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

[BeefyBoy50]

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.

Elk Mountain- Elk, if you ignore the exaggeration in the brochure, is the closest thing we have to "vermont" skiing in eastern PA (i've never skied at Blue Knob but it seems legit), so I would love if they could institute a boundary to boundary policy and thin some glades for the only real tree skiing in Eastern pennsylvania.

 

[thetrailboss]

Good thread.

On the east coast:

*Killington-Pico Interconnect: would probably save Pico but at the same time ruin it. Mixed feelings, but it would be pretty cool to see.

*Sugarbush: I'd want to see the proposed expansions at North (the abandoned liftline above Inverness, new lift in the FIS basin, etc.) I say this because this would be cool new terrain in an undiscovered gem.

*Burke: West Peak. Steeper terrain that would be great cruiser/steep fall line skiing.

*Bolton: adding a lift to the peak in between Vista and Wilderness (Ricker I think). Looks good on the map, but I think it might be too steep for good terrain. Still, would give them some more expert terrain and add some vert.

I'd also like to see some NELSAP areas reopen including Tyrol, Highlands, Watatic, Hogback, etc.

West:

*Snowbird: my "Save the Canyons" friends will shoot me, but what the hell. Mineral Basin. They own it, they cleaned it up, and there is some sweet skiing back there. Not so sure about the crazy Twin Peaks Tram, but it wouldn't hurt.

*Alta: lift opposite the ski area and across the road as they want to do. I think that would offer a pretty cool perspective. I'd also like to see skiing to the north of Supreme with a new lift there.

*Alpine Meadows/Squaw: open White Wolf (at long last).

 

[ScottySkis]

See Bearpen open and Bobcat reopens please.

 

[BeefyBoy50]

Snowbird is the western ski area i've skied the most. I've looked into their expansion plans a lot and am somewhat neutral on the whole issue. I love the Gad 2/ tiger tail area and am glad but also somewhat sad to see that they are putting in a high speed in that area. Black forest, tiger tail, and the gad 2 liftline seem to hold powder longer than other places elsewhere on the mountain, and thunder bowl is always a good bet because its so far out of the way- i'm sure all those areas will be skied out more quickly this year.
is mid-gad becoming a high speed as well? seems a bit unnecessary to me considering that gadzoom serves that area and handles it pretty well.
I've always wished they could open a lift going from the little cloud base area perpendicular to little cloud in the direction of last chance and what is marked as baldy's bowl on the map, it could end up on the shoulder of the west twin- this would open the option for eventual expansion into white pine (undoubtedly this would be contested by forest service and locals). This seems like a better idea than the twin peak tram. Would that tram offer easy skiing into mary ellen? Even so another lift would have to be built down there to get back into mineral- it would be like a second mineral basin. Interesting sure, but certainly costly and difficult to pass.

 

[thetrailboss]

Snowbird is the western ski area i've skied the most. I've looked into their expansion plans a lot and am somewhat neutral on the whole issue. I love the Gad 2/ tiger tail area and am glad but also somewhat sad to see that they are putting in a high speed in that area. Black forest, tiger tail, and the gad 2 liftline seem to hold powder longer than other places elsewhere on the mountain, and thunder bowl is always a good bet because its so far out of the way- i'm sure all those areas will be skied out more quickly this year.
is mid-gad becoming a high speed as well? seems a bit unnecessary to me considering that gadzoom serves that area and handles it pretty well.
I've always wished they could open a lift going from the little cloud base area perpendicular to little cloud in the direction of last chance and what is marked as baldy's bowl on the map, it could end up on the shoulder of the west twin- this would open the option for eventual expansion into white pine (undoubtedly this would be contested by forest service and locals). This seems like a better idea than the twin peak tram. Would that tram offer easy skiing into mary ellen? Even so another lift would have to be built down there to get back into mineral- it would be like a second mineral basin. Interesting sure, but certainly costly and difficult to pass.

Long term plan is to change Mid-Gad into a Cabriolet I think. They want to add night skiing on that side as well.

They were going to extend Gad II up into that area you mention, but there was permafrost I was told.

 

[4aprice]

In the east; Smugglers Notch, Expansion up to the top of Morse, having trails drop down to Mid Madonna along with trails leading back to village and Lower Morse. Perfect Place for a Gondola (for all those that want a high speed lift at Smuggs). Then expansion to the east onto Whiteface (Real name Sterling Mountain).

Expand Belleayre on to the old Highmount area (think Mittersill).

*Alta: lift opposite the ski area and across the road as they want to do. I think that would offer a pretty cool perspective. I'd also like to see skiing to the north of Supreme with a new lift there.

Isn't that where the famed Chads Gap is? North of Supreme would be Catherine's I assume.

Buttermilk Colorado: Expand up Burnt Mountain from West Buttermilk Base. Maybe even connect with Snowmass and avoid the long drive up to Twin Creeks or the village.


Alex

Lake Hopatcong, NJ

 

[ss20]

+2 on good thread

In order:
1. Killington-Pico Interconnect: An eastern resort with over 1,500 acres would shut up some of those western ski snobs who bash the east. Unfortunately though, the largest ego's in the east would grow even larger. :grin:
(just kidding) ;-)
2. Mount Snow-Haystack Connection: From end-to-end, the resort would stretch to over 3.5 miles, a whole half mile wider than Sunday River.
3. Canyons-Solitude Ski Link: Step 1 in making SLC something to rival the lift/resort networks of the Alps.

Unofficially:
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:

 

[canobie#1]

Pinnacle peak and the canda area at ragged wins the top spot for me. It will make them the second largest resort in NH.

 

[snowmonster]

Jay Peak - West Bowl now!

Sunday River - expand westward from Jordan Bowl. I think SR owns the land back there.

Stowe/Smuggs - interconnect Stowe and Smuggs at Spruce Peak. Offer an interconnect ticket, if you have to. Peg it at what you think the market can bear. Would be a good option to have for the skier who wants it all. It would be the east's version of the AltaBird interconnect.

Magic - reconnect to Timber Ridge.

 

[deadheadskier]

Stowe>Smuggs Interconnect

No other expansion possibility in the East even remotely compares.

 

[deadheadskier]

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

 

[thetrailboss]

Stowe-Smuggs would be cool if brought back from the dead.

 

[steamboat1]

Screw the bears.

Develop Slidebrook at the Bush interconnecting north & south.

 

[mbedle]

Can't agree more with snowmonster and deadhead skier!!!! Would make an unbelievable experience to have both interconnected. For the original post - a couple of things about Blue Mountain. Its overall expansion has occurred from the top of the mountain down to the bottom and from west to east along the ridge line. Basically, it started off with the first vista lift, expanded to the two doubles and finally reached the bottom with challenge express. Check out skimp.org and you can see the progression from top to bottom and west to east. What is interesting (and I never saw it because they didn't allow snowboarding back in those days), but they extended the Challenge Express sometime between 91 and 93. This basically created about a 100 foot vertical run out, but might have given them the marketing title of tallest vertical in PA. Now as far as expansion goes at Blue Mountain, it appears that they have decided to shift expansion focus on facility upgrades and summer uses. They completed a significant upgrade to the main lodge over the past couple of years. They already opened this summer for mountain biking. Things in the works include not only the new waterpark along the entrance road and the new base lodge, but also expansion of the sewer treatment plant (to accommodate growth at the sum of 1.5 million) and pipeline replacements. Over the past couple of years they also have done some major upgrades to their snowmaking facilities (new storage ponds, pole mounted cannons, pipeline upgrades). I did see a post on Facebook last spring that did make mention of possible trail expansion for the 2014-2015 season. I think I rather see them redesign some of the existing trails first. The cluster f@#k at the bottom of the main street lift needs to get fixed (regard to allow crossover). Redesign the bottom run outs so you don't have a million snowboarders and skiers blocking the trails. Having two parks on both bottom run outs on the west side is brutal for people just trying to get back on the lift. The location of Burma Road(a slow skiing and long winding beginner trail) occupies the steepest terrain located at the ski area. Would love to see Little Gap disconnected from Burma and run straight down to the double lift. The Lets hope for the best.

As far as tree skiing at Elk - that will never happen unless it gets sold. My understanding is its the result of a substantial lawsuit with someone getting injured in the woods. No proof of that, just something I heard on the lift.

 

[KD7000]

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

True enough. A good number of the eco-warriors and hardcore locals are hiking across anyway.

 

[ScottySkis]

Can't agree more with snowmonster and deadhead skier!!!! Would make an unbelievable experience to have both interconnected. For the original post - a couple of things about Blue Mountain. Its overall expansion has occurred from the top of the mountain down to the bottom and from west to east along the ridge line. Basically, it started off with the first vista lift, expanded to the two doubles and finally reached the bottom with challenge express. Check out skimp.org and you can see the progression from top to bottom and west to east. What is interesting (and I never saw it because they didn't allow snowboarding back in those days), but they extended the Challenge Express sometime between 91 and 93. This basically created about a 100 foot vertical run out, but might have given them the marketing title of tallest vertical in PA. Now as far as expansion goes at Blue Mountain, it appears that they have decided to shift expansion focus on facility upgrades and summer uses. They completed a significant upgrade to the main lodge over the past couple of years. They already opened this summer for mountain biking. Things in the works include not only the new waterpark along the entrance road and the new base lodge, but also expansion of the sewer treatment plant (to accommodate growth at the sum of 1.5 million) and pipeline replacements. Over the past couple of years they also have done some major upgrades to their snowmaking facilities (new storage ponds, pole mounted cannons, pipeline upgrades). I did see a post on Facebook last spring that did make mention of possible trail expansion for the 2014-2015 season. I think I rather see them redesign some of the existing trails first. The cluster f@#k at the bottom of the main street lift needs to get fixed (regard to allow crossover). Redesign the bottom run outs so you don't have a million snowboarders and skiers blocking the trails. Having two parks on both bottom run outs on the west side is brutal for people just trying to get back on the lift. The location of Burma Road(a slow skiing and long winding beginner trail) occupies the steepest terrain located at the ski area. Would love to see Little Gap disconnected from Burma and run straight down to the double lift. The Lets hope for the best.

As far as tree skiing at Elk - that will never happen unless it gets sold. My understanding is its the result of a substantial lawsuit with someone getting injured in the woods. No proof of that, just something I heard on the lift.

On their website of Elk they talk all about the trees that they implanted there so I think that has something to do with no glades. I have seen people ski the trees the few times I been there.

 

[HowieT2]

Screw the bears.

Develop Slidebrook at the Bush interconnecting north & south.

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.

 

[Tin]

Reopen Tenney and throw in a HSQ that went to the actual summit.

 

[WWF-VT]

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

+1 on NOT developing Slidebrook

 

[Newpylong]

Killington-Pico interconnect. Just do it already. It's been on the books for decades. It may effect (ruin?) some of the experience at Pico but it's the red headed step child as it is. Improvements over there would be beneficial. Also, they've lost so much terrain over the years would be nice to see something new.

Ragged Mountain Pinnacle Peak expansion as well.