In 1966 Vermont had 81 ski areas, most of them local operations. Today there are 21, most of them part of corporate conglomerates. If he were alive today, Bertram would no doubt shake his head at the crowds, parking lots the size of football fields, lift lines, and hustle.
But a few smaller areas have survived. Despite brutal insurance costs and ruthless competition, the ''small is beautiful" philosophy is alive and well at two places in central Vermont, between Mount Mansfield and Camel's Hump. Snowmaking, après-ski activities, and celebrity sightings are not what the Bolton Valley and Cochran's ski areas are about. They excel in simplicity. Child-friendly, close-knit, and affordable, they are where the powder holds out hours after a snowfall, there is always parking, and the surrounding landscape appears unspoiled.
Between them is Richmond, a town of 4,000 residents, three good restaurants, a beautiful round church, a pair of bed-and-breakfasts, and a dusting of shops. Turn left past the church onto Cochran Road and keep an eye out; the sign is easy to miss. The tan farmhouse with blue shutters, the family home, has changed little since Mickey and Ginny Cochran moved there in 1958.
Both avid skiers, they bought the old dairy farm with a steep backyard, thinking it would be a great place to raise a family. Mickey, newly employed by General Electric, built a rope tow, and the neighborhood kids swarmed in. They tromped through the kitchen in their ski boots, opening the refrigerator and daring each other to race. If a child needed gloves, Ginny furnished them, eventually organizing Richmond's first after-school program. In 1961 the Cochrans' yard morphed into a ski area. Four years later they added 140 acres and a lodge. Their four children (and later, four grandchildren) all made the US Ski Team. Barbara Ann won an Olympic Gold Medal at Sapporo, Japan, in 1972, and Marilyn a World Cup for giant slalom in 1969. Barbara Ann now runs the ski school, perpetuating the area's reputation as a ski-champion incubator.
