Famous Mad River Glen Bumper Sticker Goes International for a Great Cause

ESQUÍALO SI PUEDES – Famous Mad River Glen Bumper Sticker Goes International for a Great Cause

For more than 25 years, the name Mad River Glen has been synonymous with its ubiquitous, red and white “Ski It If You Can” bumper sticker. The simple yet bold challenge has become the mountain’s calling card and is worn as a badge of honor by its incredibly loyal skiers.  The “Ski It If You Can” bumper sticker has been spotted all over the globe, a fact that certainly contributes to its fame. Skiers relaxing at Mad River Glen’s General Stark’s Pub after a day of skiing will notice a mind-boggling collage of bumper sticker photos from every conceivable place on earth(and above).

Beginning this year skiers from around the world will be able to wear that "badge of honor" in other languages.  The stickers will be available in the fall of 2010 in Spanish, French, Chinese, Italian and even more esoteric ones like Dari, Finnish, and Farsi among others.  Proceeds from the sale of these stickers will be donated to Direct Aid International, a small nonprofit organization operated by a former Mad River Glen employee.

The idea for the stickers originated at a National Ski Areas Association meeting during a discussion about demographic changes in the US, which pointed out that one of the few potential growth areas for the ski industry is new immigrants, mostly Latinos and Asians.  One ski area marketing director leaned over and jokingly asked his MRG counterpart how he would cater to the growing market, knowing full well that the skier-owned mountain doesn’t do much in the way of "marketing."  "Maybe you should print those ‘Ski It If You Can’ stickers in Spanish," he quipped.  The light bulb went on immediately.  At a Mad River Glen Co-op Shareholders meeting (MRG...)one of the shareholders loved the idea so much that he offered to help with the translation effort and translations began.  As good ideas often do, this one grew legs.

Over the summer Jonathan Hoffman, a former Mad River Glen ticket seller, came into the office for a visit after his most recent humanitarian trip to Afghanistan. “Soon as I saw him walk in the door I knew that we could have a lot of fun with the sticker project, create interest in Mad River Glen and raise awareness for a great organization,” said Marketing Director Eric Friedman. Hoffman, a former Mad River Glen employee and currently a culinary arts teacher from Northfield, Vermont, began his humanitarian work in 1999 in war-torn Kosovo. Working as a volunteer in refugee camps and orphanages he was inspired to strike out on his own, returning to Kosovo three times, In 2002 he turned his attention to Afghanistan.  Over the years Jonathan has returned to Afghanistan each summer to administer Direct Aid International’s efforts directly. Over the years he has funded and contracted the building of 14 schools, a library and provided  tens of thousands of notebooks and soccer balls to children.  Serving as an unofficial ambassador for the State of Vermont, the United States, and Mad River Glen, Jonathan has also brought awareness to the plight of refugees in Kosovo and Afghanistan.   Direct Aid International is unique in that it is incredibly direct aid with a personal touch with almost nothing spent on administration.