Strategic Roadmap

Initiatives

Zones

Driven by our core mission of providing trails and zones we are workign to create those anchors for our BC community.  This incldues tight partnership with Mad River Glen and other landowners and managers specific to preserving access.  We are also actively engaged with the state Forest Parks and Recreation alongside the Catamount Traial Associaiton to create and manage a new BC zone, the Callhan Zone, on the East side of Camel’s Hump to be opened winter 2026-27!

Promoting Environmental Awareness

We continue to provide a strong message of stewardship and policy advocacy by partnering with Protect Our Winters and Friends of the Mad River to deliver a one-of-a-kind Climb it for Climate (C4C) event series engaging the community in healthy activities and dialog focused on climate change topics.  We also partner with the Winter Wildlands Alliance to deliver an annual BC Film Festival.  This community event has been sold out since its inception and is a strong community building event firing up the wintertime stoke while instilling thoughtful messaging.

Promoting Safety

We continue to provide a certified Wilderness First Aid class.  This is also in great demand and establishes the MRVBC as a local advocate for safety when engaging in BC activities. This event also provides a means to continually engage with our resort partners.

Providing Educational Opportunities 

The board has worked hard to offer a BC Primer.  Partnering with a local guide, we have been able to extend our reach beyond the experienced BC population. By dismantling barriers to entry through education we are able to engage with and widen our audience to those interested in being part of the community but in need of a helping hand to do so safely. 

Assisting and Public Service

MRVBC has created a Trail Chief role within the board and adopted Section 19S through Phen Basin as our commitment to service and the CTA.  We offer trail workdays to ensure a quality, safe BC experience in this unique and beautiful area. MRVBC has also been a committed partner in the Conservation and Recreation Visioning Committee establishing the gold standard for balancing trail development with environmental sensitivity.

Community Engagement

We continue to engage in local community events to promote self-propelled, winter recreation such as backcountry skiing, snowboarding, and snowshoeing.  We are present at the Sugarbush Community Day, the Big Kicker, the Waitsfield Farmer’s Market, the Rochester Outdoor Collective Backcountry Forum, and other local events often co-tabling with the CTA. We also deliver scheduled tours providing skilled and knowledgeable guides to foster the BC experience. 

Outreach

We continue to provide news and event notices both within and outside the Mad River Valley on BC topics.  Assembly and delivery of this information is no small feat and requires a cooperative team effort to maintain a valuable social media presence.

Opportunities

Diversity and Inclusivity

We are pursuing partnerships to address diversity in the backcountry. This includes active engagement with our youth to augment youth voice in land use and recreation decision making processes. We believe this aligns with our objectives to advocate for access and collaborate with partners.

Community Building

We see value in continuing to build the BC community so we can better understand its challenges and advocate for its future.  This includes event planning both indoors and out such as meet-ups at local establishments to share stories and news and an emergent dawn patrol initiative.

Collaboration

We continue to collaborate with our resort partners, land owners, local businesses, and managers to foster human powered wintertime backcountry access. Recognizing the significant opportunities provided by our report partners to the BC culture we continue to build our community bonds. In addition, we actively strive to partner with landowners on opportunities to preserve and protect wintertime recreational opportunities. These efforts directly align with our mission and acknowledges feedback received in our last AC retreat. 

Engagement

We are an active member of the Conservation Recreation Visioning (CRV) initiative in the Valley.  Establishing the gold standard for trail development that balances ecological integrity with trail building and maintenance is critical to fostering environmental stewardship.  MRVBC has lent its perspective to the discussions and advocated for its unique demands related to trails (durable, wintertime surfaces).

Listening

We actively gauge the pulse of the MRVBC community and pursue emergent themes such as “Low Angle Fruit” representign our diverse recreational focus.  This being an attempt to meet our constituency where they are at and increase our reach.

Challenges

Board Membership

We have implemented updated bylaws to safeguard a refresh of talent and energy.  We also continually recruit from the community to ensure the necessary skills are available to move the needle forward on our goals and mission. We have also formulated an emergent Youth Ambassador Program that will, among other priorities, generate a pipeline of active and engaged BC citizens to flusht eh baord over the coming years.

Climate Resiliency

Trail organizations everywhere are acknowledging the impact and need to plan. Specifically, MRVBC, as part of CTA looks to identify and plan for resiliency while fostering ever stronger relationships with our resort partners.

Growth

Backcountry recreation is growing.  As demand increases, friction points become more tangible.  MRVBC will continue to work hard to ensure such friction points are well managed on behalf of our community.  Items include maintaining access, respectful use of the land, awareness of rules and regulations, and more.