Seven Springs will unveil a new terrain park this winter, along with a much larger halfpipe. The new superpipe will be 450 feet long and feature walls as high as 18 feet. The new terrain park, located immediately above the superpipe, will have riding elements fixed into the ground including straight and curved railings, ramps, tabletops, and other features. Seven Springs consulted with Planet Snow Design to help design the pipe, and purchased a second Zaugg grooming machine to keep the pipe in good shape.

“Snowboarders and extreme or advanced skiers are looking for an enhanced riding experience,” explained Scott Bender, CEO of Seven Springs. “The addition of the new Superpipe and terrain park, along with the commitment to maintain the quality of the new features, will give those visitors an experience that can not be found anywhere else in the region,” he said.

This past summer, Seven Springs Resort also continued capital improvement projects begun last year. These projects include continued real estate development, hotel and lodge renovations, and groundbreaking on a new water park. Seven Springs is also continuing to explore the possibility of building an on-site casino. And, in case you missed it, ownership of the Pennsylvania Resort changed hands this summer, transferring from the Dupre family to Nutting Family. The change in ownership is not expected to have an effect on the resort’s capital improvement projects.

In 2005, Seven Springs broke ground on the Southwind at Lake Tahoe residential development, which includes townhomes with floor plans ranging from 1,700 to 2,500 square feet. Units have been sold in two phases so far; in the first phase, 54 units sold out within days. A second phase selling 57 units also sold out quickly. A third phase of units will go on sale later this year.

The Pennsylvania resort has also proposed a four-story, 65-unit condominium hotel lodge, with underground parking, a restaurant, meeting rooms and convenience shopping. The resort plans to break ground on the complex this fall, and is currently accepting reservations for sales on studio, 1, 2, and 3-bedroom condos.

In a $4 million overhaul, Seven Springs will be refreshing each of its 400 hotel rooms in its 10-story high-rise hotel over the next four years. The resort will make outside enhancements to the hotel, and will also perform an extensive makeover of common areas in its Main Lodge, including meeting rooms and the Conference Center.

Seven Springs has also begun work on a 2.5-acre water park, which will be located between the high-rise hotel and the base of the slopes. Plans are continuing to be refined for the water park, which was first proposed in 2005. Current plans include a lazy river, a zero-entry pool, several chutes and slides, and a nightly water fountain show. Other ski areas have developed water parks to attract year-round guests; for example, Virginia’s Massanutten Resort recently opened its own water park. Camelback Ski Area, located in the Poconos region of Pennsylvania, has operated a water park since 1998.

Although Seven Springs had pursued plans to build a $5.4 million casino, the resort recently announced that it will no longer pursue a gambling license, reportedly due to a conflict of interest with the new ownership. Nemacolin Woodlands Resort, which runs the Mystic Mountain ski area, continues to pursue a gambling license to build a resort hotel casino.