A Well-Named Ski Lodge

That skiing is here to stay was the longterm gamble taken by Don Scholle '47 and his partner Dick Hood, a Princeton graduate, who for the second winter are operating Topnotch, a $250,000 super ski lodge at Stowe, Vt.

For three years, the two partners operated Topnotch I, an old farmhouse made over to accommodate friends and friends of friends who are skiers. In spite of an erratic heating system, not enough hot water and innumerable other inconveniences, loudly complained about by their guests, the place made a profit each winter. Now with accommodations for 64, the new lodge retains the informality that made the old Topnotch popular, but with palatial overtones. The living and bedroom walls are glass, to bring the outdoors in; the main floors have radiant heat; and the combination of steel, concrete, wood and glass make Topnotch an outstanding example of modern ski-lodge architecture.

Situated on Route 108, two miles from Mt. Mansfield, Topnotch has had ample snow, even during snow-droughts elsewhere. Don Scholle was first attracted tothe location when he was on the Stowe Ski Patrol. In his own words, he was taking "a sort of sabbatical before starting out in the big world. But after a few weeks in a training program in the securities field, I realized this was not my niche." After Don and Dick Hood had fixed up their old farmhouse, they sent out sixty postcards to friends who might want to ski at Stowe and stay at Topnotch. Don says that since their clientele has been so well conditioned to Spartan conditions, "in order to insure our informal atmosphere, we still occasionally run out of hot water and make sure somebody freezes during the night."

"Topnotch" which is operated by Don Scholle '4 at Stowe, Vt.