I understand that the permits were not sorted out in time and that the expansion of the sugarbush base area was put on hold for another year.

That's unfortunate, as it sounded like it would have been really nice. I don't have all my facts, but was it the link to the old sugarbush village that got in the way?

muddy_hollow wrote:

I understand that the permits were not sorted out in time and that the expansion of the sugarbush base area was put on hold for another year. That's unfortunate, as it sounded like it would have been really nice. I don't have all my facts, but was it the link to the old sugarbush village that got in the way?

not surprised.

It will be done even if a year later. The plan is great and when it gets done, I think all will really enjoy it. I have a letter on the back page of the VR tomorrow, so someone can post it here.

still sucks to have to delay a project that would provide income and jobs to the valley during these times. hope to see it really happen next year. I guess Diggity and Atkinson won't be getting to take down the stairs for mountain biking!!! Them darn stairs!!!

win wrote:

It will be done even if a year later. The plan is great and when it gets done, I think all will really enjoy it. I have a letter on the back page of the VR tomorrow, so someone can post it here.

Looking forward to the improvements, but let's face it. The place is already a pretty sweet placxe to be. Last weekend walked from South Village to Miguel's for a late dinner. It was a a very nice walk as is and is only goping to get better. The year will cruise by quick. (Especially the winter portion)

Keep pluggin Win.

As requested:

Win in Valley Reporter ad wrote:

Dear Friends of Sugarbush, As our winter season comes to an end (of course, it is not over quite yet), I want to thank everyone for your support. Last season saw the highest number of skier visits since we purchased the resort in 2001. While this year will fall short of that number, it will be the second highest level that we have seen. This was primarily due to our record season pass sales, since our day visits were hurt by poor weather on some of our most important holiday periods. Our snowfall of 284 inches is once again above the 50-year average and our season, which began on November 22, will once again provide our guests with one of the longest ski seasons in the country. While we are blessed with a lot of natural snow most winters, we also strive to make a good quantity of snow to set up the start of the season and to enable it to last as long as it does. This year we made 18% more snow than last season, and I was extremely pleased with the quality that our team manufactured. Our season did encounter some adverse weather, but our snowmaking and grooming teams did a marvelous job of repairing the mountain after each storm. They take their jobs seriously and are proud of the product they deliver for our guests. This spring we are again offering next year’s passes at our “early spring” rates and, because of the economic climate, we are holding most passes at last spring’s prices. One exception is that we have actually reduced our Mt. Ellen (only) pass so that a family of four with children under twelve can ski and ride for less than $1,000 — or only $249.50 per family member. As we look forward to the rest of the calendar year, we are mindful of the challenging economic climate that we all face and realize that as a business we have to manage ourselves intelligently to remain strong for the future. We will continue to invest in making Sugarbush better each year and to provide a secure environment for our employees. We have a masterplan for the growth of both our base area and the mountain, and we will continue with that in a prudent manner. Nevertheless, like all businesses we are tightening our belt and looking at ways to run our businesses more efficiently without reducing the quality of the services we offer or our guest experience. This summer we will be working with the US Forest Service to create additional wooded skiing areas at both mountains, and we will be finishing the landscaping around our new Gate House addition. We also have a full schedule of summer maintenance, to prepare for next winter. However, we have decided to put off construction of our new skier services buildings until the spring of 2010. With some of the permit issues we have encountered, we were not able to get a project approved that was financially sustainable in time, and we did not feel it prudent to add additional leverage to the resort in this uncertain environment until all permits were in hand. We have a great plan for the skier services buildings and plan to continue with the permitting process for the residential buildings. We remain hopeful that a year from now we will begin the new construction. The sale of the remaining Clay Brook units and the additional slopeside condominiums are what will fund the new skier services buildings. But our summer will still remain busy and active. We have a strong wedding season ahead which will provide good business for all in the Valley, and we have more planned activities at Sugarbush this summer than ever before. We will continue our cabaret series in the Gate House in partnership with the Mad River Chorale. June is Women’s Discovery Month at Sugarbush. We are hosting a free Vermont Kid’s Day on June 20th and we have a full set of summer camps for children. The Xterra Northeast Cup will be held here on July 11th. We are holding two Women’s Wrench and Ride programs in July and September. The Gravity East Downhill returns the weekend of August 1st and we will once again be hosting the Taste of the Valley to kick off the Festival of the Arts. For a complete event listing check out www.sugarbush.com/events Of course, we will have a full set of activities on July 4th after the Warren Parade which will culminate with evening fireworks. Our golf course opens on May 8th and you will continue to see course improvements throughout the summer. Our Bravo lift will again run Friday through Sunday for lift-accessed mountain biking beginning on June 26th and our zipline and mountain disc golf course will open then as well. For that opening weekend, we will host a Cirque-du-Soleil-style family acrobatic performance on Saturday afternoon, along with a special barbeque. I hope you can join us. Once again, thank you for a good winter and we look forward to seeing you on the mountain in the warmer months. Win Smith President,

Mt. Ellen is quite the enigma.. home to the most expensive skiing experience on the east coast (cat skiing), yet, at the same time, the best deal on the east coast.

Are you working with the USFS for permission to cut more woods or are things more advanced than that and what areas are you targeting? Is it more about "legitimizing" unnamed areas that have already been gladed or opening up whole new areas?

Thanks for a great winter!

PS: no matter how many times i hear it, my skin still crawls everytime i hear snow called "product". it's so much more than that.

Last Tracks wrote:

Are you working with the USFS for permission to cut more woods or are things more advanced than that and what areas are you targeting? Is it more about "legitimizing" unnamed areas that have already been gladed or opening up whole new areas?

Not sure how it could be anything but the former. I mean, if they wanted to open up whole new areas, where could they possibly cut that wouldn't be a massive slog to get to/from? Everything that's convenient and has pitch has a line or six already. Get ready for some of the larger lines to come on map.

Tin Woodsman wrote:

Last Tracks wrote: Are you working with the USFS for permission to cut more woods or are things more advanced than that and what areas are you targeting? Is it more about "legitimizing" unnamed areas that have already been gladed or opening up whole new areas? Not sure how it could be anything but the former. I mean, if they wanted to open up whole new areas, where could they possibly cut that wouldn't be a massive slog to get to/from? Everything that's convenient and has pitch has a line or six already. Get ready for some of the larger lines to come on map.

Tinny, where have you been? I had a feeling you would resurface with the posting of this news. Not surprising in the least. The only thing that sparked some interest with me was the comment about working with the USFS to create additional wooded skiing areas. I for one look at this as a bad thing. All it will do is bring more traffic into an already over skied woods. The woods do not need any more thinning to dumb it down for intermediate skiers. It is perfectly fine the way it is IMHO.

One of the planned improvements: Long Trail tunnel....

Hawk wrote:

Tin Woodsman wrote: Last Tracks wrote: Are you working with the USFS for permission to cut more woods or are things more advanced than that and what areas are you targeting? Is it more about "legitimizing" unnamed areas that have already been gladed or opening up whole new areas? Not sure how it could be anything but the former. I mean, if they wanted to open up whole new areas, where could they possibly cut that wouldn't be a massive slog to get to/from? Everything that's convenient and has pitch has a line or six already. Get ready for some of the larger lines to come on map. Tinny, where have you been? I had a feeling you would resurface with the posting of this news. Not surprising in the least. The only thing that sparked some interest with me was the comment about working with the USFS to create additional wooded skiing areas. I for one look at this as a bad thing. All it will do is bring more traffic into an already over skied woods. The woods do not need any more thinning to dumb it down for intermediate skiers. It is perfectly fine the way it is IMHO.

Agreed. Although there also could be a restoration/reforestation plan to come out of this.

I'm really not that bummed about this. Sure, I would have liked to see the improvements but given what the state of the economy is and how other ski operations are situated, it's not that bad. Besides, gives me a little more time to make some money so hopefully I can get a place of my own before the place gets really popular.

Enjoy the turns this weekend.

PS My wife wouldn't let me bring my new skis into bed

It is about legitimatizing some more wooded areas and also working to protect sensitive habit areas. We lease a precious asset from the USFS and we both want to make sure that we have a lot of fun skiing and riding without doing damage to the forest. Everyone is a aware that skiing in the trees in happening all over the mountain including in some areas where it threatens some habitat. We want to identify and maintain more areas some that we can get the balance correct.

gone.skiing wrote:

One of the planned improvements: Long Trail tunnel....

We refer to it as the Lincoln Tunnel....

win wrote:

It is about legitimatizing some more wooded areas and also working to protect sensitive habit areas. We lease a precious asset from the USFS and we both want to make sure that we have a lot of fun skiing and riding without doing damage to the forest. Everyone is a aware that skiing in the trees in happening all over the mountain including in some areas where it threatens some habitat. We want to identify and maintain more areas some that we can get the balance correct.

Well if an over-arching forestry mgmt plan emerges from this to protect some of the more sensitive/damaged areas, that's a pretty good trade-off. Now if that can only be expanded to include the trails like Glade, Sleeper and Lower Moonshine that will be treeless in 5-10 years at this pace.

noski wrote:

gone.skiing wrote: One of the planned improvements: Long Trail tunnel.... We refer to it as the Lincoln Tunnel....

Very nice