newjerseynewsroom.com

BY BOB WILLIAMS

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

SKIING AND SNOWBOARDING

VERNON, N.J. — For the new owners of Mountain Creek ski area here in Sussex County, this weeks blizzard isn't pennies from heaven. It's dollars from heaven!

Although New Jersey has been in a state of emergency, the designation apparently didn't stop youngsters and their parents from driving to this Sussex County ski center. For many, it's their first outing this season for what is turning into a delightful week of skiing and snowboarding.

"These have been some of the best conditions I've seen in 40 or 45 years," says Natasha Wright, the public relations manager and spokesperson for Crystal Springs Resort, Mountain Creek's next door neighbor in Hardyston, which purchased the ski center in May. Mountain Creek was owned for the past 12 years by the Canada-based Intrawest, operator of such notable resorts as Steamboat, Tremblant and Whistler Blackcomb.

The acquisition creates the region's largest and most comprehensive four-season resort destination.

"It's a new venture for us, so of course we're really excited about the snow," added Wright, who was born and raised in the area.

"By Sunday afternoon we had sixteen inches of fresh snow, and by Monday residents from all over the state filled our parking lots," says Halley O'Brien, Mountain Creek's public relations and multi-media manager. "Overall, this has been the strongest opening Mountain Creek has ever seen!"

Many ski areas, especially those here in the Northeast, count on the week between Christmas and New Year's for a major revenue spike. O'Brien said the ski center churned out three weeks of round-the-clock snowmaking earlier this month to prepare for the holiday week.

"This is a big week because schools are closed and kids are on vacation," explains O'Brien. "To get a blizzard like this right after Christmas is a picture perfect scenario. I guess once parents shoveled out their homes and cars, they decided to head here and, boy, were they surprised with the amount of terrain open so early in the season. This place is alive!"

According to O'Brien, Mountain Creek opened nearly all its 41 trails that are spread over 167 acres on four peaks. Mountain Creek boasts a 1,040-foot vertical drop from its 1,480-foot summit elevation. Eight lifts, including two high speed quads and a high speed eight-passenger gondola, service the ski and snowboard area. What's more, Mountain Creek uses 1,000 snow guns for 100 percent snowmaking coverage, and provides night skiing and snowboarding.

But, blizzard or not, O'Brien says "we started making snow again last night so that we're in good shape for the weekend."

The Mountain Creek complex now spans five miles through the townships of Vernon, Hardyston, Hamburg and Franklin. The combined resorts fill this historic Vernon Valley region with 15,000 acres of world-class, year-round amenities that include award-winning golf courses, spas, hotels, a globally-renowned 80,000 bottle wine cellar, ski and snowboard venues, a waterpark and mountain bike park.

The principal owners of Crystal Springs were the builders of the existing waterpark.

"This newly formed mega-resort is unparalleled given the breadth, uniqueness and quality of its combined offerings to residents, day visitors and overnight guests," said Crystal Springs President Andrew Mulvihill, in a news release in May announcing the acquisition. "From this platform, we have major expansion plans to create a first-class tourist destination on par with New England and the Carolinas, but with convenient proximity to the New York metropolitan area."

Mulvihill added that the transaction of Mountain Creek ski area "represents the acquisition of a financially healthy and vibrant resort."

Mountain Creek is the New York-New Jersey metropolitan area's closest ski resort. Originally opened in 1965, it began as Great Gorge Resort and in 1971 it merged with neighboring Vernon Valley Resort to form VernonValley/Great Gorge. For the next three decades Vernon Valley/Great Gorge enjoyed tremendous success — it was THE place to see and be seen, on the trails or at the neighboring Playboy Club where the likes of Ann Margaret and Sammy Davis Jr. performed.

Intrawest purchased Vernon Valley/Great Gorge in 1998 and renamed it Mountain Creek.

Crystal Springs Resort is located adjacent to Mountain Creek, in Hardyston. It is an upscale four-season leisure and residential resort that includes the newly opened Grand Cascades Lodge and sister property Minerals Hotel. It also includes seven golf courses, the four-star Restaurant Latour, two full-service spas ranked in the top 30 spas in America, the state-of-the-art Mineral Sports Club, multiple indoor and outdoor pools, and a handful of venues for meetings, weddings and catered events.

SHORT SCHUSSES: The Blizzard of 2011 dropped ample snow on most ski areas throughout the northeast. . . .The Associated Press named Olympic gold medalist Lindsey Vonn Female Athlete of the Year. . . . With more than two feet of natural snow in the past few days, Whiteface, near Lake Placid, N.Y., opened its Summit runs. . . . Vermont's first alpine roller coaster — the Timber Ripper — is open and running through Okemo's Jackson Gore area. Cost is $13 per ride for drivers, $9 for passengers. . . . New Hampshire's Loon Mt. just opened a 425-foot superpipe, making it the first superpipe for snowboarders on the East Coast. . . . If cross-country skiing is your bag, head for the Jackson Ski Touring facility in Jackson, N.H., which sports nearly two feet of the white stuff.