This week鈥檚 winter storm came at the perfect time for a group that has been skiing and riding in mid-March at Stowe Mountain Resort for over a quarter-century. This week is the annual winter summit for insurance giant AIG and some special guests.
In January AIG made public its intention to . And that had locals wondering if it would mark the end of AIG鈥檚 annual winter summit, when hundreds of insurance executives from around the country descend on the mountain for a mix of business meetings and snow sports.
Audio for this piece will be posted.
Rob Shimek is CEO of AIG鈥檚 commercial insurance business. He says they are planning to be back next year.
"We have a great relationship with the people here, with the community, with Stowe just more broadly," says Shimek. "And we have no intention of really having that go away. In the end, are we the best operators of a ski operation? Maybe not. But we鈥檙e the best insurers of a ski operation."
Shimek noted that AIG is selling the mountain operations, but holding onto other properties, such as Stowe Mountain Lodge.
"We have a continuing interest in the real estate," he says. "We have a great partnership with Stowe and, in the end, this is actually a part of our DNA too. And so we鈥檙e proud of it and there鈥檚 no intention for us to do anything other than keep coming back year after year. And if everything works out the way we would want it, it would be with our partners from DSUSA."
DSUSA stands for Disabled Sports USA. And for over a decade, DSUSA has been an integral part of AIG鈥檚 winter summit. Through ski races at the summit, the executives raise money for DSUSA programs such as Warfighter Sports, a program for disabled veterans. This year they contributed $750,000.
Kirk Bauer is DSUSA鈥檚 executive director. "One of the things that鈥檚 happening this week, besides a lot of business meetings, is that they are hosting a ski and snowboard camp for severely wounded warfighters from Iraq and Afghanistan, and some of the youth program participants from Disabled Sports USA," he says.
"Are we the best operators of a ski operation? Maybe not. But we're the best insurers of a ski operation." - AIG Commercial Insurance CEO Rob Shimek
Bauer says all the athletes 鈥� both veterans and kids 鈥� are Paralympic hopefuls for the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Team.
So while AIG summit attendees compete in some light-hearted ski racing, they鈥檙e sharing the course with some top competitors, like Matthew Melancon.
"Warfighter Sports was there for me, in definitely my darkest hour," says Melancon. "And offered me what initially annoyed me beyond belief, when they offered me a chance to go snowboarding. And I was just filled with anger at their ignorance of not noticing that I was an amputee."
But once Melancon decided to strap on a snowboard, he found a new lease on life.
"They just gave me an environment that just 鈥� it completely eroded that belief," he says. "And it actually gave me the strength and courage to go and have my second leg amputated one year later. And we threw a going away party for it. And I haven鈥檛 looked back since."
Today Melancon is on the Paralympic development team for boardercross and ranked among the top 10 in the world.
In addition to training in Stowe this week, Melancon and other Warfighter Sports athletes are mentoring younger athletes in DSUSA鈥檚 youth program.
Richard Dyer is a Warfighter Sports snowboarder from Manchester, NH. He says the mentoring relationship goes both ways.
"They鈥檙e learning from us. We鈥檙e learning a lot of stuff from them, because they鈥檙e a lot more reckless than we are," he explains. "They鈥檙e not really worried about getting as hurt. So we鈥檙e seeing different runs getting lined up that we鈥檙e like, 'Wow. I would have never done that, but now I鈥檓 going to give it a try because I鈥檓 going to keep up with them.'"
And that鈥檚 coming from a paratrooper.
This is Dyer鈥檚 third year attending the winter summit training camp. This time last year, he remembers it was 65 degrees and there was more water than snow.
"The fact that we鈥檙e getting a three-foot dump of snow in March is the thing dreams are made out of," he says.
Melancon 鈥� who trains fulltime in Utah 鈥� agrees, saying, "This is the best powder I鈥檝e ever ridden."
And if all goes according to AIG plans, they鈥檒l be back for more next year.
