Great find! Would love to see the whole article.
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The "Sugarbush Thread"
- Thread starter thetrailboss
- Start date
Great find! Would love to see the whole article.
Doesn't look like it was going to be much, based on this article.
Thank you!
mbedle
Well-known member
Here is the last of it. I did read a couple of different stories for the development of this area. Some talked a little more about trails and all had stated that a base area was out of the question. 
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benski
Active member
I looked up the plans for slide brook a while ago and saw an earlier description which said there would be many more lifts. I guess they can up with a big plan then scaled it down a few times until they ended up with the one lift they have now.
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DoublePlanker
Member
I remember the old ski or skiing article in the 1980's I think where the plan was laid out to develop all of slide brook. I think the claim was largest ski area in N. America. There were many, many lifts.
DoublePlanker
Member
It looks like they actually got forest service approval at one point.
http://www.nytimes.com/1983/02/20/us/vermont-protest-to-widening-of-ski-area-wins-concession.html
http://www.nytimes.com/1983/02/20/us/vermont-protest-to-widening-of-ski-area-wins-concession.html
Looks like Vermont hasn't changed much in 30 years....
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machski
Well-known member
Slide Brook died from environmental groups. It was tagged as Black Bear habitat and is now off limits to development. Slidebrook Express is the way it is for multi reasons. Otten wanted to link Lincoln and Ellen over the top (one reason Castlerock was originally proposed to go HSQ and snowmaking, because the summit link would have been from there). That was killed due to sight lines from the valley. So they went to where slide Brook currently is. They looked at a gondola due to the length but tower heights would be too great with cabins and again be seen too much from the valley. So they went with the HSQ, as the height clearance was less an no reflective cabins or windows to cut down on visibility from valley. There you have it, lots of hurdles to jump in ski resort improvements.
So, in retrospect, 30 years later, do you think leaving slidebrook undeveloped was a good or bad thing?
IMHO, it is better that it was left untouched. But thats just me, who takes his kids backcountry skiing/biking when they've never been to disneyland.
So, in retrospect, 30 years later, do you think leaving slidebrook undeveloped was a good or bad thing?
IMHO, it is better that it was left untouched. But thats just me, who takes his kids backcountry skiing/biking when they've never been to disneyland.
I think it is fine as it is. I was just commenting on the protests. I can't imagine what a "summit-to-summit" lift would look like. And if Win and Company are having issues keeping the SBX running due to costs, can you imagine the cost of a gondola?
DoublePlanker
Member
Probably better untouched. There seems to be plenty of skiing around for the New England market. Developing slide brook would probably just take market share away from other ski areas causing them to close. It seems so hard for mountains to be sustainable such as Saddleback, Burke, Sugarloaf, Tenney, etc. I can't fathom who is going to dump $$$ into Balsams.
DoublePlanker
Member
I was referring earlier to what I think was a 1982 plan for slide brook. This plan was much larger than anything conceived by Les Otten. And it predates all the environmental blockages as it won early approval. However, the outcry from the community may have spurned tougher environmental hurdles for the industry. Can't seem to find anything else about it. I'm pretty sure it was in Ski or Skiing magazine around that time.
Thats what I thought you would say. guess the tree huggers arent wrong all the time.
They actually ran the SBX more last season. It ran everyday although they pushed the start time back to 10am. With so many people skiing slidebrook and taking the shuttle on german flats to mt ellen, there really isnt much traffic on the SBX. It is invariably ski on and the only time it runs near capacity is at 3pm when people want to get back to the mtn they started from before the lift shuts down.
I vote good that Slidebrook was left virtually untouched.
Although I'm still in favor of developing something else at ME at some point in the future :razz: (I think upper Inverness would be my vote there).
It's not an issue of being right or wrong, but just the tactics used and the hyperbole instead of a civil discussion.
What makes you say they are having issues keeping SBX running? It ran both weekends and midweek the past 3 seasons as long as wind, temps, and snow cover were adequate.
steamboat1
New member
If operating costs are an issue with SBX I think they shouldn't run it non holiday weekdays. It's easy enough to use the regular shuttle service that runs between the two areas. Why have the expense of running the chair & the expense of running the shuttle when one will satisfy the demand for the service. I was quite surprised to see SBX running one weekday I skied there last April (maybe late March) when both mountains were empty. In fact I had a problem that day getting back to Lincoln because the SBX was put on wind hold in the afternoon & didn't run again that day. Shuttle service had already been discontinued for the season. Guest Services was scrambling at Mt. Ellen to find a way to get people back to Lincoln. I got lucky & found a guy in the parking lot with a pick up truck that was heading back to Lincoln & was willing to give me a ride. I don't know the outcome for the other 20 or so people I saw at Ellen that were stuck.
When I was a passholder, from 2007-2011, they made a point of saying that "due to cost" it would only run weekends and holidays. Sounds like they have reversed that.
Yea, the 2011-2012 season was the first year I was a passholder and then they were only doing the weekends/holidays thing with Slide Brook. The 2012-2013 season was when they switched to running it whenever conditions permit. Maybe it isn't entirely needed, but I personally like that they run it all the time now.
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