Snowshoe, WV

Alterra-owned Snowshoe is replacing its Shavers Center lodge this summer. The old facility served for more than 50 years, but was deemed structurally unsound and torn down in 2022. Since then, departments that operated from the old building were scattered to other facilities temporarily; for example, patrol moved into a Sprung structure.

The modern Shavers Center will include ticketing and food service on the main floor, with ski school, a daycare, and an adventure center below. The center will feature an open, spacious interior as well as a large outside deck with firepits and extra seating. Snowshoe hopes the new facility will encourage people to gather in a central location again.

Veritas Construction Group of Salt Lake City is serving as general contractor. (Alterra previously tapped Veritas to complete work on the Base to Base Gondola at Palisades Tahoe and for another lift project at Mammoth Mountain.) Veritas broke ground on Snowshoe’s 18,000-square-foot building on April 1. The two-story, steel frame structure is being built into a hillside, which required removal of 1,000 cubic yards of dirt and rock in April. As of late May, concrete had been poured for the first story, and the project was on track for mid-December completion.

Nordic Mountain, WI

Nordic Mountain concluded its winter on March 16 and commenced construction of a new lodge the following week. The yet-to-be-named building replaces a yurt near an existing base lodge. Designed by Striegel Agacki Studio of Milwaukee, the new lodge will include retail, ski school, food service, guest services, and restrooms on the main floor. Below grade will be a new ski patrol room, employee locker room, and ski school lounge. The top floor will be home to administrative offices and meeting space. Once complete, the new lodge will be connected to the existing lodge via a large patio that will become the new central hub of activity.

Moving patrol into the new building will allow Nordic Mountain to increase cafeteria seating in the existing lodge. Similarly, the current rental shop will be expanded with ticketing and retail moving to the new building. Even the yurt that was taken down will be repurposed to create indoor space at Nordic Mountain’s beginner area.

Crews began excavating for the exposed basement and reached grade by the end of March. The foundation and basement walls were poured throughout the month of April, with the floor following in May. As of late May, crews were beginning to frame the first floor, with move-in tracking for mid-October. The first and second floors will both be timber framed with about 6,000 square feet of total usable space.

All of the work is being tackled by local contractors. “There was a significant cost savings using an independent architect and local crews versus the larger design/build companies,” noted Nordic Mountain owner Rick Schmitz. “We are super happy to employ our local crews.”

Welch Village, MN

Welch Village is restructuring facilities on the western side of the mountain for both beginners and terrain park users. The slope previously used for the park was deemed too flat for jumps, but perfect for a teaching area. The terrain served by the old beginner lift, a 1967 Hall double, was too steep for small children, but perfect for a park run. To make the switch, Skytrac is supplying a new quad chairlift for beginners, and the park tow is moving one trail east. Welch expects to have both lifts operational by Halloween.

In April, Welch’s in-house team removed both existing lifts. Skytrac arrived in May, excavating for both chairlift stations and four line towers. By late May, excavation was complete, and the concrete foundations were set to be completed in June.

The new quad rides lower to the ground, with no ski-under clearance. The belief is that this will help young families feel more comfortable during their first chairlift experience. The bottom drive, bottom tension machine will run 1,041 feet, with a 121-foot vertical rise. The main drive is 40 horsepower, turning the lift’s 44 carriers at 400 feet per minute. Due to the lift’s small size, Skytrac included a battery-electric evacuation motor rather than a traditional combustion evacuation drive. 

Welch Village and a local excavation company regraded the slope for the new terrain park, which will be about 650 feet long and 300 feet wide, with room for jumps and rails. Fixed snowmaking guns and lights are planned, though next winter may see use of portable guns. 

Killington, VT

A top priority for the new independent ownership group at Killington was to replace the aging Superstar Express, a 1987 Yan-Poma detachable quad. This workhorse opened as early as October each season, and ran through May or even June for spring skiing. How important is this lift? Killington leadership decided to pause the Killington World Cup race (which is held on the Superstar trail during Thanksgiving weekend) while the construction is completed. Doppelmayr is installing the replacement six-pack, capable of transporting 2,700 skiers per hour. The UNI-G series machine will rise 1,191 vertical feet with 56 carriers.

Superstar, typically the main late-season trail, closed earlier than normal on April 13, and construction commenced the very next day. Killington’s lift maintenance team salvaged most of the drive components for use on other lifts at both Killington and Pico. They also removed sheave assemblies from every tower, and saved chairs for use on the Golden Express at Pico. Removal of the old lift was a team effort, with Doppelmayr spooling the haul rope, Killington helping tug towers over, and Fall Line Construction demolishing portions of the terminals that weren’t salvageable. G.W. Tatro Construction and Maine Drilling & Blasting excavated and blasted foundations for the new lift’s 11 towers.

The state of Vermont prescribed strict protocols to protect the endangered Bicknell’s Thrush: blast locations required double matting, and helicopters utilized long-roping to mitigate downwash while removing towers. Erosion prevention and sediment control was “intense,” the resort said, with weekly reporting to the state.

Simultaneously, Killington is working to upgrade snowmaking capacity on the Superstar trail. The project includes upsized pipe, new valve stations, and a horseshoe configuration at the bottom so the resort can hammer the headwall with snow when the Killington Cup event returns in fall 2026. Killington also trenched power to the top station; the old lift was bottom drive, but the new lift will be top drive.

Spring rains posed challenges. It was so wet that parts of Killington’s golf course washed out and closed, while mountain biking was delayed beyond Memorial Day. Further, trails surrounding the project remained open for skiing until May 10, so crews had to work around guest traffic. Despite the challenges, the $12 million project was slightly ahead of schedule as of late May, with completion targeted for early November.