NEW CHAIR DEBUTS AT BURKE MOUNTAIN SKI AREA -Saying, “I’ve waited 50 years for this,” Duffy Dodge, 85, St. Johnsbury, took the first trip to the top of Buke Mountain Ski Area Saturday. Riding with Dodge were, left to right, Joe Kasprzak, Director of Operations, Dodge, Tim McGuire, Burke Mountain General Manager and Kirk Dwyer, Headmaster of Burke Mountain Academy. Dodge inaugurated the first lift installed at Burke on Feb. 12, 1956.

Almost Fifty six years after the Burke Mountain Ski Area in East Burke inaugurated its first lift, a Pomalift that is still in service today, Burke Mountain launched its newest lift, an all new high speed quad that will take 1800 skiers an hour from the Mid Burke Lodge to the top of the Mountain in six minutes.

Duffy Dodge, St. Johnsbury, rode the first poma lift to the top of Burke Mountain with then Vermont Governor Joe Johnson on Feb. 12. 1956. On Saturday, close to 56 years later, Dodge, now 85, was one of the first skiers to ride the new detachable quad chair lift built and installed by Leitner Poma. Dodge is still a very active skier and a fixture at Burke. Commenting on the new lift, Dodge joked, "I've been waiting 50 years for this."

Riding in the first chair to take riders to the top, Dodge shared the chair with Joe Kasprzak, Director of Operations at Burke Mountain Ski Area, Tim McGuire, General Manager and Kirk Dwyer, Headmaster of Burke Mountain Academy, a renowed Academy that has trained world class skiers.

The five million dollar investment took all summer and fall to install and while the manufacturer, Leitner Poma installed the lift, the company relied heavily on local help to do the work, according to Kasprzak.

With the new lift, Burke Mountain Ski Area achieves the critical goal of accessing 100 percent of its skiable terrain by state of the art, high speed lifts. With 260 acres of skiable terrain, 80 percent of the trails are now covered by artificial snowmaking. According To Kasprzak, Burke averages a total of 230 inches of natural snow a year.

Kasprzak said the new lifts are a response to Burke's customer surveys which showed the number one concern of skiers was that Burke lacked a state of the art lift to the summit.

Burke Mountain Ski Area's new marketing slogan describes the Burke Mountain Ski Area as "True North," and returns what was historically the northern Vermont skiing experience to the Northeast Kingdom. Kasprzak sees the investments and upgrades to the Jay Peak Ski Area in Jay as a help to Burke, with skiers drawn to Jay trying out Burke as well.

Another huge asset for Burke is Kingdom Trails, an enormously popular series of bicycle trailers headquartered in East Burke. Each year Kingdom Trails brings thousands of trail bikers to Burke and 30 percent of the bicyclists are Canadian. Kingdom trails exposes those tourists to all the the Burke Mountain Ski Area and the Kingdom has to offer and will help attract those bicyclists back to ski.

Founded in 1998, NAHA has become the gold standard of hockey academies, attracting talent from as far away as Alaska and California. The school’s intense training and rigorous competition schedule has been responsible for graduating dozens of girls who have been selected for the United States’ Under 18, Under 22 and Senior National Team, as well as Division I universities. NAHA has placed more graduates in D1 universities in the last ten years than any other program in North America. The academy’s staff includes Cap Raeder, the former assistant coach of the Tampa Bay Lighting, and Vincent Riendeau, a former NHL goalie who played with the Montreal Canadians, the Detroit Red Wings, and the Boston Bruins.

“We are really excited about the move,” remarked Jesse Driscoll, a head coach for NAHA. “It’s important to us to have the community support our mission, and when we saw what Jay Peak was doing with the new (Ice Haus) arena, the move was a no-brainer. The resort’s willingness to provide not only home ice, but access to all of their offerings to our families, fans, and the hundreds of skaters who attend our tournaments and camps really proved to us that we had the backing of the resort.”

NAHA had previously been located in Stowe, VT, but decided to move after a campaign to fund a new skating facility failed, and their home rink closed for the summer. Jay Peak officials worked with NAHA staff to find the academy a new headquarters, one suitable for housing and feeding the 40 athletes that are in residence every year. The Inglenook Lodge, a European-style hotel located less than a mile from the resort, was available, and NAHA and the lodge owners’ arrived at an agreement giving the academy sole use of the property’s 20 lodging rooms, its dining facility, common space, sauna , indoor pool, and surrounding land.

“This is a perfect example of why we built the rink,” said Dennis Himes, manager of Jay Peak’s Ice Haus. “I’ve either played or coached hockey all of my life and have followed the success of NAHA. These are the best female hockey players on the continent and it is going to be really exciting to watch them practice and play here at Jay Peak. Plus, the dozens of tournaments they’ll host throughout the year is a great addition to our resort event offerings.”

Aside from the on-ice excitement, Jay Peak officials anticipate a business upside for the resort and surrounding community.

“Opening the door to a partnership like this was one of the driving factors behind our revitalization efforts,” remarked Steve Wright, Jay Peak’s vice president of Sales and Marketing. “NAHA is a magnet for elite hockey talent and the brand they’ve built over the years fits well with what we’re doing here (at Jay Peak.) Plus, the tournaments and camps they’ll host will energize the region and bring business to our shoulder seasons when typically our community sees a substantial lull.”

Jay Peak opened the NHL-sized Ice Haus a year ago this month. The $6.5 million facility can seat over 700 people, has four locker rooms, a rental and retail shop, and a restaurant. The resort is in the middle of a multi-year revitalization project that to date has seen the opening of the 57-room Tram Haus Lodge, the Ice Haus, and the Clubhouse, a golf facility complete with a restaurant, outdoor patio, and three luxury suites. Next season the resort will open the new 170-room Hotel Jay, Conference Center and Pump House, a 50,000-square foot indoor waterpark.
 

Read the full article at CNN Online.

Read more....http://www.tripadvisor.com/Tourism-g191-United_States-Vacations.html

Washington Post Writer Steve Dryden had a lot to share in his recent article about the region. 

Read the article in full.

Northeast Kingdom Winners include:

Lake Willoughby
Phineas Swann Bed & Breakfast 
Faribanks Museum
Jay Peak Ski Resort
Wildflower Inn
Memphremagog Arts Collaborative
Burke Mountain Ski Area
Juniper's Restaurant
Parker Pie
Trout River Brewery
Miss Lyndonville Diner
Rabbit Hill Inn

"While there’s no town per se, you’ll find Lake Willoughby, which is flanked by the cliffs of Mount Pisgah and Mount Hor and resembles a Norwegian fjord. Hike the mountains or take a canoe onto the deep, glacially formed lake."