Cochran’s Ski Area

Cochran’s Ski Area is small, affordable family ski area in Richmond, VT. It was established in 1961 when Mickey and Ginny Cochran purchased an old hillside farm along the Winooski River in Richmond, Vermont. Transforming the land with the family’s hard work and Mickey’s gifts as a mechanical engineer, the ski area consisted of a couple of backyard trails and a short rope tow installed so their children and neighbors could enjoy skiing and race training.

In the next decade, the ski area helped put all four of the “Skiing Cochrans” on the road to Olympic and World Cup success as members of the United States Ski Team, which Mickey coached during the 1973/74 ski season. Not long after Barbara Ann captured the Olympic gold medal in slalom in 1972, the facility grew to four lifts and eight slopes attracting a loyal contingent of children and families from around Vermont.

Over the years, the Cochran family developed a wide array of innovative educational and recreational programs to help bring the community together on our slopes. Today many successful high school, college and World Cup racers still fondly recall their start at Cochran’s. But most importantly, legions of Vermonters proudly proclaim, “I learned to ski the Cochran way.”