Page 26 - Aug_2014

news briefs

Green Mountain College to ban the Benefit mountain bike festival

sale of water bottles on campus
coming to Catamount Center

POULTNEY – This August, Green Mountain College will ban the sale of bottled water WILLISTON — A benefit “Ride for Ryan” mountain bike festival will take place at
on its Poultney campus. Like many campus sustainability initiatives, the ban comes Catamount Outdoor Family Center in Williston on Aug. 9.
largely as a result of a student-led project. Andrea (Dre) Roebuck ’14 consulted with
the College’s sustainability coordinator Aaron Witham about the most effective way to Over 150 riders have pre-registered for the event, which will benefit the Flyin
Ryan Hawks Foundation and Fellowship of the Wheel. Teams and individual riders
go about banning the sale of bottled water. Roebuck’s concerns were economic (bottled will have access to Catamount’s trail network. Current teams include Dealer.com,
water is more expensive than tap water) and environmental (only about 14 percent of
plastic bottles make it into the recycling bin, and producing plastic bottles takes about Sugarbush, Earl’s Cyclery, Outdoor Gear Exchange, SkiRack, Alpine Shop and
1.5 million barrels ofnoil per year, according to the Earth Policy Institute).
Vermont Tent Company.

According to Witham, Roebuck and other students were also concerned about The festival will also feature a pig roast, demo bikes, a raffle, potluck dining,
the commoditization of water, which is becoming an ever more precious resource. “The music and more. Registration is $75 per person and the festival will be held rain or
more we buy and sell bottled water, the more we are engaging in a culture of treating shine. More information and registration is available at www.flyinryanhawks.org.
water as a commodity, incentivizing businesses to extract it from the ground in one
community and sell it to another community, with often little benefit to the people or

ecosystem in the community from which the water was extracted,” he said. Bolton Valley hosts 5K run and brew
Roebuck met with campus stakeholders such as Chartwells, the College’s food service
provider, other outside vendors and the College administration and held events to raise fest to benefit Vermont Adaptive Ski
student awareness about the negative impacts of bottled water. One event included a
and Sports
taste test featuring bottled water and tap water.
“We tried to see if students could tell the difference between tap water, filtered
water or bottled water. We saw no discernable preference—in fact tap water was rated
slightly higher. It seemed the best option was to encourage people to fill up at filtered BOLTON – Bolton Valley Ski Area will host two special events on the Saturday
water stations that are all over campus,” Roebuck said.
of Labor Day weekend. The Second Annual Bolton Valley 5K to benefit Vermont

Finally, she garnered 163 signatures from students, staff, and faculty in support of Adaptive Ski and Sports will kick off at 9 a.m. Then runners can quench their thirst
the ban. Over 25 percent of the residential student body signed the document.
at the Bolton Valley Hop Jam beginning at noon, joining lovers of beer, music and
Under Roebuck’s leadership, Chartwells agreed to stop selling bottled water in
the dining hall. PepsiCo, which has an existing beverage contract with GMC, agreed to the mountains for the afternoon at Bolton on Saturday, Aug. 30.
“This is the second year we’ve hosted the 5K to benefit Vermont Adaptive,
remove bottled water from all of its soda vending machines on campus and replace the which actually began three years ago as a benefit after Tropical Storm Irene,” said
product with healthier alternatives to regular soda.
Josh Arneson, sales and marketing director for Bolton Valley. “Last year we had
more than 100 runners and walkers supporting disabled sports, and we hope to
see even more this year. We’ve added in a new event, the Bolton Valley Hop Jam,

to round out the day and make it a flavorful way to kick off Labor Day weekend
in the mountains.” Bolton Valley 5K to benefit Vermont Adaptive The 5K trail run

and walk takes place on Bolton’s Nordic Trails and is a run or walk that proceeds
primarily through wooded trails with moderate up and down grades. Trails will
range from groomed to muddy and semi-rocky terrain. The overall winners (male

and female) will receive awards. All top finishers will receive awards in each age
category: Youth (12 and under) Teens (13-18), Young Adults (19-35), Mid-Lifer

(36-49) and Masters (50 and older). New for 2014 is a free kids fun dash. This
will be an untimed run open to kids ages 8 and under, and all kiddos will receive a
medal for participating.

Participants will receive a complimentary event t-shirt (guaranteed if regis-
tered by Aug. 9). The cost is $20/person ages 18 and under and $30/adults. All pro-

ceeds will be donated to Vermont Adaptive. The race begins at 9 a.m. rain or shine.
Race day check-in is required before 8 a.m. Runners should preregister through
Active.com. A raffle and the Awards Ceremony will occur immediately post race.

Bolton Valley Hop Jam
Immediately following the 5K, Bolton Valley will kick off its Labor Day weekend

Hop Jam. Gates open at 11 a.m. and music begins at noon, featuring a line up
of live music plus top quality beer and food. Featured music includes JP Harris

& the Tough Choices, Soule Monde, Primate Fiasco, Spirit Family Reunion and
the Alchemystics. Brews from the following breweries will be served: Burlington
Beer Co., Hill Farmstead, Lagunitas Brewing Co., Treehouse Brewing, Lost Nation

Brewery, Lawson’s Finest, High Horse Brewing, Citizen Cider, Sixpoint Brewing,
The Alchemist, Zero Gravity, Trillium Brewing, and Smuttynose Brewing Co.

To learn more or to purchase tickets, visit http://vthopjam.com.

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VTSPORTS.COM
AUGUST 2014