Wintry Mix

Spanning 300 miles and nearly 200 landowners, the Catamount Trail is a decades old winter ski route. As uphill/downhill backcountry skiing participation grows, the CTA is broadening its mission beyond The Trail to encourage the responsible proliferation of human powered skiing zones across Vermont.

Vermont's Catamount Trail is the longest continuous XC ski trail in the United States. It was conceived in 1984 and fully linked together in 2008. In this episode Alex welcomes the CTA's Amy Kelsey and Brian Mohr to the VPR studios to get a "state of the trail" as it navigates its future.

Season 2 of Wintry Mix is made possible by www.Inntopia.com.

Additional support from www.snowbird.com, www.skivermont.com, www.peakresorts.com and www.llbean.com.

The Herishko brothers (Tom and Mark) grew up on a farm in the foothills of the Taconic Mountains of New York, which is east of the Hudson River and west of Massachusetts.

Since their school was 20 minutes from home, they were on their own for after school activities. This need for a more local hobby birthed what is now Polar Peak, a private and do-it-yourself cow pasture ski area which they've been refining since 1991.

Season 2 of Wintry Mix is made possible by www.Inntopia.com.

Additional support comes from www.Snowbird.com, www.SkiVermont.com, www.PeakResorts.com and www.LLBean.com.

Want to live closer to your passions? Co-working spaces in mountain towns across North America and Europe have been opening rapidly as the global workforce becomes less tethered to any given location.

In this episode we'll hear from those who put together a successful co-working space in North Lake Tahoe and a few of their members that have fueled the growth of similar spaces around the world.

Season 2 of Wintry Mix is made possible by www.Inntopia.com.

Additional support comes from www.Snowbird.com, www.SkiVermont.com, www.PeakResorts.com and www.LLBean.com.

Photo by GP Martin Photography

Pro tip: when acquiring a ski area with a passionate community, storied history and key stakeholders including a nationally respected resort management college, mountain biking destination and olympic caliber ski academy, perhaps don't rename the mountain after yourself as a first order of business. Even if you saw it in a Hollywood movie.

That oddity (and much more like it) is what transpired at the briefly named Q Burke Mountain in Vermont's Northeast Kingdom over the last few years.

A side effect of the alleged EB5 scandal in Vermont's Northeast Kingdom is the ousting of the often combative Quiros family management at Burke Mountain, bringing a sigh of relief to skiers, stakeholders and staff as they rally around what they hope will be a more stable period of mountain operation and community cooperation.

Not only is the Q gone from the name but a brand new hotel was built and finished right before the change of the guard. In this episode we'll chat with many community stakeholders as well as tour the brand new Burke Mountain Hotel.

Season 2 of Wintry Mix is made possible by www.Inntopia.com.

Additional support comes from www.Snowbird.com, www.SkiVermont.com, www.PeakResorts.com and www.LLBean.com.

A swath of international resort marketing brainiacs were in Stowe, Vermont back in May for an annual gathering produced by Wintry Mix supporter Inntopia.

Seminars, data crunching, speakers, wining, dining, etc, all centered around the quest to get folks to book trips and increase tourism. Mostly digitally.

For the sake of the podcast, I invited a few of these tech buffs to my studio (porch) in order to poke and prod them for your enjoyment.

Season 2 of Wintry Mix is made possible by www.Inntopia.com.

Additional support comes from www.Snowbird.com, www.SkiVermont.com, www.PeakResorts.com and www.LLBean.com.

Canada's northeastern lands are dotted with small, mostly indigenous, communities which operate far differently than those in the US and more populated areas of Canada. There are few roads, few people and limited economies. Also icebergs and polar bears. 

In episode 24 we connect with Dr. Andrew Bresnahan, who was born in one of these communities and now practices medicine in the region. 

Season 2 of Wintry Mix is made possible by www.Inntopia.com. 

Additional support comes from www.Snowbird.com, www.SkiVermont.com, www.PeakResorts.com and www.LLBean.com.

Backcountry skier and father of three Jon Miller took a long and harrowing slide down Hillman's Highway near Tuckerman Ravine on New Hampshire's Mount Washington in March of 2016.

Episode 23 welcomes the Miller family to the Vermont Public Radio studios to reflect on the experience and what it might mean for the future.

More info and photos at www.WintryMixCast.com.

Season 2 of Wintry Mix is made possible by www.Inntopia.com. Additional support comes from www.Snowbird.com, www.SkiVermont.com, www.PeakResorts.com and www.LLBean.com.

Backcountry skier and father of three Jon Miller took a long and harrowing slide down Hillman's Highway near Tuckerman Ravine on New Hampshire's Mount Washington in March of 2016.

Episode 23 welcomes the Miller family to the Vermont Public Radio studios to reflect on the experience and what it might mean for the future.

More info and photos at www.WintryMixCast.com.

Season 2 of Wintry Mix is made possible by www.Inntopia.com. Additional support comes from www.Snowbird.com, www.SkiVermont.com, www.PeakResorts.com and www.LLBean.com.

So that was fun. Enjoy some of the highlights from season 1 and find the episodes that you'd be most interested in. Let us know what topics or guests you think would be fun in Season 2 via twitter.com/wintrymixcast, instagram.com/wintrymixcast or fb.com/wintrymixcast.

We're also working on a new website at www.wintrymixcast.com. It's there now as we work on it.

Season 2 starts in June.

Thanks to our season 1 sponsors: Mount Snow, Snocountry, Snowbird, Propeller Media Works and Ski Vermont.

So that was fun. Enjoy some of the highlights from season 1 and find the episodes that you'd be most interested in. Let us know what topics or guests you think would be fun in Season 2 via twitter.com/wintrymixcast, instagram.com/wintrymixcast or fb.com/wintrymixcast.

We're also working on a new website at www.wintrymixcast.com. It's there now as we work on it.

Season 2 starts in June.

Thanks to our season 1 sponsors: Mount Snow, Snocountry, Snowbird, Propeller Media Works and Ski Vermont.