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Burke Announces HSQ and Other Improvements

Masskier

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BURKE MOUNTAIN INVESTS IN ON- AND OFF- MOUNTAIN EXPERIENCE FOR 2011-12 WINTER SEASON AS FIRST PHASE OF MULTI- YEAR IMPROVEMENT PLAN

New High-Speed Quad, 10 Acres of Expanded Terrain and Wind Turbine Sustain Genuine, Authentic Vermont Mountain Experience

EAST BURKE, VERMONT (Sept. 7, 2011) – Reinforcing its commitment to provide skiers and riders with an authentic Vermont experience, Burke Mountain today announced a number of enhancements for the upcoming season as part of a multi- year improvement plan that will eventually include several low-density residential communities. Scheduled to open in mid December, Burke is adding a high- speed detachable quad and five new trails and glades for intermediates and experts, including a terrain park trail. In addition, a wind tower, which started producing power at the end of August, will help offset approximately 15%-20% of the resort’s power needs with renewable energy.
The new “Mid Burke Express” lift, from Leitner-Poma North America, reaches the summit seven minutes faster than the existing Willoughby Quad. It gives skiers and riders faster access to the upper mountain’s terrain, making the entire mountain’s 2,011 feet of vertical accessible by high-speed quads.
”Collectively, these on-mountain additions enrich the truly unique experience not found at any other Vermont resort,” said Tim McGuire, general manager and vice president of development.
“This is the first part of our plan to re-energize Burke. Over the next few months, we look forward to sharing our thoughts and additional plans with our friends in the greater Burke community. The new lift and additional terrain only add to the appeal of this very special place.”
The wind tower, designed by Vermont based Northern Power Systems, is anticipated to produce about 300,000 kW hours per year (approximately the same amount consumed by the new lift annually). “This exemplifies our strong commitment to sensible operations while reducing Burke’s impacts on the environment. In addition to the wind turbine, Burke has committed to a number of programs over the past several years including: resort wide recycling, composting of food waste, a green product purchase program, use of locally- grown foods, waste oil reuse, and ongoing internal energy audits and retrofits,” McGuire continued.
The new trails and glades include: Upper Lift Line (intermediate), Rerun (expert), Upper Power Line (expert), Lower Power Line (expert) and Jester (a terrain park trail).

About Burke Mountain: Located in the heart of Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom, Burke, with over 260 acres of skiing and riding, has an elevation of 3267 ft., over 2011 ft. of vertical, and 50 natural trails including over 110 acres of glades. As the primary training and race facility to over 50 ski Olympians, Burke is home to Burke Mountain Academy, an internationally acclaimed ski- focused boarding school offering a college preparatory curriculum, sending many students to compete in the Olympics and other national and international competitions.
 

from_the_NEK

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Kinda lame with the trail naming (exceptions to Rerun and Jester).
And I guess that answers the question about the powerline being officially on the map. I wonder if that will include the "lowest" section that drops out onto the east bowl runout.
 

thetrailboss

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Some more thoughts here. We're pretty harsh critics, me included, but I think this was a missed opportunity. Granted that there were problems and the timing was uncertain, but for the last six weeks or so it has been *pretty* clear to all locals and anyone who drove up there what was going on. Sugarloaf and Mount Snow have been pushing their PR all summer for their new lifts and creating a buzz. Now a lot of folks aren't paying attention to skiing, but Burke is an emerging four-season resort that all of the sudden has something going in the summer thanks to the wildly successful Kingdom Trails. They have had lift served skiing all summer. Why not crossmarket to those folks and say, "hey, come up, go biking, visit us, and watch us grow? Why not stop by and purchase some pre-season ski tickets?" I bet it would have worked because a lot of serious bikers are skiers. It would have been better than nothing.

We've all watched many regimes come and go and they were all underfunded but equally as ambitious. This is a serious move for Burke and shows that the ownership is very serious about this mountain. Everyone, both inside and just outside the mountain, has confirmed that this ownership has some deep pockets and are in it for the long haul. So I don't think that by putting out an earlier PR Campaign would have hurt them at all.
 

thetrailboss

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Not really much for new trails, though, right? Liftline is a duh. Powerline was already there if not on the map. Not sure what Rerun is but I am sure I skied it, lol. Is Jester really a new trail or is that just a rename?

Good point. They should have had Powerline named a long time ago....
 

from_the_NEK

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Not really much for new trails, though, right? Liftline is a duh. Powerline was already there if not on the map. Not sure what Rerun is but I am sure I skied it, lol. Is Jester really a new trail or is that just a rename?

Here's my take on the location of the new trails:

Upper Lift Line = The new lift line from the Summit terminal down to the last Toll Road (Deer Run) crossing above the top Poma station.

Rerun = the section of the new lift line from the top of the Poma down to the bottom (or what you can see from the mid-lodge). This was one of the names for the glade that was between Warren's Way and Doug's Drop.
DSC01362.jpg


Upper Power Line = East Bowl Traverse to Wilderness.

Lower Power Line = Powderhorm to the Pavilion (complete with two sketchy Deer Run crossings)

Jester = the newest lower mountain MTB trail turned mini terrain park for the winter? I'm not sure they can follow the MTB trail exactly since it weaves across several of the lower mountain ski trails. Woodcore's been on it with a bike :)

http://forums.alpinezone.com/showthread.php?t=99514
 
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frapcap

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LOVE this mountain. I usually go with some long-time locals who "skied it long before the trails were cut wide." As a result, they know a ton of the in, outs, nooks, and crannies. There are a ton of unnamed glades there (at least I didn't see a name. Also agree with everyone here- powerline should have been a run a while ago.
 

from_the_NEK

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LOVE this mountain. I usually go with some long-time locals who "skied it long before the trails were cut wide." As a result, they know a ton of the in, outs, nooks, and crannies. There are a ton of unnamed glades there (at least I didn't see a name. Also agree with everyone here- powerline should have been a run a while ago.

The powerline was so low that I don't think they could make it an official run. I had to duck under the line in many places and it only got worse as the snow got deeper.
This summer the line was completely brushed out and the old poles (some of which were just untreated old delimbed logs) were removed and replaced with new taller real utility poles. Some of the old poles were apparently completely rotted off and were being held up by the tension of the power line :-D. As pointed out by Trailboss, the new poles were done to suppport the new power line that is connected to the wind tower. Last time I went to the summit of the Mtn in August the new poles were not set. Hopefully I will get up there this weekend and I will check it out (and take some pics).
 

thetrailboss

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The powerline was so low that I don't think they could make it an official run. I had to duck under the line in many places and it only got worse as the snow got deeper.
This summer the line was completely brushed out and the old poles (some of which were just untreated old delimbed logs) were removed and replaced with new taller real utility poles. Some of the old poles were apparently completely rotted off and were being held up by the tension of the power line :-D. As pointed out by Trailboss, the new poles were done to suppport the new power line that is connected to the wind tower. Last time I went to the summit of the Mtn in August the new poles were not set. Hopefully I will get up there this weekend and I will check it out (and take some pics).

And IIRC the line ROW was owned/leased by Lyndonville Electric, who might not have liked folks skiing underneath it for liability reasons.
 

Zand

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I actually kinda liked Powerline being off the map... always a better option for hitting the glades in the bowl than Sasquatch. The new liftline will be fun though... should be a longer steep pitch than Fox's and easier to open with less rocks.
 
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