In 1961 Mickey Cochran built a rope tow on an old hillside farm in Richmond. His vision continued a tradition of community ski areas in Vermont. Fifty years later his grandchildren embarked on another Green Mountain tradition – bottling pure maple syrup.

Mickey and his wife Ginny moved their family from Burlington to a farmhouse at the bottom of a 150-acre hillside farm on the banks of the Winooski River in Richmond. They put in a few ski trails and a 300-foot rope tow to provide mid-week ski training for their four children - Marilyn, Barbara Ann, Bobby, and Lindy. Millions of laps up and down the "hill behind the house" provided a first rate ski racing foundation that led to careers including World Cup wins, World Cup titles, World Championship medals, and Barbara Ann's 1972 Olympic Gold.