Enfield
The UVSSF — a nonprofit formed in 2013 to take over operations at Whaleback after it went bankrupt under previous ownership — is nearing the end of a fundraising campaign for necessary improvements in time for the coming season.
The group has raised about $88,000 of the $100,000 needed by July 31 to receive a 2-to-1 match by a pool of committed donors, according to UVSSF board members.
If achieved, the proceeds will help Whaleback acquire and install an 800-foot T-bar and equipment necessary to ensure a longer season in the face of another mild winter.
The project also will aim to reconfigure Whaleback’s west-side learning area, including the repositioning of its carpet lift to better suit the many children who learn to ski there each winter.
“Right now, the magic carpet is hard up against the woods on the edge of the ski area, which, if you can imagine, can be a little far away for 3- to 5-year-olds lugging all of their equipment,” said UVSSF board member Robert West, who’s helping to spearhead the proposed improvements. “We want to get it a little bit closer to the lodge.”
Instead, the area’s rope tow will relocate to the western edge, helping round out a 5-acre “snowmaking loop” UVSSF has targeted to remain open even in poor conditions. That will be bolstered by the purchase of a newer-model snowmaking machine — also part of the current fundraising efforts — that produces snow in temperatures as mild as the upper 20s.
With its older, fussier snow machine last season, Whaleback’s season was only about 50 days, opening Jan. 10. That meant missing out on the school-vacation programs — and revenues — that can come near the end of December.
Even when open, Whaleback was limited to about 1½ of its beginner and intermediate trails in its learn-to-ski area. Instructional camps and several weeks of its Adult Race League were canceled, and the area was closed outright on several occasions.
“We kind of regrouped and did some research after last season, and came up with a number of priorities,” West said. “Number 1 is that we open in time for Christmas, which we haven’t been able to for three straight years. “Number 2 is that once we open, to stay open for the entire season. That means surviving a resurfacing event such as a rain storm. We had to close three times last year because of rain. The third thing is that, being a community mountain that appeals to families, to increase learning time and access to beginner trails.”
UVSSF hopes to accomplish that with the addition of the T-bar, which would be stationed at the previous site of a Poma lift and provide access to the expert lower face trail, the intermediate blubber trail and the beginner lower ivory trail.
Aside from potentially increasing intermediate-level training, depending on demand, the T-Bar would provide a transitional means of ascending the mountain, more advanced than its carpet lift, but easier to mount and dismount than the chair lift.
“My son, Anson, is a good example because he’ll be almost 4 this winter,” West said. “He might be ready for something bigger than the magic carpet, something like a T-bar, but I can’t imagine he’d been confident or comfortable enough to ride the chair lift yet.
“That’s a big jump, and I imagine it is for a lot of kids. That means we’re potentially missing out on a lot of people, and customers, who might come to our area if there were more options, if there was a better transition.”
The $100,000 raised will cover the purchase and installation of the T-bar, UVSSF chairman John Schiffman said, while $200,000 acquired in the challenge grant would go toward the newer snow making gun as well as new lighting, chair lift maintenance and other machinery repairs.
Whaleback’s Mountain Manager, Gerd Riess, is particularly looking forward to having more efficient snow making capabilities.
“The snow gun we have now is from the early 1990s and (temperatures) have to be down around 22 degrees to really produce any snow,” Riess said. “The new gun we’re looking at is simpler to use and can make snow when it’s around 25-28 degrees. If you think about it, we get a lot of those kinds of days around here.”
UVSSF hopes focusing on a targeted 3-acre area, to remain open even in highly unfavorable conditions, will help Whaleback become more efficient overall and keep costs down.
“Efficiency is of big importance for us, whether that’s snowmaking, lighting, electricity — all of these things,” said Schiffman, a UVSSF co-founder. “It’s all about being sustainable and staying that way.”
For more information or to make a donation, visit www.whaleback.com and click the “Make a Donation” button on the far right.
Jared Pendak can be reached at jpendak@vnews.com or 603-727-3225.