RANGELEY – Saddleback, Maine is continuing to review options to finance the replacement of an aging chairlift this month, in a bid to remain operational this winter.
The ski mountain, the third largest in the state and an employer for up to 300 people during peak winter season, previously announced that it would be unable to open for ski operations this year unless it secured $3 million in financing to purchase a new four-person chairlift. That lift would replace a 51-year-old double chair that provides access to the top of Saddleback Mountain.
In a statement released on July 20, Saddleback co-owner and spokesperson Mark Berry said that financing would need to be secured within a few weeks in order to purchase and install the lift in advance of the 2015 season.
Two weeks later, in a statement released over the weekend, Berry said that his family and Saddleback’s management had been working “every possible angle” to acquire financing for the lift.
“The economic impact on our staff and the community is not lost on us,” Berry said in the statement. “We’ve worked very hard and had several meetings with financial institutions and potential buyers.” He went on to say that he anticipated a yes or no answer within a week or so, reiterating that a decision would need to be made in the next few business days to ensure the lift could be installed in time. ” … [A]nd that’s progress from where we were two weeks ago,” Berry noted.
When the Berry family purchased the ski area in 2004, it employed 66 people and drew about 15,000 skiers annually. In 2012 the family reported Saddleback employed more than 225 people during peak winter season, and by then they had added $40 million in infrastructure improvements and the ski area drew more than 100,000 visitors annually.
In 2012, the family put 400 acres of their 8,000-acre parcel up for sale for $12 million through Malone Commercial Brokers, a Portland firm, including Saddleback’s 66 trails and glades, four chairlifts, the lodge and condominiums.
In the statement, Berry thanked a “public outcry” of support for Saddleback, saying that his family and members of the staff had been “humbled and grateful for the amazing show of support.”
The Berrys have confirmed that all weddings and summer/autumn events will continue as planned regardless of the final outcome on the winter operations. The family has guaranteed that all season pass holders will be reimbursed and all vendors will be paid in full if the mountain does not open for the ski season.
The Berry’s must do a lot to support this website/publication.
Anytime they want something published, you do it and if there is a negative comment- you censor it.
Awesome ski area.
Awesome family.
Tough business competing with the big boys.
Godspeed on your journey Berry family.
If I had my way I’d rather help them with my tax dollars than keep giving it to pathetic parents spending it on candy and soda instead of food for their kids.
Some of you simply resent the Berrys “because” they are local.
Get over your negative self or go back to the paradise that produced you.
Bye now…Toodaloo.
I’m going skiing!!!
Look at snowman complaining (pouting…) because one comment didn’t get posted..
R u kidding me?
What makes that amusing is that HE probably holds the record for the most comments about anything and everything.. (not necessarily worthwhile comments….but they get posted anyways…).
You get MORE than your fair share of soap box time.
Got a little ego problem do ya?
@ whine and cheezzz;
You don’t know and will likely never know what I have posted that didn’t get printed.
There are at lest two sides to every story and with the Berry’s and Saddleback, only one side usually gets told- at least in the Bull Dog.
Folks feeling slighted for not having all their anonymous submissions published/posted might try a different tact by submitting a signed letter to the editors clarifying/correcting errors setting it all straight
Saddlebags is a treasure.
The local family that has taken it over had done an amazing job.
Better safety record than……..well one of the other ski areas.
They have kept it affordable.
Their heart is In the right place.
These shortsighted naysayers on here don’t realize the far reaching effect this place has on the region.
I guess they don’t care as long add they can grind their axe.
Myself….I see dollar signs in every car that drives thru it turns on their way to saddleback.
Myself…I wish the place the very best.