Scuttlebutt on Tory Mt

Was at a little country grocery store in Harmen,Wv over the weekend & asked the locals about the latest on Tory (Job Knob). They told me that The Wisp folks had sold it to a CO called Interstate & that after they Timbered the whole place they were going to just put in some homes...No ski area planned...I hope someone out there Knows different,because if Tory & MPC get wasted then there goes WV as a "True ski state"...Just doesn't make sense to ruin the best ski Mtn's in the state

That's interesting news. I hate to hear that the mountain will possibly be littered with homes. I've really been wanting to get up there and check things out. Maybe I should get up there before they start logging it all to crap...

I can't wait to retire in the mountains and buy a little country store so I can make up all kinds of stories and pass them all off as "insider local knowledge". Then you could just sit back on the internet and watch all of the carnage between customers.

This is one of my favoirite topics. The "skinny" on potential ski mountains . Regardless of what you hear, ski mountain development depend on the potential of realestate development. Name one successful ski area in the east that doesn't depend on some form of realestate development or a four season approach with golf, mtn biking, or other income producing annemities. I think back to Cherokee as an example. Most of the "lost ski area" suffered the same fate. Too many mountains here in the mid-atlantic have even "house-locked" the ski area in where no expansion is possible such as Bryce, and if they are not careful, Massanutten. T-line is getting close with the ongoing parceling out and sale to F&W. They can't go north and going south is getting tight as well.

I certainly agree that there aren't too many, but take a look at Elk in PA. No real estate and basically no off season operations. That however is the only one I can think of. There are a few others with basically no real estate, but they do have off season operations.

White Grass

good one! but there must be many more. what about...

up north:
wildcat - classic
mad river glen
mont sutton

down here:
winterplace - well just a few places, but not a driver
appalachian - older houses with private ownership.
cataloochee - quite successful
sugar - ski area ownership is separate from real estate ownership. all built out long ago anyway.

and that's excluding state owned places. probably lots more I don't know about.

It's not really fair to lump real estate and off-season activities together. Any area can and should have off season activity. Real estate is a whole different game. I always wonder about places like snowshoe - what happens when the real estate stops subsidizing the skiing - how sustainable is it ?

Anyway, sad news about Tory - that does look like a beautiful site for a ski area. How many cabins can they sell up there anyway ?

Here's a question: Will there ever be a new ski area south of mason dixon ? When and where ?

Yes.. Lynchburg, VA.

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Here's a question: Will there ever be a new ski area south of mason dixon ? When and where ?

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Bill Bright tried with Almost Heaven. That would have been an incredible mountain but he had problems obtaining the needed real estate to put it all together. He didn't even begin to go through the expected environmental gauntlet. To be honest, I don't think we will see any "new" ski areas, at least in my lifetime due to the regulations, zoning, environmental issues, etc... One more thing. Cost. It will take a lot of money to build from scratch. The infrastructure alone will be tens of millions.

This is only Scuttlebutt folks..we might be surprised to know whats going on behind closed doors...It Ain't over till the Fat Lady in the Tight Ski pants HOLLERS!!

Post script.(Thanks Davey boy)..Please send Mass Quantities of chips,p-nuts..dip & BEER..to help my relief effort down here in the "Cape fear'ed of Hurricane Hanna) Region...& be a good Matey & send down an extra bottle of some good dark Rum for the Capt..Har harr harrdy harrrr...BATTEN DOWN THE HATCHES!

That's a pretty broad list. The only ski areas I know of that are skiing only are state-operated or state-leased (Denton, Whiteface and Gore to be specific). The flip side, though, is that having real estate or alternative activities is no guarantee of success, either.

I think the problem is how real estate is used, and with Timberline and Massanutten you hit the nail on the head. I have no problem with a well-constructed base village and real estate options in that area, so long as skiing terrain is not compromised for real estate (or is minimally compromised). The question is whether you wish to be a ski resort or a resort with skiing. More and more places are opting for the latter, and if the Tory rumors are true (who knows), it sounds like the best we could hope for is that model.