Jay, VT – After a decade of effort, Jay Peak Resort has arranged a three-way land swap with the state of Vermont that will give the ski area control of its Stateside base area and protect the Long Trail corridor.nThe deal signed Tuesday releases 418 acres of Jay State Forest land leased by Jay Peak on the back of the mountain’s summit. In exchange, the state is transferring to Jay Peak Resort nearly 60 acres of forest land it owns surrounding the Stateside base lodge. This will allow the ski area to upgrade the overutilized day lodge and upgrade lifts on that side of the mountain.

A second phase of the deal that remains pending until sometime this fall involves the transfer of a 166-acre resort-owned parcel straddling the mountain’s western ridgeline. This parcel includes a section of the Long Trail, a hiking route spanning the length of the state. Transfer of that land to state control will ensure its pristine state of the Long Trail for hikers, a move applauded by officials at the Green Mountain Club.

The swap was first approved by the Vermont state legislature in 1999. It was supposed to be consummated in 2002, but its complexity and lack of interest by Jay Peak’s prior owner, Quebec’s Saint-Sauveur Ltd., led to delays until its finalization on Tuesday.