Funding New York’s State-Run Ski Areas

OpEd: Funding NY State Run Ski ResortsA recent editorial in the Glens Falls Post Star asked the question: “How much longer can New York taxpayers continue to subsidize ski centers at Whiteface and Gore Mountain?”

The next paragraph yielded a vague response: “It’s time for state officials to rethink the financial and ownership model that has sustained them for the past 30 years.”

With a sluggish economy and state and local tax revenues in decline, there’s no question that public funding for everything is becoming problematic. While the editorial poses a legitimate question, it ignores some important issues, and has logical inconsistencies that make it hard to take seriously.

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Windham Benefit Raises $171,000 for Irene Relief

Windham MountainThis morning, Windham Mountain reported that its recent Hurricane Relief Benefit Dinner and Auction netted $171,790 — 100% of which will be donated to the Windham Chapter of the Catskill Mountain Foundation to assist in the continuing recovery process.

The evening included a sold-out dinner for 160 guests (many of whom are second-home owners in Windham), followed by a raffle and auction headed by Windham Mountain managing partner and first-time auctioneer Randy MacDonald.

With so much bad news coming out of the Catskills in the aftermath of Hurricane Irene, it’s great to hear that Windham Mountain not only hosted this event, but helped make it into an overwhelming success.

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Interview with Jessica Pezak of Hunter Mountain

Hunter Mountain logoThere have been significant changes to Hunter Mountain over the past few years including the installation of two new high speed lifts and the addition of North America’s longest and highest zipline.

We spoke with Jessica Pezak, Hunter’s Marketing Communications Manager, to check in on things at Hunter.

NYSkiBlog: First, did Hunter suffer any damage from Irene?

Jessica: Incredibly, no. We suffered zero damage. There is some normal erosion here and there, but that’s to be expected with that much rain. We had sandbags out and were prepared for water rushing down the mountain, and that really made a difference. While our towns were devastated, the Hunter lodge escaped unscathed.

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