RACHAEL MILLER, 37, BURLINGTON AND GRANVILLE
Owner, Stormboarding Snowkiting School and avid Mad River Glen skier
Mad River drew me here. In 1997, my husband, James Lynn, and I were living on our 41-feet sailboat
under shrink-wrap in Portsmouth, Rhode Island. We had already identified Vermont [for relocation]
because skiing is as important to me as sailing and we were driving to ski every weekend. I grew up at
Hickory Ski Center in Warrensburg, New York. It was very much like Mad River: bumps, trees, loads
of friendly people.
Vermonters are into winter. They understand that snow and cold are good and to be wished for rather
than dreaded. People are interested in trying a new winter sport—important because snowkiting
[harnessing the wind with a kite to ski or snowboard across flat surfaces] was essentially a brand new
winter sport when I started in 2004. I appreciate the general effort to support local businesses.
ToP TrAiL: Chute—top of the Single Chair to mid-station at Mad River. I could ski that all day and
never get bored. I love the straight fall line and the fact that you can choose a line with deep bumps
(under the chair, a little left), powder on the side (skier’s left) or take it easier on skier’s right.
APrèS SPo T: Back on my couch in Granville with my ever-traveling husband and my Newfoundland,
Hickory, watching the snow devils rip around and hoping more snow falls for the next day.
2KATHY MURPHY, 50, MIDDLESEX
General Manager, Tubbs
I lived the majority of my childhood in Painted Post, New York, and graduated from the University
of Vermont’s School of Natural Resources in 1979. Afterward, I was fortunate enough to turn an
internship into full-time employment with Bolton Valley Resort. From 1980 to 1985 I worked for
Keystone Resort in Colorado and then was recruited back to Vermont by AIG, the parent company
of Stowe. I met Ed Kiniry, the former owner of Tubbs Snowshoes, in 1987 and began as a marketing/
public relations consultant for Tubbs in 1989. I officially joined the company in 1992.
We Vermonters find oodles of fun ways to enjoy nature in winter, and invest our passion for the
environment and participation in healthy lifetime outdoor sports with our sense of inventiveness and
an entrepreneurial spirit.
ToP TrAiL: There’s nothing better than a moonlight snowshoe with friends in Montpelier’s Hubbard
Park—or a cross-country ski at Morse Farm followed by a maple creemee.
APrèS SPo T: American Flatbread in Waitsfield after a day on the slopes at Sugarbush.
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