Middlefield, CT – Connecticut’s Powder Ridge ski area, shuttered since 2007, may still find skiers and snowboarders schussing its slopes again after all.nPowder Ridge, with 18 runs spread across 250 acres spanning 500 vertical feet on Beseck Mountain in Middlefield, was the state’s southernmost ski area for its 47 years of operation. Following its closure, and a bankruptcy battle between former owner Ken Leavitt and town officials, the town purchased the property for $2.55 million with the intention of reviving the ski area. In 2009 the town selected CDF and Associates of Windham, N.Y., to operate the resort, and CDF partnered with Snow Time of York, Penn., operator of that state’s Ski Liberty, Whitetail Resort and Ski Roundtop in the venture. In February, however, CDF backed out of the deal, citing Connecticut’s high taxes and energy costs.

Now, however, Alpine Associates Inc., which earlier filed a bid with the town for Powder Ridge but lost out to CDF, is reportedly in discussions with town officials to revive their proposal. An attorney representing Alpine Associates has been quoted by the Hartford Courant newspaper as saying that he’s “optimistic” an agreement can be reached.

Alpine Associates wants to pay the town $1 million for title to the entire, undivided property, and promises an additional $2 million investment in the facility within the next three years. They also want water rights from Lake Beseck for snowmaking. The loss incurred by the town would be partially offset by a $540,000 grant awarded by the state’s Department of Economic and Community Development last January.