The Killington area has one of the highest seasonal vacancy rates in the United States — higher than 99.7% of comparable areas. For second-home owners, that means months of absence, a property that can't speak for itself, and a local service market that works differently than the one you're used to. I've lived here year-round for a decade and own property here myself. I know what it takes to keep a home sound through a Vermont winter, and I know who to call when something needs attention.

I started work at twelve — roofing laborer, chimney sweep. Before I turned eighteen I'd worked masonry, framed houses, and repaired my own vehicles. In the Navy I ran a maintenance crew and learned damage control: the habit of finding what's wrong before it becomes a crisis. After that came college, then petroleum, then years working as a geologist — and in every one of those contexts I ended up as the same person: the one who kept the equipment running, who understood systems across domains, who got called when something broke and no one else knew what to do.

My aptitude is mechanical, and the need has always been real.

What I understand now is that the ability to walk into a complex situation, assess it completely, and be personally accountable for what happens next is rarer than any single skill. That's what Deer Leap is built on..