Stowe Announces 10-Year Improvement Program
By Patrick Thorne, AKA “The Snow Hunter”

Stowe, Vermont, has an extra buzz about it for the coming winter, with the first of many improvements coming on-line at the beginning of a ten-year, $250 million investment program.

The projects will transform the resort’s Spruce Peak base area – with its warm and bright southern exposure -- into a dynamic alpine village with world-class amenities.

Skiers’ first impression this winter will be a more wide-open base area. A number of small, older buildings have been demolished, allowing guests to better enjoy the sunny southern exposure that drew skiers to Spruce Peak in the first place so many decades ago.

Also keeping the base area clear will be the absence of lift lines, with the addition of two new chair lifts. The Little Spruce Double, built in 1963, has been replaced with a new, high-speed, detachable quad called Sunny Spruce that will double the hourly lift volume from 1,200 to 2,400 passengers per hour. In addition, a new triple chair will offer rides to another 1,400 passengers per hour. The new Adventure triple chair at Spruce Peak will bring guests to the new ski and snowboard school and the Adventure beginner’s trail.

A new 117-million-gallon snowmaking pond has also been built, increasing capacity by 40% over last season.

Next summer, the improvements will continues with another new high-speed quad replacing the Big Spruce Double (circa 1954), and all new snowmaking to serve that area of the mountain for the first time. A number of other projects, including a new base lodge, are also being planned as part of the overall project.

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