Saskadena Six (formerly Suicide Six) is a

ski resort A ski resort is a resort developed for skiing, snowboarding, and other winter sports. In Europe, most ski resorts are towns or villages in or adjacent to a ski area – a mountainous area with pistes (ski trails) and a ski lift system. In North ...

in South Pomfret,

Vermont Vermont () is a state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York to the west, and the Canadian province of Quebec to ...

. Its claim to historical fame as the earliest ski resort derives from the installation, in January 1934, of an improvised

rope tow A surface lift is a type of cable transport for snow sports in which skiers and snowboarders remain on the ground as they are pulled uphill. While they were once prevalent, they have been overtaken in popularity by higher-capacity and higher-co ...

, the first in the United States, on a hill located on Clinton Gilbert's farm. The rope tow was originally powered with a Ford Model T engine. By the following month, Wallace "Bunny" Bertram (a former ski coach at

Dartmouth College Dartmouth College (; ) is a private research university in Hanover, New Hampshire. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, it is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution. Although founded to educate Native A ...

who had helped build the original rope lift) took over the operation, and installed a more reliable electric motor. A few years later he moved his operation to a steeper hill nearby, shown on the map as "Hill 6". Bertram once joked that to ski down the nearby would be suicide. Two years later the resort was opened using this name and photos of Bertram can be seen in the resort museum in the base lodge. Devotees of

ski mountaineering Ski mountaineering (abbreviated to skimo) is a skiing discipline that involves climbing mountains either on skis or carrying them, depending on the steepness of the ascent, and then descending on skis. There are two major categories of equipmen ...

and backcountry skiing mark this as the beginning of the divergence of resort skiing and traditional backcountry skiing. Suicide Six was the location of the first National Snow Surfing Championships in 1982, considered an important event in the development of

snowboarding Snowboarding is a recreational and competitive activity that involves descending a snow-covered surface while standing on a snowboard that is almost always attached to a rider's feet. It features in the Winter Olympic Games and Winter Paralympi ...

as a sport, which later would become the U.S. Open Snowboarding Championships. Bunny Bertram sold Suicide Six to

Laurance Rockefeller Laurance Spelman Rockefeller (May 26, 1910 – July 11, 2004) was an American businessman, financier, philanthropist, and conservationist. Rockefeller was the third son and fourth child of John D. Rockefeller Jr. and Abby Aldrich Rockefeller. As ...

in 1961, and the development continued of the ski resort in conjunction with Rockefeller's nearby Woodstock Inn. In a 2004 article, the ''

Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...

'' described Suicide Six as "steeped in history", and now a "low key" location for "a taste of rural skiing". As of late 2011, when Suicide Six marked its 75th anniversary, the facility included 23 runs and continued to operate as the ski area of the Woodstock Inn. In 2016, S6 celebrated its 81st anniversary, and installed a brand new Leitner-Poma Alpha quad chairlift, over in length to the summit. In 2018, the mountain had developed summer programs, and opened a lift-served mountain bike park, only the 6th such park in the state of Vermont. In 2020, the lift served mountain biking was ceased, but the area is open to the public to park and ride up/down as they please. Maintenance of the MTB trails has been assumed by the Woodstock Area Mountain Bike Association (WAMBA). The continued investment and development into the area as a year-round destination continues to add vibrance and activities to the region in the heart of the Green Mountains Suicide Six is host to the longest running ski race in North America, The Fisk Trophy Race. It was first held in 1937 and is a rite of passage for serious eastern ski racers. Notable past winners include

Bode Miller Samuel Bode Miller ( ; born October 12, 1977) is an American former World Cup alpine ski racer. He is an Olympic and World Championship gold medalist, a two-time overall World Cup champion in 2005 and 2008, and the most successful male America ...

, Chip Knight,

Jimmy Cochran James Michael Cochran (born May 29, 1981) is a former World Cup alpine ski racer from the United States. He specialized in the technical events and his best World Cup finish was seventh in a Giant slalom in December 2005. Born in Burlington, V ...

Shane McConkey Shane McConkey (December 30, 1969 – March 26, 2009) was a professional skier and BASE jumper. He was born in Vancouver, British Columbia and eventually based himself in Olympic Valley, California. Due to an itinerant childhood, he never identi ...

, and many other Olympians, US Ski Team members, and NCAA Champions. On June 28th, 2022, the ski area announced on their website that they would be retiring the Suicide Six name.

References

External links

* * * * {{URL, //skiracing.com/stories/ankeny-wins-77th-annual-fisk-trophy Ski areas and resorts in Vermont Woodstock, Vermont Tourist attractions in Windsor County, Vermont Buildings and structures in Woodstock, Vermont