THE GMVS SKI CLUB – FACT 14 of 50
Now known as one of the best junior programs in the country, GMVS took over operations of the weekend race program from Sugarbush in the late ’70s, not long after Sugarbush bought Glen Ellen (then, Sugarbush North). While certainly not the oldest club in the state, the GMVS Ski Club has a storied history and has seen plenty of success.
The weekend race program used the upper north end of the Mount Ellen base lodge as a home base and trained on the Inverness trail. Prior to that Sugarbush, Glen Ellen, and Mad River Glen all had their own junior race programs. The top racers from those programs throughout the entire Mad River Valley would come together for training as the Valley Junior Race Team, which later became Mad River Valley School (“Mad Acad”) and eventually Green Mountain Valley School.
The GMVS Ski Club operated out of the base lodge until the early-’90s when several club families and the school spearheaded an initiative to build its own facility at the base of the Inverness Trail at Mount Ellen, which was completed in 1993. Today, over 120 kids descend upon the Ski Club every winter weekend to participate in the Club program which provides junior racers an opportunity to realize their potential while learning the fundamentals of an exciting sport they can enjoy for the rest of their lives.