Whaleback Mountain to cease operations

[SkiRaceParent]

Bump: http://thcauction.com/07112013Whaleback.html

 

[ScottySkis]

Bump: http://thcauction.com/07112013Whaleback.html

All a zoners should put money in and buy the place.

 

[thetrailboss]

Bump: http://thcauction.com/07112013Whaleback.html

That's too bad.

 

[gostan]

All a zoners should put money in and buy the place.

I would prefer to spend my $$ skiing. You have to be crazy town a ski mountain!

 

[Newpylong]

sucks

 

[bobbutts]

Bank Postpones Auction Of Shuttered Whaleback Mountain
Some interesting info in this article, such as:
"Stepping forward publicly this week as a prospective buyer was Upper Valley Snow Sports Foundation. The organization is in the process of applying for nonprofit status, said chairman John Schiffman, of Hanover. The foundation’s advisory panel includes Hanover Town Manager Julia Griffin and former Olympic skiers Jeff Hastings, Tim Caldwell and Tiger Shaw."

 

[xwhaler]

I realize this is putting the cart before the horse a bit but interesting that the non-profit group is already talking about their plans for Whaleback.
Certainly I think increased snowmaking to really ensure they are open for XMas week is critical. But widening trails? Part of the charm of Whaleback are the narrow New England style fall line trails which for a mtn its size have some real character and difficulty. I think their main blue routes are wide enough so perhaps they are talking about some of the narrow greens off the East and Back side of the mtn that prob could be widended a bit.

Would not want them to touch Jawbone or Blowhole though.

Wonder why the need for a 2nd chair and where would it go that would really provide enough value to outweigh the cost? I guess if they are going to run as a non-profit I'd rather them keep big expenses as low as possible.
Regardless, should be interesting to see where this goes.

"He added that his group would plan to add a second chair lift, address water and sewer issues, widen trails and double the snowmaking capacity in the first few years of operation."

 

[from_the_NEK]

Maybe a lift up Jonah's Revenge on the West side of the mountain to avoid the traverse back to the front of the mountain?

Or a terrain park specific lift on Scrimshaw?

 

[xwhaler]

I think a terrain park specific lift could make some sense especially if the new owners continue to try and make rails/boxes/jumps a big part of their draw for the local kids.
Perhaps a T-Bar up Spout could serve the dual purpose of lapping the race course during league nights and give the jibbers a quick way back to the park.

Any lift they did on the west side I'd think would need to give folks access to Jawbone to lap that if they wanted. Not sure Jonah's alone could justify the cost of any lift surface or aerial.

 

[Newpylong]

I can foresee them only putting a lift on the Spout side of the mountain, and widening some of the narrower easier runs off the summit. I think Blowhole and Jawbone would be safe.

Great to see real interest in the mountain.

 

[Smellytele]

Spout side lift yes. They need an easier lift. The lift they have now is too hard to get off for a beginner.

 

[bobbutts]

I always found the action sports/park marketing to be a bit awkward given the clientele I saw there. Much more budget oriented families and little kids learning to ski. Pretty much nobody in the park or "dock" when I visited.

If I were to make one easy improvement it would be fix the damn unload on the chairlift. I wouldn't bring learning snowboarders there because it's way too steep and icy with a perma-rut at the bottom of it. My other big complaint was insufficient lighting.

Side note, unloads like that make me miss my clicker bindings, clicking in on the lift was almost worth the lack of performance. With one foot in on regular bindings I can make it off ok, but I still hate it.

 

[thetrailboss]

Good news. Cautiously optimistic.

Agree on the odd marketing/clientele. I think they now realize that the park crowd generally doesn't have a lot of money to spend...

 

[SkiRaceParent]

Good news. Cautiously optimistic.

Agree on the odd marketing/clientele. I think they now realize that the park crowd generally doesn't have a lot of money to spend...

Ditto. It would be way too much of a bummer driving down 89 if that place is shuttered. New England needs it, not because we need another mountain operating, but because of: 1) it's location, right in your face as most/all SNE'ers go up to NNE, it speaks somewhat to the vitality, or lack thereof, of the area. 2) there is some fairly significant poverty in the upper valley area, extending down to Springfield/Windsor, VT and even in Lebanon and Claremont areas. to extent this place stays open and is affordable, I beleive it is really important for the children of this area...especially if they can run special programs to get school kids in.

 

[Newpylong]

I agree. Even the wealthier towns (for the area) of Hanover and Enfield use(d) it heavily... I know prior to reading about this new group there were efforts rooted in those two towns to raise money to try to buy it. It will be a tremendous loss if it stays shuttered.

 

[thetrailboss]

Ditto. It would be way too much of a bummer driving down 89 if that place is shuttered. New England needs it, not because we need another mountain operating, but because of: 1) it's location, right in your face as most/all SNE'ers go up to NNE, it speaks somewhat to the vitality, or lack thereof, of the area. 2) there is some fairly significant poverty in the upper valley area, extending down to Springfield/Windsor, VT and even in Lebanon and Claremont areas. to extent this place stays open and is affordable, I beleive it is really important for the children of this area...especially if they can run special programs to get school kids in.

Completely agree. Even more important since Ascutney closed. Too bad they can't get some of the old Ascutney lifts for the place.

My point was along the lines that their target group--the groms and park rats--generally don't have lots of disposable income.

 

[Nick]

Some more updates. Auction is this morning, started 30 min ago

http://bostinno.streetwise.co/2013/08/01/entire-new-hampshire-ski-resort-up-for-sale-2/

Whaleback Mountain Ski Resort in Enfield, NH, is on the auction block, starting at 10 a.m. Thursday morning. (Yes, that's today; sorry for the short notice.) You missed the open house. But I can assure you, if you like skiing, the outdoors, commercial grade lawn equipment or (probably empty?) ATM machines, this is the property for you.If you fork over the winning bid, here's what you'll get: a 7,800-square-foot lodge, 1,780-square-foot rental shop, 5,400-square-foot maintenance shed, owners residence, 2,500-foot chair lift, and 30 trails of pristine New England powder.
But because that couldn't possibly keep you happily entertained for the rest of your life, there's a bit more in store here than meets the eye. A sampling:

1. Thiokol Snow Tractor (Google it)
2. Two snowmobiles
3. All the snowmaking equipment you'd ever need
4. A rental shop full of ski/snowboard equipment
5. 30 paintball guns, five CO2 tanks and 42 masks
6. 10 skateboards, 30 pairs of rollerblades
7. A skateboard park (because the above would be kind of useless without it)
8. 300 lodge chairs, whatever that means
9. 40 ski school jackets, probably child-sized
10. Enough outdoor lighting to manufacture daylight whenever you want

 

[Nick]

Here is the actual auction listing. My mistake, starts at 11AM

http://www.thcauction.com/07112013Whaleback.html

Inventory list on that page also

 

[dlague]

Completely agree. Even more important since Ascutney closed. Too bad they can't get some of the old Ascutney lifts for the place.

My point was along the lines that their target group--the groms and park rats--generally don't have lots of disposable income.

Peak Resorts announces the acquisition of the high speed detachable quad chairlift formerly of Ascutney Mountain, VT. That was last summer which is now at Crotched Mountain. I have been on it and that thing books right along and lapping that chair is super fun!

 

[bobbutts]

wonder what happened?