NEWBURY, N.H. — The long-debated expansion of Mount Sunapee Resort into the West Bowl, including a mile-long chairlift, new lodge and new sewage system, is front and center of the ski area’s first master plan since it was bought by Vail Resorts.
The five-year plan, covering through 2025, does not give any timetable for a West Bowl expansion or any other proposed changes, which include swapping the Sunapee Express chairlift for a six-person chair that might become a gondola.
The master plan is required by the state, which owns the 968-acre site and leases it to private operators. Comments can be made in an online public hearing on Thursday via WebEx. Written comments can be sent to MountSunapeeComments@dncr.nh.gov or mailed to 172 Pembroke Road, Concord, NH 03301. The deadline for written comments is Nov. 12.
The question of whether the state should let Mount Sunapee expand skiable terrain has been debated for more than a decade. Proponents describe it as necessary for the continued operation of the largest ski area in southern New Hampshire, while opponents criticized its environmental and financial implications. About 15 years ago, operators of the ski area were also interested in building vacation homes on privately owned land on the west side of the mountain that would be served by the new ski trails.
In 2016 the Executive Council approved the West Bowl plan but the area’s previous operators, Tim and Diane Mueller, never proceeded. When national ski conglomerate Vail Resorts bought Mount Sunapee in 2018, the issue came up again and the Executive Council approved it again as part of transferring the lease. Any actual construction would need the OK of the state Division of Natural and Cultural Resources and local planning authorities.
The Friends of Mount Sunapee, a nonprofit group long-exposed to the expansion, issued an email Monday urging people to oppose the plan, saying it could affect ancient forests.
“Old forests such as the one at Mount Sunapee represent less than one-tenth of one percent of New Hampshire’s total forested area. This is the only forested system of its type in the State of New Hampshire that is exemplary representing the best remaining examples of New Hampshire’s biodiversity,” the group said in its email.
The Mount Sunapee master plan says that if everything was built, the area’s “comfortable carrying capacity” would expand by about two-fifths, from 4,820 skiers right now to 6,850. Importantly, the master plan says this would not require any more water supply because the permit to take water from nearby Lake Sunapee is “sufficient to accommodate the proposed increases in snowmaking coverage for the additional ski trails.”
Mount Sunapee has 234 acres of developed trails, including 17 acres of glade skiing under trees. In total, the proposed increases would add 105 acres of terrain and glades, 56 acres of which would be in the West Bowl.
As proposed, the West Bowl would include a new lodge and parking area on the opposite side of the mountain from the current lodge, reached via Brook Road rather than Mount Sunapee Road. A proposed mile-long chairlift would rise 1,000 feet and deposit skiers near the Summit Lodge, creating a skiable connection between the current area and West Bowl.
West Bowl plans include a new beginner area, two new low intermediate runs, two new intermediate runs, and one new advanced intermediate level runs.
The Valley News contributed to this report. David Brooks can be reached at 603-369-3313 or dbrooks@cmonitor.com.