You could say last season was a “spoiler”. Like little kids on Christmas
morning, New England skiers were spoiled with western-like snow conditions
for much of the winter. New owners took the helm of former ASC resorts and
brought a flurry of changes.
What do we get for an encore? How do new lifts and trails sound? Ski areas
in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont have reinvested last winter’s windfall
in their slopes.
As for conditions, the superstitious skiers’ bible, the Farmer’s Almanac, is
calling for a “numbingly cold winter.” A frigid forecast bodes well for
snowmaking – which also got a boost at many major Northeast resorts. And
since the economy is in a downturn, and the stock market went downhill, ski
resorts are busting out deals to get you to do the same.
Here is a look around New England at upgrades to uphill capacity and tweaks
to terrain at your favorite downhill resorts.
Sunday River has a much-chatted
about “Chondola.” This hybrid 8-passenger gondola interspersed with
six-passenger chairs (sharing the same high-speed cable) creates one swift,
sophisticated lift from South Ridge to North Peak and allows night
skiing. Boyne Resorts, who bought Loon, Sunday River and Sugarloaf in 2007, has upgraded snowmaking at both Maine resorts with a goal of opening
first and closing last in the New England.
Maine’s Saddleback
now offers a summit quad
chair to the revered mountaintop.
Skiers and riders love the 4,120’ summit, offering
phenomenal views of Rangeley Lake and a 3 ½ mile run down this classic Maine
mountain. Two new black diamond trails, Casablanca and Family Secret, have
been added to Saddleback’s summit terrain. The Berry family continues
to make modest improvements like the beautiful post and beam base lodge. Enticed yet? How do
$49 lift tickets sound at this up and coming Maine area?
In Vermont, Killington celebrated its
50th season with a new Skye Peak Express Quad in 2008, improving access from Bear Peak to Skye Peak by replacing the fixed grip.
A Burton inspired all-natural Terrain Park called “The Stash” has been a huge “hit” with free skiers and riders like its Northstar at Tahoe prototype.
The Big-K, eastern North America’s largest ski resort, continues to please a
plethora of skiers under Powdr’s management.
Stowe flaunts a swank new Spruce Base Camp, part
of the 15-year, $400-million expansion – which marked the end of AIG’s spending frenzy.
Spruce Peak's new
base lodge and pedestrian village anchored by the posh Stowe Mountain Lodge
are worth a stay. Stowe’s venerable terrain on Mansfield and
Spruce is always worth a ski.
Neighboring
Smugglers’ Notch
continues to add
glades to their family friendly scene.
Stratton has added six glade trails to their map.
Okemo opens the last two trails of Jackson Gore,
Rolling Thunder and White Lightening will add eight new acres of steep
skiing and bring Okemo’s acreage to 632 (second only to Killington, The
Beast of the East boasts 1,001 acres).
Mount Snow is now fan gun capital of
North America, with the installation of 156 fan guns, they should blow some
serious snow. Mount Snow is taking the Terrain Park concept to a new level
by dedicating Carinthia Mountain entirely as a freeskier and freerider zone
with jumps, rails and pipes.
Bolton Valley, under new local
ownership as of 2007, continues to increase snowmaking as will southern
Vermont’s Bromley. Bolton now sports an energy producing Wind Turbine too -
like Wachusett and Jiminy Peak, Massachussett's ski areas
Mad River Glen, in the mountain co-op’s ever stingy management, has
renovated bathrooms. Still no fancy quads or snowboarders welcome here. Last
season was a huge capital expenditure at MRG ($1.5 mill) as they revamped
the revered single chair.
Sugarbush offers
cat-skiing early mornings, and in late March after Mount Ellen - the western
side of the two peak resort closes (Lincoln Peak stays open until
mid-April). Their luxurious piston bully cat cab is also used during the winter to bring diners to Allyn’s mid-mountain lodge for
moonlit dinners, not just for New England’s only cat-skiing. Sugarbush’s Lincoln Peak continues its slopeside development.
In 2007
the Clay Brook Inn opened, development of Lincoln Peak Village
continues.
Jay Peak was sold by Canadian Mont Saint Sauveur conglomerate to long time
resort president Bill Stenger. The new Hotel, The Tram Haus Lodge at the Tram base
debuts and Stateside lift upgrades loom in the future.
In New Hampshire, Loon’s South Peak
expansion opened in 2007 with two new quads and three trails. The momentum
continued as Loon debuted its first-ever double black
diamond “Rip Saw” along with intermediate “Escape Route” bringing 14 more
acres to the mix, with great views of downtown Lincoln. Loon also beefs up
snowmaking with 70 new guns from parent company Boyne. Loon, Sunday River,
and Sugarloaf (all Boyne sister resorts now) are part of The New England
Pass. It’s not quite the variety of the All East 7 ski area pass of the
past, but this trio is a decent deal to ski Maine and New Hampshire.
Cranmore added four new trails. Cannon is
opening five glades to the upper mountain, plus a family friendly glade and
trail in the Tuckerbrook area.
Crotched has expanded its base lodge and added a new Solstice glade. Mount
Sunapee, Pats Peak and Wildcat all improved their snowmaking with new
energy-efficient guns. Waterville Valley gets a 25% boost in snowmaking
power, and adds new rails and boxes to its Exhibition Terrain Park.
At Bretton Woods, The Mount Washington
Hotel revealed a $50 million facelift in 2009- a new 25,000 sq. ft. Presidential Spa
opens this winter. Bretton Woods continues to be NH’s largest ski resort
with 434 acres of alpine skiing on 101 trails, and now there is pampering
with a panorama for the non-skier in your posse.
I suggest you sign up for “snow mail” from your favorite ski resorts. These
frequent ski- emails alert you to significant snowfall, special events and
last minute deals. The travel trend is to wait and book last minute, so
check the forecast and surf around to find the deepest snow and the best
vertical value.
Maine | New Hampshire | Vermont | Rockies | Sun & Sea Travel
