Montpelier, VT – Last season Vermont resorts focused on enhancing their snowmaking systems, allowing them to make more snow with less energy with the help of Efficiency Vermont. Those improvements, paired with some of the most snowfall in the continental U.S., resulted in the best season on record for the state when nearly 4.7 million skiers and riders flocked from all over the country to experience one of Vermont’s best ski seasons ever. The number eclipsed the state’s previous skier visit record set in 2001.
“A near-perfect winter in Vermont allowed for both early openings and extended season operations, leading to the best season on record,” explains Vermont Ski Areas Association (VSAA) President Parker Riehle. “The abundant snowstorms and our statewide snowmaking prowess created ideal conditions for visitors, with widespread press coverage that helped us get the word out that Vermont was the place to ski and ride this season.”
On the heels of that exceptional winter, check out what Vermont’s ski and snowboard resorts have been up to over the summer to prepare for the 2015-16 season.
Stay Awhile: Lodging, Amenities and Other Updates at Vermont Resorts
Stowe Mountain Resort
In order to meet the demands of a rapidly growing slopeside community, Stowe Mountain Resort and Spruce Peak Realty will unveil their latest development this coming winter 2016. The new building will advance and expand the family amenities and services at Spruce Peak. Several new facilities are being built around a new ice rink that will double as a community plaza and green in the summer. These amenities will include a new state-of-the-art children’s Adventure Center with ski/ride school, year-round daycare facilities, and a children’s activities center. A new Stowe Mountain Club Alpine Clubhouse will also be delivered as a part of the expansion. Retail shops, restaurants, food markets and a parking garage for Club members will additionally be constructed at Spruce Peak Plaza.
Q Burke Mountain
The construction and opening of the brand new 116-room Hotel and Conference Center offers outdoor venues, over 4,800 square feet of conference, reception and meeting space, a day lodge, restaurant, pub, and café and Vermont views out of every window. Be one of the first to experience it and ski for free December 11th-26th, 2015.
Jay Peak Resort
Jay Peak will open more mountain cottages this winter — 36 in all. Site work has begun on the resort’s new movie theater, which hopes to have its red carpet ready by spring. But the big news at Jay Peak this winter is trash. Specifically, the 40 tons of food scraps that instead of winding up in Vermont’s only landfill, will be diverted by the resort and turned into compost for the numerous gardens found around Jay Peak. It’s part of a statewide initiative that Jay Peak’s helping to show others how simple it is to “close the loop.”
Stratton Mountain Resort
Stratton is investing $9 million in a Main Base Lodge project, which will add 4,000 square feet and approximately 350 seats to the original lodge that has welcomed generations of friends and family since 1961. A brand new cell tower has been installed at the Sun Bowl area to provide better cell phone service to Verizon and AT&T customers visiting the resort. A summit webcam will also be ready for the 2015-16 season, allowing snow enthusiasts to watch what’s happening at Stratton from their computers and cell phones.
Bolton Valley
The new South of Solitude restaurant at Timberline will feature a south of the border menu including burritos and tacos made to order from fresh ingredients. The Poolside Lounge in the Sports Center will serve up wraps, sandwiches, paninis, beer and wine. The resort has also added a significant amount of new ski and snowboard stock to its rental inventory.
Snowmaking and Lift Improvements Continue
Killington Resort & Pico Mountain
Killington and Pico continue to focus on snowmaking and lift operations, replacing primary water lines, rebuilding pumps and hydrants to boost efficiency, and also upgrading lift drives including the K-1 Express and Skyeship Express gondolas, making them more reliable. Also new at Killington is the $3.5 million Snowshed Adventure Center, boasting a nearly mile-long Beast Mountain Coaster, a soaring Skyeride over 100 feet above Snowshed Pond, a four-story Skye Ropes Course and more.
Mount Snow Resort
Major upgrades for the 2015-16 season include new snowmaking pipe across the mountain which will allow them to maximize the use of the 645 new guns installed last season. Ten miles of new, larger pipe has replaced older, inefficient pipe. Significant progress has also been made on West Lake, Mount Snow’s future 120 million gallon snowmaking water reservoir, which is expected to be completed before the 2016-17 winter season. Additional aesthetic upgrades include paving around the resort and new carpet in many restaurants. Mount Snow’s seasonal locker room also got a major facelift, including new ceiling, floor, walls, security, and the lockers themselves.
Okemo Mountain Resort
There are lots of improvements awaiting guests at Okemo this winter: a second bubble chair, a fixed-grip lift, a new trail and snowmaking is being added to two trails at Jackson Gore.
Skiers and snowboarders will view the landscape through the bright orange tint of a retractable, transparent dome when they ride in the comfort of a high-speed bubble chairlift named Quantum Four. Okemo has retrofitted its existing Jackson Gore Express Quad with the new chairs to keep its guests out of the weather.
“We have always put the guest experience first,” said Okemo Mountain Resort Owner Tim Mueller. “State-of-the-art lifts and snowmaking are the heart of the skiing experience, so this is one more example of maintaining that standard and keeping Okemo as the gold standard in the industry.”
Okemo’s snowmaking system expansion this year includes the White Lightning and Rolling Thunder trails at Jackson Gore. At SouthFace Village, Okemo’s newest on-mountain community, the new fixed grip Sunshine Quad will connect the Village Center to the South Face Express Quad and provide access to the new Suncatcher trail. Okemo is also introducing electronic RFID ticketing this season.
Q Burke Mountain
Q Burke has invested more than $1 million in a snowmaking expansion that is scheduled to come on-line for the 2015-16 winter season. The project began in May which involves the installation of 20 state-of-the-art, energy-efficient fan guns as well as the construction of a new summit booster pump station. This is the first phase of a three-phase snowmaking expansion and upgrade which will allow Q Burke to open earlier with more terrain.
Smugglers’ Notch Resort
Smugglers’ snowmaking improvements over the last three seasons feature more than 400 new high-efficiency guns to improve terrain coverage and quick refreshing of trails. New snow gun placement this winter will serve a favorite learning trail where novices enjoy their first experience with natural features by sliding through Billy Bob’s Bear Den and Yellow Cat Woods, and savoring the warmth of a camp fire during a stop by Father Winter’s slopeside tipi. A newly completed snowmaking pipeline ensures optimal water availability while adhering to the resort’s own goals for environmental responsibility as well as state benchmarks for environmental management.
Sugarbush Resort
For this season, Sugarbush has replaced the Valley House Double with the Valley House Quad, a fixed-grip, high-speed quad that will take skiers and riders to the top of The Mall. The $3 million project will increase the uphill capacity of the current lift from 748 to 1,800 people per hour and cut the ride time to approximately eight minutes. A conveyor will speed rider traffic through the loading terminal.
Sugarbush also restructured the area at the top of The Mall and Stein’s for a more fluid interaction while lowering the top terminal to the space between towers 13 and 14 of the old lift, below the Valley House Traverse. Staffers also brought the bottom terminal of the lift down next to Super Bravo Express where the mountain operations building previously sat.
“The Valley House Lift project will really take the pressure off the base area on busy days by significantly increasing our uphill capacity. Also, the re-positioning of the lift will make it more accessible to our guests, and will alleviate congestion on Valley House Traverse,” said Sugarbush Resort President Win Smith.
Sugarbush is also constructing the next phase of real estate development in Gadd Brook, 16 ski-in/ski-out condominiums at the base of Lincoln Peak.
Suicide Six Ski Area / Woodstock Inn & Resort
Suicide Six will be celebrating its 80th anniversary this season with a new snowmaking upgrade and a state of the art compressor, new main lift controls and wiring, and added terrain features. The Woodstock Inn & Resort has also partnered with Tubbs Snowshoes & Fischer Skis in creating an Adventure Center. Extensive improvements have also been made to the trail network on Mount Peg and the Nordic Center will be located at the Woodstock Country Club with trails right out the door.
Middlebury College Snow Bowl
This summer, the Bowl is replacing nearly 2,000 feet of snowmaking pipe and adding 10 HKD tower guns. Also new this season will be a designated uphill route that will be open for skinning during operating hours.
Rikert Nordic Center
Folks at Rikert have been working hard on improving signage with new intersection signs to help guide skiers along the way. They’re introducing a new snowmobile groomer and trail mower to the fleet and new trails for snowshoeing and fat biking. Dog-friendly trails are also expected to be established for the upcoming season.
Learn-to-Turn and Pick up a Life-long Sport
Bromley Mountain
The 2015-16 winter season will see an update to Bromley’s Learning Zone, with regraded terrain to both improve the experience for beginners and also reduce the amount of snowmaking necessary to build Terrain Based Learning features. Bromley is updating its grooming fleet, adding a new winch capable Prinoth 350X, and re-nozzling 50 SV10 snow guns, turning them into SV10 plusses. (What does that mean? Reducing air used from 100 cfm each to 60 cfm each, saving energy.) The popular $649 Super Duper 6-Pack now includes a snowboard option for its six all day Kidsrule (ages 5-14) lessons, free Rossignol skis or Burton snowboard, an earned season pass, plus discounts at the ski shop. With the more experienced skier in mind, the full service Rental & Repair shop will be adding new high-end Rossignol Experience skis, plus men/women-specific boots to the fleet.
Smugglers’ Notch Resort
Smugglers’ Notch Resort continues to enhance its family vacation experience with programming innovations for all ages. On a new evening guided snowshoe outing, families trek through the woods to enjoy the classic treat of s’mores around a bonfire. Fans of Smugglers’ one-day women’s clinic will appreciate the option of a three night getaway incorporating massage and yoga with ski and ride instruction for all abilities.
The Quechee Club
Ski Quechee continues its mission of introducing new skiers and riders to the sport with their Bring a Friend Friday promotion. The offer includes two full day lift tickets and a ten-dollar lunch voucher for $30. New this year, Learn-To Lift Tickets include up to two beginner lessons for $40 per lesson.