Big snows: Great in winter, a challenge for the summer

Record-setting snowfall totals at Northstar-at-Tahoe Resort the ski area this month broke the 600-inch, or 50-foot, mark for the season could make for a highly compressed construction schedule when the resort begins its $30 million improvement plan this summer.

Bill Rock, vice president and chief operating officer at Northstar, says the heavy snowfall total could impact construction of a new 500-seat on-mountain lodge and high-speed quad chairlift, but he's confident that work will be completed before next ski season begins in late November.

"It is a pretty ambitious plan, but we are very well organized for the project," Rock says. "It is going to be a challenging, busy summer. It is exciting having all this snow, and it is awesome for end-of-the-year skiing, but it could become a detriment to us if it continues through the spring. Although it could alter schedules, we are extremely confident we can deliver these projects."

The new 15,750-square-foot on-mountain lodge will be very similar to the newly constructed Tamarack Lodge at Heavenly Mountain Resort, which was built in four short months, Northstar Communications Manager Jessica VanPernis says. Northstar was acquired by Heavenly parent Vail Resorts in October 2010.

"It is a pretty aggressive construction schedule," VanPernis says. "But once the sun comes out that snow is going to melt pretty quickly."

Situated at nearly 8,000 feet in elevation, the new lodge will offer spectacular views of the Sierra crest, Rock says, and it also has the potential to boost the resort's revenues in the summer. Northstar plans on opening the lodge for weddings and meetings beginning in the summer and fall of 2012.

Northstar also plans on adding an additional 140 acres of skiing on the backside of the mountain for the 2011-2012 ski season, including two new intermediate-level trails and a high-speed, detachable chair four-person ski lift.

One run will be typical of the long, wide-open runs found on the backside of Northstar, while the other features tree islands. The lift, trails and tree removal were previously permitted, Rock says, so construction and tree thinning can begin as soon as the ground dries out.

Doppelmayr CTEC, the North American arm of Austrian-Swiss company DoppelmayrGaraventa Group, will provide turnkey installation of the new ski lift, VanPernis says. Each lift tower requires an individually engineered foundation, and lift towers will be flown in by helicopter and bolted to its foundation. This winter's heavy snow the resort averages 350 inches, or 29 feet per year isn't expected to impact or slow completion of the lift, VanPernis notes.

The last component of the resort's capital improvement plan calls for reconfiguring space in the Village-at-Northstar to house retailers Burton and Patagonia, as well as to provide additional square footage to the North Face store.

Installation of the lift and subsequent trail work will employ about 35 tradesmen, Rock says, and construction of the new lodge will bring total summer construction employment to between 250 and 280 tradesmen.

"This is a really exciting time for Northstar," Rock says. "This investment in our resort is probably the biggest single investment in any ski area in North America and lets us continue to provide an exception experience for our guests."

Northstar also will install the popular Epic Mix interactive application unveiled last year by Vail resorts. The application allows users to share their on-mountain experiences, as well as track vertical feet skied.

"It has really added to the experience across all our mountains, and Northstar will get it later this year," Rock says.

All of the projects adhere to Northstar-at-Tahoe's Habitat Management Plan, VanPernis says, which was developed in conjunction with Sierra Watch and the Mountain Area Preservation Foundation.

"The projects we're moving forward with this summer will use the environmental baseline found in the HMP to provide a higher-quality ski experience for the guest that is also sensitive to the land use resources found on the mountain" she says.