
Podcast #192: Mount Sunapee GM (and former Crotched GM) Susan Donnelly
12/06/24 • 76 min
This podcast hit paid subscribers’ inboxes on Nov. 29. It dropped for free subscribers on Dec. 6. To receive future episodes as soon as they’re live, and to support independent ski journalism, please consider an upgrade to a paid subscription. You can also subscribe to the free tier below:
Who
Susan Donnelly, General Manager of Mount Sunapee (and former General Manager of Crotched Mountain)
Recorded on
November 4, 2024
About Crotched
Click here for a mountain stats overview
Owned by: Vail Resorts, which also owns:
Located in: Francetown, New Hampshire
Year founded: 1963 (as Crotched East); 1969 (as Onset, then Onset Bobcat, then Crotched West, now present-day Crotched); entire complex closed in 1990; West re-opened by Peak Resorts in 2003 as Crotched Mountain
Pass affiliations:
Epic Pass, Epic Local Pass, Northeast Value Epic Pass: unlimited access
Northeast Midweek Epic Pass: midweek access, including holidays
Closest neighboring public ski areas: Pats Peak (:34), Granite Gorge (:39), Arrowhead (:41), McIntyre (:50), Mount Sunapee (:51)
Base elevation: 1,050 feet
Summit elevation: 2,066 feet
Vertical drop: 1,016
Skiable Acres: 100
Average annual snowfall: 65 inches
Trail count: 25 (28% beginner, 40% intermediate, 32% advanced)
Lift count: 5 (1 high-speed quad, 1 fixed-grip quad, 1 triple, 1 double, 1 surface lift – view Lift Blog’s inventory of Crotched’s lift fleet)
History: Read New England Ski History’s overview of Crotched Mountain
About Mount Sunapee
Click here for a mountain stats overview
Owned by: The State of New Hampshire; operated by Vail Resorts, which also operates resorts detailed in the chart above.
Located in: Newbury, New Hampshire
Year founded: 1948
Pass affiliations:
Epic Pass, Epic Local Pass, Northeast Value Epic Pass: unlimited access
Northeast Midweek Epic Pass: midweek access, including holidays
Closest neighboring public ski areas: Pats Peak (:28), Whaleback (:29), Arrowhead (:29), Ragged (:38), Veterans Memorial (:42), Ascutney (:45), Crotched (:48), Quechee (:50), Granite Gorge (:51), McIntyre (:53)
Base elevation: 1,233 feet
Summit elevation: 2,743 feet
Vertical drop: 1,510 feet
Skiable Acres: 233 acres
Average annual snowfall: 130 inches
Trail count: 67 (29% beginner, 47% intermediate, 24% advanced)
Lift count: 8 (2 high-speed quads, 1 fixed-grip quad, 2 triples, 3 conveyors – view Lift Blog’s inventory of Mount Sunapee’s lift fleet.)
History: Read New England Ski History’s overview of Mount Sunapee
Why I interviewed her
It’s hard to be small in New England and it’s hard to...
This podcast hit paid subscribers’ inboxes on Nov. 29. It dropped for free subscribers on Dec. 6. To receive future episodes as soon as they’re live, and to support independent ski journalism, please consider an upgrade to a paid subscription. You can also subscribe to the free tier below:
Who
Susan Donnelly, General Manager of Mount Sunapee (and former General Manager of Crotched Mountain)
Recorded on
November 4, 2024
About Crotched
Click here for a mountain stats overview
Owned by: Vail Resorts, which also owns:
Located in: Francetown, New Hampshire
Year founded: 1963 (as Crotched East); 1969 (as Onset, then Onset Bobcat, then Crotched West, now present-day Crotched); entire complex closed in 1990; West re-opened by Peak Resorts in 2003 as Crotched Mountain
Pass affiliations:
Epic Pass, Epic Local Pass, Northeast Value Epic Pass: unlimited access
Northeast Midweek Epic Pass: midweek access, including holidays
Closest neighboring public ski areas: Pats Peak (:34), Granite Gorge (:39), Arrowhead (:41), McIntyre (:50), Mount Sunapee (:51)
Base elevation: 1,050 feet
Summit elevation: 2,066 feet
Vertical drop: 1,016
Skiable Acres: 100
Average annual snowfall: 65 inches
Trail count: 25 (28% beginner, 40% intermediate, 32% advanced)
Lift count: 5 (1 high-speed quad, 1 fixed-grip quad, 1 triple, 1 double, 1 surface lift – view Lift Blog’s inventory of Crotched’s lift fleet)
History: Read New England Ski History’s overview of Crotched Mountain
About Mount Sunapee
Click here for a mountain stats overview
Owned by: The State of New Hampshire; operated by Vail Resorts, which also operates resorts detailed in the chart above.
Located in: Newbury, New Hampshire
Year founded: 1948
Pass affiliations:
Epic Pass, Epic Local Pass, Northeast Value Epic Pass: unlimited access
Northeast Midweek Epic Pass: midweek access, including holidays
Closest neighboring public ski areas: Pats Peak (:28), Whaleback (:29), Arrowhead (:29), Ragged (:38), Veterans Memorial (:42), Ascutney (:45), Crotched (:48), Quechee (:50), Granite Gorge (:51), McIntyre (:53)
Base elevation: 1,233 feet
Summit elevation: 2,743 feet
Vertical drop: 1,510 feet
Skiable Acres: 233 acres
Average annual snowfall: 130 inches
Trail count: 67 (29% beginner, 47% intermediate, 24% advanced)
Lift count: 8 (2 high-speed quads, 1 fixed-grip quad, 2 triples, 3 conveyors – view Lift Blog’s inventory of Mount Sunapee’s lift fleet.)
History: Read New England Ski History’s overview of Mount Sunapee
Why I interviewed her
It’s hard to be small in New England and it’s hard to...
Previous Episode

The Storm Live #6: Indy Pass in NYC
This podcast hit paid subscribers’ inboxes on Nov. 25. It dropped for free subscribers on Dec. 2. To receive future episodes as soon as they’re live, and to support independent ski journalism, please consider an upgrade to a paid subscription. You can also subscribe to the free tier below:
What
Indy Pass is a newcomer to the NYC media circuit, hosting their inaugural gathering at an airy venue hard by the Hudson River. Part of the agenda was this short panel that I moderated, featuring the leaders of four Indy Pass partner mountains.
Who
Erik Mogensen, Director, Indy Pass
Steve Wright, President & General Manager, Jay Peak, Vermont
Rob Goodell, Senior Vice President & Chief Operating Officer, Loveland, Colorado
David Severn, Owner, White Pass, Washington
Geoff Hatheway, Owner & President, Magic Mountain, Vermont
Recorded on
October 23, 2024
About Indy Pass
Indy Pass has collected 230 partners. The pass gets you two days each at 222 of them and discounts at the other eight. The pass is no longer on sale for the 2024-25 ski season, but there are baseball-game hotdogs that cost more than this thing.
About the ski areas
JAY PEAK, VERMONT
Stats: 2,153 vertical feet | 385 skiable acres | 347 inches average annual snowfall
LOVELAND, COLORADO
Stats: 2,210 vertical feet | 1,800 skiable acres | 422 inches average annual snowfall
WHITE PASS, WASHINGTON
Stats: 2,050 vertical feet | 1,402 skiable acres | 400 inches average annual snowfall
MAGIC MOUNTAIN, VERMONT
Stats: 1,500 vertical feet | 205 skiable acres | 130 inches average annual snowfall
What we talked about
Jay isn’t remote for everyone; Magic’s black quad odyssey; PNW snow quality; why you’ve probably seen Loveland even if you’ve never skied it; Loveland Valley’s origin story; why Jay joined Indy Pass when it could have joined any pass; why White Pass’ new owners stayed on Indy Pass after purchasing it; and what finally convinced Loveland to join Indy.
Podcast Notes
On the original Indy Pass announcement
Indy Pass’ website popped live sometime in March 2019, with a list of under-appreciated mid-sized ski areas concentrated around the Pacific Northwest. The roster grew rapidly prior to the start of the season, but even this would have been a hell of an offering for $199:
On Loveland Valley
Loveland is home to a little-noticed terrain pod known as Loveland Valley. With a quad, a double, and a set of carpets, this segmented zone essentially serves as a separate, beginners-oriented ski area.
On The Storm’s Indy Pass/Jay Peak exclusive
Somehow, I scored an exclusive on the news that Jay Peak would join Indy Pass in 2020. I was also able to record a podcast with Wright in advance of the announcement. This was a huge moment for The Storm, turning hundreds of new subscribers onto the newsletter and forging a relationship with one of the most important mountains in New England.
On Hatheway being one of my first interviews
Hatheway was one of the first guests on The Storm Skiing Podcast, and one of the first to agree to join me on the show. That was an incredible gesture, as I had published zero episodes when I made the request. Here’s the conversation:
What I got wrong
I said that Magic “failed a couple of times” before current ownership acquired it. The ski area only completely closed once, from 1991 to 1997. The ski area then fumbled through two decades of near-failures, including a derailed attempt to form a co-op, until Ski Magic LLC took the keys in 2016. Read the full saga at New England Ski History.
I said that it took Magic “four or five” years to install the Black Quad. The full timeline is closer to six years. Stratton removed their Snow Bowl fixed-grip quad following the 2017-18 ski season (replacing it with a high-speed quad). I’m not sure when exactly Magic, just 13.6 road miles from Stratton, took delivery of the lift, but the goal was to get it spinning as the new Black ...
Next Episode

Podcast #193: Holiday Mountain, New York Owner Mike Taylor
This podcast hit paid subscribers’ inboxes on Nov. 30. It dropped for free subscribers on Dec. 7. To receive future episodes as soon as they’re live, and to support independent ski journalism, please consider an upgrade to a paid subscription. You can also subscribe to the free tier below:
Who
Mike Taylor, Owner of Holiday Mountain, New York
Recorded on
November 18, 2024
About Holiday Mountain
Click here for a mountain stats overview
Owned by: Mike Taylor
Located in: Monticello, New York
Year founded: 1957
Pass affiliations: None
Closest neighboring ski areas: Villa Roma (:37), Ski Big Bear (:56), Mt. Peter (:48), Mountain Creek (:52), Victor Constant (:54)
Base elevation: 900 feet
Summit elevation: 1,300 feet
Vertical drop: 400 feet
Skiable acres: 60
Average annual snowfall: 66 inches
Trail count: 9 (5 beginner, 2 intermediate, 2 advanced)
Lift count: 3 (1 fixed-grip quad, 1 triple, 1 carpet - view Lift Blog’s inventory of Holiday Mountain’s lift fleet)
Why I interviewed him
Not so long ago, U.S. ski areas swung wrecking ball-like from the necks of founders who wore them like amulets. Mountain and man fused as one, each anchored to and propelled by the other, twin forces mirrored and set aglow, forged in some burbling cauldron and unleashed upon the public as an Experience. This was Killington and this was Mammoth and this was Vail and this was Squaw and this was Taos, each at once a mountain and a manifestation of psyche and soul, as though some god’s hand had scooped from Pres and Dave and Pete and Al and Ernie their whimsy and hubris and willfulness and fashioned them into a cackling live thing on this earth. The men were the mountains and the mountains were the men. Everybody knew this and everybody felt this and that’s why we named lifts and trails after them.
This is what we’ve lost in the collect-them-all corporate roll-up of our current moment. I’m skeptical of applying an asteroid-ate-the-dinosaurs theory to skiing, but even I’ll acknowledge this bit. When the caped founder, who stepped into raw wilderness and said “here I will build an organized snowskiing facility” and proceeded to do so, steps aside or sells to SnowCo or dies, some essence of the mountain evaporates with him. The snow still hammers and the skiers still come and the mountain still lets gravity run things. The trails remain and the fall lines still fall. The mountain is mostly the same. But nobody knows why it is that way, and the ski area becomes a disembodied thing, untethered from a human host.
This, I think, is a big part of the appeal of Michigan’s Mount Bohemia. Ungroomed, untamed, absent green runs and snowguns, accessible all winter on a $109 season pass, Boho is the impossible storybook of the maniac who willed it into existence against all advice and instinct: Lonie Glieberman, who hacked this thing from the wilderness not in some lost postwar decade, but in 2000. He lives there all winter and everybody knows him and they all know that this place that is the place would not exist had he not insisted that it be so. For the purposes of how skiers consider the joint, Lonie is Mount Bohemia. And someday when he goes away the mountain will make less sense than it does right now.
I could write a similar paragraph about Chip Chase at White Grass Touring Center in West Virginia. But there aren’t many of those fellas left. Since most of our ski areas are old, most of our founders are gone. They’re not coming back, and we’re not getting more ski areas. But that doesn’t mean the era of the owner-soul keeper is finished. They just need to climb a different set of monkey bars to get there. Rather than trekking into the mountains to stake out and transform a raw wilderness into a piste digestible to the masses, the modern mountain incarnate needs to drive up to the ski area with a dump truck full of hundred dollar bills, pour it out onto the ground, and hope the planted seeds sprout money trees.
And this is Mike Taylor. He has resources. He has energy. He has manpower. And he’s going to transform t...
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