Vermont Ski Resorts: 2005-2006 WHAT’S NEW

MONTPELIER, Vt. (Winter 2005-2006) – This season, Vermont resorts have expanded terrain offerings, made upgrades and renovations, built new lodging and increased snowmaking coverage. Along with Vermont’s unique charm and hospitality, guests will continue to enjoy up-to-date facilities, conveniences, services and amenities. In ski and ride language that means great skiing and riding.

 SUGARBUSH RESORT
• The Lincoln Peak Revitalization Begins: In the summer of 2005, Sugarbush began construction of its most ambitious project in the Resort’s almost 50-year history—the NEW Lincoln Peak Village.

Clay Brook, the flagship building of the redevelopment, will be constructed to reflect the rustic authenticity of Vermont. Its residences will feature the only true ski in/ski out accommodations to be built on the mountain and preferred tee times to the Resort’s championship golf course. 
With 53 miles of the East’s most diverse ski/ride terrain in the backyard, Owners’ concierge service, a year-round outdoor heated pool, valet parking, personal grocery delivery, a restaurant and café, and the championship golf at the end of the driveway, Clay Brook at Sugarbush is every outdoor lovers wish come true.

 BOLTON VALLEY RESORT
• On-Mountain Improvements: Bolton Valley is planning its first major on-mountain improvements in more than twenty years, and what improvements they are. First, the planned new top-to-bottom Vista Bowl Doppelmayr quad will lift skiers from base area to near the summit of VistaPeak in just 11 minutes. From there they’ll find themselves in airy Vista Bowl, which collects even more snow than Bolton’s average annual snowfall of 300 inches (more than Sun Valley or Keystone!).

Pictured L to R: Ken Richardson, Town of Bolton Development Review Board, Larry Williams, Resort partner, Governor Jim Douglas, Ann Kroll, VT Agency of Commerce & Community Development, Bob Fries, Resort President, and Doug Nedde, Resort partner

They’ll also find about 20 acres of new glades, all full of the same legendary BoltonValley snow. Other planned new developments at Bolton include a new, wood-fired pizza grill in the Base Lodge, additional snowmaking, new lighting for night skiing, expanded parking, an improved SportsCenter, and improvements to the base area hotel.
• Baddest Backcountry: BoltonValley Resort plans to open some of its most challenging backcountry skiing to its guests for the first time ever. This is terrain that helped world-famous extreme skiers Rob and Eric DesLauriers hone their skills—chutes, cliffs, waterfalls, trees and more. No longer the secret province of Bolton locals and insiders, Bolton’s baddest backcountry will put a whole new spin on the Bolton experience.

 BURKE MOUNTAIN SKI AREA
• New and Improved Snowmaking: New for the 2005-2006 season will be the expansion and upgrade of the snowmaking system at Burke. The new energy efficient pumps will allow Burke to cover more trails in less time! Guests will enjoy more open trail coverage earlier in the season.
 • New High Speed Quad: The Sherburne double chair, located at the Base area, will be replaced with a high-speed detachable quad, which means more time on the hill! “Now, Burke Mountain skiers and riders will be able to enjoy the same speed and comfort level that we provide to resorts like Aspen, Jackson Hole and Breckenridge,” says Rick Spears, President of Leitner-Poma North America.
• New Condominiums: The first phase of the Powderhorn Condominium Complex expansion, which began in earnest November 2004, is complete and all the units have been sold. Construction of the final four units in the complex, offering slope side ski-in ski-out convenience, has already begun. Information can be obtained from www.skiburke.com.

 MOUNT SNOW RESORT
• Start Digging Mount Snow: Mount Snow will replace over 2100 feet of snowmaking pipe and carve both the SoBe Gut Superpipe and Tubing Park into the ground before Opening Day. By shaping these features out of earth, less snowmaking is required to build and open these two popular attractions.
• There’s A New Bully In The Park: MountSnow has purchased a ParkBully terrain park-grooming machine. A 330-horsepower Mercedes Benz engine powers this state-of-the-art groomer. Capable of reaching speeds of 13 MPH, the ParkBully will be cruising world-class parks like Inferno, El Diablo, Un Blanco Gulch and Grommet all season long.

• Sale of Haystack Ski Resort: Mount Snow completed the sale of Haystack to a local company. “This transaction allows us to fully concentrate our efforts on MountSnow, while encouraging Haystack to realize its full potential,” commented Mount Snow President Stan Hansen.

 ASCUTNEY MOUNTAIN RESORT
• Improvements: Ascutney Mountain Resort is celebrating its 60th Season this winter. Ascutney has purchased 100 additional snow guns. They have purchased a new groomer and have plans to purchase more electric compressors to increase the fire power for snowmaking.
• New Telemark and Snowboard Programs: They will also be launching a new snowboard development team under the direction of former X-Games design technician and Vice President of Snowboarding for the USCSA Sam Bachhubes. Telemark Guru Dickie Hall will be offering the NATO Telemark workshop at Ascutney.
• Hotel Renovations: This fall, Ascutney will be completing a resort village facelift as well as adding a new health spa in the Sports & FitnessCenter. In addition the 215 room hotel renovation has been completed and the lobby will be completely refurbished by December.

 BROMLEY MOUNTAIN
• A $25 Lift Ticket? Goodbye Personal Days, Hello Bromley: This season, BromleyMountain, introduces the new, all-age, all-day, all-season $25 midweek/non-holiday lift ticket.
No gimmicks, no strings, no cards to punch, no clubs to join…just a tremendously valued $25 midweek/non-holiday lift-ticket. And when combined with Bromley’s already outrageous Family Friday deal, when each paying adult pays just $10 a kid for up to three kids, the savings snowball. Visit bromley.com for Family Friday dates and details.
Bromley delivers varied terrain and glades, freestyle and boarder parks, award-winning family programs, snowmaking, grooming, learn to ski and ride programs, a high-speed quad and legendary kids’ programs. And on top of all that, a $25 midweek/non-holiday lift ticket. With a midweek price like this, you can just kiss those Personal Days goodbye!

 JAY PEAK RESORT
• Improvements: Jay has added refinements and refurbishments to its snowmaking system with upgrades to pumping capacity. A new Bombardier groomer will be added to the resort’s fleet, and will be used, at times, to offset the resort’s prodigious gladed offerings. Jay will also offer up one-hour guided dog sled rides Tuesday through Saturday evenings, adding to an already well-rounded Ski Week activity schedule. The resort will also be upgrading its reservations software and lodging management software, allowing for faster response and booking processes and a much more robust online booking center.

 KILLINGTON RESORT
• Resort Improvements Set Stage for Village Groundbreaking: With the groundbreaking anticipated on the new Killington Resort Village this summer, resort infrastructure upgrades continued this past year as the new Killington continued to evolve. The 2005-06 season at Killington Resort will feature:
o More than $1 million in snowmaking upgrades, including the replacement of more than 15,000 feet of snowmaking infrastructure at both Killington and Pico Mountain
o New carpet at the K-1 and Ramshead lodges
o Painting of the Bear Mountain and Ramshead lodges
o Replacement of the lift drive of Pico Mountain Summit High-Speed Quad
o New tower-mounted Low Energy snowguns
o Six new Bombardier grooming machines
The latest upgrades complement improvements made for the 2004-05 season, including more than $2 million in snowmaking upgrades, renovation of the award-winning Snowshed Lodge food court, a new customer service training program for its seasonal staff of more than 1,800 employees, plus new resort branding and logos for the largest resort in the East.
• Killington to Host 2006 Sprint U.S. Freestyle Championships: Killington’s Bear Mountain will host the 2006 Sprint U.S. Freestyle Championships March 23-26: More than 200 of the top freestyle and new school athletes from across the country will compete in moguls, aerials and for the first time ever at a national championship event – superpipe. The event will also mark the first U.S. appearance of freestyle members of the U.S. Olympic Team following the 2006 Winter Olympic Games in Torino, Italy.

 MAD RIVER GLEN
• Improvements: Over the past ten years, Mad River Glen has invested more than $2 million in capital improvements. Unlike other areas, MadRiver’s goal is to enhance the experience rather than overhaul or upgrade it. Both the skier-owners and the management understand that skiers come to MadRiver for the unique combination of legendary terrain, history, sense of community, and atmosphere. They do not want to mess with a winning combination. President Jamey Wimble explains, “Our capital plan is designed to maintain the existing infrastructure and to make small changes that will improve the overall experience for our skiers.” Mad River Glen’s long-term capital plan calls for spending about $120,000 for the 2005-06 season, a bit less than in a typical year as the Co-op husbands its resources in preparation for the $1.4 million Single Chair renovation.

 OKEMO MOUNTAIN RESORT
• Okemo Mountain Resort and 05/06 promises to be OKEMO-MENTUS: Two new trails have been added in the Jackson Gore Peak area, increasing the resort's total skiable acreage to 624 acres. A new carpet lift, tailor-made for beginners, replaces the F-10 Poma lift, and two new Park Cats for grooming Terrain Parks, along with two new trail grooming machines have been added. Okemo's massive snowmaking water storage pond is undergoing a major upgrade, bringing its capacity to 153 million gallons. The project will be completed in 06/07, which means plenty of water for snowmaking any time during the season.
On Jan. 31, 2006, Okemo will celebrate 50 years of history and tradition, and its emergence as one the fastest growing and most successful snowsport enterprises in the country. A 50th Anniversary celebration lies ahead for skiers and riders during the 05/06 winter season

 PICO MOUNTAIN
• Improvements: Pico Mountain has undergone improvements for the 2005-06 season that include a new lift drive at the Pico Summit-Express Quad, 25 new low energy snow guns for increased early season trail openings, more than 1500-feet of new snowmaking pipes, new communication lines on the mountain, trail improvements on Birch Woods and Doozie and a Digital Muzac system in the base lodge.

 SMUGGLERS’ NOTCH RESORT
• New Kids Programs: Smugglers’ Snow Sport University has several new teaching programs on the docket for a variety of ages. Little Rascals on Snow for the 2 1/2 – 3 1/2 year olds invites all youngsters in this age group at Treasures to enjoy their first skiing experience directly from the child care center. For kids in the 6-15 age range who want to learn from professionals how to really play in the park, they can join the new Jibs & Jumps Ski and Snowboard Camp. A novel method of teaching adults to alpine ski is the 3-D Mixed Approach, using a combination of nordic and alpine skiing in this three day series. The ultimate adventure for adults is the GXB’s on Boards – an exciting but gentle approach for never-ever snowboarders of the Gen-X and Boomer generations.
• Terrain: More gladed terrain will be added to Madonna Mountain for intermediate and expert skiers, a bigger than life Sam the Snow Snake terrain park for kids and adults, fun features in the Jibs & Jumps Terrain Park at Morse Highlands, and new rails at The Zone terrain park on Practice Slope. Airboarding makes a debut on Morse. A Zaugg groomer will be added to the fleet and nearly one hundred new low-energy high output snowguns.

 STOWE MOUNTAIN RESORT
• The New Spruce Mountain: Stowe Mountain Resort’s fabled Spruce Mountain is what eastern skiers and boarders consider some of the most beautiful and authentic alpine terrain in the northeast. That’s why skiers never minded riding for 15-minutes on a double chair circa 1954, and skiing during a select number of days that were dictated by natural snowfall.
Well, everything except the best and most beautiful terrain part changes for winter ’05-‘06 in Stowe. The old double chair is being replaced with a high-speed quad, top to bottom fully automated snowmaking systems are being installed, and extensive trail work will allow access to routes down the mountain never explored before. All totaled, these projects represent 12 million dollars in improvements to the best intermediate terrain east of the Rockies.

 STRATTON MOUNTAIN RESORT
• Terrain: Stratton expands beyond the edge of existing terrain and outside the boundaries of skiing and riding as we know it with a new wooded course designed and hand cut by Bill Koch, the first and only American to win an Olympic medal in Nordic skiing (Silver 1976). Test Pilot is a web of routes rolling out at the eastern edge of the trail map, just off Kidderbrook. Designed by virtue of the terrain, running the length of 1,200 vertical feet, this backcountry course is modeled after those narrow old trails. The courses, different options for different abilities, follow mountain contours and accentuate the natural features to create jumps, rollers or banked turns and a few "major mojo jumps with good landings. A 3-D experience."
Two more new "lines" are being opened up for 2005-6, bringing the total of gladed terrain at Stratton Mountain to more than 130 acres. These new glades are off Lower Downeaster and Tink's Link, following runs the locals discovered years ago in areas now permitted for new trails.
• Hearthstone Lodge: Also new for 2006: Hearthstone Lodge opens with 38 condominiums surrounding the new Village Common with Millhouse and ice skating rink.