What’s New, on and Off the Slopes

What’s New, on and Off the Slopes
By LIONEL BEEHNER
Copyright by The New York Times
Published: December 13, 2009
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/13/travel/13journeys.html?hpw


THOSE hoping for shorter lift lines and emptier ski lodges may be disappointed this winter. Sure, the recession may scare off some fair-weather skiers. But cheap flights, discounted passes and fewer blackout days on ski-and-stay packages will lure even the thriftiest of skiers — not to mention the earlier-than-expected snowstorms that buried the West last month. A bad economy may also mean more bankers-turned-ski bums.

Stonegate Resort
Horizon Air serves the Mammoth Lakes Airport in California.
Still, don’t expect your favorite ski mountain to look too different from past seasons. Most resorts did not roll out expensive new lifts and lodges, but rather just tweaked around the margins. New trails or bowls? Not many this winter.

There are exceptions, of course. A few resorts in Utah and Colorado are opening luxury condos and faux Alpine villages with Trump-like aplomb. But those were green-lighted before the economy hit the skids. Not all upgrades require multimillion-dollar investments. Old stalwarts like Jackson Hole, Wyo., for example, have jumped on the iPhone bandwagon with a new app that offers up-to-the-minute ski conditions and GPS tracking.

Here’s a roundup of what else is new at North America’s ski resorts this season.

East

A recession, the thinking goes, keeps skiers closer to home. That is good news for Eastern ski resorts. Though not many new trails were cut, the region still has some tricks up its sleeve.

In New York, Gore Mountain (518-251-2411; www.goremountain.com), an unpretentious resort in the heart of the Adirondacks, is opening a snazzy Ski Bowl Lodge this season to replace a rundown one, but salvaged the original fireplace. The mountain also opens a steeper, wider half-pipe at its Ski Bowl Park.

Up in Tupper Lake, Big Tupper (www.skibigtupper.org) folded in 1999 after financial difficulties. The mountain is set to reopen Dec. 26, thanks to a staff of 60 volunteers. Its $15 lift ticket feels very 1999.

Not since Woodstock has so much holistic therapy hit upstate New York. Zen-minded skiers can relax at Belleayre Mountain’s meditation, yoga and tai chi courses, all part of its new “snow therapy” program to avoid injuries (845-254-5600; www.belleayre.com).

In Vermont, après ski at Stratton (802-297-4000; www.stratton.com) just got sweeter. The day lodge at the Sun Bowl Adventure Center now stays open late for after-parties at its spiffy new Loft bar, which offers nice mountain views. Families, on the other hand, may appreciate the new four-lane snow tubing park at Sun Bowl.

And at Stowe Mountain Resort, expect to be pampered at the new Front Four Private Club (802-760-4700; www.stowemountainlodge.com), a palatial three-story penthouse at the Stowe Mountain Club at Spruce Peak. The club’s 34 luxury suites come equipped with full-service kitchens, flat-screen televisions and a private lounge, with top units fetching a cool $5,519 a night.

Canada

For skiers flying into eastern British Columbia, the runway at the Kelowna Airport was recently extended by 1,700 feet, allowing for larger airplanes to land and thus for travelers from the United States to bypass transfers in Calgary or Vancouver. That’s good news for Big White Ski Resort (250-765-3101; www.bigwhite.com), an out-of-the-way resort with big ambitions. Situated less than an hour’s drive southeast of Kelowna, the mountain opens the second phase of its 96-unit Stonegate Resort (250-491-8200; www.stonegatespa.com), an earthy-chic residence with an attractive, oblong outdoor pool.

Not far from Kelowna, little-known Silver Star Mountain Resort is planning to open new luxury homes at FireLight Lodge (800-663-4431; www.firelightlodge.com). The 96 units have a contemporary feel — outdoor hot tubs, barbecue pit, a movie theater — not to mention impeccable views of the Monashee Mountain range.

Canada’s newest megaresort, Revelstoke, is finally starting to take form. After much fanfare, the Nelsen Lodge (604-730-6600; www.thenelsenlodge.com) opened last March. A new wing goes online this winter, offering 56 pet-friendly suites with private balconies overlooking the mountain. The lodge also houses the Rockford, a new Asian-theme restaurant, and the Revelstoke Outdoors Center, a one-stop shop for daredevil skiers that offers clinics on avalanche survival and tutorials on heli-skiing.

And, of course, there’s Whistler Blackcomb (800-766-0449; www.whistlerblackcomb.com), which is hosting the 2010 Winter Olympics. The resort is already swarming with world-class athletes and pre-Olympics buzz. Yet, unnoticed amid all the hype, the mountain has quietly begun a renewable energy project that pumps water from Fitzsimmons Creek to power the entire resort year-round. Meanwhile, its ski school has gone Big Brother: Students get a nifty GPS tag slapped on their jackets to prevent them from getting lost.

West

Don’t tell the folks in Park City, Utah, that there is a recession. The Canyons Resort is opening not one but two ski-in ski-out properties this season. The 84-unit Escala Lodges (435-649-5400; www.thecanyons.com) mixes Old World charm — stone fireplaces, knotty alder cabinets — with modern luxuries like whirlpool tubs and heated parking lot. Even nicer is the 175-unit Dakota Mountain Lodge (435-647-5500; www.dakotamountainlodge.com), the first slopeside property in the Waldorf Astoria Collection. It includes a 16,000-square-foot spa, personal ski valet and the Spruce restaurant; an 18-hole golf course is expected to break ground later in 2010.

The St. Regis Deer Crest Resort (435-940-5700; www.starwoodhotels.com/stregis), which just opened in nearby Deer Valley, may be Utah’s most exclusive new resort this winter. Situated in a gated community reachable by funicular, the resort’s 181 guest rooms come with flat-screen TVs, nightly turndown service and, in suites, even a butler — this is a St. Regis, after all — not to mention a split-level infinity-edge heated swimming pool, a 30,000-square-feet spa, and a Jean-Georges Vongerichten restaurant.

Don’t forget to bring your iPhone charger to Jackson Hole (307-733-2292; www.jacksonhole.com) this winter. The ski resort released a nifty JH Tapped app ($6.99), the first of its kind for a major ski area, which allows skiers to track their friends, check the latest snow and weather conditions, and see Web-cam views of trails.

In Truckee, on the northern part of Lake Tahoe, the Ritz-Carlton Highlands Lake Tahoe (530-562-3000; www.ritzcarlton.com/LakeTahoe) scheduled its opening for Dec. 9 with 170 rooms midmountain and offers terry bathrobes, turndown service and a 17,000-square-foot spa and fitness center with two swimming pools.

And finally in California, commercial air service to Mammoth Mountain (760-934-2571; www.mammothmountain.com) is scheduled to begin Dec. 17.Horizon Air (800-547-9308; www.horizonair.com) is running direct flights from San Jose from $69 each way, making the resort accessible to a broader population. To reduce congestion on its Village Gondola, a new trail will link the base lodge to the town of Mammoth.

Colorado Rockies

The greening of America’s ski resorts continues. A LEED-certified hotel, Viceroy (866-326-9765; www.viceroysnowmass.com), opened at Snowmass late last month. With rustic-chic décor and 173 custom-designed suites of reclaimed timber, skiers can kick back on the pool terrace or sip martinis at its cocktail lounge. The condo-hotel is part of a $1 billion development at the Snowmass base village.

By comparison, the upgrades at Crested Butte (800-810-7669; www.skicb.com) are relatively minor. It doubled the size of the Ice Bar restaurant and opened a skating rink at the base area.

Likewise, Steamboat (970-879-6111; www.steamboat.com) may put a few bus drivers out of work after opening its Wildhorse Gondola in February. The lift whisks skiers from the Trailhead Lodge in Wildhorse Meadows to the slopes in just four minutes. Zippier still is a new Web site, www.flysteamboat.com, that makes it easy to visualize and book flights to the resort.

To kick off its 70th season, Winter Park Resort (970-726-5514; www.skiwinterpark.com) put the finishing touches on a new base village that combines modern conveniences (Starbucks; 200 new condos) and old-fashioned charms (soda foundation, gazebo, cabriolet). There’s also a pond for ice-skating and a new play den, the Winter P’arkade, for kids who prefer playing video games to hitting the bunny trails.

Breckenridge may become the Amsterdam of the Rockies, thanks to a new local ordinance that decriminalizes small amounts of marijuana. There are other perks, too. A new, couples-friendly spa called Soothe is adding a touch of romantic luxury to the yet-unfinished Grand Lodge on Peak 7 (866-664-9782; www.grandlodgeonpeak7.com). Next spring, One Ski Hill Place (888-652-9120; www.oneskihillplace.com), the centerpiece of the resort’s Peak 8 renovations, is scheduled to make its debut, offering 88 ski-in, ski-out suites.

Telluride in southwest Colorado is one of the few mountains with new terrain. The resort carved out several chutes along the backside of its Gold Hill Ridge, a 1,600-foot vertical drop that is among North America’s steepest. It is also welcoming new, high-end hotels: lumière (970-369-0400; www.lumierehotels.com/telluride) is a 30-room boutique hotel perched above the village, and Capella Telluride (970-369-0880; www.capellatelluride.com) features 100 stylish suites.

And last but never least, Vail is expected to get even bigger and more glamorous next year with the addition of a Four Seasons, a Ritz Carlton and a luxury complex called Solaris (970-479-6000; www.solarisvail.com), a 79-unit property with a skating rink, shopping plaza and bowling alley. Who said it was all downhill at ski resorts this winter?