The
Comeback
Trail
Ascutney ski resort collapsed
in 2010, but enterprising
townspeople decided that
the mountain wasn’t going
anywhere
By Kirk Kardashian
Photographed by Daria Bishop
The town of West Windsor, Vermont, population 1,099, is usually a quiet place. The business district, if you could call it that, is the village of
Brownsville, which consists mainly of a town
hall, elementary school, church and a small
general store. The hills above the village are
crisscrossed with winding dirt roads that lead
through forests and hayfields, showcasing
the many well-manicured properties owned
by equestrian enthusiasts. The one defining
characteristic of West Windsor is its location
on the northern side of 3,144-foot Mount
Ascutney, a striking, solitary mountain rising
above the Connecticut River Valley. Conical in
shape, Ascutney is the remnant of an ancient
volcano. It is strewn with massive boulders
and rock outcroppings, and deer, moose and
black bear roam through its rare stands of oak,
hemlock, yellow birch and spruce.
For a week in June of 2012, this placid
picture was interrupted by an unusual sound:
the steady chop of helicopter blades. A
Sikorsky S- 61, also known as a flying school
bus, was removing the towers from the high-speed quad chairlift of the defunct Ascutney
Mountain Resort and laying them down gently
