22. New England Creativity
Snow Inspires Us to Get Creative
These New Englanders found that it can be a lot of fun to get obsessed with snow.
Name: Freddie Viens
Location: Fayston, Vermont
Project: Homemade rope tow
Materials Used: Rear axle of a Model A truck; electric motor from an early milking machine; belts, pulleys, rope
Time to Assemble: Three weekends
Inspiration: Viens, a mechanic and antiques collector, enjoys putting together machinery from old car parts. “I’d never actually seen a rope tow before I built one, but people told me how they remembered them,” he says. “Later, I went online and looked at pictures, and everything I saw looked pretty similar to what I’d built.”
What It Does: The rope tow runs nearly 600 feet from street level down to Viens’ front yard; it’s basically an old-fashioned ski lift. The Viens family has always used their property for snowshoeing and snowmobiling, but the rope tow has made it a popular spot for neighborhood skiers, sledders, and snowboarders.
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