“If this place has snow, I like coming here,’’ said Tumler, 61, who was having a beer in the lodge on a recent Saturday. He has not bought a share in the mountain, and isn’t sure he will. What would it take? “Probably not working for a start-up company,’’ he said, laughing.
Indeed, getting people to plunk down $3,000 hasn’t been an easy sell during a down economy.
Linda Stevens remembers the skiers who used to crowd into her Londonderry diner, Stoddard’s, for omelets and burgers in the 1980s.
She’d welcome the added business if Magic started booming again, but she hasn’t pushed customers to buy a share and has no plans to buy one herself.
Sullivan isn’t surprised that he hasn’t gotten much support from local business owners. “Unfortunately, Londonderry is not a particularly affluent area,’’ he said.
Regardless, forming a co-op is not an easy task. Mad River Glen, which has been cooperatively owned since 1995, has almost 2,000 shareholders and is free of debt, said president Jamey Wimble.
But it took enthusiasts of the Waitsfield, Vt., ski area three attempts to form the co-op.
“The first 500 shares were easy to sell,’’ Wimble said. “The second 500 was a whole other story.’’
At Magic, Greg Williams is trying to get his fellow skiers to understand the survival of a Vermont classic is at stake.
“People need to realize,’’ he said, “that it’s now or never.’’
Katie Johnston Chase can be reached at johnstonchase@globe.com.
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