Truckee, CA – Building on the $30 million recently invested at Northstar, new parent Vail Resorts is expanding glade skiing on The Backside, adding snowcat and backcountry ski tours on Sawtooth Ridge, a new Burton Riglet Park and more for Northstar’s 40th anniversary ski and snowboard season.
“This is an exciting time of the year. This season, our guests are going to have unprecedented access to Sawtooth Ridge by snowcat and guided backcountry tours. We’re introducing EpicMix Racing, giving our guests the opportunity to see how they stack up against Lindsey Vonn, the best American ski racer of all time, and kids learning to snowboard will love the new Burton Riglet Park complete with learning progressions and equipment specifically designed to help them improve,” said Bill Rock, chief operating officer at Northstar. “And, with new glade skiing in the Promised Land ski pod on The Backside and the sweeping views and incredible food at the Zephyr Lodge, our guests are going to feel like they’re at an entirely new mountain.”
For the first complete season, resort guests will reap the benefits of the $30 million Vail Resorts invested at Northstar in projects that included the installation of a new high-speed chairlift and a new terrain pod in the Promised Land that added new glade skiing and two new intermediate ski trails on The Backside of the mountain. The investment also funded construction of the LEED-certified Zephyr Lodge, a new 700-seat on-mountain restaurant, and the construction of a new 22-foot Superpipe designed by pro snowboarder Shaun White, who calls Northstar his home mountain and primary training resort.
Additional glading was completed in the new Promised Land sector over the summer, providing access to even more tree skiing and riding.
This season, snowcat accessed skiing and riding will be offered for the first time on Sawtooth Ridge, offering easier access to a popular gate-accessed area of terrain that was previously only open to advanced skiers and riders when snow conditions permitted. In addition, guided backcountry tours will be available to advanced skiers and riders interested in skiing or riding outside the resort’s Sawtooth Ridge boundary to an area planned for future expansion, offering a preview of what’s to come.
In addition to hosting Progression Parks, The Stash and the Burton Snowboard Academy, this season Northstar will partner with Burton to introduce a new Riglet Park. Changing the dynamic of the snowboard lesson for kids ages 3-6 years old, the Riglet Park concept offers on-snow learning progressions for small children through an instructor guided experience and use of the “Riglet Reel,” which attaches to the nose of compatible Burton youth snowboards, allowing kids to be pulled around while getting used to standing sideways.
Once lost and now found, Northstar’s new CMO (Canine Marketing Officer), “Marsh Mellow,” was abandoned at Northstar and found by the resort’s security staff on August 6. The Northstar marketing team created and posted flyers around the resort, contacted the local Humane Society and animal shelters to report him found, and took the three month old puppy, dubbed “Marsh Mellow,” to a local vet to see if he had been microchipped. There was no chip, and “MM” was very dirty and without a collar or tags. That’s when the team started posting through the resort’s social media channels to help locate his owners. After 30 days, and with no one coming forward to claim him, MM was formally adopted by one of the Northstar marketing staff members. Now officially part of the Northstar team, Marsh Mellow has developed a following of guests who regularly visit the Village at Northstar to see him.
The third generation of Vail Resorts’ EpicMix smartphone app will provide skiers a new way to experience ski racing at Northstar as well as at other Vail Resorts properties when it launches in mid-December. With EpicMix Racing, skiers will automatically have their race times compared to ski racing great, Lindsey Vonn, with gold, silver and bronze medals awarded based on achievement. Race times, digital medals, overall leaderboards and leaderboards with just family and friends will all be available on both the EpicMix website and mobile application. Race results and medals can then be easily shared on Facebook and Twitter. Finally, the company has created the Lindsey Vonn Race Series, in which all skiers and riders will be ranked based on their best 10 races of the season. The top racers from across the six resorts will be invited to a grand finale event in April 2012, hosted by Vonn, on the Birds of Prey World Cup Course at Beaver Creek in Colorado.
New this season in the Village at Northstar, Tavern 6330’ will feature an American grill inspired by California farm fresh ingredients and a cozy, tavern-esque atmosphere suitable for the whole family. A variety of microbrews will complement the restaurant’s wine list at the inside bar, as well as outside at the Rock Bar on the patio. With indoor and outdoor seating for up to 200 slopeside next to Village Run, Northstar officials are predicting that the Tavern will become an après ski favorite.
Northstar is scheduled to open for the winter season on Friday, Nov. 16.