Ralph Deslauriers, founder of Bolton Valley Ski Area, died over the weekend. A developer and believer in keeping skiing independent and affordable, he was 90 years old.
Deslauriers got the idea for what would become the highest elevation ski area in the state while flying over the Bolton backcountry in a helicopter during his time as a captain with the Vermont National Guard.
The family bought the timberland after selling part of the family dairy farm to create the Burlington and South Burlington interstate exits.
“There are people who just have vision. They can see possibility where nothing exists yet,” said his daughter, Lindsay Deslauriers. “He could materialize it, make it happen.”
Deslauriers had to lobby the state to build a road to the remote bowl, which was then only accessible by logging roads.
While it was under construction, Deslauriers, who was known for having a sense of humor, promised the road foreman a fifth of fine whiskey for every fifth of a mile he could get paved before Nov. 1.
When they finished early, Deslauriers made good on his word, delivering the crew two cases of high-end booze.
Lifts started turning just before Christmas in 1966, after a big push to build the base lodge, three lifts, a motel and the James Moore Tavern.
Longtime friend Dave Kaufman, who teaches ski area management at the University of Vermont, called Ralph an icon of the eastern ski industry.
“I never really saw him without a smile,” Kaufman recalled. “It was either a smile because something great was happening, something funny was happening, or he knew something that others didn’t know and he was going to win at something.”
As big companies began to gobble up Vermont ski areas, Bolton held onto its reputation as a mountain for families and locals, due in part to its after-school ski program and affordable night skiing.
Deslauriers was committed to making skiing a sport for locals, not just something out-of-state visitors enjoyed.
He launched the after-school ski program early on, and over the years, his own kids estimate the program has taught between 50,000 and 100,000 Vermont school children to ski.
“I was trying to teach them for free, but people didn’t like free, so I charged $10 a year for a lift ticket and lesson once a week,” he said in a 2022 interview with the Vermont Ski and Snowboard Museum. “In the end it probably saved the company because we were building our market, but I hadn’t thought about that, I just thought it was the right thing to do.”
Son Evan Deslauriers said his dad will be remembered for his kindness and charisma, but also his fondness for kids.
“He was just such a softy for kids of all ages, but especially young kids,” he said. “He would always make them feel like they were the world — from us, to grandkids, to great grandkids but also to the community members’ kids, you know, people up for a ski trip.”
Deslauriers sold Bolton Valley in 1997 amid mounting financial challenges and bad snow years — but then bought it back with his children in 2017, after two successful decades in real estate and development in Vermont and out west.
The ski area remains one of the last independently owned mountains in the state, with his daughter Lindsay Deslauriers now serving as president and CEO and working alongside her brothers Adam and Evan to run the mountain day to day.
Deslauriers’ kids grew up on the mountain, and sons Eric and Rob were early pioneers in extreme skiing, frequently getting their passes pulled for skiing in the trees. Fast forward to today, and Bolton’s backcountry is a popular destination for ski touring.
For his part, Ralph preferred to stick to the blue squares — and it was important to him that Bolton remain a friendly place for families to learn to ski.
“He liked to joke that he was a blue collar skier, like he had to work for it,” recalled his son, Evan Deslauriers. “It wasn’t going to be the most graceful, but he could get down it.”
Deslauriers suffered a heart attack, but was surrounded by his eight surviving children, 12 grandchildren and five great-grandchildren when he died.
His daughter Lindsay said he was making plans and to-do lists for the next ski season to the very end.
