Colorado resorts boast upgrades aplenty for 07-08

Colorado ski resorts are investing hundreds of millions of dollars in capital improvements and guest enhancements for the 2007-08 winter ski and snowboard season.
COLORADO SKI RESORTS are investing hundreds of millions of dollars in capital improvements and guest enhancements for the 2007-08 winter ski and snowboard season.
    “We’re coming off a second consecutive record year for skier visits. To be a leader, you’ve got to continually raise the bar and that's exactly what our member resorts are doing,” stated Rob Perlman, President and CEO of Colorado Ski Country USA, the not-for-profit trade association representing Colorado's 26 ski & snowboard resorts.
    The following is a listing of the new improvements at the state’s ski resorts:

Arapahoe Basin
Arapahoe Basin is moving forward with the construction of the Montezuma Bowl expansion project, its largest expansion since its inception in 1946. A-Basin recently received final approval from the White River National Forest to construct Zuma Lift, which will provide access to approximately 400 acres of intermediate and advanced skiing in Montezuma Bowl. The bowl is located within the southern portion of the ski area's Special Use Permit, which is administered by the White River National Forest.
    The expansion will increase the ski area's terrain by 80 percent, bringing A-Basin’s total skiable acres to 900. Lift construction began this summer and the bowl is scheduled to open during the 2007-08 ski season.

Aspen/Snowmass
The Treehouse Kids' Adventure Center in Snowmass is a $17 million project opening in November. The two-story, 25,000-square foot Treehouse Kids' Adventure Center will offer families one stop shopping when in Snowmass. Ski and Snowboard School check-in, rental and retail, après entertainment and activities will all be consolidated under one roof. The Treehouse will be easily accessible from anywhere in Snowmass, with underground parking and front door drop off, free shuttle bus access, ski-in/ski-out access from the slopes and lodges in the existing upper village, plus access from the Snowmass Village Mall area via the Sky Cab gondola.
    The Elk Camp Meadows Beginner Area will be a dedicated learning area with a new quad chair, two new surface lifts and a new ski school meeting area for beginners. The area will be at the top of the Elk Camp gondola, providing beginners better snow conditions and a complete alpine experience. New trail alignments will ensure that there is no cross traffic in this area, making for an ideal learning environment.
    The Snowmass Terrain Park and Pipe is being relocated and improved this summer. The new Snow Park Technologies layout will allow for a longer, continuous line with no cross traffic. A new bridge will be built over Lunchline, allowing park users the unique experience of riding over the skiers and snowboarders below. New earth work, snowmaking, snow cats and features will all be utilized.

Beaver Creek
Families and individuals staying in Avon will now be able to begin their ski day by riding the new Riverfront Express Gondola, anticipated to open during the 2007-08 winter season, instead of riding a shuttle bus to the slopes. The gondola will provide the fastest and most convenient route from Avon to Beaver Creek Mountain. A three-minute gondola ride delivers guests to Beaver Creek Landing, where two existing high-speed quad chairlifts deliver skiers and snowboarders of advanced beginner level and above to the main mountain in 14 minutes.
    The eight-passenger gondola is 2,100 feet in length with nine towers, 18 cabins and can carry 1,200 people per hour. The gondola is a short 400-foot walk from the Town of Avon’s new transit center and is expected to decrease traffic volumes and improve the winter vacation experience.
    The gondola is part of the $500 million Riverfront Village mixed-use development, with the centerpiece, Westin Riverfront Resort & Spa, anticipated to open Summer 2008. The 291-key, full-service Westin condo hotel is seeking Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification from the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) and would be one of the nation's first hotels to achieve LEED-certification.
    Beaver Creek's children's ski and snowboard school experience gets better with the addition of the Buckaroo Express Gondola and The Ranch. The children's gondola and ski and snowboard school will offer kids enhanced comfort and convenience, excellent beginner learning terrain, and access to the ski resort's famed on-mountain cuisine. The eight-passenger Buckaroo Express Gondola replaces the Haymeadow Lift (#1) and delivers kids ages 7 to 14 to The Ranch, the new 4,500-square foot on-mountain facility. The gondola has a ride time of 3.75 minutes and can carry 1,665 people per hour. The lift is 1,671 feet in length with ten towers and 26 cabins. Anticipated openings are early winter for the gondola and February 2008 for The Ranch.

Breckenridge
The BreckConnect, which debuted Dec. 31, 2006, has transformed the way visitors access the town and mountain and starts the first of two new base villages at Peaks 7 and 8. Breckenridge's new gondola creates a streamlined link to transport large numbers of visitors between the town and the ski resort's Peaks 7 and 8.
    In May, Vail Resorts Development Company broke ground on the first building of the Breckenridge Peaks project. The Crystal Peak Lodge sold 45 of 46 units during the winter season. The Breckenridge Peaks will consist of the new Peak 7 base area and the redeveloped Peak 8 base area. Featuring approximately 450 residential units and 75,000-square feet of commercial and guest services, both neighborhoods will have access to historic Main Street via the new BreckConnect Gondola.

Copper Mountain
Copper's trail crew and slope maintenance teams are currently glading a portion of trail in between the Formidable trail and the Rosi's Run and Treble Cliff trails on the eastern side of Copper Mountain. The new 4-7 Glades area, to be open for the 2007-08 winter season, will be expert skiing and riding terrain accessed from the Alpine or Super Bee lifts. This project was approved last March by the US Forest Service as part of Copper Mountain's Environmental Impact Statement (EIS).

Crested Butte Mountain Resort
Crested Butte Mountain Resort (CBMR) has added a new conference center, the major renovation of a slopeside hotel, and the availability of existing meeting space at the Grand Lodge Hotel and Plaza condominiums. CBMR is going from 5,000-square feet of meeting space to more than 25,000-square feet. All of these properties are within proximity to each other and are either owned or managed by CBMR. These additions and renovations are all a part of the $200 million in improvements that are underway at CBMR.
    The Mountaineer Conference Center, the region's newest meeting venue is located in the heart of the base area near shopping, restaurants and the new transit center, where guests can take the free shuttle bus three miles to the authentic western town of Crested Butte. The state-of-the-art Mountaineer Conference Center includes 9,000-square feet of unique and flexible event space, including the 5,000-square foot Grand Ball room and accommodates groups from 20 to 500 with full service catering and audio visual amenities.
    The Lodge at Mountaineer Square is CBMR's newest luxury property featuring spacious hotel and condominium accommodations. The Lodge surrounds the Mountaineer Conference Center, and is located just steps from the ski lifts. Guests can choose from 95 units, rangin
g from standard king bed hotel rooms to three-bedroom suites. All studio, one, two and three bedroom suites contain fully equipped kitchens, gas fireplaces, high speed wired and wireless internet, washer/dryer, private balconies, underground parking, ski valet, indoor/outdoor heated swimming pool, outdoor hot tub, sauna and fitness room.
    In the midst of a $25 million renovation, the slopeside Club Med Crested Butte hotel was recently purchased by Sun Vest Communities USA, and renamed the Elevation Hotel. The renovations will transform the facility into a four-star ski-in, ski-out, year-round luxury hotel. There will be 263 rooms and suites, 10,000-square feet of meeting and event space, an 11,000-square foot spa, fitness center and swimming pool. The slopeside Atmosphere Restaurant and Bar, Elevation Station retail ski & snowboard shop, an executive business center with shipping services, ski valet and storage, valet parking, video arcade room for kids, and guest laundry services all complement this pet friendly property.

Keystone
An expanded spa is set to open this fall at Keystone and a new master plan is in the works that includes a possible redevelopment of Keystone's original base area and proposed hotels and on-mountain restaurants. Patricia Campbell, Keystone's new chief operating officer, and her team refer to it as the Bigger, Bolder Keystone.

Monarch Mountain
Monarch Mountain is investing $600,000 of on-mountain capital improvements and enhancements for the coming ski season, the largest of which is the addition of 200 acres of new cat skiing terrain into "No Name Bowl" in the Gunnison National Forest. The new terrain will offer more variety steep chutes.

Purgatory at Durango Mountain Resort
Purgatory is deep into its 25-year Mountain Master Plan that includes the new Purgatory Lodge and the revitalization of Purgatory Village, upgrades to lifts and mountain restaurants, additional lodging and condo complexes, a resort amphitheater and more.
    The Purgatory Lodge is taking shape this year in the heart of Purgatory Village and is expected to be completed during the 2008-09 season. Upon EIS approval, the resort will also begin to replace Chairs 4 and 8 in the next couple of years.
Additionally, Dante's Restaurant and Café de Los Pinos on the backside of the mountain will receive a complete facelift with upgraded facilities. The new state-of-the art snowmaking system will offer more energy efficiency, while allowing the resort a longer ski and ride season.

Ski Cooper
Proposed improvements for 2007-08 at Ski Cooper include enhancements to the ski school with installation of a new Magic Carpet and Printer Boy lift. The new lifts will offer easier access and a smoother transition from snow to lift for never-ever and beginning skiers and snowboarders.

SolVista Basin at Granby Ranch
SolVista Basin is undertaking a $6 million reconstruction of its base area. The base lodge is being remodeled from the ground up, and will feature a new pub and restaurant. Additionally, Base Camp One will be the resort's new ski in/ski out condominium facility conveniently located at the ski resort's "new" base area.

Steamboat Ski Resort
Steamboat is moving ahead with a record $16 million on-mountain investment program, highlighted by the six-passenger Christie Peak Express chairlift, re-grade of the Headwall terrain, significant snowmaking improvements and expansion of the Meadows parking facility. In addition, newly redesigned on-mountain signs and upgraded kids ski/snowboard cafeteria round out the 2007-08 capital improvements.
    In addition to on-mountain improvements, the mountain base area will be transformed and several new real estate developments will take place, all part of Steamboat Unbridled, a multi-faced enhancement project extending from the mountain through downtown Steamboat Springs. Nearly $1 billion is anticipated to be spent on Steamboat Unbridled now and in the coming years, including major upgrades to Ski Time Square, the creation of a promenade and plaza at the base area, along with the day lighting of Burgess Creek, and numerous residential and commercial developments.

Telluride
Telluride is set to open the Black Iron Bowl. Previously off limits guided, this in-bounds, hike-to terrain off lift 12 has tempted locals for years and now offers locals and guests alike the same daring backcountry-style experience. The opening of the terrain will offer guests an additional 353 acres of ridgeline extreme skiing that's worth more than a few beads of sweat.

Vail Mountain
Vail Mountain is replacing the Highline Lift (Chair 10) and Sourdough Lift (Chair 14) with new high speed Poma quad chairlifts, which will expedite the trip to Two Elk Restaurant, China Bowl and Blue Sky Basin. The new Highline Lift, with a new ride time of 7 minutes, delivers skiers and riders to the top of Vail's signature bump run, Highline, and adjacent expert trails. The new Sourdough Lift will provide enhanced access to one of the resort's popular beginner areas at the top of the mountain with three green runs. Both new lifts increase Vail's uphill lift capacity to 56,138 while also cutting in half the ride times in those areas.
    The Little Eagle Lift (Chair 15), in the dedicated beginner area at Eagle's Nest at the top of the gondola in Lionshead, will also be replaced with a faster triple chairlift.
    In the village, the Golden Peak Children's Center and Small World Play School Nursery is being completely remodeled this summer to increase space for the ever-popular children's program for 3- to 6-year-olds. With its comprehensive children's learning area and the popularity of children's private lessons, the upgraded space will also allow for easier and faster registration for parents. Décor will be kid-contemporary.

Winter Park
Currently under construction at Winter Park and slated to open by December, the new Panoramic Express Chairlift will be North America's highest six-passenger chairlift. The new lift will replace the Timberline and provide faster access to more than 1,123 acres including Vasquez Cirque, Parsenn Bowl and the Eagle Wind Trails and 100 acres of new intermediate and advanced terrain.
    The new hub at Winter Park is the ski resort's new village — The Village. This is the new heart of Winter Park; classic mountain architecture balanced with modern amenities and shops combined with enough family-friendly amenities to keep even the busiest of children entertained throughout the day.
    Located above the restaurants and retail shops in the Village and just steps from The Zephyr Express Lift, new homes in The Lofts will offer easy access to everything at Winter Park Resort. Construction has already begun on the first two buildings of the "new" Village.
    Designed to be a true pedestrian village, Winter Park has begun construction on the new three-tier parking structure located near the Zephyr Mountain Lodge at the base of the resort. The new parking structure will boast 290 parking spaces and allow guests to park their vehicle for the duration of their visit. The new structure is slated to open in December.

Wolf Creek
New for this year, Wolf Creek will complete the installation of water-free restrooms at the top of Raven and Treasure lifts.