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What's up with Maple Valley?
- Thread starter Ski Diva
- Start date
marcski
Active member
- Joined
- Jan 10, 2005
- Messages
- 4,576
- Points
- 36
That is a Hall double, if I'm not mistaken. Some work and I bet that lift would keep going and going and going....
Not to piss on the parade, but that is a real shi&&y paint job and makes it look pretty bad. And, IIRC, someone in here who went up close and looked at it observed that they were dumb enough to paint moving components such that it now won't operate.
whoever painted it was real dumb, they painted over the gauges and everything. it was obviously for selling purposes, the paint on the chairs is already flaking off. i realize getting this place going would need LOTS if work, but it's still there. has summer potential, also.
i'm not liking this rumor, would be a huge setback to making this a ski mtn again.
The lifts will run. Most of the chairs were pulled off last year. IIRC, they ran an ultrasound test on the haul ropes to see if they would pass muster. I "think" one may need to be replaced.
Wonder if they'd be open to "shares"...similar to what MRG and Magic have done...
Wonder if they'd be open to "shares"...similar to what MRG and Magic have done...
Last edited:
As much as I'd love to see this mountain reopen (or any NELSAP mountain), I don't think there's a very big chance that it will ever be a ski area again.
Sounds like there's water rights issues as well as issues with locals/town officials. Neither one will be very easy to overcome. Not to mention all of the maintenance issues from years of everything sitting idle.
If I won the lotto I'd buy it just to use as my own personal playground... :lol:
Sounds like there's water rights issues as well as issues with locals/town officials. Neither one will be very easy to overcome. Not to mention all of the maintenance issues from years of everything sitting idle.
If I won the lotto I'd buy it just to use as my own personal playground... :lol:
Maybe the Development Review Board will be more open to the proposal this time around:
http://www.reformer.com/ci_23059177...ADID=Search-www.reformer.com-www.reformer.com
Friday April 19, 2013
DUMMERSTON -- Once again, there is a proposal to transform the shuttered
Maple Valley Ski Area into a busy, year-round resort.
A Dummerston Development Review Board hearing is scheduled for 7 p.m. on
April 23 at the town office for review of an application by Stamford,
Conn.-based MVS Associates.
The resort's owners detail a long list of potential uses on their application
and on their website, which says the Route 30 parcel "is ideal to be a
multiseasonal facility with skiing, banquets, business meetings and concerts."
Administrators say Maple Valley last was leased in 1999/2000.
This is MVS Associates' second application to reopen the 384-acre property.
In 2011, MVS representative Nicholas Mercede submitted a similar plan. But the
review board at that time declined to address that plan without more specifics,
with one member reportedly labeling some concepts as "pie in the sky." Board
members also asked MVS to address residents' concerns including noise from
snow-making pumps and light pollution from night skiing.
MVS later withdrew its application.
While company representatives could not immediately be reached for comment on
Thursday, an application filed with the town lists MVS as the owner and includes
a cover letter from Nicholas Mercede.
The company seeks a conditional-use permit to "resume use of property as a
four-season recreational area." Potential activities are listed in the
application by season
and by other categories:
-- Winter: Skiing (including cross-country skiing) snowboarding and
snowman/ice sculpture contests and events.
-- Spring: Mountain biking, hiking, maple syrup production and
outdoor-leadership skills training.
-- Summer: Soapbox race course, paint ball, unicycle events and a circus or
circus camp.
-- Fall: Foliage viewing, Halloween events and archery camps.
-- Special events: Therapeutic adventure programs, corporate-challenge and
training programs, hall rentals for conferences and "charity event days."
-- Community events: Antique car shows, wedding symposiums, dances, movies
(for Dummerston residents only), book/tag sale opportunity days, dinner theater
and storytelling festivals.
-- Other financial opportunities: Bicycle repair, outdoor-clothing repair,
ski sharpening and teaming with local entrepreneurs/businesses/camps.
Additionally, the application includes an engineering report saying cables on
both of the resort's chairlifts "are satisfactory for continued use."
The resort also remains up for sale, offered by Frank Mercede & Sons.
That company shares the MVS Associates address in Stamford.
A website, www.maplevalleyski.com, encourages
prospective buyers to "purchase a piece of Vermont history" and says the resort
is "a prime investment property with great possibilities and the full support of
the local community, which grew up skiing there."
The site includes information on the resort's three-story, 16,000-square-foot
base lodge; two chair lifts and a T-bar; snow-making equipment; and lighting for
night skiing.
"The front of the lodge is highly visible from Vermont Route 30, making it
advertise itself," the site says. "Route 30 is one of the state's busiest
highways and is the main route between Interstate 91 and the West River Valley
and Stratton another 45 minutes' drive to the north."
Mike Faher can be reached at mfaher@reformer.com or 802-254-2311, ext.
275.
Copyright 2012 Brattleboro Reformer. All rights
reserved.
http://www.reformer.com/ci_23059177...ADID=Search-www.reformer.com-www.reformer.com
Friday April 19, 2013
DUMMERSTON -- Once again, there is a proposal to transform the shuttered
Maple Valley Ski Area into a busy, year-round resort.
A Dummerston Development Review Board hearing is scheduled for 7 p.m. on
April 23 at the town office for review of an application by Stamford,
Conn.-based MVS Associates.
The resort's owners detail a long list of potential uses on their application
and on their website, which says the Route 30 parcel "is ideal to be a
multiseasonal facility with skiing, banquets, business meetings and concerts."
Administrators say Maple Valley last was leased in 1999/2000.
This is MVS Associates' second application to reopen the 384-acre property.
In 2011, MVS representative Nicholas Mercede submitted a similar plan. But the
review board at that time declined to address that plan without more specifics,
with one member reportedly labeling some concepts as "pie in the sky." Board
members also asked MVS to address residents' concerns including noise from
snow-making pumps and light pollution from night skiing.
MVS later withdrew its application.
While company representatives could not immediately be reached for comment on
Thursday, an application filed with the town lists MVS as the owner and includes
a cover letter from Nicholas Mercede.
The company seeks a conditional-use permit to "resume use of property as a
four-season recreational area." Potential activities are listed in the
application by season
and by other categories:
-- Winter: Skiing (including cross-country skiing) snowboarding and
snowman/ice sculpture contests and events.
-- Spring: Mountain biking, hiking, maple syrup production and
outdoor-leadership skills training.
-- Summer: Soapbox race course, paint ball, unicycle events and a circus or
circus camp.
-- Fall: Foliage viewing, Halloween events and archery camps.
-- Special events: Therapeutic adventure programs, corporate-challenge and
training programs, hall rentals for conferences and "charity event days."
-- Community events: Antique car shows, wedding symposiums, dances, movies
(for Dummerston residents only), book/tag sale opportunity days, dinner theater
and storytelling festivals.
-- Other financial opportunities: Bicycle repair, outdoor-clothing repair,
ski sharpening and teaming with local entrepreneurs/businesses/camps.
Additionally, the application includes an engineering report saying cables on
both of the resort's chairlifts "are satisfactory for continued use."
The resort also remains up for sale, offered by Frank Mercede & Sons.
That company shares the MVS Associates address in Stamford.
A website, www.maplevalleyski.com, encourages
prospective buyers to "purchase a piece of Vermont history" and says the resort
is "a prime investment property with great possibilities and the full support of
the local community, which grew up skiing there."
The site includes information on the resort's three-story, 16,000-square-foot
base lodge; two chair lifts and a T-bar; snow-making equipment; and lighting for
night skiing.
"The front of the lodge is highly visible from Vermont Route 30, making it
advertise itself," the site says. "Route 30 is one of the state's busiest
highways and is the main route between Interstate 91 and the West River Valley
and Stratton another 45 minutes' drive to the north."
Mike Faher can be reached at mfaher@reformer.com or 802-254-2311, ext.
275.
reserved.
SIKSKIER
New member
Not sure I've seen any ski resorts have these activities on their summer list.
-- Summer: Soapbox race course, unicycle events and a circus or
circus camp.
-- Summer: Soapbox race course, unicycle events and a circus or
circus camp.
yeah, kind of a weird demographic they're trying to capture with the summer and fall activities.
drjeff
Well-known member
If you've ever seen some of the summer crowd that hangs out at the West River access point across the street and both just West and East of Maple Valley along the side of Route 30, you'd readily agree that there's already a decent amount of a "weird" demographic there! :lol:
These kind of odd activities sounds eerily like Tenney's last attempt...
To Jeff's point...I've gone tubing down that stretch of the West River. Something can never be "unseen".
Well, looks like the town wants more information and specifics...yet again.
http://www.reformer.com/ci_23101684/weighing-about-maple-valley-plans?source=most_viewed
Thursday April 25, 2013
DUMMERSTON -- Facing residents' concerns and town officials' questions, the
owner of the shuttered Maple Valley Ski Area says he will modify his proposal in
an attempt to reopen at least part of the resort.
Nicholas Mercede of Stamford, Conn.-based MVS Associates agreed on Tuesday to
first seek approval to hold special events at the resort -- a request that
Dummerston Development Review Board members thought they could more easily
process.
But Mercede also said he will continue to pursue a permit for skiing on the
mountain, saying that is critically important to his ongoing efforts to sell the
384-acre property on Route 30.
"If someone wanted to buy it, they want to know whether it can be used to ski
on," Mercede said. "That's the big important thing. That's the value of the
property."
There has been no skiing at Maple Valley for more than a decade. MVS's
application, filed in March, seeks the town's permission to operate a
"four-season recreation area" there.
In addition to skiing, the company proposes a long list of possible
activities including mountain biking, hiking, paint ball, foliage viewing,
archery camps, antique car shows, dances and movies.
"The application is to revitalize what we had there before. It's as simple as
that," Mercede told review board members on Tuesday.
The company filed a similar application in 2011. At the time, the Development
Review Board declined to address it without more
Advertisement
)&t=blank&al=(as$12nrk5h42,aid$3MWwKEwNjek-,bi$1734215551,cr$3340507551,ct$25,at$0))
specifics.
Board member Lew Sorenson had a similar reaction at the outset of MVS'
hearing Tuesday night.
"When we considered a similar application two years ago, I think we explained
then that, for you to get the permit that you were asking for then and are
basically asking for now, it's going to require all the same kind of detail that
a new applicant would need to present," Sorenson said. "That includes detailed
engineering and explanation of what uses go where, and when and how they would
be operated."
Sorenson added that "there isn't the information here that we would need to
grant those permits."
The 2011 Maple Valley deliberations also featured neighbors who had concerns
about light and noise. That was again the case at Tuesday's hearing.
Mary Louise Nelsen of Hague Road recalled that, when Maple Valley was
operating, the resort's lights were so bright that "we could read outside" at
night. She also recalled "throbbing engine noise" from snow-making activities.
"The noise definitely was a substantial impact through the closed windows in
the winter inside the house," Nelsen said.
Judy Placey said she has extensive experience with Maple Valley, having been
a neighbor for four decades. But she said the ski business has changed, as has
the character of her neighborhood.
"This isn't a business community anymore. These are not ski homes anymore.
This is a residential community," Placey said. "People live in these houses. And
these lights affect us, and this noise affects us."
Both she and Nelsen also said they had concerns about a lack of specifics in
the MVS application and about Mercede's intention to sell the resort.
"I am opposed to kind of a theoretical permitting process where somebody else
might come in and have different concepts and put more snow guns on or more
lights on," Placey said.
Others, however, showed up to support MVS' plans. Beverly Kenney, who owns
Brattleboro North KOA campground in East Dummerston, said she wants to see Maple
Valley revived "in a meaningful way" that could also provide an economic boost
to the area.
"I support a project such as this for an obvious reason -- it will fill my
campground and my cottages," Kenney said.
She added that "this area needs an attraction. Dummerston could use the
employment opportunities, especially for the youth."
While Kenney acknowledged that she was not a neighbor of the resort, Art
Benedict is. And the Route 30 resident said he had enjoyed living next to a busy
ski resort.
"The lights were never a problem for me. In fact, it was a selling point for
the house to have a ski area right across the road," Benedict said. "It's very
nice to sit in your dining room at night and watch the skiers coming down the
mountain. And I look forward to the day when this all happens again."
Mercede attempted to address some concerns by offering additional information
at Tuesday's hearing. For instance, he said the resort's lighting would be
modernized.
"We would be restricted to the amount of lights that are there now. We won't
put any more lights in," he said. "And certainly, they're going to be improved
.... Nowadays, the lighting's easy to do."
But Mercede also acknowledged that Maple Valley's snow-making equipment is
obsolete, and he could not answer specific questions about the equipment that
might replace it.
Review board Chairman Jack Lilly said the town requires that type of
information.
"In order for us to really evaluate this, we'd need to know what the sound
levels are for the new snow-making equipment," Lilly said.
Mercede also said he does not yet have a state permit to draw water from the
West River for snow-making. And officials said the Maple Valley plan, along with
Development Review Board approval, also will require a state Act 250 land-use
permit.
As more questions arose later in the hearing, Mercede and his executive
assistant, Shirley Schulz, agreed to split the MVS permit application into two
parts.
While continuing to develop plans for ski operations, they said the company
will seek more immediate approval to rent out the resort's lodge for special
events.
Schulz said the lodge remains in good shape.
"Even though it's not being utilized, it's still being maintained and kept
up," she said.
Sorenson said the company's modified permitting approach would allow the
review board to process the "less theoretical" aspects of the MVS plan first.
"I think we could deal with (rentals and events) rather than trying to issue
a permit for a ski resort the way it was, when some of us may not even have a
good memory of what it was," he said.
At the close of Tuesday's hearing, Lilly said he believed town officials and
Mercede eventually could work through their differences. The review board has up
to 45 days to issue a ruling on MVS' application.
"Maple Valley was a tremendous facility," Lilly said. "Yet, you've heard all
of the comments we've had, and there are concerns and there are real issues that
we need to talk about. But I think we'll get there."
Mike Faher can be reached at mfaher@reformer.com or 802-254-2311, ext.
275.
Copyright 2012 Brattleboro Reformer. All rights
reserved.
Well, looks like the town wants more information and specifics...yet again.
http://www.reformer.com/ci_23101684/weighing-about-maple-valley-plans?source=most_viewed
Thursday April 25, 2013
DUMMERSTON -- Facing residents' concerns and town officials' questions, the
owner of the shuttered Maple Valley Ski Area says he will modify his proposal in
an attempt to reopen at least part of the resort.
Nicholas Mercede of Stamford, Conn.-based MVS Associates agreed on Tuesday to
first seek approval to hold special events at the resort -- a request that
Dummerston Development Review Board members thought they could more easily
process.
But Mercede also said he will continue to pursue a permit for skiing on the
mountain, saying that is critically important to his ongoing efforts to sell the
384-acre property on Route 30.
"If someone wanted to buy it, they want to know whether it can be used to ski
on," Mercede said. "That's the big important thing. That's the value of the
property."
There has been no skiing at Maple Valley for more than a decade. MVS's
application, filed in March, seeks the town's permission to operate a
"four-season recreation area" there.
In addition to skiing, the company proposes a long list of possible
activities including mountain biking, hiking, paint ball, foliage viewing,
archery camps, antique car shows, dances and movies.
"The application is to revitalize what we had there before. It's as simple as
that," Mercede told review board members on Tuesday.
The company filed a similar application in 2011. At the time, the Development
Review Board declined to address it without more
Advertisement
specifics.
Board member Lew Sorenson had a similar reaction at the outset of MVS'
hearing Tuesday night.
"When we considered a similar application two years ago, I think we explained
then that, for you to get the permit that you were asking for then and are
basically asking for now, it's going to require all the same kind of detail that
a new applicant would need to present," Sorenson said. "That includes detailed
engineering and explanation of what uses go where, and when and how they would
be operated."
Sorenson added that "there isn't the information here that we would need to
grant those permits."
The 2011 Maple Valley deliberations also featured neighbors who had concerns
about light and noise. That was again the case at Tuesday's hearing.
Mary Louise Nelsen of Hague Road recalled that, when Maple Valley was
operating, the resort's lights were so bright that "we could read outside" at
night. She also recalled "throbbing engine noise" from snow-making activities.
"The noise definitely was a substantial impact through the closed windows in
the winter inside the house," Nelsen said.
Judy Placey said she has extensive experience with Maple Valley, having been
a neighbor for four decades. But she said the ski business has changed, as has
the character of her neighborhood.
"This isn't a business community anymore. These are not ski homes anymore.
This is a residential community," Placey said. "People live in these houses. And
these lights affect us, and this noise affects us."
Both she and Nelsen also said they had concerns about a lack of specifics in
the MVS application and about Mercede's intention to sell the resort.
"I am opposed to kind of a theoretical permitting process where somebody else
might come in and have different concepts and put more snow guns on or more
lights on," Placey said.
Others, however, showed up to support MVS' plans. Beverly Kenney, who owns
Brattleboro North KOA campground in East Dummerston, said she wants to see Maple
Valley revived "in a meaningful way" that could also provide an economic boost
to the area.
"I support a project such as this for an obvious reason -- it will fill my
campground and my cottages," Kenney said.
She added that "this area needs an attraction. Dummerston could use the
employment opportunities, especially for the youth."
While Kenney acknowledged that she was not a neighbor of the resort, Art
Benedict is. And the Route 30 resident said he had enjoyed living next to a busy
ski resort.
"The lights were never a problem for me. In fact, it was a selling point for
the house to have a ski area right across the road," Benedict said. "It's very
nice to sit in your dining room at night and watch the skiers coming down the
mountain. And I look forward to the day when this all happens again."
Mercede attempted to address some concerns by offering additional information
at Tuesday's hearing. For instance, he said the resort's lighting would be
modernized.
"We would be restricted to the amount of lights that are there now. We won't
put any more lights in," he said. "And certainly, they're going to be improved
.... Nowadays, the lighting's easy to do."
But Mercede also acknowledged that Maple Valley's snow-making equipment is
obsolete, and he could not answer specific questions about the equipment that
might replace it.
Review board Chairman Jack Lilly said the town requires that type of
information.
"In order for us to really evaluate this, we'd need to know what the sound
levels are for the new snow-making equipment," Lilly said.
Mercede also said he does not yet have a state permit to draw water from the
West River for snow-making. And officials said the Maple Valley plan, along with
Development Review Board approval, also will require a state Act 250 land-use
permit.
As more questions arose later in the hearing, Mercede and his executive
assistant, Shirley Schulz, agreed to split the MVS permit application into two
parts.
While continuing to develop plans for ski operations, they said the company
will seek more immediate approval to rent out the resort's lodge for special
events.
Schulz said the lodge remains in good shape.
"Even though it's not being utilized, it's still being maintained and kept
up," she said.
Sorenson said the company's modified permitting approach would allow the
review board to process the "less theoretical" aspects of the MVS plan first.
"I think we could deal with (rentals and events) rather than trying to issue
a permit for a ski resort the way it was, when some of us may not even have a
good memory of what it was," he said.
At the close of Tuesday's hearing, Lilly said he believed town officials and
Mercede eventually could work through their differences. The review board has up
to 45 days to issue a ruling on MVS' application.
"Maple Valley was a tremendous facility," Lilly said. "Yet, you've heard all
of the comments we've had, and there are concerns and there are real issues that
we need to talk about. But I think we'll get there."
Mike Faher can be reached at mfaher@reformer.com or 802-254-2311, ext.
275.
reserved.
Looks like there is finally an asking price- $950,000
https://snowbrains.com/vermont-ski-area-sale-950000/
https://snowbrains.com/vermont-ski-area-sale-950000/
Jully
Active member
The ad reads like it is designed to get some random person off the street who knows nothing about skiing. Weird.
Rowsdower
Member
Not a lot of vert. Very low elevation (peak is under 1000') and pretty far South does not make for a good combo. Not when Mt Snow is a stones throw away. Unless they can cater to a niche market I don't see how you get a place like this going again.
I'm as much a supporter of independently run atmosphere-over-resort-frills mountains as the next guy on here, but they can't all be winners...
Also a big LOL at them advertising having a "fully functional" snowmaking system. For a mountain that closed 17 years ago you'd probably have to replace the entire thing. Even if it did work you'd have to install new high efficiency guns, would you not?
I'm as much a supporter of independently run atmosphere-over-resort-frills mountains as the next guy on here, but they can't all be winners...
Also a big LOL at them advertising having a "fully functional" snowmaking system. For a mountain that closed 17 years ago you'd probably have to replace the entire thing. Even if it did work you'd have to install new high efficiency guns, would you not?
benski
Active member
Killington sometimes used non low-e guns, but without working air pipes, but the energy saving of buying low e guns make it a no brainier.
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