Boyne USA has Big Plans for their Maine Resorts

Both Sugarloaf and Sunday River have had an interesting year with the sale of the resorts from the American Skiing Company to Boyne USA and so far both resorts have been embracing this sale and encouraging skiers everywhere because they are now able to invest in some top notch improvements that will raise the bar for skiing in Maine.

Many skiers are anxious to see just what Boyne USA will do for these resorts. Both resorts already have very competitive snowmaking capabilities within the market and significant investments are being made which will result in more and better quality snow at a more energy efficient price as well at higher temperatures than before. Already improvements have been made in the areas of snowmaking and grooming equipment for the upcoming season.

Sugarloaf intends to provide a fresh updated look and feel to the base village, remove the gondola midstation and repave the arrival entrance - many small improvements are being made weekly that will make a difference. They will soon be outlining the almost $3.8 m investment and almost 1.5m will be on mountain improvements such as snowmaking and grooming.

Sunday River has already made a number of improvements that will be noticed by returning guests - and besides having investments in snowmaking and grooming equipment will also be spending some time looking at the lodging at the resort. Upgrades and improvements will be suggested to condo associations and will be worked on throughout the ski season.

Loon's South Peak Expansion Set to Debut in December

After over 15 years of planning, court fights and bureaucratic red tape the South Peak area of Loon Mountain is set to open. The trails have been cut and made ready, the lift towers for the Lincoln Express high speed quad are in and the new terrain is expected to open this December. Also in place are the towers for the Tote Road Quad which will take skiers & riders in both directions between the South Ridge area and the main resort. Three trails, about 50 acres of skiing terrain will be accessible this winter. This represents about 35% of the eventual terrain which will come on line over the course of the 3 – 5 year project. This expansion will make Loon Mountain, already a popular destination, one of the largest ski resorts in New Hampshire.

Also new this year, Tours De Sport has added the Nordic Inn to our lodging offerings serving Loon. The Nordic Inn is located between down town Lincoln and Loon. It offers affordable condominiums from 1 to 3 bedrooms as well as access to an indoor pool & fitness center and a free shuttle to and from the mountain. Call your Tours De Sport vacation specialist today or log on to our web site and design your own trip.

-This update brought to you by John Calderwood in our New Hampshire office.

The Guns of Killington Start Laying Down the White Carpet

The snow guns have been turned on and are being tested for the 49^th ski season at Killington. On October 28^th the snow guns blew snow in the high elevation, Glades area, and covered the upper half of the Rime, Reason and Double Dipper trails.

Nice to see a few of the high elevation ski trails were covered with a fresh blanket of machine made snow and even a few flurries were in the mountains. It is time once again to start thinking about your skiing or riding plans for this winter.

The Killington area is full of activity at the local restaurants and ski shops again this year. New skis, snowboards, boots, clothing are being displayed at the local ski shops. For those who would like to come to the area for Thanksgiving, it would be just nice to sit back and relax in the Mountains. Do some hiking, have a few local brews at your favorite bar, enjoy great food and shopping for some great Christmas presents. Sometimes, if we are lucky, we may have a early season snowstorm for the Thanksgiving Holiday.

While walking near the Snowshed area it was nice to see that the new company has been making changes at Killington. They are focused on starting the process of how to make this ski area the best mountain for its customers. Changes in base lodge openings dates and early season trails and lifts operating will be made. They are looking to have only the upper mountain open for the early season this year, maybe around mid-November. After mid-December the opening of Snowshed and Ramshead areas which service the beginner and family skier.

The freshly painted chair lifts were being serviced and running smoothly. The ski trails have been mowed and are waiting for the snow to fall. The snowmaking ponds are full of water this season to make tons of snow. One thing Killington has is huge amounts of water. Carpenters and painters were busy inside the base lodges making lots of changes. New coffee stations are being designed for the customer’s convenience this year.

Well I hope you will check out the hot deals and I am looking forward to your return or first time ski trip to Killington this winter season.

.... brought to you by Goody Dwyer in our Vermont sales office. Email Goody at goody@tourdsdeport.com

New Lake Placid Hotels on Board for 2007 – 2008 Ski Season!

Tours de Sport is happy to welcome two new lodging partners in Lake Placid for the upcoming ski season: the Courtyard by Marriott and the Comfort Inn. Both are centrally located in Lake Placid, and are convenient to all the attractions that the town has to offer. Guests at both properties will be able to take advantage of the FREE shuttle to Whiteface Mountain.

The Courtyard by Marriott was recently constructed, and has been open only a few months. This hotel offers deluxe accommodations at a very moderate price, and guests will enjoy the high level of service and quality associated with the Marriott name. The on-site amenities are equal to that of more upscale properties in Lake Placid such as the Hilton or Golden Arrow Hotel. The greatest benefit to the addition of the Courtyard is that Tours de Sport will be able to book rooms for every non-holiday weekend throughout the entire season.

The Comfort Inn offers some of the lowest rates of any lodging property in Lake Placid, and has an optimal location next to many restaurants and boutiques. Tours de Sport is fortunate that the Comfort Inn is one of only two hotels in Lake Placid that has available space during Martin Luther King and President’s Weekend.

Go online today or call your Tours de Sport sales representative to price your next Lake Placid ski vacation!

"The Big Breakup" or "Ski Life After ASC"

If your attention strayed early this Spring from skiing to tennis or golf or maybe your long neglected garden, you might have missed one of the biggest events to affect Eastern skiing since the heated gondola cabin.

The American Skiing Company, or ASC, as it was known with either grudging admiration or outright loathing depending on your point of view, basically ceased to exist late this Spring, as each resort in the ASC family was sold off to complete the dissolution of the company. For those of you may have come in late, here is a brief synopsis of what transpired.

It all began with the December announcement that ASC was selling Steamboat Resort in Colorado for $265 million to Intrawest, that other giant of resort ownership.

On February 16th, it was announced that Mount Snow and Attitash were being sold for $73.5 million to Peak Resorts, Inc., a resort operator with ski resorts in Missouri, Indiana, Pennsylvania, New Hampshire and Ohio. Included in the sale were the commercial cores of the Grand Summit hotels located at each resort. What is interesting here, is that this will be Peaks first foray into managing resort lodging. The sale was completed in late April.

Just four days later came the news that the big enchilada, Killington/Pico, was being sold for $83.5 million to a joint venture between SP Land Co., a Killington-based real estate development company, and Powdr Corp., a Utah ski resort company that owns several Western resorts, including Park City. The sale was completed in mid-May.

This left Sunday River and Sugarloaf as ASC's only remaining East Coast resorts, and for a good little while rumors were flying about what might happen, including Les Otten's possible interest in getting back into the ski game. Talk about things coming full circle! Les was, after all, the father of ASC back in the 1980's when he purchased Sunday River. When the dust finally settled, Sunday River and the Loaf were sold in early June to Boyne USA, Inc. for $77 million in cash. Boyne operates or has interests in seven other resorts in North America.

The final shoe dropped in late July with the sale of ASC's lone remaining resort, the Canyons, in Utah to the Toronto-based Talisker Corp. For the purchase price of $100 million, Talisker, which is developing a luxury residential community at nearby Deer Valley, will also assume about $600,000 in ASC debt. The sale is expected to close before the end of September. ASC has notified the SEC of its intention to dissolve the company and delist its stock.

Out of the ashes of ASC we now have the rebirth of six major resorts in New England under new management this winter. Interestingly, all of them were acquired by companies that have experience in ski resort operations elsewhere in the US and Canada. So what does this mean to you, the skier? We'll take that up on a resort-by-resort basis in a series of posts that will begin in early September. First up, will be, Putting the "snow" back in Mount Snow.

Tremblant to get direct air service from Newark

Check it out. Just another good reason to visit Mont Tremblant this winter!

Continental Airlines has announced that it will begin non-stop service from its New York hub at Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) to Mont-Tremblant, Canada (YTM), the airline’s 10th Canadian destination, on December 14, 2007. Continental offers more non-stop destinations from New York to Canada than any other airline.

Mont-Tremblant is located in the beautiful Laurentian mountains of Quebec. Voted #1 Ski Resort in the East by the readers of SKI Magazine over the last 10 years, it is a year-round resort community with a European feel offering 620 acres of skiing and snowboarding terrain, a picturesque village featuring some 1900 lodging units and some of the best public golf courses in Quebec, Le Diable, a Raven course, and Le Géant. All year long, Tremblant offers a variety of activities and events that keep the mountain and pedestrian village busy with animation. Tremblant is also well-know for its legendary “Joie de vivre” and it is the best place to enjoy winter sports on and around the mountain, discover the many summer activities and beautiful Lake Tremblant and see the Quebec’s magnificent fall colours.

The seasonal service will operate from December 14, 2007 through April 5, 2008, departing New York at 11:00 a.m., and arriving at Mont-Tremblant at 12:32 p.m. The return flight will depart Mont-Tremblant at 1:15 p.m. and arrive in New York at 2:44 p.m. Service is daily, except during the period of January 8, 2008 through February 13, 2008, when flights will operate every day except Tuesdays and Wednesdays.

The new service, utilizing a 50-seat Embraer-145 regional jet, will operate from Continental’s New York hub which offers more than 400 daily departures to 155 non-stop destinations world-wide.

New Summer Activities at Sugarbush, Vermont

Our friend Jen from Sugarbush in northern Vermont has recently informed us that the resort has added some new exciting activities for this summer! Here is a brief rundown of the recent additions and improvements:

“This summer, Sugarbush Resort will re-open its network of legendary mountain bike trails! Whether you prefer high-speed downhill runs, long technical descents on your cross-county bike, or leisurely loop rides, Sugarbush Resort is the place for your next mountain bike adventure.

Another great addition is the new Zip Line. Located at Lincoln Peak, the Zip Line will start above the Valley House Lodge and take riders over 600’ through the air to the landing pad behind the Gate House.

Finally, Sugarbush has added disc golf, also known as Frisbee golf, to the list of warm weather activities. Players start from a tee and make their way to a pin; only in this sport the “hole” is a standardized chain-and-basket disc-catching assembly mounted in the ground.”

These great new activities add a great deal of variety to an already wonderful family vacation in northern Vermont. Don’t forget about the fabulous Sugarbush Golf Course and the natural wonder of the Mad River Valley! Sugarbush is just a 6-hour drive from New York City and 3 hours from Boston.