Summer Construction Upgrades Vermont Ski Resorts for Winter 2005-06
Montpelier, VT (Monday, May 23, 2005) - Vermont ski and snowboard resorts Bolton Valley, Burke Mountain, Mad River Glen, Jay Peak and Stowe Mountain Resort are in various stages of construction projects. Here is a round up of what is happening around the state to greet skiers and snowboarders in future winters.
BOLTON VALLEY RECEIVES FUNDING FOR MAJOR IMPROVEMENTS
The town of Bolton has received a $650,000 Community Development Grant to be used toward a new quad chairlift at the popular northern Vermont family ski resort. The town will lend the grant money to the resort on favorable terms.
This initial two-year effort, called the Vista Bowl Project, will include:
- The Vista Quad, a new top-to-bottom Doppelmayr quad chairlift
- New trails, including the expansive Vista Bowl high on Vista Peak
- 'Dances With Trees', 20 acres of natural, open glades for skiing and riding
- Additional snowmaking
- Additional lighting for night skiing
- Improved beginner teaching area with Magic Carpet lift (in 2006)
- New wood-fired pizzeria in Base Lodge
- Improved terrain park
- Expanded parking
- Improved, expanded Sports Center
- Hotel improvements
“Bolton Valley’s guests will find that these improvements will transform the skiing and riding experience here,” noted Bob Fries, Bolton's president. “Skiers and riders on the new Vista Quad will get a faster, direct ride to Vista Peak. They’ll also find that Vista Bowl and the glades called Dances With Trees, both high up on Vista Peak, receive even more than Bolton’s annual average 300” of snow. This will be skiing and riding a little closer to heaven, both literally and figuratively.”
The new Vista Bowl will be lit for night skiing and covered by new snowmaking as well.
The Vista Bowl Project will also include a number of off-mountain improvements. A new wood-fired pizzeria will be added to the second floor of the base lodge, expanding guests’ options for lunch, snacks, and dinner. Redesigned parking lots will increase the number of close-in, base-area parking spaces. The Sports Center, too, will see significant upgrades, as will the popular Bolton Valley Hotel.
BURKE MOUNTAIN'S PHASE ONE POWDERHORN CONDOMINIUMS COMPLETED
The first phase of Burke Mountain's Powderhorn Condominium Complex expansion, which began in November 2004, is complete and all the units have been sold. Construction of the final four units in the complex, offering slope side ski-in ski-out convenience, has already begun.
Jay Peak, Vermont. |
The Jay Peak Golf Course and new Village accommodations are the two major construction projects underway at the resort this summer. Construction crews have resumed work on the Graham Cooke designed golf course and will be working on three “pods” simultaneously. Holes 1, 2, 3, 8, 9 and the driving range are in more advanced stages of completion and crews will spread topsoil, do some final shaping and hydro seeding over the next few months. Stumping, grubbing and rough shaping will be completed on holes 4, 5, 6, and 7 and 12, 13, 14, and 15 (initial work on the remaining back nine holes will also be completed this summer).
Crews are also working on 48 new Village condominiums and townhouses. Jay Peak began its Village build-out in the early 1990's and from the beginning interest in the mountain's slopeside real estate has been strong. Jay's Phase III condominium and townhouse construction is no exception – as of the end of April 2005, more than 50% of the 48 units are already under contract.
MAD RIVER GLEN DECIDES TO STAY SINGLE
At the Mad River Glen Cooperative's annual shareholders meeting, the mountain's skier-owners voted overwhelmingly to approve a $1.4 million plan to refurbish the ski areas iconic single chair lift. After much research, deliberation, hard work and deep soul searching, the Mad River Glen Shareholders decided, by an overwhelming majority (81%) to approve their Board of Trustee's recommendation on the project slated for completion the summer of 2006.
"Isn't it great that this key decision was not made by some 'corporate executive'? It was made by the folks with the most at stake, the skiers," noted Mad River's President, Jamey Wimble. "They know that the best course for Mad River Glen is to maintain our niche by preserving and protecting the unique experience we offer."
In this age of high-speed detachable lifts where the installations of new double chairs are rare, the idea of building a single chair could be viewed as ludicrous. But, since the co-op's inception nearly 10 years ago, the skier-owned mountain has beaten all the odds by disregarding all conventional ski industry wisdom.
THE REVITALIZATION OF STOWE
At the resort known for the past half century as "The Ski Capital of the East," improving the skiing and riding on almost 20% of its terrain is a significant improvement that's been overdue for several decades.
Improvements to the mountain experience are just the beginning of what is now a $400,000,000 revitalization project that is transforming Stowe Mountain Resort into a premier Eastern winter destination. In the planning stages for the past ten years, the new village will have a base lodge, outdoor ice skating, a performing arts center, restaurants, shops, a mountain links 18-hole golf course and a five-star Destination Resorts hotel and spa.