East Corinth, Vermont — After a rough winter, how can a non-profit ski area raise money to operate next winter?
Some have turned to simply fundraising online. Another method is to host events during the offseason, such as food festivals or concerts. For the historic Northeast Slopes, they host a music festival during the summer. On Sunday, a small group braved the rain to see various artists perform under Northeast Slope’s covered bridge event space.
NBC 5 captured the scenes from the event, including interviewing various members of the Northeast Slopes team.
“Music on the Mountain is our yearly event. One of the things that we try to do to generate income and fundraise,” said Justin Putnam, who’s one of the board members for Northeast Slopes. “We can’t control the weather and unfortunately, we haven’t had the best seasons recently, so things like this help keep the community here.”
Northeast Slopes is chalked full of interesting tidbits. First opened in 1936, it’s home to the oldest continuously operating ski tow in the United States. In addition, the ski area is home to a few pieces of cinematic history. The covered bridge used in the movie Beetlejuice was separated and now covers the vehicles that power the big and small rope tows. For the Beetlejuice sequel (Beetlejuice Beetlejuice) coming out this fall, their covered bridge has also found a home at Northeast Slopes, as it will host events, like the concert event this past weekend.
The Bridge Weekly Sho-Case did a great article about the Slopes Beetlejuice connections, which you can read by clicking on the photo below.
Recent years have been trickier for the Vermont ski hill, with a lack of snowfall leading to minimal operating days. Northeast Slopes doesn’t have snowmaking, so they rely on natural snowfall to open. Let’s hope Northeast Slopes see significant snowfall next ski season, as the locals deserve more operating days.
Plus, I want to go up there to shred at this historic ski hill and scream out Beetlejuice three times to see what happens.
Image/Video Credits: Northeast Slopes, NBC 5
