Board Member (East Charleston, VT)

Alan D. Eliason, “Hap”, began life in Chestertown on the Eastern Shore of Maryland in 1945. He grew up with the family business, Sky Valley Motel, in Bartlett, New Hampshire, briefly studied accounting and forestry at The University of New Hampshire, then began a 12 year winter career at Attitash Ski Area. Experience there included lift construction, ski patrol, ski instruction and snow grooming. For 2 years the months without snow were spent with the US Forest Service primarily doing trail work and timber stand improvement. In 1966 he began working for Thaddeus Thorne, a surveyor and Attitash’s mountain manager. Thad worked seasonally, closing the survey business in winter. Hap enjoyed surveying, learned the skills and gained experience. In 1976 he took a job with Alpine Slide Corporation in Manchester Vermont as a surveyor and slide layout designer. Most projects were at ski areas in the US and Canada, a few much further away, making this an interesting and demanding job. By the late 1980s the slide business had slowed, along with Hap’s appetite for its challenges. He worked several years for a survey/engineering firm in Manchester and in 1991 began his own business, RidgeLine, providing survey and CADD services to surveyors, architects and engineers. Semi-retired by 2011, he and his Canadian wife Lorraine moved to East Charleston. Beginning with the bunkhouse project Hap provides pro bono services to Northwoods, including architectural drafting and topographic surveying & mapping. As a board member he hopes to promote the potential of the 1300 acre main campus to support a variety of activities relevant to Northwoods’ mission.