26 days ago, on March 28, 2020 at 8am, a single email appeared in my inbox. This simple moment initiated a series of actions that galvanized the ski and action sport worlds into a focused, global effort to bring protective eye wear to health care workers practicing 'battlefield medicine' in the war against the coronavirus. Our organization has work...

THE VIRAL TRAJECTORY OF GOGGLES FOR DOCS As reported by www.vtskiandride.com On the night of March 11, Jon Schaefer read an article about the spread of COVID-19. He turned off the lights and went to sleep. "Five minutes later, I woke up and knew what we had to do," he said. Schaefer, who runs Berkshire East (the ski area in northwestern Massachuset...

Dear Seasons Pass Holders and Friends, As I am sure that many of you have seen, on March 12, 2020 we made the decision to close Berkshire East and Catamount Resorts for winter operations due to the Coronavirus. On that day we chose to lead the ski industry into its early close. Believe me when I tell you that decision was one of the hardest decisio...

To our Berkshire East and Catamount Guests and Employees: Berkshire East will close for the season today, Thursday, March 12 at 4pm and Catamount Ski Area will not reopen this weekend. COVID-19 has been discovered in the surrounding hill towns and multiple people are being quarantined. To be clear, no known Berkshire East or Catamount customers or ...

Here is a podcast I did with Kaylee Sandval, a convert to DH riding from St. Johnsbury. Kaylee asked some good questions and made me think. This is her synopsis, "Thunder Mountain's Jon Schaefer shares stories that illustrate how to pursue excellence- in racing, in business, and in life." Summary for me: Podcasts are fun, and a little more free flo...

FIRE'D UP GM for Fire on the Mountain by TGR! About time someone got the music right in a ski video. Teton Gravity producing some great content. These guys are all better skiers and riders, than me, but I wouldn't mind trying to stick with them on some of these aspects... 

Here is a link to the Storm Skiing Journal. I recorded the interview in early November after Stuart successfully chased me down. BLOG AND AUDIO LINK I like the podcast format and had fun with Stuart, maybe in another decade we will do another one if I work hard enough to come up with new content. Thanks all. Jon