Prospect Mountain receives grant from KWCF

WOODFORD — Snowmaking, trail expansion and other upgrades might be coming to the Prospect Mountain Nordic Ski Center.

The nonprofit group that owns the center has launched a $675,000 fundraising campaign for some major facility improvements — including adding snowmaking equipment. Also planned are new trail construction, improvements to existing trails and renovations to the lodge building.

According to David Newell, president of the Prospect Mountain Association, and board member David Dethier, the group has approached supporters of the association and secured pledges totaling $187,000.

In addition, the nonprofit received a challenge pledge from a leadership donor group that said it would provide a match of two to one if at least $175,000 could be raised, matching up to that amount. That will mean a $350,000 donation, Newell said.

“We have already raised more than the $175,000,” he said.

He added, “We’re calling this the Striding Forward Campaign.”

EARLIER IMPROVEMENTS

Since acquiring the nordic facility in 2018, the association has invested about $500,000 to purchase a tractor, snowmobile and trial groomer; install a new lodge septic system costing $160,000 in the environmentally sensitive area; remove a lift house and towers left over from the facility’s early days as a small downhill ski area; refurbish a second warming space on the mountain; install WiFi in the buildings; and purchase rental skies and boots.

The nordic trail system also has been improved, snowshoe and alpine touring trails were created, and summer hiking trails improved.

Dethier said that, like snowshoeing, alpine touring skiing also is increasingly popular, involving hiking up mountain trails with “skins” on skis before removing the skins to come down.

Those prior projects were largely financed through center revenue from three good skiing seasons in a row. But the planned projects “are simply too large to finance out of operating revenue yet too important to ignore,” according to a fundraising brochure prepared by the association. The brochure will soon be mailed to potential donors.

PLANNED IMPROVEMENTS

The association board members said this week that proposed new trail construction and related improvements are expected to cost about $325,000 and will include a 3.7-kilometer trail primarily for racing, as well as an extension of the trail system in an area away from the lodge building.

They said expansion of the trail options will have the added benefit of freeing up areas around the lodge when nordic competitions are in progress while still providing multiple trails for recreational skiers.

The first phase of a snowmaking system is being designed for trails around the base lodge, and is estimated to cost about $300,000.

The goal, Dethier said, is to install a water delivery in that section of the nordic center, with plans to expand that area in a later project.

Maps of the Prospect trail system and the proposed snowmaking site are posted on the center’s website.

PURCHASED IN 2018

The nonprofit association formed among longtime Prospect skiers and other enthusiasts when former owners Steve Whitham and Andrea Amodeo decided it was time to sell Prospect Mountain after 26 years. They had converted Prospect from a small alpine ski area with T-bars and a rope tow, which dated to the 1930s, to nordic skiing during the 1990s.

A fund drive was launched in 2018 by the association and money was raised from major donors and the general public — the effort benefiting from the wide network of former high school and college skiers, their relatives, coaches and family members.

The 155-acre facility off Route 9 in Woodford was purchased in September 2018 for $900,000.

The wide Prospect supporter base the group appealed to included current and former Mount Anthony Union High School skiers and those from many other high schools in the region, such as from Mt. Greylock Regional High School, in Williamstown, Mass., which like MAUHS, sent nordic teams there to train.

Other teams from around Vermont and nearby states also have participated in school competitions at Prospect over the years and donations were received from among those participants.

WILLIAMS ALUMNI

The Williams College connection to Prospect has been a strong one and remains so, Newell and Dethier said.

Alumni of the college who had traveled to Prospect to train for competitions or for winter carnival events were among the principal donors during the purchase.

Alumni provided $450,000 for that purpose, Newell said at the time.

The college is “very interested in the viability of Prospect because their [nordic] team trains there,” said Dethier, who is a retired Williams College professor.

In addition, younger skiers from around the region had participated in Bill Koch League programs at Prospect, providing additional potential supporters, the association said.

A $285,000 grant received toward the purchase through the Vermont Housing and Conservation Board was contingent upon approval of a preservation easement for the higher mountain portion of the property. The group worked with the Vermont Land Trust, which oversaw placing the required conservation easement on the higher-elevation land.

Whitham remained on after the purchase as manager of the nordic center.

ECONOMIC IMPACT

Prospect Mountain has had many successful seasons with natural snow, the board members said, but climate change has made it increasingly difficult to plan an event for multiple school teams — such as the Vermont nordic championships or the recent Massachusetts high school championships, which brought about 18 teams from that state to Prospect Mountain.

Part of the impetus for purchasing and preserving the area from development was to secure a valuable recreation resource that is also a proven driver of the local economy.

Newell said area hotels, restaurants and other businesses benefit during large nordic or snowshoe racing events from the influx of hundreds of student athletes, their parents and friends, many of whom spend time here before and after the competitions.

He added that Prospect also has season ticket-holders from around the New England states and New York.