Ski resort could cost up to $100 million

LUDLOW, Vt. – Jackson Gore represents more to Okemo Mountain Resort than the trails, chairlifts and hotel that are being built at the 2,700-foot mountain.

The $55 million project is the fast-growing resort’s bid to become the second-largest resort in New England, eclipsing Maine’s Sunday River and settling just behind neighboring Killington.

“We could potentially be increasing our skier visits to 700,000,” said public relations director Pam Cruickshank.

The development right now is, to the outside observer, a confused jumble of massive earth-moving equipment, barren ski trails and construction workers swarming over the huge hotel and base lodge at its center.

The frenzy of activity is expected to give way by the middle of December to a rush of skiers and snowboarders.

An emblem of the building boom under way in the state’s ski industry, Jackson Gore is already proving successful. All of the quarter-share ownership slots in the 117-unit hotel at the base have been sold and there’s plenty of interest in the next phase of development.

“We’re finding that the demand is there,” Cruickshank said. “Our skiers and riders are asking for it.”

What they’re getting is impressive:

. 108 acres of skiable terrain on 16 new trails and 55 acres of gladed terrain.

. Five new chairlifts, including a six-passenger gondola planned for the next year or so.

. The quarter-share hotel, which allows each owner to get it for up to 13 weeks a year. The units are going for around $70,000 for a studio to as much as $1.25 million for a one-bedroom.

. A year-round health club, indoor-outdoor swimming pool, underground parking, and ski-related shops.

While impressive, Jackson Gore is just the latest and most obvious of two decades of steady development on the mountains above Ludlow.

When Tim and Diane Mueller took over controlling interest of Okemo in 1982, the resort counted nine chairlifts, 30 trails and 95,000 skier visits.

When the construction is complete Okemo will have 18 lifts, 113 trails – plus gladed terrain and snowboarding parks – and expects to surpass 700,000 skier visits. It recorded 604,000 visits last season, up from 550,000 the year before.

There also will be a new nine-hole golf course and several more residential buildings housing 326 units, bringing total Jackson Gore investment to $100 million. All of this is coming while 1-acre single-family home sites that have direct access to the ski trails are selling for as much as $850,000 apiece. Homes of 4,500 to 7,500 square feet are carrying price tags in the seven digits. One recently sold for $4.6 million.

“People that are in the city want the security of knowing they have another place they can escape to,” said Dan Petraska, who’s worked on development for the Muellers almost from the beginning of their tenure as Okemo owners.

City dwellers especially value their recreational opportunities even more now than they did before the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. They want to be prepared to set up shop away from home if they need to, creating an opportunity for Okemo.

“All the homes up there have significant home offices,” Petraska said. “They can work right here while the kids are skiing or snowboarding.”

Nearly all of the development has been accompanied by one form or another of local opposition.

But efforts have been made to accommodate the concerns. When local merchants worried about losing business to retail shops planned at Jackson Gore, Okemo jettisoned the stores in favor of more recreational offerings. When there were concerns about a black bear travel corridor across Jackson Gore Peak, the resort agreed to bar snowmaking in the new area until Dec. 1 each year.

Cruickshank said the resort believes its sparkling new facilities and its efforts to deal with such complaints have helped attract new customers.