In 1948, the first skiers to experience the steep and twisting downhill trails of Mad River Glen had to traverse muddy or frozen dirt roads to get to their destination. The warmth of a country inn was a comfort on those cold winter nights and continues as a hallmark of the Mad River Valley today. Even with the condo boom that developed after the opening of Sugarbush on Christmas Day in 1958, little has upset the ambience of the 20-mile-long valley. The valley developed a distinct personali...

Beginning as an icy trickle in the Green Mountains of Vermont, the northward-flowingMad River and its scenic valley have changed little since being settled after the Revolutionary War. The valley's dairy farms, terraced meadows, upland forests, nineteenth-century villages, country inns, and classic ski resorts attract a half-million tourists each year. The historic photographs in The Mad River Valley show slices of daily life in the valley's five towns: Warren, Waitsfield, and Moretown, wh...