What expansion would you most like to see happen and where?

[Newpylong]

i would hate that. Thankfully, it can't happen. I want that to stay tree skiing.

trailboss-Inverness pod expansion would be great (except for bringing people closer to the best tree skiing), but better without too much more effort, would be to use that lift to connect mt Ellen to mrg. How 'bout that for an eastern powerhouse.

Can still see the old lift line for this!

 

[Huck_It_Baby]

Jay Peak - West Bowl now!

I'm on the other side of the fence on this one, SM. I would really prefer that areas stays as it is. There are great lines back in that zone and development would ruin the fun. I guess we ought to put a lift from 242 up to Big Jay while we're at it?

Come on! You have skins =)

Stowe>Smuggs Interconnect

No other expansion possibility in the East even remotely compares.

This is true. A smuggs/Stowe interconnect would make the area the ultimate East Coast resort for beginners to experts although, in my mind it already is.

How do people envision connecting though? A rope tow on the existing trail (long trail) everyone uses to access the BB's??

I hate to think of the traffic that will increase back on those off map glades. Yes, they are heavily skied already but the thought of a two-way line of people going back and forth up top is unappealing to me. It's not that long or difficult of a walk.

 

[C-Rex]

This is true. A smuggs/Stowe interconnect would make the area the ultimate East Coast resort for beginners to experts although, in my mind it already is.

How do people envision connecting though? A rope tow on the existing trail (long trail) everyone uses to access the BB's??

I hate to think of the traffic that will increase back on those off map glades. Yes, they are heavily skied already but the thought of a two-way line of people going back and forth up top is unappealing to me. It's not that long or difficult of a walk.

I agree on this. I'd love to see an interconnect pass offered but I don't think infrastructure should be put in to make it easier. Just allowing people to hike across would be good enough. Plus it'd make the trip feel more adventurous. It'd be a different story if you could drive thought the notch in the winter. As it is, it takes way too long to get to Smuggs if you're staying at Stowe or vice versa.

 

[hammer]

Attitash - HSQ to the summit. Nice trails up top but the triple is slow.
Ragged - Faster lift for Spear (think this has been mentioned ad nauseum).

 

[spring_mountain_high]

More on Elk: Expand onto the eastern peak. No idea who owns it, but looks eminently ski-able. Also, cut at least two trails from delaware down to lehigh. short, but serious pitch. and of course, open up the trees.

 

[4aprice]

and there really isn't any NIMBY ecowarrior excuse why it shouldn't happen.

I've always understood it was more basic then that. Pure animosity. The 2 areas hate each other. Stowe already did their part to ruin the interconnect by realigning Big Spruce. Yes it would be great, no I don't see it happening.

Alex

Lake Hopatcong, NJ

 

[deadheadskier]

This is true. A smuggs/Stowe interconnect would make the area the ultimate East Coast resort for beginners to experts although, in my mind it already is.

How do people envision connecting though? A rope tow on the existing trail (long trail) everyone uses to access the BB's??

I hate to think of the traffic that will increase back on those off map glades. Yes, they are heavily skied already but the thought of a two-way line of people going back and forth up top is unappealing to me. It's not that long or difficult of a walk.

No lifts. Just reopen the ski trails between the two areas and share a common lift ticket.

The trails were on the map at one point, though they didn't have names. You can see on the map below the trail going to Smuggs from the top of the Old Spruce double and the return trail from Smuggs to the Sterling trail at Stowe.

 

[St. Bear]

One that I'm surprised nobody has mentioned yet is expansion to the summit of Mt. Mansfield for Stowe.

 

[Huck_It_Baby]

No lifts. Just reopen the ski trails between the two areas and share a common lift ticket.

The trails were on the map at one point, though they didn't have names. You can see on the map below the trail going to Smuggs from the top of the Old Spruce double and the return trail from Smuggs to the Sterling trail at Stowe.

Exactly. I already use those trails. The one near the pond is quite fun I think.

Just a common lift ticket is all this would take.

 

[Huck_It_Baby]

One that I'm surprised nobody has mentioned yet is expansion to the summit of Mt. Mansfield for Stowe.

This would be a sin.

 

[St. Bear]

This would be a sin.

People already mentioned Slidebrook and West Bowl at Jay, so I just assumed the gloves were off.

 

[Mapnut]

+2 on good thread

4. Bring Walt Schoenknecht back to life, give him 500 million dollars, and let him do every idea he ever wanted. These ideas would include: a ski race stadium, natural history museum, 7 mile tram, glass-enclosed village, and of course, the nuclear bomb drop at the base of the North Face. Source: too many old magazine articles on the internet that I've found. :grin:

No need for the bomb! A lift further to the west, extending down toward the Somerset Reservoir, could have over 1300 vertical feet and a lot of good expert and intermediate terrain. There's also a good reservoir site on the brook down there that could supply snowmaking water to the whole mountain, no need to tap Somerset.

Nobody's mentioned Magic; lots more steep terrain to the southwest and moderate terrain to the northeast. And they could have a bunny slope between the top of the Black Chair and the true summit! Of course first they'll need more than 20,000 skier visits a year.

Wildcat has all kinds of expansion potential.

 

[Huck_It_Baby]

People already mentioned Slidebrook and West Bowl at Jay, so I just assumed the gloves were off.

Gloves are off! I'm just messin' =)

 

[Bostonian]

NH:
I love to see Tenney reopened with a HSQ...
Gunstock develop Alpine Ridge
Pinnacle Peak at Ragged

VT:
Magic to Timber Ridge would be great
Of course Ascutney reopening would be good
And yes Pico-KMart interconnect...

 

[xwhaler]

Saddleback West Bowl would be good---take some pressure off the Rangeley main mtn.
I personally don't want to see them develop False Peak...in some maps they showed a proposed lift essentially going up from below the Yurt up to where Muleskinnner starts.
I get that ppl could then lap casa/muleskinner all day but that area would get tracked out quickly.
Howver, if they ever expanded glades to the East of Muleskinner that could be very cool.

 

[Puck it]

I would like to see a peak to peak gondola over I-93 from Cannon summit to Lincoln or Lafayette Summit and a trail pod to Lincoln's throat and rest of the backside and some trails down to the gap with a tunnel under 93 to retrun.


Now, that would be an expansion.

 

[snosharkrider]

From the Mt Snow website: 1963 – North Face Lift Opens & Mount Snow Survives a Bomb Scare
With the opening of the North Face double chairlift, skiers no longer have an hour wait between runs. The North Face features six trails including the super-steep “Slalom Glade” (now Ripcord). That same year, Walt commissions the Atomic Energy Commission to explode an underground nuclear bomb to create a bowl for skiing and add more vertical feet. Fortunately, wiser heads at the AEC prevail and Walt’s request is denied.

 

[Huck_It_Baby]

I would like to see a peak to peak gondola over I-93 from Cannon summit to Lincoln or Lafayette Summit and a trail pod to Lincoln's throat and rest of the backside and some trails down to the gap with a tunnel under 93 to retrun.


Now, that would be an expansion.

Whistler of the East.

 

[Puck it]

Whistler of the East.

A Mix of Whistler and Loveland (a la the tunnel under an interstate) and 3300 vertical ft.

 

[freeski919]

I saw this thread on epic recently and wanted to hear a more local spin on it over on Alpinezone. However, I don't mind if you also bring up mountains outside of the northeast because it's all interesting to me. As a PA skier, I don't go to NE ski areas often enough (outside of PA) to be able to weigh in on this discussion at the bigger mountains, but I certainly would love to see some growth at more local areas.
Blue Mountain- To a person like me uneducated in the business of a ski area, I can't imagine how Blue doesn't have a huge profit margin. Sure they do lots of snowmaking and are always running lifts, but given the size of the crowd that is always there, both in the liftlines and in the runs, I would be surprised to hear that they couldn't plan some new trains and growth of the mountain. Whether that would be given a green light by environmental agencies, i'm not sure, but they could certainly use some new trails, preferrably not the super wide ones that go straight down the mountain and put you at the liftline just a couple minutes after you got off at the top. Given that PA isn't listed in New England Ski Areas History I don't know much about any expansion plans here but I would love it if anything (anything outside of new indoor waterpark or new base area buildings) was in the works.

Having worked at Blue, I came to understand that the owners of Blue own more of the mountainside to the East of the current trail system, so there's room to expand that way. However, further expansion in that direction would require a completely new trail system. There might also be environmental factors in play. As anyone from Lehigh/Carbon/Northampton Counties knows, Blue Mt. was absolutely devastated by the zinc plants in Palmerton. There are massive recovery efforts in place right now, and they're coming along. Blue might be limited to its current footprint until the recovery efforts are complete. I don't know about that, its speculation on my part.

I've always understood it was more basic then that. Pure animosity. The 2 areas hate each other. Stowe already did their part to ruin the interconnect by realigning Big Spruce. Yes it would be great, no I don't see it happening.

Alex

Lake Hopatcong, NJ

As a current Stowe employee, I don't really see any hatred on our side of the mountain. Stowe is one type of resort, Smuggs is a different type entirely. If there is any hatred, its on the other side. We've taken some of their best employees over the last few years, and Stowe has a more successful operation overall than Smuggs. But on our part, we like Smuggs just fine.

Changing the top station of Big Spruce to the current top of the Sensation had nothing to do with Stowe wanting to ruin any interconnect, either. That was an environmental decision. The top of Spruce Peak is one of the only nesting areas of an endangered bird. I think its the Bicknell's thrush, but I'm not sure. Anyways, with the Big Spruce top station where it was, the birds had stopped nesting there. When they put the top of the Sensation lower, they started nesting there again.

One that I'm surprised nobody has mentioned yet is expansion to the summit of Mt. Mansfield for Stowe.

If plans for that are ever drawn up, I will light myself on fire and run into the Mountain Ops. Center to destroy any and all evidence of the plans.