West Dover, VT – As part of its ongoing efforts to help raise money for southern Vermont businesses damaged in the flooding from Tropical Storm Irene last August, Mount Snow Resort has raised over $10,000 by raffling off the #50 Golden Chair from the ski area’s Grand Summit Express lift, with all proceeds going towards WilmingtonVTfloodrelief.com, a fund started by the Deerfield Valley Rotary Club and Mount Snow Valley Chamber of Commerce that distributes the money to affected businesses that want to re-open. The Southern Vermont resort sold raffle tickets for $5 each, giving people the opportunity to win the Golden Chair which was given a fresh paint job and hung on a custom timber frame.
In 2004, every chair #50 on each of Mount Snow’s 15 aerial lifts was painted gold in celebration of the ski resort’s 50th anniversary. As part of the $9.5 million capital improvement Mount Snow underwent this past summer, the chairs on the Grand Summit Express lift were replaced with carriers equipped with footrests and padded seats which made the old chairs available for guests to purchase. Following Tropical Storm Irene, it was decided that the golden chair would be raffled off to help recovery efforts and tickets first went on sale Columbus Day weekend at the resort’s Oktobrewfest event where more than $5,000 was raised in just the first two days.
“Our guests were looking for ways to help with local recovery, so giving them the opportunity to take home a piece of Mount Snow history while helping our area businesses bounce back seemed like a perfect combination,” said Mount Snow’s general manager, Kelly Pawlak. “We can’t thank our thoughtful guests enough for supporting this raffle and congratulations to Denis Kuchmas, the winner of the Gold Chair!”
Kuchmas’ name was drawn randomly from the more than 2,000 tickets purchased since October and was announced during Mount Snow’s opening day festivities this past Saturday. As part of the raffle, Mount Snow promised to deliver the chair and its timber frame anywhere within 150-mile radius of the resort, but the delivery truck didn’t have to go far as Kuchmas owns a second home only a few miles away in Marlboro, Vt., which is where the iconic chair now lives.