Many resorts are debuting new and improved lodges this year.

SNOWMASS, COLORADO
A key piece of Aspen Skiing Company’s ongoing, multi-billion dollar redevelopment of Snowmass is the new Elk Camp restaurant, a $12.9 million project located adjacent to the top terminal of the Elk Camp Gondola. The new facility will provide seating for up to 300 guests. It will also serve as a summer and evening event space and includes retail, rental and ski school space.

The 17,200-square-foot facility is scheduled to be LEED certified and will implement a number of environmentally-friendly initiatives, including habitat restoration, water efficient landscaping, enhanced refrigerant management, certified wood, low or zero COV and construction waste management. Perhaps the most notable LEED initiative is the deconstruction of the previously existing structure at Elk Camp, Cafe Suzanne. Approximately 85 percent of the material from the deconstruction was recycled and reused elsewhere on the mountain. The projected completion date for the new Elk Camp is November 5, 2012.

SQUAW VALLEY, CALIFORNIA
Squaw Valley’s multi-million-dollar five-year capital investment plan includes the $500,000 renovation of the legendary Olympic Plaza Bar in the base village. The 2,300-square-foot renovated space will feature a newly designed après ski lounge and table service dining with close proximity to the hill. It will also function as a concert venue, a banquet hall, and a movie theater. The redesigned Olympic Plaza Bar will pay tribute to the resort’s Olympic heritage with collage murals commemorating the 1960 Olympics.

Environmental benefits include new, energy-efficient bar equipment, and new floors and walls with improved insulation to lower the energy needed to heat the space in the winter.


NEMACOLIN WOODLANDS, PENNSYLVANIA
Construction on the new Sundial Lodge comes five months after a fire destroyed the original Mystic Mountain Ski Lodge at Nemacolin Woodlands Resort. The multi-million-dollar facility is scheduled to open on December 24, 2012, and will expand on the original structure by about 6,000 square feet. The facility will house the area’s lift ticket office, rental shop, retail outlets, bowling alleys, arcade, indoor climbing wall, conference space, and a year-round restaurant with seating for 150. As well, the two-story wood and stone design, directed by DRS?Architects of Pittsburgh, will feature a wall of glass offering visitors a view down the mountain.


SPIRIT MOUNTAIN, MINNESOTA
Construction began this summer on a new base lodge that will enhance access from the city of Duluth, as the new lodge will create a second entry in addition to the resort’s existing mountaintop chalet. Duluth skiers and riders will now be able to ride city buses to the base of the ski area; in past years they arrived via the nearby community of Proctor.

The new base lodge will cost approximately $3 million, with completion projected for mid-January, 2013. The 14,000-square-foot facility will house rental, ski school, ticketing, retail, ski patrol and a year-round restaurant, the Riverside Bar and Grill. In addition to winter amenities, a banquet space will be included in the facility to host 150 guests and the rental department will become the headquarters for a new youth summer day camp during summer months. The facility will also have a parking lot for 100 vehicles.


MONARCH MOUNTAIN, COLORADO
Monarch received Forest Service acceptance of its new master plan last November, and a two-fold base lodge expansion and remodel is the first project to be implemented. The approximately $2.4-million expansion is the largest capital expenditure in a single season in the resort’s 73-year history. An additional 16,000 square feet of space allows for a significant expansion of the building’s facilities and services as it extends toward the south, bringing it closer to ski patrol and the mountain.


KILLINGTON, VERMONT
The new Peak Lodge project began last year with the removal of the original 1960s facility from the 4,100-foot level of Killington Peak. The old lodge was originally constructed as the return station for the gondola. The $7 million project, scheduled to open in December 2013, will replace the old lodge with a 22,000-square-foot facility that will be the highest gondola-served restaurant and meeting space in eastern North America.

The new lodge will host two separate dining levels. An exterior deck on the top level will afford views of the Adirondack Range in N.Y., the White Mountains of N.H., and the Green Mountains of Vt. It’s also a service-plus sort of establishment: when guests enter the facility, they will be invited to trade their ski boots for some fuzzy slippers. To further enhance the guest experience (and minimize waste), Killington will be washing flatware instead of using disposable products.

Robert Carl Williams Associates in Pittsfield, Vt., has been retained for design and planning.

The Sidewinder Saloon will be expanded in several ways. The new kitchen will allow for additions to the menu, while 85 more seats will increase capacity. The Gunbarrel Cafeteria will gain a larger scramble area and more food options as well. Seating in the cafeteria area will increase from 67 to 520. The popular Family Picnic Room, located on the new lower level, is also growing from 224 to 392 seats. A new family restroom, dressing rooms, lockers and the Snowcat Tours meeting area will all be linked to the upper levels via indoor stairs and handicap elevator. The entire building will have a new roof and additional recycling centers.