Okemo Mountain Resort history

The founders also contacted Andrew “Bud” Titcomb, who had learned to ski in Switzerland, skied for Dartmouth College, and raced throughout Europe in 1937.

During the 1938-39 season, cards were printed extolling Ludlow as “the Snow Town of Vermont” to attract visitors, and winter carnivals resumed.

Local meetings were held and stock was sold at $10 a share; with $300 Okemo Mountain, Inc. was formed in January 1955.

Due to lack of snow and then a washout, Jean Pomagalski, who came over from France to test the upper Poma in January 1956, found the ground bare, so he foot-pedaled his way up.

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Improvements continued and in 1979, the board approved a new chairlift for the next season, replacing the Red Poma, the longest surface lift in North America.

An unprecedented snow drought in 1980 witnessed a statewide drop in skier visits.

Referring to a Sno-Engineering 1981-82 Master Plan which concluded Okemo could become “a major destination resort,” with $8 million in improvements, mountain expansion and additional condominium complexes, Tim cited “the potential” as worth taking that risk.

When Tim and Diane Mueller purchased Okemo Mountain in August 1982, it was a ski area with six Pomalifts and three double chairlifts.

The word spread throughout New England and brought an additional 55,000 skier visits to the mountain during the 1983-84 season.

Skier visits totaling 224,000 set a new record in 1986.

The expansion to Solitude Peak in 1987 provided the Muellers’ first new lift-and-trail complex on 225 acres and was enhanced by a lodge and trailside units.

In 1995, when only 100 inches of natural snowfall was recorded and areas across Vermont reported declines of 10 to 20 percent, Okemo experienced another record year with 480,000 skier visits — a testament to its commitment to snowmaking and grooming.

20, 2007 (Press Release)—In a year when winter arrived late and skier visits have been down all across the Northeast, Okemo Mountain Resort has seen a remarkable turnaround in business levels and recorded its biggest day in the 51-year history of the resort.

By 2009, Okemo ranked in the top two in Vermont and the East and top 13 in the nation by skier visits!

Following the 2010 introduction of a four-season mountain coaster, Okemo constructed a summertime Adventure Zone that has grown to include miniature golf, disc golf, bungee jumping, zipline tours, a treetop challenge course, Segway PT tours, a climbing wall, and more.

In 2014 Okemo made history again with Sunburst Six, the first six-passenger bubble chairlift with heated seats in North America.

When Vail Resorts acquired Okemo Mountain Resort September 27, 2018 it may have been the end of the Mueller era at Okemo, but thanks to their success, it was also the beginning of an Epic era that pays homage to their legacy of creating a great family-oriented resort.