Base lodge renovations?

[ducky]

The town has no services other than plowing . I will say that without a strong education system, local or statewide under Act 60 - whatever your beliefs, we'd all suffer and our homes and quality of life would not be worth what it is. Imo, having a student there, Harwood Union is excellent and adds to the quality of life for both Valley residents and second home-owners. The school's population is highly diverse, both socially and economically and there are opportunities for success for everyone.

[Hawk]

Well I guess X-Skiers house should be selling for top dollar then. We have the best schools and the best paved roads in the state! Must be the Real estate agent? JK

[Ride Delaware ?]

The town has no services other than plowing . I will say that without a strong education system, local or statewide under Act 60 - whatever your beliefs, we'd all suffer and our homes and quality of life would not be worth what it is. Imo, having a student there, Harwood Union is excellent and adds to the quality of life for both Valley residents and second home-owners. The school's population is highly diverse, both socially and economically and there are opportunities for success for everyone.

I think that's great, and for right now, it's working for the state, but it's not a long term recipe for success. Eventually it will force away many second home owners who pay a huge chunk of those taxes, and then once they are gone, there will be a serious revenue problem for the foreseeable future. The rich will still come, but the larger chunk of the population, the middle class, won't be able to afford a 2nd set of taxes.

The one benefit they have that can't be replaced in the Northeast, is the relative abundance of natural snow. That may keep people more interested, but eventually the scale will tip at this rate.

[Xskier]

The town has no services other than plowing . I will say that without a strong education system, local or statewide under Act 60 - whatever your beliefs, we'd all suffer and our homes and quality of life would not be worth what it is. Imo, having a student there, Harwood Union is excellent and adds to the quality of life for both Valley residents and second home-owners. The school's population is highly diverse, both socially and economically and there are opportunities for success for everyone.

Did I say the town had no services? I only said "I" do not use any of the towns services except their plowing and their crappy finally paved roads (which is probably state run). Act 60 is way too Socialist for my liking and I am a Democrat (for now). I don't mind helping out other towns but when the majority of my tax money is going to other schools it hurts and i don't have kids and will never have kids. Before my 700% tax increase years ago "the valley" was doing just fine if not better than it is now and the local schools had a great reputation then. VT is just a crazy place to live with their high tax rates all across the board.

[WWF-VT]

The Mt Ellen road is about 90% stripped and prepared for repaving at this time.

[Ride Delaware ?]

The Mt Ellen road is about 90% stripped and prepared for repaving at this time.

That is great news. I'll be back up in two weeks, and it will be nice to see the improvement. I know most of the action is over at Lincoln Peak, but the roads at Mt. Ellen were by far the most in need of attention.

[southvillager]

There was another reference to Valley House renovations by ownership in this month's email. Anyone have the scoop? Is the Mushroom going to bloom once more?

[Ride Delaware ?]

There was another reference to Valley House renovations by ownership in this month's email. Anyone have the scoop? Is the Mushroom going to bloom once more?

I wish Win would come back and share some light on this for us. Perhaps the constant degradation of the snowmaking system finally scared him away.

The Valley House is definitely needed to alleviate the busy days at the main base lodge. However, it could really use a complete overhaul with new mountain ops offices to make it useful.

[pinnoke]

Unfair, and untrue. From what I understand, some tweaks to both lodges should help with the weekend lunchtime overcrowding. Worth the effort to see what results. Give things a chance. And, who brought Mountain Ops into this? Finally, I don't believe The Mushroom is slated for anything more than its limited functionality of the past several years...and I do agree that's a shame...R.I.P.

[Ride Delaware ?]

I only mentioned mountain ops because their office is tied to the valley house. I would imagine that if the Valley House was ever substantially altered, it would still include the mountain ops offices.

Minus some tweaks, I think all the infrastructure they need is there for now. Only time will tell if it will keep up with the continuing increase in skier visits.

[Hawk]

We will see all the renovations and fully understand the scope this weekend. You can even ask questions in person at the comunity day meeting. This is a busy time of year for evrybody up there and I am sure Win has better things to do then to post on here. I doubt the snow making conversation has anything to do with it.

[HowieT2]

I am not expecting much from the lodge renovations that will impact the crowding issue at weekend lunchtime. even if they were to reopen the mushroom, i dont think that would help that much. In retrospect, imho, it was probably a mistake not to include cafeteria space when they built the schoolhouse/farmhouse buildings as the original plans had called for. but who knows, maybe rice brook by integrating sb village into the base area, will siphon off some traffic.

let's assume that skier visits continue to grow and the crowding issue must be addressed. what would you all see as the preferred solution:

1. renovated/expanded valley house
2. demolish valley house and replace with new lodge
3. new mid mtn lodge at base of heavens gate lift
4. new mid mtn lodge at gatehouse terminus, north lynx, slidebrook
5. new lodge at top of lincoln peak
6. write in ______________

(this should keep us going until the snowmaking tirades start)

fwiw-very happy to see the sharc getting some love.

[southvillager]

I am not expecting much from the lodge renovations that will impact the crowding issue at weekend lunchtime. even if they were to reopen the mushroom, i dont think that would help that much. In retrospect, imho, it was probably a mistake not to include cafeteria space when they built the schoolhouse/farmhouse buildings as the original plans had called for. but who knows, maybe rice brook by integrating sb village into the base area, will siphon off some traffic.

let's assume that skier visits continue to grow and the crowding issue must be addressed. what would you all see as the preferred solution:

1. renovated/expanded valley house
2. demolish valley house and replace with new lodge
3. new mid mtn lodge at base of heavens gate lift
4. new mid mtn lodge at gatehouse terminus, north lynx, slidebrook
5. new lodge at top of lincoln peak
6. write in ______________

(this should keep us going until the snowmaking tirades start)

fwiw-very happy to see the sharc getting some love.

I think option #1 is a quick and easy solution, it get my vote. The Wunderbar is an example of a minor renovation with positive results, and there is a large space on the lower level (above the Mushroom, below the cafeteria) that used to be very busy as a pub. Was it called the Wunderbar? I have a hard time understanding why that space isn't back in use. The plumbing stubs for the bar are still in plain sight!

In general, I prefer base lodges to mid-mountain mostly for the Apres and 4 season use. But anything would be better than the crowds we have now.

Another (fantasy) option is to re-open and expand Sam Ruperts/Warren House as a lodge. Maybe a season passholder's exclusive parking area. Add a chair lift from the Sam R's parking area up to the Valley House area. A ski trail down to access the main parking and shuttle stop area, then over or under Inferno Rd to connect to the employee parking, and then on to Sam Ruperts. In general, I find it unfortunate that you cannot ski down to a parking lot or a shuttle stop in the existing configuration without some "creativity". I would guess that the resort would prefer people back in the base lodge spending $$ after skiing, rather than directly skiing to the car. But as it is now, you can't even get a beer at the bar at 3pm, so it just becomes a hassle.

[Ride Delaware ?]

I would also have to say either 1 or 2. If anything, the outside should be remodeled along with the inside to blend in with the rest of the new buildings. I for one like the architecture, and the current VH is definitely out of place. It really just needs a little update and some vinyl siding.

Does anyone know what the capacity of the current VH is? Would it need to be significantly enlarged to make an impact on the current GH traffic?

[Hawk]

When I was up last week I heard that Sam Ruperts was going up in flames. There was talk that the mountain was going to allow the Fire Dept. use it for training before they level it.

I vote 2 and 4 and replace the VH lift at the same time.

Vinyl siding on the Valley House???? UGGGG!

They should Also put a new lift from the Club Sugarbush/Sugarbush Inn corner all the way up to the shoulder at North Linx so we can connect all of the Sugarbush Properties including the village. Now that is a plan.