Summer Action at Ski Areas Heats Up

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08 June 2015

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SAM Magazine—Dresser, Wis., June 8, 2015—Ski areas across the country are ramping up their summer operations with new aerial adventure parks, zip lines, canopy tours, water parks, mountain bike parks and more. With the slew of new year-round activities being offered (too many to report on here) it's clear that ski areas have a bullish outlook on summer's potential to significantly add to their overall revenue.

Here's a sampling:

In Wisconsin, summer visitors to Trollhaugen can now test their skills in the area's new adventure park and zip line tour. The newly added challenge course leads guests through the woods at heights of up to 50 feet, where they navigate their way through 40 towers, more than 100 platforms, and 112 elements including hanging tires, spinning blocks, and tightropes.

In addition, a dual side-by-side 1,000 foot zip line lets riders race each other reaching speeds of 35 mph. As the only such attraction in northwest Wisconsin and the Twin Cities area, James Rochford, president, said that over time he anticipates summer visitation could grow to be 40 to 50 percent of the area's overall business. An adult single day ticket is $45.

In Minnesota, Detroit Mountain will launch into its first summer of operation on June 27, with the addition of seven miles of single track mountain bike trails, four downhill trails, a skills park, a children's biking area, and six miles of scenic hiking trails. Chairlifts will run Friday through Sunday, and season passes with lift access start at $140.

Duluth's Spirit Mountain is also hoping to expand its mountain bike operation, and is currently in the final round of voting in a nationwide contest to win a $100,000 grant from Bell Helmets to build new trails. Voting ended June 4 and results are expected to be announced in August.

In Pennsylvania, Camelback opened its new $163 million, eight-story lodge and 125,000 square-feet indoor waterpark that features seven pools, 13 waterslides, and other unique attractions, including the longest uphill water coaster in the U.S.

Other features include the Venus SlydeTrap that combines three waterslide experiences in one; The Lost River, an immersive, theatrical river experience; and Kartrite's Quest, billed as the world's first fully-themed and immersive multi-level exploration AquaPlay structure.

Also in Pennsylvania, Roundtop Mountain has added a three-story climbing structure, a kid-friendly zip line, and a maze.

In New York, Bristol Mountain added a zip line canopy tour to its aerial adventure park that opened last summer, and for wakeboarders, the resort also added the first and only cable wake park in the Northeast. The Roseland Wake Park includes a five-tower main cable system and a two-tower cable system for practice and training featuring ramps, rails, and kickers of different difficulty levels. Passes for the wake park start at $35.

In Vermont, Killington Resort is investing $3.5 million in expanded summer activities including eight new attractions that include a 4,800 foot alpine mountain coaster, a four-story ropes course with 42 obstacles set above a 5,000 square foot maze, and a 1,200 foot long, two-passenger Sky Ride that transports riders more than 200 feet in the air. All of the new attractions will be located at the Snowshed base area.

Killington's other new activities include Segway tours, ATV/UTV mountain tours, re-designed and expanded beginner and intermediate mountain bike trails, and a new hiking center. The Grand Opening is slated for June 26, with the alpine mountain coaster expected to open Aug. 1.

Stowe has added zip lines down Mount Mansfield and a treetop Adventure Course at the base of the mountain that includes a series of aerial tree-to-tree connections with various challenge elements intertwined in the design.

Okemo Mountain has added the Evolution Bike Park, offering lift-served mountain biking. The park is slated to open July 4.

Sundance Resort, Utah, has added a new zip line tour. Billed as the third-longest zip tour in the U.S., the two-mile-long tour opened in May. It employs a patented trolley mechanism that lets riders control the speed of their descent, allowing for a 2,100-foot vertical drop—reportedly the most of any zip line in the U.S. In all, Sundance's zip line tour includes four spans ranging from 936 feet to 3,871. Zip tour packages start at $49. Other new summer activities at Sundance include a tree-top canopy tour, mountain biking, horseback riding, and hot air balloons.

In Oregon, Mt. Ashland has proposed an Outdoor Adventure Center to include a zip line, bungee trampoline jumping, a portable rock-climbing wall, a disc golf course and other summer activities. The planned zip line would run from near the top of the Sonnet beginners' hill to a stand of trees near the Juliet run.

Hiram Towle, general manager at Ashland, said he anticipates the equipment needed for the adventure center would cost about $130,000. The U.S. Forest Service sought comments about the proposal through May 29 and an interdisciplinary team will review the public comments.

Finally, Mt. Hood Meadows has added five-day kids camps designed to educate campers about the local environment, including volcanoes, glaciers, waterways, plants, and animals. Each educational session will be highlighted by a corresponding outdoor adventure such as hiking, rafting and more.