Big Squaw Mountain (Maine) update for enquiring minds who want to know

Finally, a follow-up on Big Squaw Mountain in the Bangor Daily. Basically confirms the scuttlebutt that I had heard. Such a bummer.

Big Squaw Mt. upgrade stalls, spurs concern

Friday, December 16, 2005

BIG MOOSE TOWNSHIP - An ambitious plan by the owner of Big Squaw Mountain Resort and Ski Area to upgrade the facility seems to have stalled, much to the dismay of Moosehead Lake region businesses and winter enthusiasts.

While James and Karen Confalone of Florida have made extensive repairs and improvements to the resort and the ski area's snow-making equipment since they purchased the facility in the mid-1990s, the resort has yet to be turned into the "first-class" place that James Confalone promised.

In fact, skiers and local officials weren't even sure the resort and ski area would be open this winter.

The Moosehead Region Chamber of Commerce, which fields calls and e-mails asking about the mountain, learned only recently that it would be open this winter on a limited basis and that the upper mountain would be closed.

"It has been an important part of our economy," Bob Hamer, the Chamber's executive director, said Wednesday.

He called it "disappointing" that the ski trails at the top of the mountain would be off-limits again this year. He said the Chamber routinely checks with officials at the mountain and had received a couple of different scenarios in recent months about the mountain's operation, the first of which was that the resort and mountain would not be open.

William Charles, resort manager, confirmed this week that the resort and the lower mountain and its chairlift will be operational on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, starting Dec. 23, and on holidays and vacation weeks. He said he was unsure if the restaurant at the resort would open, and he had no comment when asked about the status of the upper mountain.

Some local officials say that Confalone, with help from Rodney Folsom, is concentrating his efforts on a plan to develop Squaw Bay, Moose Island and Mount View Pond, rather than the mountain. This land, which Confalone owns, lies in unorganized territory.

Scott Rollins of the Land Use Regulation Commission said recently that the only document filed thus far with his agency is a forest cutting permit.

Contacted Thursday, Confalone declined to comment on the status of the resort.

Nor has Confalone been willing to share his plans with local officials. Greenville Town Manager John Simko said Confalone has not been forthcoming with any information about the mountain, which is "disappointing." Even though the mountain and resort is outside of the town, what happens there affects the local economy, the town manager said.

Over the years, Confalone has told the media and local officials that he planned to make the ski resort into a facility unlike any other in the state.

"We haven't seen anything of yet," Simko said.

Among Confalone's plans were to create the longest ski trail in the United States that would incorporate a beginners trail at the top of the mountain and to ferry in passengers by air. Confalone announced in 1999 that he had purchased Chalks International Airlines, believed to be the only scheduled seaplane airline in the world and the oldest, so he could offer flights to and from Bangor International Airport as a tie-in with the resort.

While those are ambitious plans, Simko said he would just like to see the ski resort operational.

"We would love to see the mountain come back to even a semblance of what it was like in its heyday," he said.

So would members of the ski patrol, the mountain's ardent fans. Although he said he was "frustrated" that the lift to the top of the mountain would not be operational, Sandy McFarland, head of the volunteer patrol, said Thursday he would continue to dedicate his time to a sport and mountain he loves.

McFarland wrote a successful $25,000 grant from the Tabitha and Stephen King Foundation in recent years to purchase a new rescue snowsled and a new warming hut for the mountain. With the lift to the top not in operation, McFarland said he has been unable to get the hut assembled.

"I'm embarrassed about it," he said, of not having the hut in place. Water ran through the roof of the old warming hut which has since been razed, according to McFarland. Once the lift is operational, McFarland said the hut would be in place at the top of the mountain.

"We have masons on the patrol, we have pipe fitters, we've got a plethora of people with skills that want to jump in to do it," he said.

Dave Bouchard, another member of the ski patrol, said he hopes that Confalone will continue his work to improve the mountain. "It saddens me that we have such a beautiful recreational resource as Squaw Mountain and not be able to take advantage of it," Bouchard said.

Simko agreed. "Both as manager and as a longtime resident of this area growing up, you know, I know what the potential of the mountain is and a lot of the longtime residents know that potential, when realized, is great," he said.

"The Fermata study and a bunch of other studies all point to the need to have something like Squaw Mountain developed, so I think there are a lot of willing partners out there, but the owner has not reached out for help from the town, county or state," Simko said.

Simko said that if the mountain's potential were realized, it could "only enhance our wintertime economy and we would love to see that happen."

"Unfortunately, our hands are tied unless the private owner wishes to make an investment."

Skifastsailfast said:

Over the years, Confalone has told the media and local officials that he planned to make the ski resort into a facility unlike any other in the state.

Click to expand...

Seemingly...he's accomplished that. The only resort to my knowledge in the state...or even the country.....systematicly making things worse instead of better :lol: Thanks for the update :beer:

....

"a facility unlike any other in the state"...
..sounds like a little use of some mind-altering substances...

One more tidbit about Big Squaw's owner

DUnno how closely you follow the news, but here's an interesting tidbit about the owner of Big Squaw. You might have heard a week or two ago about a float plane bound from Miami to Bimini that crashed into the water just after takeoff. Guess who's the owner of that plane and the service it operated under? None other than Mr. James Confalone himself! He bought Chalk Ocean Airways in a bankruptcy sale back in 1999. So it's not just his chairs that fall from the sky.

Turns out that like Big Squaw, Chalk's has been hemmoraging money for years. Interesting how someone can operate two businesses at such huge losses and still maintain that lifestyle, doncha think?

Google news Chalk or Confalone for more dirt.

In any event, it'll be intersting to see what the NTSB investigation uncovers about the maintenance of the planes (they've already found a stress crack at one of the wings). Surely there will be lawsuits, and we can only watch and see how Mr. Confalone comes out of this financially and whether he might be forced to sell Big Squaw to keep his head above water. We can only hope.

Well, at least they have Plum Creek to fall back on. :wink:

The thing is, a rebirth of Big Squaw could potentially mesh nicely with development proposed by Plum Creek. The Plum Creek development could draw enough people to the area to make Big Squaw more viable, provided everything is done right.

former double post

Skifastsailfast said:

The thing is, a rebirth of Big Squaw could potentially mesh nicely with development proposed by Plum Creek. The Plum Creek development could draw enough people to the area to make Big Squaw more viable, provided everything is done right.

Click to expand...

Ya got that right! The Greenville/Moosehead region could be the next big thing in recreation developement in New England if the Plum Creek developement happens.

Bob, Plum Creek, based in Seattle, WA is one of the largest, some sources say the largest, private timberland owners in the nation and it has started the permit process to develop about 9,000 acres of a 426,000-acre parcel in the Moosehead Lake region unorganized territory, creating three campgrounds, about 1,000 residential lots, sporting camps and a resort.

..........

I just hope a well-conducted investigation of the crash will happen, with any findings being released..instead of being hushed up.

OMG ....I was totally wondering if that was him as I think it was you who mentioned in an earlier post that he had bought the only scheduled sea plane op in existence. Not hard to figure out what happend...It was a 60 year old plane...retrofitted with high power engines that the plane was never designed to have...then it was loaded up with what I think were a bunch of adults you would find at a southern KFC (judging from the interviews) which would make the avg passenger weight way over the 180 lb avg and their Christmas wares (ever notice how those same southern KFC people are always the ones holding up the line refusing to pay for having WAY too much luggage ?!!?) = the wing tore itself right off the plane trying to get lift with it's powerfull engine.

And let the lawsuits begin

He had $50 mil in insurance and up to 20 families want a piece. Let the games begin.

I wonder if Atty Ruiz would be intrested in my photos of the misaligned sheave trains, crumbling lift tower foundations, and the guillotine window above the entrance to the Big Squaw lower lodge? It speaks to his pattern of neglect for infrastructure....

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/lo...0103,0,3203368.story?coll=sfla-home-headlines

Re: And let the lawsuits begin

Skifastsailfast said:

He had $50 mil in insurance and up to 20 families want a piece. Let the games begin.

I wonder if Atty Ruiz would be intrested in my photos of the misaligned sheave trains, crumbling lift tower foundations, and the guillotine window above the entrance to the Big Squaw lower lodge? It speaks to his pattern of neglect for infrastructure....

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/lo...0103,0,3203368.story?coll=sfla-home-headlines

Click to expand...

Naaaaaaaaaw........the woman in white looks nothing like the KFC people I suspected would be weighing down the plane :wink: .. :lol: Would you like your Family bucket supersized ?

Okay here's the latest on the Chalk's Ocean Air/Big Squaw connection... and there actually is a connection here. From the Miami Herald (they even used my heyday phrase!). I've bolded the stuff pertinent to Big Squaw.

Confalone refuses to let troubled Chalk’s fade away

BY AMY MARTINEZ

Jim Confalone went to his lawyer’s office high above Biscayne Bay and asked for help buying a seaplane company then called Chalk’s International Airlines. The historic Miami company had fallen into bankruptcy, and Confalone, a former pilot, wanted it.

But on that day in 1999, lawyer John Sumberg told Confalone that he didn’t think it made any sense. Chalk’s had been losing money for years, Sumberg said, and would need a major cash infusion to become fully operational again.

Sumberg still recalls Confalone’s determination. “He said, ‘I’ve been very fortunate in my life, in this community, and I want to give something back,”” Sumberg recounted recently.

Chalk’s picturesque seaplanes that take off from a watery base had long been entwined with South Florida lore: They ferried rumrunners to the Bahamas during Prohibition and later were featured in the 1980s TV series Miami Vice.

He “just felt very strongly about Chalk’s not ending,” said Sumberg.

Confalone later bought the seaplane company out of bankruptcy for $925,000 and renamed it Chalk’s Ocean Airways.

Now, Confalone, who’s known to be an intensely private man, is being thrust into the public spotlight. A Chalk’s seaplane bound for Bimini crashed six days before Christmas after taking off from Watson Island, killing all 20 people aboard.

Last week, investigators said they had found “fatigue cracks” on both wings of the 58-year-old Grumman Mallard. Chalk’s four other planes remain grounded by the Federal Aviation Administration. And families of victims have filed two lawsuits accusing Chalk’s of improper maintenance.

Sumberg, who spoke with Confalone after the crash, described him as “anguished,” yet hopeful that Chalk’s would resume operations. “These are the kinds of things that you hope you get past,” Sumberg said.

Although Confalone spoke with The Miami Herald shortly after the crash, he declined requests for an interview twice in the past three weeks and is spending much of his time in his native New England, where he owns a ski resort. His general manager at Chalk’s, Roger Nair, did not return phone calls seeking comment.

“I don’t have the time to be sitting around talking about myself,” Confalone, 63, said in a brief phone conversation. “I have a great deal more important issues to be resolving.”

Indeed, he has already seen Chalk’s through the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks on New York and Washington and the subsequent drop-off in air traffic, skyrocketing fuel costs, and two unusually active hurricane seasons.

Although he told The Miami Herald in 1999 that the seaplane business was perfect for him—“I love boats and I love airplanes, and it’s the perfect combination: a flying boat”—it has been anything but smooth sailing since he acquired the airline that was founded in 1919 by Arthur Burns “Pappy” Chalk, an auto mechanic from Paducah, Ky.

Profitability remained elusive even as Chalk’s flights became popular with South Florida tourists who enjoyed the Bahamas’ sporting life and casinos.

Chalk’s reported a loss of $310,000 in the last six months of 2002, the most recent year that the private airline had to reveal its finances to the Department of Transportation.

The airline, which has shifted most of its operations from Miami’s Watson Island to Fort Lauderdale where it is now based, lost a total of $1.5 million in 2001 and 2002, according to records that it filed with the city of Miami.

Confalone had been trying to sell the bulk of Chalk’s operations since at least February 2004, when he entered into an agreement with Edward “Ned” Homfeld, founder of Spirit Airlines, to turn over the Fort Lauderdale assets for $4.4 million. Homfeld backed out, and Confalone filed a lawsuit in Miami-Dade Circuit Court in December 2004.

Homfeld countered with his own lawsuit seven months ago. He claims in his suit that he was justified in not carrying through on the deal because Chalk’s had “completely ignored good business practices and caused the operation to severely deteriorate.”

Geoffrey Travis, a Miami lawyer representing Homfeld, said he stands by the suit’s claims but declined to elaborate.

Robert Frankel, a lawyer for Chalk’s, called the claims “frivolous” and “retaliatory.”

Confalone once talked about expanding the Chalk’s fleet to 18 planes and adding entertainment, such as one-hour sightseeing tours of Miami Beach and Coconut Grove.

But none of that ever happened.

LITTLE KNOWN

Though Confalone has owned businesses in Miami for decades, there is still an air of mystery about him.

He has been described as a self-made millionaire whose Italian immigrant family was the poorest in Melrose, Mass. In a Herald article in 2000, he said he wanted to make up for a misspent youth, when he flunked his sophomore year of high school—twice—before going on to graduate. He got his aviation mechanic and pilot’s license at a vocational school, then joined the Naval Reserves.

He moved to Miami in 1965 to work as a pilot for Eastern Airlines. His career ended with Eastern’s demise in 1991, but Confalone already had begun trading in real estate.

He found a mentor in the late Charles “Bebe” Rebozo, the famous friend of President Richard Nixon and boss at Key Biscayne Bank. They met through Rebozo’s late sister, Herminia “Mini” O’Brien, who handled the lease for The Bug House, a Miami car dealership that Confalone owned in the 1970s.

By 2000, Confalone oversaw almost a dozen business ventures between Florida and Maine, including The Car Wash and The Oil Change, both near Miami’s busy intersection of U.S. 1 and Bird Road. He has since sold all ventures except for Chalk’s, the ski resort and any related businesses.

A search of public records shows that Confalone also has sold four homes in Miami for a total of $6.5 million since 2002. His mail goes to a post-office box in Rye Beach, N.H.

LOOKING TO BUY

Sumberg said Confalone rents a home in Miami and is looking for one to buy. He and his wife Karen, 49, have a young daughter.

“He indicated to me that he was selling quite a number of his enterprises here in South Florida and was relocating to a resort in Maine,” said Vernon Gray, manager of Okeechobee County Airport, where Confalone last year sold a hangar, terminal and fuel farm for more than $1.2 million.

Confalone also had big plans for Big Squaw Mountain Resort and Ski Area in Greenville, a small town in western Maine. He promised to make it “first-class” and talked about using Chalk’s as a tie-in, with flights to and from Bangor International Airport.

But in the winter of 2004, tragedy also struck the ski resort when two skiers were injured in a chairlift accident.

Greenville’s boosters lament that the resort is no longer fully operational. Skiing is allowed only on weekends, and just on the lower part of Big Squaw Mountain.

“The community is disappointed that he hasn’t spent more time here and that he hasn’t concentrated on rebuilding the resort,” said Bob Hamer, executive director of the Moosehead Region Chamber of Commerce. The chamber covers Big Squaw but does not have it as a member.

“At one time, it was the largest employer in our region. Now, it has a handful of employees, at best,” Hamer said.

RESORT DETERIORATES

Confalone bought the resort in the mid-1990s on the verge of its third bankruptcy. Already, it had deteriorated from its heyday during the 1980s. Any restoration that might have been underway came to a halt with the chairlift accident.

The two skiers were in their chair when it slid backward, crashed into another chair and broke from the lift, sending them 15 feet to the ground. One skier was taken to a nearby hospital with back pain. The other reported an arm injury.

The cause of the accident remains under investigation by Maine’s Office of Licensing and Registration. Anne Head, who oversees that office, said the wire rope from which the chair hung had “some fraying.” She said the lift no longer is being used.

“The mountain is not in good shape,” said Greenville Manager John Simko, also an emergency medical technician who responded to the accident. “People were hurt, but it could have been worse.”

QUESTIONS REMAIN

Simko said residents are left to wonder whether Confalone lacks the money or desire for restoring the resort. “I’ve been here five years, and I’ve never met the man,” he said.

Andrew Shasha, a 48-year-old entrepreneur from Riverside, Conn., met Confalone when they became neighbors 15 years ago on Mooring Way in Coconut Grove.

Shasha’s Seaplane Adventures bought the Grumman Mallards that Chalk’s had been flying for an undisclosed amount last year. Chalk’s continued to operate the planes under an agreement with Seaplane Adventures until the crash led to the fleet’s grounding.

Shasha said Confalone remains a ‘very good friend’ and his name appears on Big Squaw’s website where he’s identified as a “world traveler.” He praises the resort on the website as “prehistoric and untouched.”

“I have the utmost respect for Jim. He’s an honest man and a disciplined man,” Shasha said. “I’d put my hands in the fire for him.”

Miami Herald staff reporters Ina Paiva Cordle, Scott Hiaasen and Monika Leal contributed to this story.

Hee Hee....You really have your teeth sunk into this :beer: