saratogahalfday
Well-known member
- Joined
- Jul 22, 2020
Published On March 17, 2023
Betsy Pratt, born March 12th, 1928, began skiing Mad River Glen while attending Vassar College. It was on one fateful ski trip in 1954 that she met Truxton Pratt, a New York banker. At the time Betsy worked as assistant treasurer of the Ford Foundation. Betsy and Truxton soon married and had four children Polly, Amanda, Liz, and Truxton. They all learned to ski at Mad River Glen and the family had a ski home in Fayston.
In 1972 Truxton and Betsy Pratt along with Brad Swett and a few other investors purchased Mad River Glen from Roland Palmedo. Truxton died in 1975. Betsy Pratt, with four young children, bought out Brad Swett’s interest and with the backing of the other investors became the majority owner of Mad River Glen. Believing in Mad River Glen so passionately Betsy dug deep into the family’s resources to keep the business going through the toughest of winters, even mortgaging their home.
Betsy considered herself a steward of the mountain and dedicated herself to maintaining Roland’s vision. She always saw Mad River as a place that offered a challenging, outdoor adventure in a pristine, natural setting. A place with an ethos that developed organically, and a firm foundation based on the idea that love for the sport outweighed financial considerations. She was always concerned about keeping Mad River in its natural state as much as possible.
”Modern ski areas are carpets. People at Mad River learn to ski because they ski in any conditions. Carpets don’t teach people to ski, just to slide on snow.”
In 1995, Les Otten, who’d just started building his resort empire with the American Skiing Company, made an offer to buy out Mad River Glen, which Pratt had presided over during the previous 20 years. As legend has it, when Otten approached her at the bar, Betsy took a drag off her big corncob pipe, blew the smoke in his face, and told him where he could stick the check. Then she sold it to skiers for half the price and financed it interest-free until she sold enough shares.
In December of 1995 the Mad River Glen Co-op bought Mad River Glen from Betsy Pratt.
Betsy Pratt passed away peacefully on Friday, March 17th, 2023 at the age of 95. She was surrounded by loved ones, Betsy spent her final days watching snow fall on the Single Chair webcam. We owe Betsy a great deal of gratitude for protecting and preserving our paradise. Thank you, Betsy.
