Snow Valley was a small mountain that operated until the 1980s in between Stratton and Bromley. Occasionally, there is talk of revitalizing the area as a private resort. I believe they have one double lift still standing. (https://www.google.com/maps/@43.1969954,-72.968313,1929m/data=!3m1!1e3!5m1!1e4 if anyone wants to view on Google Maps)
They withdrew their act 250 permit a little while ago. The borvig they had has been invaded by trees and is probalby very deteriorated. Would require great restoration, plus a new base lodge. Still possible, but will likely suffer the same fate as haystack.
Snow Valley was only really able to survive due to the then-lack of competition in the area. There was no Stratton or Magic, and Bromley was merely a J-Bar ski area when they opened. With the Golden Triangle already sporting just about every kind of Eastern terrain and doing a good job of it (Stratton has good groomers, glades, occasionally ungroomed stuff, a big village w/ amenities; Magic has perhaps the best ungroomed terrain in South VT; Bromley is good in terms of terrain diversity if you have skiers of far different levels in your group), there isn’t much of a place for it anymore. The double in my view sorta seems to be a last-ditch effort to bring skiers to the area, after they all flocked to the other 3 resorts in the area which were developing much faster (All 3 had chairlifts 15+ years before SV, despite two opening 20ish years after it), and it still didn’t help, the area closing in ’84
I’ve hiked around there and have seen the lower portion of the double chair. Give it 5 years and that chair will be done for. The only thing keeping any tension on the line is the fact that the bullwheel/tension carriage is resting against the end of the return terminal. It could easily collapse and several parts of the line have deroped from the sheave assemblies. It’s quite a surreal site so enjoy an intact abandoned double chair in the middle of the woods while you still can.
As I said above, I sadly don’t think it has much of a future ahead of it. Bromley, Stratton, and Magic for the most part dominate the region. They could try “Keeping up with the joneses” of Bromley and Stratton (What Magic attempted to do a while back, flopped spectacularly) but I doubt they could attract any skiers who would ordinary ski at Stratton or Bromley. As for differentiation, it worked for Magic because there was no other resort at the time south of Killington that had serious, ungroomed expert terrain. With just about all bases covered in southern Vermont, I’m not sure what Snow Valley really has to differentiate itself with, and the fact that it would be the smallest chairlift-served ski area in the region isn’t doing it any favors. I’d love to see it succeed just as I would with any abandoned ski area, but I’m just not sure it can.
Snow Valley was a small mountain that operated until the 1980s in between Stratton and Bromley. Occasionally, there is talk of revitalizing the area as a private resort. I believe they have one double lift still standing. (https://www.google.com/maps/@43.1969954,-72.968313,1929m/data=!3m1!1e3!5m1!1e4 if anyone wants to view on Google Maps)
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They withdrew their act 250 permit a little while ago. The borvig they had has been invaded by trees and is probalby very deteriorated. Would require great restoration, plus a new base lodge. Still possible, but will likely suffer the same fate as haystack.
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Snow Valley was only really able to survive due to the then-lack of competition in the area. There was no Stratton or Magic, and Bromley was merely a J-Bar ski area when they opened. With the Golden Triangle already sporting just about every kind of Eastern terrain and doing a good job of it (Stratton has good groomers, glades, occasionally ungroomed stuff, a big village w/ amenities; Magic has perhaps the best ungroomed terrain in South VT; Bromley is good in terms of terrain diversity if you have skiers of far different levels in your group), there isn’t much of a place for it anymore. The double in my view sorta seems to be a last-ditch effort to bring skiers to the area, after they all flocked to the other 3 resorts in the area which were developing much faster (All 3 had chairlifts 15+ years before SV, despite two opening 20ish years after it), and it still didn’t help, the area closing in ’84
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Snow Valley: https://www.newenglandskihistory.com/Vermont/snowvalley.php
Their Borvig double (bring a chainsaw): https://www.newenglandskihistory.com/lifts/viewlift.php?id=486
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I’ve hiked around there and have seen the lower portion of the double chair. Give it 5 years and that chair will be done for. The only thing keeping any tension on the line is the fact that the bullwheel/tension carriage is resting against the end of the return terminal. It could easily collapse and several parts of the line have deroped from the sheave assemblies. It’s quite a surreal site so enjoy an intact abandoned double chair in the middle of the woods while you still can.
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Who owns it? I want to write them a letter about that. Something needs to be done!
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Maple Valley is on the track to reopening!…and a brewery…(not Snow Valley, unfortunately).
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At least Snow Valley is for sale.
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As I said above, I sadly don’t think it has much of a future ahead of it. Bromley, Stratton, and Magic for the most part dominate the region. They could try “Keeping up with the joneses” of Bromley and Stratton (What Magic attempted to do a while back, flopped spectacularly) but I doubt they could attract any skiers who would ordinary ski at Stratton or Bromley. As for differentiation, it worked for Magic because there was no other resort at the time south of Killington that had serious, ungroomed expert terrain. With just about all bases covered in southern Vermont, I’m not sure what Snow Valley really has to differentiate itself with, and the fact that it would be the smallest chairlift-served ski area in the region isn’t doing it any favors. I’d love to see it succeed just as I would with any abandoned ski area, but I’m just not sure it can.
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