Ending big skid at Big Tupper

Nov. 29--Lawsuits can be dealt with. Insurance hurdles can be cleared. Tired snow groomers can be repaired.

So, now, it's only Mother Nature that the volunteers aiming to re-open Big Tupper ski area have to contend with.

"Absolutely. As long as Mother Nature cooperates," Jim LaValley said when asked if his volunteer organization plans to open the Adirondack area this winter.

He said the target date is Dec. 16, providing there's enough natural snow, as Big Tupper is currently one of a handful of ski resorts in the state without snowmaking equipment.

Plans to once again operate the area, which has a 1,200-foot vertical rise, two chairlifts and a rope tow, come after a hiatus last season.

Tupper went dark, LaValley said, after money ran out for essentials such as insurance.

For almost a decade now, Tupper has been the center of a long-running effort to develop high-end homes and townhouses in a venture called the Adirondack Club and Resort.

Spearheaded by Pennsylvania businessman Michael Foxman and Tom Lawson of Tupper Lake, the resort is envisioned as eventually having a 60-room inn, 700 homes and 29 luxury "great camps" on 6,200 acres.

The plans are controversial because the development would be the largest ever in the 6-million acre Adirondack Park, which is governed by stringent rules regarding land use. The Adirondack Park Agency, which regulates development, approved the plans in January 2012 but two groups, Protect the Adirondacks and the Sierra Club, sued over the decision.

They say the APA shouldn't have given its approval. A decision in that case is unlikely until mid-2014, predicted Peter Bauer, executive director of Protect the Adirondacks.

But in the meantime, townspeople in Tupper Lake got together and, with some help from Foxman, re-opened the slopes, which had been closed for several years.

LaValley said volunteers ran the lifts for three years -- tapping locals such as lumberjacks and mechanics who, when they weren't working on logging skidders, helped repair the resort's aged Sno-Cat-style grooming machine and the ski lifts. But after three years, including some periods of little snow, cash ran out last year.

This year enough money was found to buy the needed insurance coverage and to get the equipment in working order. (The environmental groups don't oppose operating the actual ski area).

Also looking to re-open this year without man-made snow is Hickory Ski Center near Warrensburg. It was closed for the past two winters due to poor snow conditions.

For much of New York's ski industry, the season will begin this weekend or in the next few weeks.

West Mountain, near Glens Falls, which had been operating while going through bankruptcy court, is looking at opening its lower mountain on Dec. 7 and the upper part a week later, said Spencer Montgomery, a partner in the investment group that has stepped in to run the mountain.

The state-operated resorts of Gore and Whiteface are already open as are several Vermont areas. Starting on Friday, Gore and Whiteface will operate during the week.

Also scheduled to open Friday are Windham and Hunter in the Catskills and Jiminy Peak in the Berkshires. Willard Mountain in Washington County is set to start on Saturday.

Catamount and Butternut in the Berkshires plan to open in early December.

rkarlin@timesunion.com, 518-454-5758, @RickKarlinTU

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