State’s ski areas expand despite sloping economy
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Construction work continues at the Spruce Peak base area at Stowe Mountain Resort. Photos by Jeb Wallace-Brodeur /Times Argus |
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By Bruce Edwards STAFF WRITER - Published: August 2, 2009
The summer months are the window of opportunity when the state's ski areas perform routine maintenance and make major improvements to their resorts. This year is no exception, though the level of capital investment by some resorts is less than previous years in part because of the slumping economy, industry officials said.
Parker Riehle of the Vermont Ski Areas Association said while total capital spending may be less than last year, there are significant investments being made including projects at Jay Peak and Stowe Mountain Resort.
Stowe opened its new Stowe Mountain Lodge last year and Riehle said construction is continuing on related projects.
"They are still continuing on with the condominium units in an adjacent building as well as I believe a performing arts center and some other amenities," said Riehle, the VSAA president.
One of the biggest projects this season is at Jay Peak Resort.
The ski area, near the Canadian border, is completing the Tram Haus Lodge — a $20 million base lodge, condominium hotel and retail complex.
"One of the things that Jay has been short on for years has been base-lodge capacity for welcoming our guests," said Bill Stenger, the resort's president.
Stenger said in addition to more lodging capacity, the Tram Haus includes a restaurant, coffee shop and a rental shop that is conveniently located within 100 feet of four lifts.
At Killington/Pico, there are approximately $2.5 million in improvements in the works, Killington spokesman Tom Horrocks said. Last year, the resort spent $8.4 million on projects, including a new detachable quad lift.
"A lot of that is obviously going back into snowmaking," Horrocks said, referring to this year's projects. "We've done quite a few snowmaking projects both here and at Pico."
Killington is replacing up to 2,000 feet of snowmaking pipe, including sections on Cascade and Great Eastern. Several lifts and towers will get a fresh coat of paint. A new warming hut will open at Killington Peak. There is also a re-grading of the unload area at Skye Peak Express and re-grading of the new Bittersweet trail section.
Snowmaking improvements are in progress at Pico Mountain, including the replacement of 122 snowmaking hydrants and an upgrade to snowmaking pipe on Upper Pike. The Knomes Knoll Triple is being repainted. There will be a new warming hut at the summit
Although the economy played a role in the lower level of capital improvements this year, Horrocks said there are major projects on the drawing board in the years ahead, including the Peak restaurant, which will cost several millions dollars to replace.
Capital spending is down at Okemo Mountain Resort in Ludlow.
"As you can imagine, there aren't a lot of capital improvements happening this year just based on the economy, Okemo spokeswoman Bonnie MacPherson said.
She said Okemo is upgrading its 450-foot Ross Powers Superpipe. Named after the Olympic gold medal winner, the superpipe will have its vertical pitch increased by 13 feet, resulting in the grade going from 11 degrees to 16 degrees. The superpipe's decks are spaced 50 feet apart with walls 18 feet high.
MacPherson said the resort is buying a second large grooming machine and is upgrading its snowmaking system to improve the resort's ability to resurface its trails quickly.
Bromley Mountain is spending up to $200,000 on snowmaking improvements — about half of what the Peru resort spent last year, according to spokesman Peter Dee.
Dee said the resort invested heavily in summer recreation, spending $1 million on a 2,200 foot Zip Rider at its Sun Mountain Adventure Park. The theme park has 18 to 20 rides.
Stratton Mountain Resort is bringing back snow tubing at its Sunbowl area. The lift-served tubing area is 750 feet long with four lanes, resort spokeswoman Myra Foster said.
Stratton will also have more freestyle terrain parks. "You'll see an advanced terrain park moving over to the Sunbowl area, which is home to the U.S. Open (Snowboarding Championships)," Foster said
Last year, 11 of the 20 ski resorts reported total capital spending of $22.5 million, according to the Vermont Ski Areas Association.
While the economy may have given some resorts pause when it came to capital investments this year, Riehle said those kinds of projects are undertaken with the future in mind.
"It does really show the determination of the resorts even in the face of the current economic downturn … and so they really are continuing to plan for the future and continuing to build out construction plans that were laid out years ago," he said.
The following is partial list of projects at Vermont's ski areas:
Ascutney Mountain Resort — The ski area has a 10-year master plan that includes the Forest Preserve — an eco-friendly development which abuts 5,000 acres of what the resort says is the largest contiguous parcel of protected land in the state.
Bolton Valley — The resort is extending snowmaking on the Cobrass trail and retrofitting a number of snow guns to improve energy efficiency.
Jay Peak — The Tram Haus Lodge is scheduled to open, which is a mix of 57 studio and one and two bedroom suites, a new restaurant and coffee shop. It will also house a rental, repair and demo center.
Killington/Pico — Upgrades to the snowmaking system, including the purchase of additional low- energy snow and fan guns.
Magic Mountain — The ski area has begun selling shares in the resort to raise money to invest in its infrastructure. For the coming season, the ski area is improving its snowmaking operations.
Middlebury Snow Bowl — Replacement of the 40-year-old Worth Mountain double chair with a fixed-grip triple. The lift costs $1.7 million and has a capacity of 1,200 skiers per hour.
Okemo Mountain Resort — The 450-foot Ross Powers Superpipe will have its vertical pitch increased. The resort also purchased a 500-horsepower grooming machine with a 24-foot-wide tiller and a 20-foot-wide blade. Okemo is also reconfiguring its entire snowmaking system with a focus on enhanced resurfacing response time.
Smugglers' Notch Resort — A new trail is being added by extending Full Nelson from above mid-point to the base on Sterling Mountain. The resort is also adding a new Burton learn-to-ride center.
Stowe Mountain Resort — Construction of condominiums and performing arts center follows completion of the Spruce Camp base lodge and Stowe Mountain Lodge.
Stratton Mountain — The new Adventure Zone will open in the Sunbowl area, home of the U.S Open Snowboarding Championships. The Coca Cola snow tubing park will open there as well. There is also a new jib park on Lower Middlebrook, Boarder-Cross on East Byrneside and beginner mogul areas on White Birch and Daniel Webster.
Sugarbush — Upgrades to its snowmaking system.
Source: Vermont Ski Areas Association, individual ski areas.
bruce.edwards@rutlandherald.com
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