Mad River Glen CO-OP Bylaws
Section 1.4 - Nondiscrimination. The Cooperative shall not arbitrarily or unreasonably discriminate on the basis of race, national origin, religion, sex, sexual orientation, age, handicap or other arbitrary basis. >madriverglen.com

"Snowboarding on a ski mountain is like playing croquet on the 18th green Betsy Pratt former Mad River Glen owner said. You can do it, but I don't think it's appropriate." travelintelligence.net

Beginning in 1986, snowboarding was not only allowed but also welcomed at Mad River Glen of Vermont. That is until the 91-92 season. The story goes that it was deemed dangerous for the snowboarders to unload from the area's antiquated single chair lift. The owner decreed that snowboarders would no longer be allowed on this lift but could utilize the area's remaining lifts. With obvious reason, this caused significant contempt with the area's riders as they were segregated to a lesser portion of the mountain. In a now infamous confrontation, a couple of snowboarders engaged in an argument with then owner Betsy Pratt in a local grocery store. The argument so bothered Pratt that she levied the complete ban on snowboarders that still exists today.

"Something Mad River Glen Does NOT Allow? Snowboarding! It is just a Ski Area. One of only four left in the country, MRG is the real deal. Due to the methodology of how it is owned/operated/managed it will be ensured this remains the same, as is now, as was many moons ago and With Luck... Forever." Boston.com

In 1995, a cooperative of skiers purchased the mountain and assumed operation and ownership. The issue of the snowboarding ban was brought to a vote and by an overwhelming 86% vote remained intact. Today, Mad River Glen is the only cooperatively owned major ski area in the United States. Its 1700 plus shareholders remain steadfast in their conviction to keep snowboards off their slopes.

"We don't want to end up being like every other ski area," said Mad River shareholder Jim Tynan. madriverglen.com

"We don't want to look like every other ski area," explains Mad River shareholder Mary Woodward. firsttracksonline.com

It was not long ago that the snowboarding community mounted a large scale resistance to the discrimination of the remaining skier only resorts. Burton ran an ad in the Fall of 2001 equating the ban with minority discrimination and freethesnow.com led the battle to get riders allowed at, among others, Taos. Today, unfortunately the contempt for these policies has subsided. This is evident when you visit the freethesnow.com website and find a photo of Paris Hilton. Now Burton has resurrected the fight and has offered a bounty to encourage the attack.

Of course, these policies really do not affect the daily life of the average snowboarder. The vast majority of resorts embrace snowboarding and cater to the wishes of the fastest growing winter sport in the world. Does this make these old fashion attitudes acceptable? In the words of a local, why "perpetuate negative, mean-spirited, outdated, prejudiced animosity towards snowboarders?" Valley Reporter

I know this is a long and most likely boring blog for a topic that will probably never change. Yes, I could just accept it and my life would continue with no impact on my happiness. However, I feel that it is important to maintain awareness to fight complacency. If you would like to further combat MRG, drop an email to ski@madriverglen.com, and kindly asked them to remove Section 1.4, as listed above, from their bylaws as it obviously is a poor representation of their policy and attitude.