Major gift launches fund raising for Dartmouth Skiway improvements

Posted 03/04/99

Dartmouth has taken a major step toward upgrading facilities at the college-owned Dartmouth Skiway, with significant support from a 1969 graduate.

P. Andrews ("Andy") and Linda McLane, of Weston, Mass., have agreed to provide $1.5 million to help launch a campaign to construct a new lodge at the Skiway, as well as to improve snow making at the facility. This commitment continues the McLane family's long relationship with skiing, Dartmouth College, the Skiway and New Hampshire.

Located 15 miles north of the Dartmouth campus in Lyme, N.H., the Skiway provides recreational, competitive and educational opportunities for the Dartmouth student body, faculty and staff and the Upper Valley community as well. The Skiway features 104 skiable acres on 30 trails and a snowboard park serviced by three lifts, including the Winslow Mountain quad chair. The Brundage Lodge, an excellent facility when it was built in 1956, was designed for 5,000-10,000 skier visits annually -- far short of the capacity needed to serve the more than 40,000 skier visits today.

Dartmouth plays a prominent role in the history of American skiing. Dartmouth skiers and coaches have participated in every Olympic Winter Games except 1932. The Dartmouth Ski Team is annually among the nation's top intercollegiate programs and boasts 88 All Americans and 44 national champions. Nearly 30 Dartmouth skiers and coaches are members of the Skiing Hall of Fame.

Andy McLane and his family are avid skiers. While an undergraduate at Dartmouth, he was a member of the Dartmouth Ski Patrol. He currently serves on the Board of the United States Ski and Snowboard Team Foundation. He is Senior Managing Director at TA Associates, a private equity investment firm with offices in Boston, Mass., and Menlo Park, Calif.

"It gives my wife, Linda, and me great pleasure to share our good fortune with Dartmouth and the Upper Valley community," said Andy in announcing the gift.

"Growing up in New Hampshire, I learned from my father (Peter McLane '37) a love for the state, its outdoors, mountains, skiing and of course, the College. With this background in mind, I wanted to do something in memory of him and my numerous relatives who have enjoyed Dartmouth and skiing and ski racing. A gift to launch the Skiway Campaign seemed the perfect way to recognize and honor this shared tradition."

The McLane family connection to the Skiway goes back to the facility's origins. In 1953, Dartmouth Vice President John Meck approached John ("Judge") McLane, Andy McLane's great-uncle and a 1907 graduate and former trustee of the College, with his plan to construct a major ski facility for the College at Holt's Ledge in Lyme.

Judge McLane joined then-Dartmouth President John Sloan Dickey as champions of the proposed Skiway, and were influential in the development of the facility, which was dedicated in January 1957.