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"The White Mountain National Forest is expected to release a decision in April on a major expansion of Waterville Valley ski area.It would be the first such expansion of the resort's terrain in 25 years.Waterville Valley's Green Peak Expansion Project would increase beginner and intermediate terrain and glade skiing lower down the mountain along the driver's left of the access road and mean a new detachable quad chair connecting in the area near the Sunnyside Triple.It would occur entirely on lands designated in the 750,000-acre forest's essential master plan, or its current \"Forest Plan\" for use as an alpine ski area, according to the Scoping Report prepared by the Forest Service's Eastern Region Winter Sports Team.It's expected implementation date is June 2013.The project was identified in the previously-approved master development plan of 1999.Owned by Waterville Valley Holdings, LLC, Executive Councilor Chris Sununu and the Sununu family hold a majority share of the group, which purchased it a little more than two years ago from Booth Creek of California.Last year was a particularly poor snow winter but this year is looking up.The ski area operates under a special use permit of the forest which authorizes 3,010 acres, including Mount Tecumseh for alpine skiing and has another 2,154 permitted acres for Nordic skiing and mountain biking terrain.The current special use permit for the ski area at Waterville Valley expires in 2050.The entire cost of the project, including the study, is to be paid for by Waterville Valley Holdings, which also pays user fees to the government based on profits to lease the land.It, however, owns the buildings and lifts on federal land.To alter federal land requires an environmental assessment which looks at all the impacts. If it requires further study, more could be requested in the document due in April.\"The proposed expansion would increase beginner and intermediate terrain and offer a more gradual contiunum of terrain challenges at the resort,\" the scoping report reads. \"Having not taken any appreciable trail expansion in 25 years, nor implemented any of the expansion projects proposed in the 1999 master development plan, the ski area has proposed this project to provide an improved visitor experience.\"Green Peak, at 2,860 feet is southeast of Mt. Tecumseh at 3,840 feet.The project would propose a network of eight trails and 12 acres of glades.The trail network would connect with Stillness and Upper Valley Run, and deploy a high-speed quad, about 4,000 feet long, with a capacity of 2,800 skiers per hour.The vertical rise of the area would be about 1,000 feet.The small competition building for the ski club would need to be removed and relocated, the report states at the lower end of the tree island separating the trails Lower Periphery and The Pasture. The new comp center would be two stories and 4,800 square feet, but the clubhouse on the second floor of the building which includes T-Bars restaurant would remain in use at that location.In all, about 41 acres would be cleared for trails and lift and about three acres of trail widening with snowmaking, using existing water sources.The decision on whether to approve the project is up to Tom Wagner, supervisor of the WMNF.Paula Tracy writes about the outdoors for wmur.com and can be reached at paulatracy@roadrunner.com."^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.wmur.com/article/major-expansion-may-be-in-store-for-waterville-valley-ski-area/5179831>