jay peak

We went to Jay Peak today! I learned a lot while I was there! We got to look at the master plan for Jay Peak which includes expansions into the west bowl which looks like it's going to be realllll nice! More tree riding woohoo! They had plans for developing a certain area but then found out that they weren't allowed to do that because of environmental regulations. I'm glad that even though they are destroying the environment, they have ways to be environmentally-friendly and preserve bear habitats! I liked what I heard when he said that any work done in high-altitude must be considerable of the thrush bird that is up there. They're considerate by doing work with their hands and not using heavy machinery in a way to disrupt the wildlife. That makes me happy :-)
We got a hard hat tour of the construction of the new hotel and waterpark. Everything looks like it's going to be really nice. The water park looks like so much fun! The slide that starts inside, goes outside, and comes back inside is probably the most unique thing there..They should put little windows in it so the rider can see outside while their in the tube! The lazy river also looks really awesome. I asked Jake how it was possible to be able to afford allllll of these expansions within a short time period. He said that they have a lot of investors to help them out. He also explained that for the Ice Haus, half of the revenues from it will be going back to investors for the first five years of it being open and after that happens, the building will become officially owned by Jay Peak. All of these projects cost a hugeeee amount of money....an amount of money I will never even see a fraction of in my lifetime! Millions and millions of dollars goes into all of this stuff! I feel like they are progressing extremely quick with no room to breath. I feel like they should have split up the construction over a longer period of time. Build the ice haus...wait a little bit. Then build the hotel and waterpark building....wait a little bit. Then, expand real estate with townhouses and such. They have grown so much in the last few years it is crazy! I hope I get to go to Jay for Practicum next spring! Definitely my number one choice!

Burke Mountain

We went to Burke yesterday. It was pretty neat to see the master plan of the mountain. This was the first time I had learned about master plans and it makes a lot of sense to have one. Even if you don't have the money at the time, there may be opportunities for expansion in the future. I really like the master plan that Burke has too. It uses as much terrain as they have and everything fits together, like a puzzle, as Lindsey said! We got to see the new lift under construction. It helped me understand how intense it is and how much work goes in to putting up a new lift. It also shows that not everything goes as planned and there are many laws and regulations that are unknown until you find out you need to follow them. For instance, they have to put a fire alarm in the mid-Burke lodge that communicates with the chair lift because the chairs will be going over a portion of the lodge. Looking at the wind turbine up close was pretty sick! Those blades can mooveee!

Peace!