Industry News
Following opposition from the Barre District Stewardship Team within the Agency of Natural Resources, the controversial plans for a gondola-style connector between Smugglers’ Notch Resort and Stowe Mountain Resort, VT, have been put on ice. The two resorts have also withdrawn their request for the Agency’s support for the project.
Smugglers’ Notch is an independently owned mountain, while Stowe is owned by Vail Resorts. A path on the top of Sterling Mountain spanning around 2,600 feet separates the two resorts. Vail Resorts and Bill Stritzler, the owner of Smugglers Notch Resort, had been in discussions about a proposal to build a 2,600-foot connector lift since 2017, with talks growing more serious in 2021. When news of these discussions leaked to the public, feelings about the project were heavily divided.
The decision to oppose the lift by the Barre District Stewardship Team, a group of employees within the Agency of Natural Resources that vets projects proposed on public land, was laid out in a memo that was obtained by the News & Citizen. In the memo from August this year, Brad Greenough, from the district stewardship team, explained the organization’s reservations, “The team believes the proposed project is located on a portion of state lands that are not compatible with the type of use proposed for the area. It is unlikely any strategies to avoid or minimize impacts associated with a project of this nature could result in it being compatible with an area of such high ecological sensitivity and social value. The members of the Barre District Stewardship Team have reviewed and discussed this proposal thoroughly and with an open mind over the past two years. It is the unanimous decision of this Team that this project does not move forward. If it does move forward, it will be without the Team’s support and against the strong and unequivocal recommendation of the Barre District Stewardship Team.”
Bill Stritzler was naturally disappointed with the stewardship team’s decision. He felt that the stewardship team had not given adequate consideration to the science-based analysis on which the resorts’ mitigation plans for the connector were based, nor enough credit to the 164 acres of land Smugglers’ Notch had offered in exchange for the path on top of Sterling Mountain.
This means that the plan for the gondola has been put on ice. Whether this is the end or just a temporary setback is, at this point, unclear.
