passing Johnson State College on your right. Turn left onto Plot Road, park at the small pull-off about 0.4 miles ahead on your left. —L.L.
The Trout River spills into the aptly named “Three Holes” swimming holes near Montgomery Center (left). At right, backflipping into Stowe’s Bingham Falls. Bingham Falls, Stowe One of Vermont’s most stunning waterfalls, Bingham Falls is the prize at the end of a short .3-mile hike in Stowe, just off Route 108 between the Stowe Mountain Resort Cross Country Center and Stowe Mountain Resort. The main falls feature a 25-foot single cascade that plunges into a deep, cold pool. The falls tumble away from the rocks as they cascade over a cliff, and the swimming here is excellent but busy on sweltering summer afternoons.
Park on either side of route 108, near Smuggler’s Notch State Park. This is a quiet, family-friendly park – perfect for camping.
SWIMMING HOLE SAFETY & ETIQUETTE
Here’s what you should know before you head to one of Vermont’s swimming holes.
While many of Vermont’s swimming holes are often shallow and family-friendly, strong currents, hidden rocks and other hazards demand respect. Already, in 2022 there has been one swimming hole fatality and that’s not unusual. “Staying safe at swimming holes begins with an awareness of your surroundings whenever you go to a new place, or even return to a favorite spot,” says Holly Knox, Recreation Program Manager for the USDA Forest Service, Green Mountain National Forest. “Knowing the unique features of each swimming hole you visit will help you understand where swift currents and cliffs are located, and whether it is safe for you to plunge in.” Knox also notes that heavy rain can cause dangerous swimming conditions and can impact the water quality. It is best to avoid swimming 24 hours after a heavy rain.
The Vermont Swimming Hole Collaborative, an organization that manages more than 25 swimming holes around the state, noted an increase in visitors after 2020, with people flocking to rivers and waterways to cool off. With the hot weather Vermont has seen recently, this spike in visitors continues. Challenges such as litter, unleashed dogs and pet waste, dangerous overflow parking on roads, and trespassing on private property are all issues that the swimming hole managers are working to tackle.
These issues risk ending public access to swimming hole sites, so the Collaborative is asking the public to pitch in and help by observing the following guidelines: > “Carry-In, Carry-Out” and “Leave No Trace” where trash and recycling bins are not present, or where bins are full. > Use designated bathroom facilities only; human waste (and dog waste) can lead to dangerous bacteria in the water. > Always keep your dogs leashed to keep them and others safe or leave them at home. Pick up and properly dispose of dog waste. > When a parking lot is full, come back later or visit a different site; do not park on private property or in the travelled area of roads. > Do not trespass on private property and respect “no trespassing” signs. > Read and respect all signage at swimming hole sites. > Be considerate of others and the neighborhood. > Help keep Vermont waters clear; staying on the trails reduces erosion and saves plants.
“ We are fortunate to have hundreds of swimming holes throughout Vermont that communities have enjoyed for generations. When we work together, all swimming hole visitors can help protect and take care of these sites for people to enjoy for generations to come,” says Steve Libby, Executive Director of the Vermont River Conservancy.
The Vermont Swimming Hole Collaborative includes Friends of the Mad River, Vermont Department of Forests, Parks & Recreation, Mad River Path, Mad River Valley Planning District, Richmond Land Trust, USDA Forest Service, Green Mountain National Forest, Vermont Housing & Conservation Board, Vermont River Conservancy, and White River Partnership. This group is working together to ensure Vermont’s swimming holes are enjoyed respectfully and protected for years to come.
It’s a rare day when you can find the popular Bolton Potholes pristine and empty. But it’s worth it to try. Warren Falls, below left, is equally popular, as is Quechee Gorge, far right.
spend the weekend hiking and swimming.
Directions: From downtown Stowe, take Route 108 north for 6.3 miles. You will see parking areas on both sides of the road and a trail on the right that leads into the woods. The trail starts off level and easy, but as you near the falls, it becomes steeper and sometimes slippery.
Bolton Potholes, Bolton This summer, head up to Bolton Valley Resort to try out their new mountain bike trails. Then cool off after with a dip in the Bolton Potholes. Just off the access road from Bolton Valley Resort, Bolton Potholes are a staircasing series of pools that Joiner Brook carved into the rock as it tumbled down toward the valley and the Winooski River, below. The Vermont River Conservancy worked with the Bolton Potholes landowners for over a decade to negotiate the conservation of these magnificent pools, which happened in December 2018. Since then, the VRC has worked to create parking and signage. Be forewarned there can be strong currents. In May 2022, a 21-year-old from Burlington leaped off a rock and drowned. And go early, as this area can get crowded and parking is limited.
Directions: From the south, take I-89 exit 10 for VT100 toward Waterbury/US-2, then turn left onto VT-100 S and at the traffic circle, take the 1st exit onto US-2 W/N Main St. After 6.6 miles, turn right onto the Bolton Valley Access Road (small pullout parking area for 5-7 cars on right) or into the Smilie school parking lot and follow the trail up to the potholes.
Warren Falls, Warren Warren Falls is a cliff jumper’s dream, thanks to four separate waterfalls on the Mad River, just off scenic Route 100 in Warren. The swimming area is wide and deep and there is plenty of room to spread out. It’s a good thing too because this is one of the busiest swimming holes we’ve been to. The waterfalls at Warren Falls are nothing special, but the whole area is nestled in a deep gorge with large boulders all around and crystal-clear water that turns a deep turquoise when the sun hits it right.
If you are visiting Warren Falls with dogs or with small children, head to the lowest pool, which is the easiest way to access the water. Shallow, gravelly spots are great for families, and there aren’t as many people there. The trail to Warren Falls is an easy one, perfect for lugging a picnic lunch, blankets, and camp chairs.
Directions: From the junction of Route 100 and Route 125 in Hancock, head north on Route 100 into Warren. When you pass Stetson Hollow Road, travel another 1 mile and pull off in the large dirt parking area on the left. Follow the trail to the river.
Quechee Gorge, Quechee Just 9 miles east of Woodstock is what’s known as Vermont’s “Little Grand Canyon.” Quechee Gorge plunges from a dam just below the Simon Pearce store and restaurant down a deep narrow gorge. Receding glaciers first formed the gorge, which is deep enough that on occasion you might see a hot air balloon descending into it. The Ottauquechee River spills down the mile-long chasm, forming pools
Like our favorite powder stashes, many of our favorite swimming holes are tucked deep in the woods on public land. “ ”
Winter’s snowpack seeps into the mountainsides, gathers in rivulets and then feeds waterways like this section of Mad River. Here, at Warren Falls, the water is often crystal clear as there is little agriculture upstream, and there are several places to plunge in.
along the way. This is a place for experts and you will see some of them jumping into the pools . The water is fast-moving so be careful here. But the reward at this popular spot is spectacular scenery.
Directions: From Woodstock, head east on U.S. Route 4 until you come to the Quechee Gorge Bridge in Hartford. There is a well-worn path from the bridge down to the pools below.
Buttermilk Falls, Ludlow Right in Ludlow, Buttermilk Falls is another swimming hole the Vermont River Conservancy, working with the Vermont Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation, and the Vermont Housing Conservation Board, was able to preserve. When the land around the falls came up for sale, the three organizations collaborated to purchase the 7 acres and 2,500 feet of riverfront. It is now owned and managed by the Vermont Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation and can be easily accessed from the road. The swimming area consists of two pools below the upper and middle falls. While the swimming holes aren’t very deep (5 to 6 feet on a good year) and you should not dive in, they are perfect for families and the waterfalls are beautiful. On really hot days, set up your camp chair in the shallow water and relax with your favorite book.
Directions: From Ludlow, take Route 100/103 north. Continue north on Route 103 for .2 miles. Take a right on Buttermilk Falls Road and follow it for 1.3 miles. Park on the right side of the road and follow a short trail into the woods.
Bristol Falls, Bristol Just over the spine of the Greens from Sugarbush and Mad River Glen, Bristol is a charming town. Bristol Falls on the New Haven River is my favorite spot to go in the summer, and while it’s an extremely popular
Dorset Quarry, top and above, was once the oldest marble quarry in the United States. Not far from Jamaica State Park, Salmon Hole (opposite page) is a great place to cool off.
favorite spot to go in the summer, and while it’s an extremely popular swimming area, there’s room for everyone, including the daredevil cliff jumpers, the families who want to just relax, and the adventurous who want to scramble behind the falls. We’ve seen as many as 70 cars here on a summer weekend.
The highlight of Bristol Falls is the wide waterfall that you can sit underneath or crawl behind. The falls fill a huge swimming hole that is deep enough to jump into. Head downstream to a shallow beach and claim one of the large boulders that are perfect for sunning.
There are several trails that you can follow from the roadside parking area. They will all eventually lead you to the river and fabulous swimming. If you head upstream about .25 miles, you’ll find another less popular swimming area called Circle Current.
Directions: From Bristol, drive east on Route 116/17 for 2.8 miles and turn right on Lincoln Road. You will see roadside parking on either side of the road in about .2 miles.
Dorset Quarry, Manchester The Dorset Quarry is the only Vermont swimming hole in our list that isn’t located on a river. This is the oldest marble quarry in the United States. It opened in 1785 and supplied marble to the New York Public Library, several mansions in New York City, and Memorial Continental Hall of the Daughters of the American Revolution in Washington, D.C.
Thank goodness it no longer operates as a quarry, because now it’s one of the most popular swimming holes in southern Vermont. The water here is deep and cold, and there are plenty of places for cliff jumping, picnicking, and exploring. There are a few port-apotties for changing in. Access is free but there is a $15 charge to park at the adjacent Marble Park.
Directions: From Manchester, take Route 30 North into Dorset. The Dorset Quarry is about 4.6 miles from Manchester Center on your right.
10. Salmon Hole, Jamaica Salmon Hole is one of several deep swimming spots in the West River that you can access from Jamaica State Park, which is also one of our favorite spots to camp in the summer. Our recommendation? Book a leanto for the weekend, bring your bikes, try Stratton Mountain Resort’s liftserved mountain bike trails and spend a few days relaxing near the river.
The first thing you should do after setting up camp is cool off in Salmon Hole, a wide, deep spot in the West River. It’s located right near the playground, and the river is slow-moving, clear, and plenty deep enough for swimming. If you bring goggles, you can even watch the large trout meandering along the riverbed.
If you are visiting Jamaica State Park with dogs, no worries. While your furry friends aren’t permitted at Salmon Hole, if you stroll along the West River Rail Trail, you will find many other spots in the West River that are perfect for swimming with canines. There are two picnic tables along the river next to the rail trail, maybe a halfmile from the parking area. Both are located near prime swimming spots.
Directions: Jamaica State Park is located on Route 30/100 within walking distance of the village of Jamaica. Turn onto Depot Street when you get to Jamaica and cross the bridge over the river. There is a fee to enter Jamaica State Park for the day ($4 for adults, $2 for kids). n
Around Vermont, old rail beds are being converted to trails where you can ride for miles through quiet countryside with no traffic. Avid backcountry skier and author David Goodman explores these routes.
When it is completed this fall, the 93-mile Lamoille Valley Rail Trail will be the longest in New England. The stretch from Morrisville to Johnson is open now and provides stunning views. Lamoille Valley Bike Tours rents bikes, including e-bikes, and can arrange shuttles to any point on the trail.
I have a lifelong romance with the rails.
When I was in college, I freight-hopped across the country, experiencing America from the open doors of empty rail cars. Years later, my wife Sue and I took a two-day train journey from Zimbabwe into South Africa. It felt like time was suspended as we crossed the African desert, mesmerized by the rhythmic pulse of rolling steel.
It had been a while since I reveled in a slow ride on a long, flat, straight path through a magnificent landscape. But recently, I have been doing so on two wheels, exploring Vermont’s growing network of rail trails.
In the last few years, miles of rusting steel ribbon that once crossed Vermont have been removed to make way for paths of crushed gravel and cinder, perfect for the rubber soles of running or hiking shoes or two not-so-knobby tires.
Rail routes, once the foundation of travel, still crisscross Vermont’s valleys, carving through farmland and bordering the major rivers, with easy stopovers at brew pubs and wineries, B&Bs, farm stands, classic general stores and old opera houses. Many local bike shops now offer shuttle services, e-bike rentals and trip planning for rail trail riders.
The national rails-to-trails movement dates to the mid-1960s, when the first rail trails opened in the Midwest. In the 1980s, after Congress deregulated the railroad industry, unprofitable routes closed around the country and 4,000 to 8,000 miles of rail lines were abandoned each year. Congress then passed a law to allow for the preservation of abandoned rail corridors and enable their conversion into multi-use trails, a process known as railbanking.
A number of Vermont’s small rail lines closed in the 1980s and 1990s, including the Delaware & Hudson line (now the D&H Rail Trail from Castleton to Rupert), a portion of the Central Vermont Railway (closed in 1985, and now the Missisquoi Valley Rail Trail), and the St.
Johnsbury and Lake Champlain Railroad line (closed in 1995, and now the Lamoille Valley Rail Trail). Under Gov. Howard Dean, the state of Vermont moved to railbank the corridors.
Sue Minter, my wife and cycling partner, authored Vermont’s first bicycle and pedestrian plan in 1996, and later served on the House Transportation Committee and was Secretary of Transportation.
She explains: “What we are seeing now is the fruition of efforts begun by Gov. Dean, who championed rail trails throughout the 1990s. The Lamoille Valley Rail Trail got a huge boost in 2005 when then-Rep. Bernie Sanders secured a $5.2 million earmark for VAST to transform an underutilized resource into a bike and snowmobile trail.”
Now, Vermont is on the cusp of a golden age of rail trails. Burlington’s bike path, a feeder to the Island Line Rail trail has been redeveloped and rerouted.
By this fall, the last section of the Lamoille Valley Rail Trail should be complete, making it possible to ride from St. Johnsbury to Swanton on the Canadian border.
While that trail has been spurred on by a recent injection of nearly $14.3 million in state and federal funds, several other rail trails are also being built out.
This past spring, the Cross Vermont Trail saw new sections and a bridge completed in Montpelier, part of a vision that would create a trail that runs from Wells, on the New Hampshire border, to Burlington.
The 19.8-mile Vermont portion of the D&H Rail trail crosses western Rutland and Bennington counties in two sections – one between Castleton and Poultney, the other between West Pawlet and Rupert. When the entire route is completed, you should be able to ride nearly 34 miles from Castleton to West Pawlet, off-road, and then on to New York’s East Salem village.
Two sections of the West River Rail Trail can be ridden now: South Londonderry to Townshend and West Dummerston to Brattleboro. The goal is to open the entire 36-mile route.
Rail trails have several key benefits: there are no cars, they are flat, and they travel through beautiful countryside. In winter, many of the trails are used by fat bikes, skiers, and snowmobiles.
I recently rode parts of three Vermont rail trails. All three rail trails are meticulously graded and have surfaces of fine packed gravel (except the paved Burlington Bike Path), making them suitable for all types of bikes. (We used road bikes with standard 700 x 28cm road tires.)
In addition to great riding, we couldn’t pass up another attraction on or near each of these rail trails: Vermont craft breweries. We ended each ride by raising a glass.
While there are dozens of shorter rail trail sections around the state where you can ride, walk, hike or ski, these six trails are worth a day trip or an overnight. Set up camp or check into one of the trailside B&B’s, stop at the local brew pub and make a weekend out of it.
Sue Minter rides the Missisquoi Valley Rail Trail, which follows the Missisquoi River through the farmlands of northwestern Vermont. MISSISQUOI VALLEY RAIL TRAIL
Length: 26.4 miles, St. Albans to Richford.
What was once the route of a milk train that serviced the farms of Franklin County is now the Missisquoi Valley Rail Trail (MVRT). In the early 1990s, the state of Vermont and local citizens began converting the former Central Vermont Railway into a multi-use trail that follows the Missisquoi River through the farmlands of Franklin County with views east to the Greens.
We started in the Rail City, St. Albans, whose downtown has undergone a renaissance in recent years. The trailhead was easy to find: a large brown MRVT sign and a bicycle mounted high on a post signaled our arrival. A trailhead kiosk and parking lot has free color maps and a guide to the entire trail. As we rolled out of St. Albans on the well-maintained rail trail, we passed walkers, cyclists and runners in the first few miles. The population on the trail and in the countryside thinned quickly as we rolled through open farmland. Views stretched over miles of green corn fields to where Jay Peak rose in the distance. After 7 miles we came to Sheldon, a former summer resort based around the town’s once-famous mineral springs. The 100-room hotels have long since been replaced by dairy sheds that shelter an equivalent number of cows. In 1984, a train derailment damaged a bridge here and that marked the end of the rail service on this line. The Lamoille Valley Rail Trail connects to the MVRT at mile 9, opening possibilities for extended and even multiday tours across the state.
We continued riding through farm fields with views of the northern Greens.
At mile 16 we came to the town of Enosburg Falls, where cyclists can refuel at diners and convenience stores. We stopped to eat lunch in front of the beautifully restored Enosburg Opera House, built in 1892. A summer theater camp was in full swing and a community theater was rehearsing on stage.
We pedaled on for several more miles north of Enosburg to take in views over the Missisquoi River rapids, which parallels the trail. This section of river is part of the Northern Forest Canoe Trail, a water trail that runs from New York to Maine. This scenic high point was where we turned around for a fast ride back to St. Albans. More info: champlainbikeways.org
Nearby Ski Resorts: Smuggler’s Notch, Jay Peak Camp: Lake Carmi State Park is a few miles north of Enosburg Falls. Bike Shops:Bootlegger Bike Shop, Jeffersonville & St. Albans. Fuel Up: The Flying Disc coffee shop in Enosburg Falls not only serves coffee drinks and smoothies and sells jewelry and old vinyl records and canoes you can rent from the town recreation department if you want to leave your bike and paddle back to your car on the Missisquoi.
LAMOILLE VALLEY RAIL TRAIL
Length: 93 miles St. Johnsbury to Swanton
After two decades of debate, planning, and construction, the Lamoille Valley Rail Trail is now a reality—partly. Three sections of trail are currently open for riding: St. Johnsbury to Danville (15.4 miles), Morristown to Cambridge (17.4 miles) and Swanton to Sheldon (11.6 miles).
When completed and connected to the Missisquoi Valley Rail Trail, the route will run 93 miles, spanning the state from St. Johnsbury to Swanton. Managed by the Vermont Association of Snow Travelers (VAST), the trail is already popular with snowmobilers and skiers in the winter.
The most popular section, from Morrisville to Cambridge, has been online for several years. We arrived at the trailhead in downtown Morrisville to find a bustling parking lot of riders. Lamoille Valley Bike Tours was there renting electric bikes and one family with small children was happily enjoying the silent electric assist of these bikes.
We headed out on the former St. Johnsbury and Lake Champlain Railroad line, which ceased operation in 1995, and pedaled across a restored railroad bridge. Within a mile, we passed Lost Nation Brewing, a craft brewery and restaurant which is located alongside the trail, and its bike rack was packed. We knew immediately where we would end the day.
The trail follows the meandering Lamoille River in the first few miles. After passing through Hyde Park, we emerged into open farm fields with expansive views of Mt. Mansfield. Sue and I clicked into a rhythm as we rolled through the pastures at a good clip, taking in the different perspective on the mountains that we ski in the winter.
As we arrived in Johnson after 8 miles of riding, the skies opened up with rain. We took shelter at a LVRT trailhead kiosk located at a covered picnic spot at Old Mill Park. Several other riders soon joined us.
The sun returned and we rode on to Cambridge, where the old train station has been restored and converted into a community playground with a train theme. We slowly rode through a historic covered bridge and admired the elaborate trusswork.
From Cambridge, a mile-long Greenway Trail brought us to Jeffersonville, where we stopped at The Farm Store, which features an espresso bar, home-baked breads and local products. Sue and I spotted posts outside that were topped with replica golden horse heads.
We both smiled: this was what remained of Le Cheval D’Or, a small French restaurant where I proposed to Sue 32 years ago. Farm Store owner Jennifer Bishop loved hearing our tale, and offered us one of the old black lanterns that once hung in the restaurant. Like the railroad, every building has history here. More info: lvrt.org
Start, or better yet, finish your ride on the Lamoille Valley Trail at Morrisville’s Lost Nation Brewing.
Nearby Ski Resorts: Smuggler’s Notch, Jay Peak, Stowe. Camp:Mountain View Campground in Morrisville is about 5 miles from the trail. Bike Shops: Bootlegger Bike Shop, Jeffersonville & St. Albans; Lamoille Valley Bike Tours in Johnson, Chuck’s Bike Shop and PowerPlay Sports in Morrisville. Fuel Up: Start or end your ride at Lost Nation Brewery in Morrisville, right on the rail trail.
ISLAND LINE TRAIL
Length: 14 miles (rail trail); 30+ miles, Champlain Islands tour.
One of the most scenic rail trails in the Northeasf is the Island Line Trail. Started as the Rutland Railroad in 1901, the rail trail runs from Oak Ledge Park in Burlington, follows the shores of Lake Champlain on the Burlington Bike Path, It crosses the lake via a three-mile long causeway to South Hero and a short bike ferry ride. The path is paved until shortly before the causeway, which has a crushed gravel surface.
We set out on a ride through the Champlain Islands by starting at Airport Park in Colchester. After a mile-long ride through the Colchester Bog, the rail trail abruptly launches out into Lake Champlain on a narrow rail bed built atop large marble boulders. We were surrounded by water and mountains.
We spun along, with views of the Adirondacks to the west and the Green Mountains to the east. We soon came to The Cut, a 200foot gap in the causeway, and boarded a bike ferry that Local Motion operates from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Emerging at South Hero, we continued our ride past Snow Farm Vineyard where you can stop for wine tastings from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. (I suggest you save this for the return leg), often with live bands playing. Sue and continued on the Stone Castles bike tour (so named by champlainbikeways.org, which has a great list of bike tours around Lake Champlain), and had fun finding the many miniature castles that dot the landscape of South Hero.
As we cycled by the acclaimed Blue Paddle Bistro in South Hero, we couldn’t resist popping in to make a dinner reservation, then dashed back across the lake to catch the last bike ferry and rode back to the car. More info: localmotion.org
Nearby Ski Resorts: Bolton Valley, Smuggler’s Notch, Jay Peak. Camp: Grand Isle State Park in South Hero or leave your bike in North Hero and kayak out to Knight Island or Woods Island State Parks. Bike Shops: Outdoor Gear Exchange, Burlington; Bootlegger Bike Shop, St. Albans. Fuel Up: Stop at one of the Champlain Islands winery tasting rooms, such as Snow Farm or Ellison Estate Vineyards or pick up home-made pastries at DonnaSue’s roadside farmstand on Route 2 in Grand Isle.
WELLS TO MONTPELIER RAIL TRAIL
Length: 18 miles, South Ryegate to Marshfield
Just south of the Lamoille Valley Rail Trail, the Montpelier-Wells Rail Trail makes up the wildest and most scenic part of a route that’s being mapped and developed as the Cross Vermont Trail. It will go more than 90 mile east/west across the state between Wells and Burlington. For many years, the “Granite Train” ran a 45-mile stretch of tracks, connecting the mines of Barre with the main train lines that ran down the Connecticut River valley. The trail is now made up of three sections, the longest of which runs 18 miles through Groton State Forest. From Ricker Pond, at the southern end of Groton State Forest, nearly all the way to Marshfield, you can ride dirt and cinder trails through largely From Burlington, it’s just 14 miles out the undeveloped land. Watch out for moose and causeway on the Island Line Trail to the deer. Champlain Islands. Stop at Lake Groton or Kettle Pond for a dip. Camp out at Groton State Park’s many camp sites or book a room at the state-owned Seyon Lodge in the middle of the forest. In Groton State Forest the trail can get rough at times, so be prepared. But you’ll also be rewarded with plenty of places to stop and parking areas where you can cut short the 21-mile ride. More info: crossvermont.org Nearby Ski Resorts: Sugarbush, Burke, Ascutney. Camp: Groton State Forest has hundreds of great campsites, including several that are lakeside. Bike Shops: Onion River Sports in Montpelier. Fuel Up: Reprovision at the Marshfield General Store or continue on to Positive Pie in Plainfield.
Riding through Groton State Forest on the Cross Vermont Trail.
DELAWARE & HUDSON LINE RAIL TRAIL
Length:19.8 miles in two sections
Little to no bike or foot traffic, open meadows, a goat farm with a selfserve cheese stand, a slate baron’s mansion (now a B&B) are just a few of the things that make the Delaware & Hudson Line rail trail, one of the most interesting and beautiful trails in the state.
Once named the “The Bridge Line to New England and Canada,” the Delaware and Hudson line once connected New York with Montreal, Quebec and New England. During the 1800s, it transported minerals up and down the East Coast, crossing the western portion of Vermont. “Slate picker” cars stopped in Castleton, Granville and Poultney (a region still known as “Slate Valley”) and carried roofing slate from Vermont to towns around New England. The railroad went bankrupt in the 1970s and a decade later the state of Vermont purchased the abandoned tracks. It began rehabbing the route as a rail trail and put in more than 17 wood-deck bridges to span the many streams and rivers.
Today, the rail trail still relies on its cinder and gravel bed and is better suited to wider or knobby tires of a hybrid or mountain bike.
Start at the Amtrak station in Castleton or at the parking area at the Castleton State College trailhead. From there, the trail runs south to Poultney before crossing into New York. At present, the trail stops for about four miles over the New York border where it becomies densely overgrown, before picking up again in Granville. This is one of two portions that New York State wants to build out and when that is complete, you will be able to ride 34 miles south to West Pawlet and then all the way to East Salem. If you start or end in Granville, you can make a weekend of it if you book a room at the Station House B&B (in the old train station) or at The D&H Rail Trail is a gourmet’s dream with Mach’s Market at one end in Pawlet, Consider Bardwell Farm and creamery in the middle, and Sherman’s General Store in Rupert at the southern terminus.
the red slate Sheldon Mansion Inn whose 10 acres border the trail. A brewery, Slate Town Brewery is there too.
South of Granville, you’ll ride through some dense forests before the view opens up to quiet meadows and farmland. This is one of Rutland Audubon’s birding hotspots, a place where warblers migrate or you might scare up a ruffed grouse. As the trail crosses the 300-acre Consider Bardwell goat farm, watch for a small sign for the serveyourself farmstand where you can buy the creamery’s award-winning cheeses. From there you can continue south to West Pawlet.
As one reviewer writes on Traillink.com, “When riding this trail you’re almost always alone with your thoughts - you DO see others but it’s not the highway that other trails can be. It’s a country trail bisecting fields, paralleling a stream for a good portion of the ride, cow pastures, some old ‘urban’ decay near West Pawlet and Granville, but it’s completely scenic, quiet, and easily ridden.” More info: vtstateparks.com/dh-rail-trail
Nearby Ski Resorts: Killington, Pico, Stratton, Bromley. Camp: Lake St. Catherine State Park is a short bike from the trailhead in Poultney or camp or stay in one of the hike-to cabins at the Merck Forest & Farmland Center in Rupert. Bike Shops: Analog Cycles in Poultney or Battenkill Bikes in Manchester. Fuel Up: This area has a wealth of classic Vermont general stores that have been revived and serve farmfresh fare, including Mach’s Market and Smokehouse in Pawlet, and Sherman’s General Store in Rupert.
WEST RIVER TRAIL, SOUTH LONDONDERRY TO TOWNSHEND
Length 18.1 miles, Upper Section, 3.5 miles Lower Section
With swimming holes along the way, covered bridges, campgrounds where you can pitch a tent or stay in a shelter, and plenty of places to reprovision, the West River Trail is a great introduction to riding (or walking) a rail trail. The pathway follows the West River along what may be one of the oldest transportation routes in the state. Native Americans called the West River “the Wantastiquet” or “waters of the lonely way,” and it was part of a system of waterways and overland routes that connected Lake Champlain to the Otter Creek to the West River to the Connecticut in Brattleboro.
In 1879, the existing path was developed into a rail bed for the West River Railroad, a winding, narrow-gauge railroad that earned the nickname “36 miles of trouble.” In 1903, a local newspaper dubbed it the “trydaily” route; “they go down in the morning and try to get back at night.”
Today, some of the old depots have been restored and when the trail is completed, it will run the full 36 miles. For now, though, the West River Rail Trail is in two sections – the 18.1 mile upper section from South Londonderry to Townshend and a lower section, from West Dummerston to Brattleboro.
The South Londonderry Depot serves as a trailhead and museum for the West River Railroad. Start there and you can follow the trail for about 2.7 miles to the Winhall Brook campground trailhead. From there, it’s about 5 miles south to Ball Mountain Dam where steep switchbacks drop the trail down and it heads on to Jamaica State Park, where you can also camp for the night. At present, the upper section of the West River Trail ends at Townshend Dam, about 18 miles from South Londonderry. A separate 3.5-mile section runs from West Dummerston south to Brattleboro, following the river. More info: westrivertrail.org.
Nearest Ski Resorts: Magic, Bromley and Stratton are all within a 20-minute drive from the South Londonderry trailhead. Camp: Winhall Brook Campground or Jamaica State Park. Bike Shops: Equipe Sports in Rawsonville rents mountain bikes. Fuel Up: Order ahead and pick up takeout house-made sausages and burgers at HoneyPie on Route 30 in Jamaica or provision and pick up pizza or a fajita at West River Provisions in Jamaica. n
Contributing editor David Goodman is the author of Best Backcountry Skiing in the Northeast: 50 Classic Ski and Snowboard Tours in New England and New York. He lives in Waterbury Center, Vt.
The West Dummerston bridge near the Brattleboro section of the West River Trail is the longest covered bridge in the state.
John Fusco started his career at 16 playing in a blues band. He’s still turning out albums, the most recent is “Borderlands, “ produced in Stowe with George Walker Petit. Photo by Dik Darnell.
STOWE FILMMAKER AND SCREENWRITER JOHN FUSCO IS TEAMING UP WITH ACTOR AND FORMER SKI RACER PATRICK DEMPSEY TO MAKE A CINEMATIC ODE TO THE VANISHING SKI TOWN CULTURE.
By Lisa Lynn
Toget to John Fusco’s home you drive north from Stowe on long dirt roads. There are few road signs in these parts and the GPS lacks conviction. Perhaps the only clue that you have arrived at the 200-acre hill farm is a small security camera that winks red at the gateway.
The dirt drive winds up and up, past the large barn where for many years Fusco ran what he calls “an Assisted Living Home for Movie Star Horses.” Those horses included Oscar, the horse that played the lead role in Fusco’s film Hidalgo and 30 or so mustangs, a dwindling breed of pure-blooded Native American horses that Fusco tried to strengthen so he could return them to the tribes.
Around another bend is an orchard where 100-year-old trees carry early nubs of Wolf River and McIntosh apples. A broad field flanks the steep hillside and finally, at the top, at 1,600 feet of elevation, stands a mid-sized house that is all porches and views.
Fusco greets me at the top of the drive. He looks like he stepped out of one his films: unmistakable with his mane of salt-and-pepper hair, John Lennon-style round dark glasses and muscled frame. We head past the house, to a grassy terrace that looks out across the meadow to the mountains beyond. “You can see to Jay Peak from here,” he says. It is a view worthy of a wide angle on a big screen.
I’ve wanted to ask Fusco, the award-winning screenwriter, film producer and musician, two things. One: why a successful filmmaker who is best known for creating Westerns such as Thunderheart, Young Guns, DreamKeeper and the animated movie Spirit: The Stallion of the Cimarron, has lived in Vermont for more than half of his 63 years.
The other question involves just what he was doing in Utah this past June researching avalanche control with actor Patrick Dempsey.
The answers come together in a series he is writing and producing about the changes happening to a fictional ski town. “A Neo-Western,” he calls the ski town concept that Dempsey brought to him.
“I think the best American Westerns are set during that period when the West is coming to an end,” he explains. “There’s a nostalgia and an almost elegiac quality to them. That’s why I see this ski film set in an old Western silver mining town with a saloon and vestiges of cowboy culture. Except now you’ve got these Goldman Sachs cowboys. And you’ve got people selling faux furs and Gucci. It’s like Beverly Hills descends on this prototype of his Western ski town. I really want to capture that and all the issues that surround it.”
If anyone can produce the cinematic elegy for a ski town, it would be Patrick Dempsey, who grew up ski racing in Lewiston, Maine and was, at one point the state slalom champ. Put him together with writer John Fusco, and it is bound to ring true.
Fusco is a writer and film producer who, in the vein of an Annie Proulx or Cormac McCarthy, deeply feels and beautifully conveys a sense of place—particularly the American West. His films reach far into the dusty corners of rural America. In Fusco’s settings, everyone is a neighbor or connected in some way and the line between a hero and an anti-hero is a squiggly one.
“The best American Westerns are set during that period when the West is coming to an end. There’s a nostalgia and an almost elegiac quality to them. That’s why I see this ski film set in an old Western silver mining town with a saloon and vestiges of cowboy culture. Except Goldman Sachs cowboys...” now you’ve got these
Fusco, left and actor Patrick Dempsey on the porch of Rip’s Cabin (used in the series, Yellowstone) at the Thousand Acre Ranch in Park City, Utah where they plan to shoot.
“West Dallas, 1934. Screen doors slapping shut. Old gas stations. The migrant work camps. It’s just this… this… soul that attracts me to tell the story as a kind of travel drive with these with two old Texas Rangers whose time has passed by and to spend 52 days with them in the car as they search for Bonnie and Clyde,” he says of The Highwaymen, the 2019 film he wrote which starred Kevin Costner and Woody Harrelson as the two rangers.
To write Thunderheart, the 1992 film loosely based on the Wounded Knee Occupation, Fusco spent five years at Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota, the second largest Native American reservation in the U.S. “I really wanted to observe and study the people and turn clichés on their head. So, if you see a medicine man, he’s watching Sesame Street on TV and he wants an ice cream. There’s this sense of survival humor there. It’s not what you think of with these stereotypes of Native American people,” he says. Fusco, in accurately portraying the tribes, not only learned the language, he earned their respect. He was adopted into the Oglala Nation in the hunkyapi ceremony.
To make the Netflix series, Marco Polo, Fusco and his son Giovanni rode across Mongolia along the Silk Road on half-wild horses. For his films The Forbidden Kingdom (starring Jackie Chan) and his screenplay for Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny, Fusco drew on his experience in the martial arts and his practice with the related philosophies. He began learning martial arts at age 12 and has a black sash in Shaolin kung fu. He also co-produced Bruce Lee’s The Silent Flute.
But mostly, John Fusco’s films capture the vanishing vestiges of rural America. “I’m just drawn to rural Americana, its people, cultures and rituals, the literature, the music,” he says. “I grew up on a dirt road in a part of Connecticut that was not Greenwich. I mean my father owned an auto salvage yard contiguous to a pig farm.”
Fusco was living in Prospect, Ct., working in factories and playing music in local bars when he dropped out of high school at age 16 and began travelling the Deep South and the Mississippi Delta playing in blues bands.
After six years, he returned home and enrolled at the local Naugatuck Valley Community College where he met his wife, Richela Renkun, and then transferred to New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts.
At Tisch, Fusco took a master class in screenwriting with Waldo Salt and Ring Lardner, Jr. His final project for the class was a screenplay about a 17-year-old traveling the South with a blues musician who has sold his soul to the devil. That screenplay, based loosely around the legend of blues musician Robert Johnson, was made into the movie
Fusco manages his 200 acres in Morrisville for wildlife habitat and, oh yes, skiing. He grooms a network of ski trails through his woods and meadows. “ So, do you believe in your mission statement? Do you care about profits more than powder? What about localization giving way to centralization and losing the individual character that attracts people to these ski areas? Is it all going to become McMountains?” Crossroads. It launched Fusco’s career and inspired the video game, “Guitar Hero III, Legends of Rock.” Both Crossroads, and Fusco’s prior student screenplay won the Nissan-Focus Award. Since then, Fusco has played with the likes of Jackson Browne and toured for a short time with the Dixie Road Ducks. He has turned out several albums, the most recent is Borderlands, a collaboration with Stowe musician George Walker Petit.
Vermont has always played a role in Fusco’s life. Fusco’s father owned a fishing cabin on the Tweed River, near Stockbridge. “Going there as a young boy and being exposed to native Vermonters early on I thought, wow, this place just has so much more character and soul,” he says. The dark glasses come off and he looks out across a field below. “We would go to Vermont for a long weekend, and it was everything I loved. The wildlife there was more vital. There are black bear, moose. It had a real sense region. The Vermont accent. The lore. Vermont has this kind of rugged individualism,” he says. “There’s a don’t-meddlelet’s-give-each-other-our-space mentality. But if you need me, by Jesus, I’ll be the first one there.” His wife Richela had grown up on a dairy farm and she had connections to southern Vermont. Neither had been north of Rutland when they decided one day to take a drive.
They came into Stowe on an evening when it was snowing, and the village was lit up with Christmas lights. “Richela looks around and says, ‘this looks like a Currier & Ives painting.’ Then we did two things; we checked into The Gables Inn and the next day we called a realtor.”
That was 38 years ago. And while it took a few years and a few movies for the Fuscos to build the house on the farm where they live now, Vermont became home and it’s where they raised their son, Giovanni, now 28.
“When we came here, we had a place in New York and a place in Los Angeles and we sold both of those,” Fusco says. “My agent said I was committing career suicide. But I wanted to write on spec, not those contract scripts that pay so well. The first thing I wrote in Vermont was Young Guns and that was a hit and then there was Young Guns II. So, Vermont worked out.”
Fusco has written one screenplay about Vermont, telling the story of the state’s founder, Ethan Allen and his band of Green Mountain Boys. “At one point we had Barry Levinson signed on and Leo Di Caprio was going to play Ethan Allen. They were here,” he says, nodding toward the field below us. “We were going to shoot scenes on the property –which meant I could ride my horse to work,” he says with a laugh. However, Fusco could not get the state to offer the tax incentive (“25% of budget,” he says is what it would have taken) to make the film in Vermont. He had offers from other places to shoot there but, as he says, “I realized if we made it somewhere else and it didn’t quite turn out, we’d have to move, and we love this place too much to do so.” He killed his own film.
But being in Vermont, in a ski town, has helped him with his current project; a streaming series about a ski town.
Actor Patrick Dempsey, best known as “McDreamy” on the TV series Grey’s Anatomy, reached out to Fusco this past spring. Fusco paraphrases the conversation: “‘You interested in doing a series about a ski town?’ Patrick asked. I was like ‘I live in Stowe Vermont,’ I’ll be surrounded by inspiration!” “Patrick and I really hit it off. We keep texting each other ideas. We already have the name of the ski town and the ski area. I can’t say too much, but it’s based on the real stuff that’s happening now in ski towns like Park City and Stowe and the issues they face.”
Fusco and Dempsey spent much of June scouting locations in Utah’s Wasatch backcountry and hope to start shooting there in winter of 2023. “I want people to watch the series and say ‘I want to ski there!’ But of course, they can’t: it will all be a fictional ski area,” he says. There may be scenes set in Telluride or Montana, but the gist of the plot draws from the real-life travails that Park City is facing and a “mom-and-pop ski area that was started by a guy from the Tenth Mountain Division,” Fusco says.
With this film, as he has done with all his others, Fusco is diving deep in the research. “We just spent a week with Craig Gordon who is one of the top avalanche forecasters because we are going to have to deal with that,” he says of the script. “I was also connected to Sam Howard who has been a huge help,” he says of the Alta patrolman who grew up in St. Albans and whose brother Dave Howard, is one of Mount Mansfield’s better skiers.
Fusco has been regularly reading the local paper, the Park Record, and mining Heather Hansman’s book about the end of the ski bum culture, Powder Days: Ski Bums, Ski Towns and the Future of Chasing Snow.
And, of course, there is a big corporate ski company. Fusco and Dempsey did their due diligence there, too. “We tried to reach Vail Resorts, here [in Stowe] and I had an initial response, but then we weren’t able to reach them again. We also tried Alterra,” Fusco says.
They finally got a meeting with two of Vail Resorts’ senior corporate officers. “What we said to them was, ‘You know, we’re responsible dramatists and we’re not going after low hanging fruit, because that’s bad drama. And in our in our business, in the dramatic world, the best villains are villains who feel that they’re in the right.’ I really wanted to hear what they have to say,” he says.
Fusco leans forward, recounting the conversation with the corporate execs: “So the people we’re talking to see you as the Devil and you know that we’re all reading the same paper, the Park Record and the letters to the editor? So, do you believe in your mission statement? Do you care about profits more than powder? What about localization giving way to centralization and losing the individual character that attracts people these areas. Is it all going to become McMountains?”
Fusco sits back and continues. “They were appreciative, these two ladies, of us not taking the easy way out and just snidely whiplashing them. They gave us their side of the story, the behind the scenes and what they are up against.”
A consummate outdoorsman, Fusco does some backyard grilling.
During the meeting, one of the Vail Resorts execs picked up a newspaper and read a letter to the editor. “She said, ‘Did you see this letter?’ and then read it: ‘Dear tourists coming to Park City, please go away. We don’t want you here. You are ruining our town.’” Fusco pauses. “‘Now is that inclusive?’ she asked.”
Living near the Vail-owned Stowe Mountain Resort, Fusco has firsthand knowledge of the issues that have arisen as both Covid and Vail Resort’s Epic pass have caused an influx to ski towns, driving up real estate prices and snarling traffic. “This winter I was one of the people who was trying to get somewhere on the Mountain Road and had to turn around the traffic was so bad. I can see the changes here, too,” he says.
There is a moment of silence as wind blows through the meadow ruffling the grasses. Then Fusco chuckles. “I was just in Colorado and when a friend of mine introduced me to someone as being from Vermont, the guys goes; “Vermont! Man, that’s the Promised Land! That’s where we all have to go now. You guys have water… “ Fusco’s voice trails off. “Well, there goes the neighborhood,” he says with a shrug.
The one thing Fusco has not witnessed firsthand is the effect the increase in Epic Pass skiers has had on Stowe’s Mount Mansfield. “The funny thing about this movie is now my good friend John Teague is telling me I’ll have to get on skis,” he says, referring to the former University of Vermont head alpine coach and veteran of Mount Mansfield Academy.
While Fusco used to snowboard at Stowe, now he mostly Nordic skis. You might find him on the trails at the Trapp Family Lodge or at Craftsbury Outdoor Center. Mostly, he skis on the trails he cuts and grooms all through his 200 acres.
“I love cross-country. I love that you are silently gliding, and you can really get out there with wildlife and be in this kind of Tao, or Zen state.”
Living on a farm in Vermont has only fine-tuned Fusco’s keen love of nature and wildlife. “I go to bed reading wildlife biology books. We manage our property for wildlife, and plant that meadow down there for grouse and woodcock,” he says.
He tells me about the generational family of foxes that live in the meadow. He knows them individually and their habits. In recent years, he has become involved with and supported the Kilham Bear Center in New Hampshire. “Rescued bear cubs often get sent there after the mom has been shot by someone who was raising chickens— playing ‘Little House on the Fucking Prairie’ as my wife Richela calls it.”
Bears, like the foxes, are also his neighbors.
“The other morning, I was up early playing the piano and just at sunrise I got this weird tingly feeling that someone was watching me,” he says. “I turned and there was one of the bigger black bears I’ve ever seen – probably 450 pounds – looking in the window at me. He paused and then went on his way.”
The bears, the foxes, the grouse: they are all a part of this place Fusco calls home. He knows that long before there were tourists here, or skiers, or the dairy farmers who cleared the meadow and planted the orchard—or even the Abenaki— this place belonged to them. n
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