Matt Avitabile - Owner of The Mountain Eagle

Hear Here was joined by Robbie Gilbertson, the new Terrain Park Manager at Windham Mountain Club. Robbie’s connection to Windham goes all the way back. Being a true local who grew up in Windham, attended Windham school, and had in the past worked park staff at the mountain, Robbie’s return is true full circle. Evan and Jesse also having a deep history in the area brought out lots of reminiscing on bygone eras of after school night skiing with groups of friends so big they filled many chairlifts. It was actually these very same connections that led to his return! Robbie’s journey led him out of state to Vermont, where he spent years honing his skill set on and off the board, and provided opportunity for him to take steps from staff to supervisor and now into the role in management. The chance to return to Windham and build the Terrain Park Program up to the potential it has was too good to pass up! Not that it was an easy task! There were many hours of gathering features, cleaning shop space, and re-envisioning what the parks and freestyle programs could be and the proof is in the product! With a bold new color scheme, graphic and visionary behind it all, the excitement for the Terrain Parks at Windham Mountain Club is building! Great to have Robbie back!

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Hear Here was joined by Owen Hartman, the head brewer from Windham’s Mountain King Brewery. The first time Owen was on the podcast, we talked about the origin story of the brewery and how he and founder Bob McLynn both found their love for beers while traveling in Germany. This time the boys just talked beer. Owen brought Jesse and Evan in some samples to open, taste, taste again, talk about and have another taste. Needless to say, they did not last long! And we are not the only ones who recognize how good their beer is! Mountain King has already been recognized for their incredible quality with an award from NYS Craft Beer Competition for the Burnt Knob Porter! Although no one in the room was a cicerone, all heartily agreed that they were some incredible beers. Owen dug in to the process from choosing a recipe, managing ingredients, modifying it, controlling for quality, and not crying over spilled beer. A point that really hit home was the quality of water in Windham which all on the mountain top knows and loves and how that lends to the quality of beer! Just in case you needed another reason to stop in and have a beer or grab some cans to go next time you go through Windham.