Everything from the Olympics to new trails kept areas busy.


SNOWSHOE, W.V.
Snowshoe Mountain has three new expert trails, including one glade, at South Mountain, significantly adding to the trail count there. The trails bolster ski-in, ski-out access to the equally new Sawmill Village, a gated community of $750,000 to $3.25 million mountaintop homes (13 currently of an eventual 110). All are being “built green” to Energy Star standards. Not coincidentally, the developer paid the $900,000 cost of cutting the trails and installing the snowmaking, which was done by Snowshoe crews. The runs cover about 14 skiable acres at an elevation of 4,100 to 4,800 feet in a north-facing elliptical bowl. Preparing the runs, though, was the easy part; developing a habitat conservation plan to protect two endangered species, the West Virginia flying squirrel and the Cheat Mountain salamander, that inhabit the red spruce forest atop Snowshoe—that was the hard part. The area studied the two species, designated an area for a conservation easement, set aside other property to compensate for land it disturbed, and otherwise avoided trampling on the critters’ turf.

“Snowshoe now owns the only two habitat conservation plans in West Virginia, and maybe the first one in ski business generally,” says Ed Galford, VP of mountain ops. “We wanted to do the right thing to protect their environment.” That also meant clearing the trails in late February and March, to avoid interfering with the flying squirrels during the spring. The area installed snowmaking pipes and did drainage work during the summer, and had the project competed by late September. Like the rest of Snowshoe’s snowmaking system, the new terrain is covered by a combination of Ratnik air-water guns and HKD low-e stick guns.



VAIL, COLORADO
After years of discussion and some angst on the part of its serious bump skiers, Vail has replaced its original Chair 10 double with a new detachable Leitner-Poma quad. This, along with the replacement of the lightly-used Sourdough triple with a second detachable quad, will change the way skiers and riders ply the mountain, says mountain ops VP Brian McCartney. His three favorite parts of the job (aside from starting and completing it on schedule): 1. The connection of three express quads, chairs 6, 10, and 14, creates the fastest route to Vail’s popular China Bowl and Blue Sky. “I hope it will change traffic patterns over time,” he says, and help cut congestion at Mid-Vail. The lift series makes Vail’s Gold Peak portal a much more viable starting point for visitors, with quick access to the slopes from the Vail Village bus route. 2. “We were able to replace some older equipment that had done its job and was ready for replacement,” he says. The new lifts were realigned slightly, especially Sourdough, to provide a more direct connection to Two Elk lodge. That allowed Vail to remove the slow ridgeline poma that ferried riders to Two Elk, as it’s now faster to get there via Sourdough. 3. Vail reinstalled the Sourdough triple at Eagle’s Nest, where it is replacing “a very old Riblet double,” McCartney notes.

Highline is the key piece of the puzzle. It’s 6,735 feet long, with a vertical rise of 1,750 feet, powered by a 700 hp top drive with bottom tension. Sourdough rises 500 feet over a 2,370-foot length, and has a 300 hp top drive, bottom tension setup. Both lifts have 2,400 hourly capacity.

One thing that’s not changing is the way Vail grooms (or doesn’t groom) its bump runs off Highline, which was a major fear of the area’s bump skiers. “Bumpers who love Highline can still love it, just faster,” McCartney says.



DARTMOUTH SKIWAY, N.H.
As home to the Dartmouth College ski team (the 2007 NCAA champs), the Skiway regularly hosts FIS-sanctioned races. With that in mind, the Skiway has completed the first phase of an upgrade to its Alpine racing facilities, widening two trails and installing nearly 1,400 feet of permanent safety netting on its giant slalom and slalom courses. Along with trail regrading next summer, this will put the courses in compliance with FIS standards—at a total cost of $500,000. The changes “will give racers a much greater margin of error when pushing the limits of speed and technique,” says Dartmouth men’s Alpine coach Peter Dodge. The 14-foot high A-net includes a fine-mesh “slip skirt” next to the snow surface to prevent skiers from becoming snagged in the larger-mesh net itself. The netting and support towers, manufactured by SPM Italia, were purchased from World Cup Supply. “This represents their first installation in North America,” says WCS VP Jeff Sirjane. Other recently completed improvements at the Skiway include an upgrade and expansion of the snowmaking system, including new guns and rebuilt pumps.



STRATTON, VT
Stratton has installed the country’s longest covered conveyor lift, a Star Lifts “Galleria” with a clear cover, as the centerpiece of its revamped beginner area. A trick feature of the $500,000 lift is that every other panel, spaced about every 10 feet, can be opened to provide riders an unfiltered view of the slopes. “The vinyl doors are easy to open and roll up on themselves,” says Nils Ericksen of Ericksen Associates, which did the installation. The new lift replaces two older lifts, a poma and a handle tow, and vastly improves uphill capacity and convenience. It can carry 1,950 people an hour, and makes the 550-foot trip in 3.5 minutes. Vertical rise is 82 feet. And beginners can now do more on the trip down: Stratton also opened up the terrain and added to its snowmaking capacity.



DURANGO MOUNTAIN RESORT, CO
This once-sleepy area, formerly known as Purgatory, is six years into a 20-year village development that will eventually total about 1,600 units in nearly a dozen separate communities, and in configurations ranging from single-family homes to time-share hotels. Currently, there are six neighborhoods in various stages of completion. The flagship property is the $100 million slopeside Purgatory Lodge, with 36 dwelling units, each available in 1/8 fractional shares The architecture is typically mountain-inspired, using lots of stone, heavy timber, gabled roofs, and balcony rail accents. The spacious two- to four-bedroom units range from 1,300 to 2,000 square feet, and in price from $150,000 to $230,000. Ownership provides direct access to the new day lodge, full service spa and fitness facility, the all-new Purgy’s Restaurant, owner lounge, year-round outdoor pool, jetted-spas, water play area and, of course, underground parking.

Capping the Lodge is what Durango calls The Pinnacle: eight ultra-luxury, two-level, four-bedroom residences ($300,000 per 1/8 share), each extending to 2,500 square feet. These private residences will offer a living experience akin to that of a fine hotel. The Pinnacle will also operate as a private residence club and include membership in an exclusive nearby golf club. The Lodge is scheduled for completion in fall 2008; at press time, nearly 100 shares had been sold.