From Snocountry.com:
It looks to be a busy summer at resorts owned by Denver-based Alterra Mountain Co. as the firm begins to catch up on much-needed improvements both on and off the mountain.
New lifts, renovated base lodges, more snowmaking, direct-to-lift ticket technology and upgraded summer bike trails are on the list at resorts that take the Ikon Pass. Here's a look at some of the upgrades among Alterra's 14 resorts:
The Hot Wheels chair at Alpine Meadows will be lengthened and become a high-speed quad to get skiers and riders onto the top ridge. At neighbor Squaw Valley, the High Camp beginner area gets several new surface lifts.
Crews will be replacing the venerable Steamboat Gondola this summer, reducing ride time and streamlining loading and unloading.
Mogul-hoppers will get more time on Mary Jane with a high-speed six-seater Sunnyside chair, replacing the fixed-grip triple and cutting ride time in half.
It'll be quicker and easier to get onto the famed groomers at Deer Valley next season as the Utah resort goes full-on RFID technology with ticket scanning, which also means no visit to the ticket window for Ikon passholders.
More work is scheduled for the popular Canyon Lodge at Mammoth Mountain. Restaurants will be expanded and skier services will be more accessible. The Mill Restaurant is set to get 50 more seats, too. And, the mountain will put down more early-season snow with a significant snowmaking upgrade.
Up north, the Bobby Burns Lodge gets a facelift at Alterra's CMH heli-ski operation in British Columbia. The work will increase the number of rooms, and CMH will offer four-person private heli-skiing tours next season.
With the summer season becoming critical to the financial success of ski and snowboard mountains, Alterra will spend some of its dollars on bike trail improvements.
Stratton will debut mountain biking with a new park and expanded trail network. Both Snowshoe in West Virginia and Big Bear Mountain in California will get biking facility upgrades.
It looks to be a busy summer at resorts owned by Denver-based Alterra Mountain Co. as the firm begins to catch up on much-needed improvements both on and off the mountain.
New lifts, renovated base lodges, more snowmaking, direct-to-lift ticket technology and upgraded summer bike trails are on the list at resorts that take the Ikon Pass. Here's a look at some of the upgrades among Alterra's 14 resorts:
The Hot Wheels chair at Alpine Meadows will be lengthened and become a high-speed quad to get skiers and riders onto the top ridge. At neighbor Squaw Valley, the High Camp beginner area gets several new surface lifts.
Crews will be replacing the venerable Steamboat Gondola this summer, reducing ride time and streamlining loading and unloading.
Mogul-hoppers will get more time on Mary Jane with a high-speed six-seater Sunnyside chair, replacing the fixed-grip triple and cutting ride time in half.
It'll be quicker and easier to get onto the famed groomers at Deer Valley next season as the Utah resort goes full-on RFID technology with ticket scanning, which also means no visit to the ticket window for Ikon passholders.
More work is scheduled for the popular Canyon Lodge at Mammoth Mountain. Restaurants will be expanded and skier services will be more accessible. The Mill Restaurant is set to get 50 more seats, too. And, the mountain will put down more early-season snow with a significant snowmaking upgrade.
Up north, the Bobby Burns Lodge gets a facelift at Alterra's CMH heli-ski operation in British Columbia. The work will increase the number of rooms, and CMH will offer four-person private heli-skiing tours next season.
With the summer season becoming critical to the financial success of ski and snowboard mountains, Alterra will spend some of its dollars on bike trail improvements.
Stratton will debut mountain biking with a new park and expanded trail network. Both Snowshoe in West Virginia and Big Bear Mountain in California will get biking facility upgrades.
