Lutsen Mountains Ski Area Adds, Revamps Facilities, Top to Bottom

Lutsen, MN (Wednesday, October 5, 2005) - Minnesota's Lutsen Mountains Ski Area, on the North Shore of Lake Superior, is preparing for the pending ski and snowboard season with infrastructure improvements, featuring a redesigned interior of the historic base chalet, a new chalet and restaurant on the top of Moose Mountain, expanded tree skiing runs, and more improvements slated for the coming years.

"We have three new tree-skiing glades on Moose Mountain," explains Charles Skinner, Co-President/Co-Owner of Lutsen Mountains. "You glide through a mature canopy of maples and other native hardwood trees that offer a naturally wide spacing between trees. The terrain is ideal for tree skiing because it has a consistent and not overly steep pitch, extends from the top of the mountain to the bottom and boasts spectacular vistas of Lake Superior during the entire descent. It's about the most the perfect tree skiing setting that you could imagine."

Located adjacent to the upper gondola terminal at the top of Moose Mountain, a new 10,000 square foot Summit Chalet and expansive decks on three sides will feature a 180-degree view of the Lake Superior North Shore coastline from 1,100 feet above the Lake, as well as distant vistas of Michigan, Ontario and Isle Royale. The new Chalet will offer an expansive menu of homemade soups, chili, beef stroganoff, pasta dishes, Caesar salads (with shrimp), and more. The new Moose Mountain Summit Chalet will also be available for weddings and special events, with Lutsen's main restaurant, Mountain View Grill at Papa Charlie's, available for catering.

All three levels of Lutsen's Historic Chalet at the base of the mountain have been completely refurbished, including new high-end slate, tile and carpet floor coverings; three new fireplaces; new upstairs food and beverage service area; convenient new locker room and lockers; all new upstairs furniture; new bathrooms with high tech fixtures; environmentally-friendly lights that come on automatically; new wall coverings; and new ceilings. Meal selections at the Chalet include burgers, sandwiches, salads, yogurt and fresh fruit selections, with homemade baked goods and Starbuck's coffees to complete the meal. The Mountain Grill at Papa Charlie's, across the street from the Chalet, offers a sit-down dining option, along with its gourmet dining room, The Sunset Room.

The refurbishment of the Historic Chalet will be completed next summer of 2006 when exterior work will include North Shore stone at the base, a selection of natural cedar woods for the rest of the exterior walls, and a completely new roof structure as well as new decks on the third level that will overlook the ski runs. The Chaletšs exterior will match the theme of the other new buildings in the complex, such as the new Ski Patrol Building, with a mixture of stone and cedar shakes and vertical board and batten, providing a more textured, rustic look, with alpine architectural detailing.

"Changing and unifying the exteriors, remaking the look of our base village is part of a multi-faceted project," Skinner continues. "That's only the beginning."

Lutsen will offer a number of specials this season, including:

Free ski rentals for everyone over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend (with purchase of two-day ticket) to accompany the resort's new Thanksgiving Festival, featuring fireworks and other special activities.
Free lodging (based on 2 people or more), for a three-week period after Thanksgiving with purchase of a two-day lift ticket.
Half-price Holiday Packages the week during Christmas.
Free ski rentals for everyone, with purchase of lift ticket for two days or more, from April 1, 2006 to the end of the ski season.
Free skiing with no restrictions on Easter Sunday, April 16, 2006, the last day of the 2006 season.

Skinner notes that this year's capital improvements at Lutsen are only the first phase of planned improvements that will include new high speed lifts, on-mountain lodging, and other infrastructure improvements.

"Lutsen is a destination ski area located within half a day's drive from the Twin Cities and other Midwestern markets. Although driving your car to Lutsen is much more convenient and less expensive than flying out West, our customers evaluate our ski area by comparing us to Western ski areas that they have visited. We recognize, therefore, that the continued popularity of Lutsen depends on making sure that our lifts, terrain, chalets and other skier amenities measure up, when compared to the best of what the Western ski areas have to offer. The next several phases of improvements at Lutsen will make sure that Lutsen continues its leadership in MidAmerica and keeps pace with Western ski areas."

To that end, Skinner anticipates installing a new high speed lift on Moose Mountain in the next two to three years, and a second high speed lift on Eagle Mountain a few years later. He also hopes to put a lift on the steep back side of Moose Mountain, add more gladed terrain, and add additional beginner runs and a lift on Mystery Mountain.

Building the bed base, Skinner would like to construct a 45-unit condo and townhouse development just to the west of Lutsen's main base area, while completing a mountain village, including shops, restaurants, coffee houses and art galleries in the main base area, where all buildings will be recast in the same motif as the Historic Chalet. He envisions eventually creating a second ski base area for skiers at the foot of Moose Mountain. Such a development would provide a more direct and convenient parking as well as ticket and lift access for guests staying off-site. If it occurs, however, this would not be built for 10 to 15 years.

Meanwhile, Skinner reports that the County has redone and rebuilt and repaved and regraded Lutsen's entrance road, including curbs, gutters and sidewalks, with two five-foot bike lanes on each side of the road. The County will finish the last 1,500 feet within the next couple of years, and that will add more curbs and gutters, on-street parking, and sidewalks, essentially doubling that area.

Lutsen Mountain Ski Area anticipates opening for the 2005-2006 ski and snowboard season the weekend of Nov. 18-19. Daily operations begin Thanksgiving Day: Thurs., Nov. 24, 2005.

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