With Irene in the Rearview Mirror, Vermont Ski Areas Welcome Connecticut Cars

The visitor drove into downtown Ludlow last Saturday, just when the sun was coming out.

Some of the breakfast places in the Vermont snow sports village were just coming to life, particularly the Dunkin' Donuts, which already had some skiers and snowboarders in line for that wake-up call to the mountain.

Toward the end of the main drag, just before a sharp turn that leads to the Okemo access road, sits a Shaw's supermarket. A large tent was sitting in front of the permanent structure at one end of a strip shopping plaza.

"Wow. That must be some holiday turkey drive," the visitor said to himself.

Fast forward to 9 a.m. The visitor had checked into his hotel room at Okemo's Jackson Gore Inn and was riding the shuttle bus back to the main base area. He struck up a conversation with the driver.

"How much food was collected at the supermarket so far?"

"What do you mean?"

"The tent at the supermarket?"

"That is not for a special event. That IS the supermarket."

"What?"

It's been the months since Hurricane/Tropical Storm Irene blasted its way into the Green Mountain State after paying central Connecticut a not-so-cordial visit. It's easy to forget that, especially since that snowstorm named Alfred was worse in Connecticut than the hurricane.

People from Connecticut can easily take Vermont for granted, almost like it is a parking lot for their winter recreation. We hop into our sport utility vehicles, make our way to Interstate 91 and head to Exit 6. On a busy Saturday, 40 percent of Okemo's lot can be taken up by Connecticut cars.

It hasn't been a great December for Okemo and Vermont. On Friday, only about 15 named trails were open and that is double what was open last weekend. That usually means grumbling about an uncooperative Mother Nature and how challenging the skiing is.

But not last weekend. Most were just happy Vermont is in one piece. The skiers and snowboarders were like the converted in church.

Irene looked like it was losing most of its strength as it made its way through north central Connecticut, but a strange thing happened as it moved north into the mountains, usually the death blow for a storm like that.

No, it seemed to concentrate and the rain intensified. The end result was roads either washing out or turning into rivers.

"It was incredible," said Bill Graf, Okemo's concierge. "You move to the mountains and you think you'll never see something like that."

Graf said many are just happy to live to tell the tale. Rushing water knocked out trees and even houses, including some belonging to Graf's colleagues.

Many vacation homes belonging to Connecticut residents were wiped out. A minister from Hebron and her husband lost their entire vacation home on Route 11 about 20 minutes from Okemo. Not one nail was left.

"It was a tough time for all of us, and we had no idea how quickly we would be able to rebuild," said Tim Meuller, who has been operating Okemo with his wife, Diane, for three decades. "It was devastating."

With the snow sports season looming, Vermonters sprang into action, both from government and the private sector. Main roads were rebuilt and the businesses that could not rebuild quickly improvised — like Shaw's with the tent.

"It's fun how the worst of times can bring out the best in people," Tim Mueller said. "People just put their bickering aside and helped each other out."

Okemo had damage to a road and some structures at the bottom of the hill.

Vermonters are also well aware of what Alfred did to Connecticut. Graf, whose family has ties to West Hartford, came down with his wife, Marji, a chamber of commerce official, to see the damage first-hand.

"It was hard to imagine until you saw it," Graf said.

He said it made him appreciate people's desire to have a good vacation more.

"I think now, we all just want to put these storms behind us and enjoy our time," he said. "It's time for people to just go skiing and snowboarding."

So no one — no one — complained about just one top-to-bottom run being open last weekend. Rather, they said their hellos, patted each other on the back and hit the slopes. There were still downed trees in both states but a few turns downhill made everyone smile for a couple of days.

About this column: Chris Dehnel is the Vernon Patch editor and a past president of the Eastern Ski Writers Association.