Burke, Vermont — One of the ski resorts that will be interesting to monitor this offseason will be Burke Mountain Resort.
For nearly a decade, Burke Mountain Resort was stuck in a federal receivership due to the fallout from the Northeast Kingdom’s EB-5 scandal. This week, it was announced that Bear Den Partners is officially the new owner of Burke Mountain Resort. This news follows four years of work towards putting together a successful bid.
Leaders of the new group include:
- Ken Graham, who is the founder of an investment firm (Inverness Graham Investments), a Burke Mountain Academy graduate, and the son of Donald Graham (who previously saved Burke);
- Jon Schaefer, who runs Berkshire East, Catamount Mountain Resort, and Big Red Cats, and;
- Willy Booker, who’s the Head of School of Burke Mountain Academy.
On Tuesday, the new ownership group held a press conference to discuss their plans for Burke Mountain Resort. Here are the main projects that they will try to focus on in the next two years:
1. Snowmaking Enhancements: Burke doesn’t see the snow that the other major Northeast Kingdom ski resort, Jay Peak, gets. In addition, their snowmaking prowess (i.e., water storage and pumping capacity) is currently underwhelming compared to other ski resorts that are of a similar size. The goal is to basically triple the snowmaking capacity. The raw snowmaking infrastructure is in good shape, but the power in the system needs to be boosted. At the press conference, Ken Graham described snowmaking improvements as “step one, step two, and step three” of their capital improvement plan.
2. Deferred Maintenance: A top-to-bottom review of the ski resort is planned to see what maintenance is needed, but Jon Schaefer stated in the press conference that Burke is in better shape than other ski resorts that he’s taken over. This will include analyzing the lifts, snowmaking, and facilities.
3. New Trails: They are looking at adding new trails from the summit, which would give more options for the ski resort These would add additional non-natural options similar to Dipper and Willoughby trails. Improvements to the existing trails are also planned.
4. Food & Beverage Plus Hotel Improvements: Currently, they have food and beverage services available from the Mid-Burke Lodge, Burke Mountain Hotel, and the Sherburne Base Lodge. For overnight stays, they have the Burke Mountain Hotel, which opened in 2016. Improvements to the hotel, reservation systems, the IT system, and the dining options are planned.
5. Terrain Expansion: An intermediate terrain expansion is planned for as early as the second ski season under new ownership. The plan is to move and upgrade the former Willoughby chair to service this new terrain pod, and various trails with snowmaking capabilities would be sculpted. The potential lift lines are currently being determined, with a possible announcement on the expansion coming this summer.
6. Offseason Activities: Burke is connected to Kingdom Trails, which is regarded as one of the best mountain biking trail networks in North America. The plan is to collaborate with Kingdom Trails in order to create more routes for bikers. Currently, Burke has lift-served biking trails on the lower mountain.
They also want to connect to the Dashney Nordic Center to Mid-Burke (the mid-mountain area which featured the hotel and Mid-Burke Lodge) with trails for cross-country skiers, snowshoers, and bikers year-round. The Mid-Burke Lodge could be expanded to add a rental space for various winter and summer sports, including biking, cross-country skiing, alpine touring, and snowshoeing.
Other projects are being considered to make Burke more of a four-season destination resort, including more camping options.
These projects and timelines are subject to change, but it’s clear that Bear Den Partners wants to hit the ground running.
Image Credits: Burke Mountain Resort, Kingdom Trails
