Arizona Ski Resort Spending $5.5 Million On Major Offseason Improvements
Ian Wood
One of the largest offseason investments for a ski resort that isn’t owned by Vail Resorts or Alterra is happening at an Arizona ski resort. Yesterday, Sunrise Park Resort in Greer, Arizona, announced a $5.5 million offseason investment for various projects. These improvements include a new Swiss cord lift, a $4 million hotel renovation, repairs to various lodges, and much more.
A new surface lift (pictured by a black line above), will service Cyclone Circle.
New Cyclone Circle Lift: Since 2017, the Cyclone area has not been lift-accessed, as the old lift was inoperable. This was due to the chairlift that served the terrain being very old and in deteriorating condition. Skiers have had to either hike to the terrain or get a ride up with a snowcat. The new surface lift goes from the base of the Denny’s Way Trail to the top of Cyclone Circle. The swiss cord, which is being produced by Star Lifts, is similar to a rope tow. While it’s great a lift will service Cyclone again, it makes making laps on the Cyclone Circle terrain challenging. Sunrise is calling this a short-term solution, so it’ll be interesting to see when a new chairlift could service the Cyclone Circle terrain again. The new lift is expected to be completed by the end of 2022.
Hotel Renovations: The Sunrise Park Lodge, which is a seven-minute drive away from the mountain, received approval for a $4 million renovation. This phased improvement plan will include a “full remodel of the rooms, lobby, pub, pool area, and restaurant.”
Facility Improvements: The Sunrise Lodge is having its exterior deck rebuilt, and the stairs and entries are being replaced. The Apache Peak Lodge deck is also being rebuilt, and the kitchen is being repaired. The Cyclone Lodge added a fiber-optic internet cable line, which is needed for credit card transactions. New on-mountain dining options will also be added for this winter.
Lifts and Snowmaking: The Fort Apache Lift 4 and Pony Lift 2 have done an analog to digital conversion, which gives them a more reliable operation. The Pony 2 lift is also getting a replacement haul rope. The mountain’s snowmaking infrastructure is also being improved to open terrain faster. These projects will be completed by October.
Other Improvements: Their other offseason plans include renovations to their cabins at Sunrise Lake that will allow them to offer nightly rentals, new paint and exterior maintenance to various buildings, the moving of ski and board rentals, and the retail shop to improve the guest experience, their snowsports programs are being overhauled, and their ticket scanners and technology are being updated.
The Denny’s Way trail, pictured above, will be home to the new surface lift.
