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Mad River Valley - Sugarbush/Mad River Glen 21/22

ilovepugs

Angel Diva
I just signed up to volunteer again at Vermont Adaptive at the Sugarbush location! (Possibly Bolton too.) I’m so glad this opportunity to give back exists. I will be coaching or assistant coaching snowboarding, but I always keep a pair of skis in the car so I can pinch hit if any ski coaches need help with novices.
 

liquidfeet

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
I just signed up to volunteer again at Vermont Adaptive at the Sugarbush location! (Possibly Bolton too.) I’m so glad this opportunity to give back exists. I will be coaching or assistant coaching snowboarding, but I always keep a pair of skis in the car so I can pinch hit if any ski coaches need help with novices.
So glad to hear you are going to do this.
Would you give me the link to apply to volunteer? I contacted them a month ago and never heard back.
 

MissySki

Angel Diva
I just signed up to volunteer again at Vermont Adaptive at the Sugarbush location! (Possibly Bolton too.) I’m so glad this opportunity to give back exists. I will be coaching or assistant coaching snowboarding, but I always keep a pair of skis in the car so I can pinch hit if any ski coaches need help with novices.

I can’t recall now.. Does one need to have any prior specific experience, or is training provided for volunteers?
 

ilovepugs

Angel Diva
I can’t recall now.. Does one need to have any prior specific experience, or is training provided for volunteers?
Training is provided! And mandatory. And, new volunteers can also shadow/assist until they’re comfortable coaching on their own. There are also a lot of training opportunities which include learning enough to get PSIA/AASI certified.
 

liquidfeet

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Training is provided! And mandatory. And, new volunteers can also shadow/assist until they’re comfortable coaching on their own. There are also a lot of training opportunities which include learning enough to get PSIA/AASI certified.
I'm curious. How does this work if the volunteer only works five days a season? I vaguely remember that three early season training days were required. So that's a total of 8 days. Do volunteers do more than that normally? I think if I were to do this I'd want to do it often enough to feel like part of a team whose members showed up regularly. I'm interested.....
 
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ilovepugs

Angel Diva
Hi @liquidfeet - copy-pasting my DM to you:

I think it’s a minimum number and not a maximum. I assume it’s to widen the pool of volunteers as much as possible. They encourage volunteers to participate as much as possible and are frequently seeking instructors throughout the week, not just on weekends. I know people who volunteer every weekend and during the week if they have availability, and others (like me) who are a bit more erratic.

And adding to say, I do think regular volunteers get to know each other well and become friends and find camaraderie. I’m excited to reconnect with folks… I got to know a few in my first season of volunteering and I’m sure many will return. Everyone is extremely kind and it is an excellent way to meet people and spend the season!
 

MissySki

Angel Diva
Training is provided! And mandatory. And, new volunteers can also shadow/assist until they’re comfortable coaching on their own. There are also a lot of training opportunities which include learning enough to get PSIA/AASI certified.

Thank you!
 

MissySki

Angel Diva
There are a number of volunteers that live in Boston and volunteer up here on the weekends!

We have Maine adaptive right at Sunday River, so I’d be more likely to do it there. And assumed the criteria might be similar between organizations.. though certainly not sure and will need to look into. Having a need for training and a minimum number of days of service, it would be difficult for me to do that in VT. :smile: But I’ve often wondered about volunteering in ME when I see those folks out on the mountain. It’s always seemed a bit intimidating on whether it would be something I could offer much value to without significant training/knowledge though.
 

ilovepugs

Angel Diva
It’s always seemed a bit intimidating on whether it would be something I could offer much value to without significant training/knowledge though.

Don’t be intimidated! That’s your imposter syndrome speaking. Even having an extra set of eyes and hands and offering encouragement is helpful!! For god’s sake, I helped teach a ski lesson two years ago!! :laughter:
 

ilovepugs

Angel Diva
Yay time for me to make an actual snow post!
835B7BA9-E8C2-46BA-A4E2-D618D8DD9BF3.jpeg

Got out for an hour or so during opening day today. No surprises whatsoever, the snow was eastern hard pack mixed with some man made crud. I got there late in the morning, right before noon. They were uploading and downloading on Super Bravo and only Downspout (Deathspout), Jester and Organgrinder were open. I was pleasantly surprised at my pre-season fitness, although I didn’t ride for long.

Looked like some big whales were built up on Spring Fling and I wouldn’t be surprised for top to bottom skiing by the weekend.

Mad River Glen was blowing snow as I drove by. They aren’t scheduled to open for another two weeks though.
 

jthree

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Beautiful picture! Must feel great to be back on the slopes!

I'm just catching up to this thread and reading about volunteering with VT adaptive. Much intrigued... won't fit into the schedule this year but maybe in the future. And maybe get my teen interested too... she is moving up from regular ski lessons at Smuggs to ski instructor training.
 

ilovepugs

Angel Diva
My super cool boss told me to try to take today (Thursday) off in addition to Friday-Sunday so I’m definitely planning on going to the ‘bush this afternoon. Maybe stopping off at MRG en route. Gotta use both passes. :smile:

I will be skiing/riding all holiday weekend — DM me if you want to meet up. Dr Pugs is working on Christmas Day. MRG only on Sunday for me.
 

ilovepugs

Angel Diva
Mt Ellen (Sugarbush north) was good this morning! We got there right around 8. The lower mountain was icy but we grabbed the Summit chair when the lift started running at 9 and the snow up top was glorious! Summit is a fixed grip chair so there were very few people sharing the trails with us. Summit has some of my favorite views.

It was quite cold (negative degrees) but not windy. When it’s not windy it’s fantastic.

3A2DE3E1-AC13-4D9B-9A69-1C8FFBE9730B.jpeg
Dr Pugs and my dear friend/snowboarding pal!
 

ilovepugs

Angel Diva
6C3AFAD6-A1EF-44EC-9FAB-549207E58988.jpeg
Woohoo! Finally made it up the main mountain at Mad River Glen. The green trail from the top is open but it’s definitely sketchy with a few stretches of blue ice and grass/rock dodging. “Sorry, skis!” But it was a fun and beautiful winding New England trail, and I’m so looking forward to tomorrow’s big storm so the trails will finally fill in!
 

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