RANGELEY – Saddleback, Maine announced today that it will not be open for winter ski operations unless it can secure $3 million in financing to purchase a new four-person chairlift to replace the aging 4,717-foot Rangeley double chair.
The 51-year-old lift is the main access from the base lodge to the top of Saddleback Mountain and is at the end of its useful life, according to mountain officials.
“In order for Saddleback to be sustainable for the long-term, we’ve decided the lift must be replaced,” said Mark Berry, owner, Saddleback, Maine. “For the last several months, we’ve been actively seeking the necessary financing to replace the chairlift. However, time is running out. We only have a few weeks to make this work. In order to open this winter, we need to order the new lift by early August.”
Bill and Irene Berry of Farmington purchased Saddleback, Maine a dozen years ago. According to a statement by the family, their original mission was “to protect the resort’s economic significance for Rangeley and its historic importance for Maine.”
Their vision also included providing an affordable ski experience “the average Mainer could afford,” according to the family. During the last ski season, Saddleback, Maine, employed up to 300 people, is the third largest ski mountain in Maine and the third largest employer in Franklin County.
When the Berry family purchased the ski area in 2003, 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.
Improvements included a new base lodge, the installation of two new quad chairlifts, the addition of many new trails, expanded snow-making and glade skiing.
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.
Family member Faith Berry said at the time selling the property is just one possibility; the family was also entertaining ideas of partnering with another developer or spinning off part of the operation into a non-profit organization, aimed at continuing to meet the Berry’s family’s goals of employment and affordability.
“We want to bring in fresh ideas, fresh investment, fresh energy,” she said.
In a letter posted Monday on the ski mountain’s website, the family stressed that the mountain cannot stay open without the new lift.
“Over the past couple of years it has been more and more apparent that in order for Saddleback Mountain to be sustainable the Rangeley double chair has to be replaced by a fixed grip quad similar to the South Branch and Kennebago lifts. This will more than double the number of skiers per hour that can be transported up the mountain,” the letter said.
“This is certainly not where we hoped to be given our success in growing this mountain. It is our sincere hope that the funding will come through in time to purchase the new lift and have it operational for this year’s ski season. We are now calling on those who treasure what Saddleback is to the people of Maine to help us find a solution,” Mark Berry said.
The Berry family has informed the year-round Saddleback employees and mountain property
owners of the potential changes in winter operations and 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 ski area and thousands of acres of surrounding woodlands remain for sale. Saddleback officials also confirmed that all weddings and summer/autumn events will continue as planned regardless of the winter operation decision.
Kind of late notice.
So sad. But we all have made a bad investment at times. Doesn’t mean someone else should bail us out.
That chairlift was old when Methuselah was young.
It needed to be replaced before the new lodge was built.
Before the yurt was stuck up top.
Before all the new condos were built.
It was old and slow and didn’t have enough capacity before the new lift was installed above it, back in 2009.
It WAS pointed out then- that blowing the money for a new lift that could only be access by an old, slow, obsolete under capacity lift might not be the wisest choice.
The old argument was, ” we don’t want too many people at the top of the mountain”. Of course, people DID tend to accumulate up there, since by the time they got there they were frozen stiff and couldn’t ski.
Saddleback could probably make more money by only opening the terrain park and maintaining just enough staff to do that. No need for the main lift for that. Most of the best terrain is also available from the T-bar.
Young snow boarders and freestylers are happy and content with just a half pipe and some rails and they make up a goodly chunk of the market today.
Sounds like poor management at the helm, to me. If you need 3 million in two weeks, seems like you’re out of luck, or go to the bank and borrow like us poor people.
The Bue Ice at the top of Saddleback has been a legend for its severe winds, edge plants or lack there of and raspberries on the thighs from slips and falls. It will be ‘sorely’ missed.
Snowman. That should be sung from the treetops. Management has stated that, “the lift issue is a capacity and economic issue not a safety issue.” The bill for the marketing alone would have been a good downpayment. I have to question the timing of this announcement. I am not a big fan of corporate welfare, especially when questionable management decisions have brought them to thos place. Asking the people of Maine to help them find a solution? There is a certain lack of transparency here.
Sounds more like the typical business plan of today. Give me public monies or we’re closing shop, moving out of state or any of multiple cries or threats to make the public feel sorry for the business or feel threatened.
Look at the perfect example we have right in Wilton, the Comfort Inn. A private business expecting AND receiving public funds for their business venture. Does any Wilton tax payer receive a discount if they want to stay there?
If the lift is 51 years old, why didn’t the owners have a replacement plan and budget in place a long time ago? I agree with the comments above–asking for a bail out at such late notice isn’t sound business practice.
Would have liked to have seen more realistic responses such as these, than those posted on social media yesterday.
“Your going to miss me when I’m gone”
A lot of ROI/revenue for the state, county & Rangeley from those skiers… just saying
Keep the mountain open, dont run the Rangeley chair. I ski only Saddleback and only use the Rangeley chair if the T BAR is closed. T bar is warmer and faster. Then scoot over to the kennebago quad for top skiing and the best skiing In New England.
I hope for the best.
Just for the record, there’s more than one “Kathleen Lynch” in this area, and I didn’t make the smart remark!
Good luck to the Berry family’s effort to keep Saddleback open. My family has enjoyed Christmas there (on the lake and on the mountain) for several years, and we hope to continue!
I wish the Berry Family the best. Hope this works out. Negative comments do not help anything.
Egads ! A simple factual news story about a business and we get remarks that if you have a hotel in your town everyone in the town should get a discount there??And that ther is to be some corporate bailout from public funds??? Resentfulness abounds! Have we so many down and out beat up discouraged “I got an unfair shake in life” folks here?? SAddleback is run by a family and brings lots of money and jobs to the area Wow If we bring a supermarket in should everyone in town get free Cheerios? Has America, despite our indeed current struggles for the middle class and absurd taxes and healthcare and woefully inadequate education system, lost its’ will to stand up and fix itself, and work hard ? You cannot pull yourself up by your boot straps if you a re busy complaining about the boots. wow. we have met the enemy and he is us.
Why the mean spirited comments? Some people take pleasure kicking others when they are down, apparently. I don’t take this article to mean they are trying to raise funds from the community with spaghetti suppers. I read that they are giving employees and the community a heads up. I hope it works out.
I must have missed something in the above article. I didn’t see anywhere that they asked the Maine people to do anything other than be aware of their situation. The Berry family has always, been good to the people of Franklin County, as far as I know. Maybe they can strike a Local Deal With a General Obligation Bond, to be paid back over twenty years, whereby everyone could win. I hope it works out for them, they are very good people.