Ascutney Moves Closer to Reopening

Mount Ascutney is taking more baby steps in reopening as a small-time operation this winter. The mountain closed in 2010 due to slowly increasing financial issues, but a group that calls themselves Mount Ascutney Outdoors, had their plan approved by West Windsor’s selectboard back in October to reopen a portion of the mountain.

Don’t expect any high speed quads or a restoration of the burnt down base lodge, but rather, a 1000-foot rope-tow, a warming hut, and a small selection of terrain.

Mount Ascutney Outdoors is currently working on the project, which is volunteer driven, and hopes to have the mountain reopened by Christmas of this year.

On February 6th, the group plans to have a grand opening event complete with a ski race to christen the new slopes. Consider this just a tease of what’s to come, as the there are plans to open a new chairlift next year and to expand to much more of the mountain.

In the meantime, the group is still fundraising to support the projects and is holding a dance on December 12th where the theme is 1960’s skiing.