Two notes from the side of the mountain in Ripton:
•  The cross-country skiing is better than I ever remember up here. The regular installments of snow, and the cold temperatures, have let Barney Hodges, Mike Hussey and their team at Rikert, and Andy McIntosh and his fellow volunteers on the backcountry trails, produce tracks that are just sublime. Please come up and share them
•  Ripton residents voted by a wide margin to try and run their own elementary school, and I think many of us would be grateful if our friends down in the valley would let us give it a try. It seems to me you could think about it one of two ways. One, it could be an interesting experiment that would provide everyone with more data about how education might proceed in this state. Or, two, they’re kind of nutty up there in Ripton, and we’re better off without them. Either one works!
Bill McKibben
Ripton