http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/30/nyregion/nyregionspecial2/01ctpowder.html?_r=1&oref=login

Finances Slip, and a Ski Area Closes
By JEFF HOLTZ

Published: September 30, 2006

THE Powder Ridge ski area in Middlefield, one of the state’s oldest ski slopes, has announced that it will not operate this season, because of financial problems.

Ken Leavitt, who bought the ski area from the previous owners, the Zemel family, in 1997, said that he wanted to build a water park there and operate it year-round. He said, however, that a 10-year battle with the town to obtain the permit for the water park, begun before he took ownership, cost him $3 million in legal fees and studies and left him short of money. He received the permit in 2003, but did not build because he did not have enough funds.

“Between the purchase price, the capital investment and the permit process, it left us in a position where we need more money to go forward,” he said.

Mr. Leavitt said that he had been unable to make his mortgage payments and that the property was in foreclosure proceedings.

Mr. Leavitt said that twice in the last few years, he reached an agreement with the Middlefield Board of Selectmen for the town to buy the land for $3.6 million and lease it back to him. But he said both deals were rejected by the town’s Board of Finance. Jon A. Brayshaw, Middlefield’s first selectman, said Tuesday that the town still wanted to buy the land and the business and would continue to try to work out a deal with Mr. Leavitt. He said the town would then ask companies to bid on managing the ski area.

Mr. Brayshaw said the closing would eliminate about 200 full- and part-time jobs at Powder Ridge. He said nearby businesses would also suffer.

“Restaurants and gas stations depend on it,” he said. “It’s a tourist attraction, and it’s part of the fabric of the town. It means a lot to us.”

Jeremy Davis, the owner and founder of the New England Lost Ski Areas Project, a Web site (nelsap.org) that documents the history of ski areas that have closed, said the loss of Powder Ridge would have an adverse effect on the ski industry in the region.

“Power Ridge was a place where many people learned how to ski inexpensively and close to home, and those people eventually migrate to the larger resorts,” he said.

Jeff Leich, the executive director of the New England Ski Museum, in Franconia, N.H., said that the recent trend had been for some smaller ski areas, like Powder Ridge, that had closed to reopen because of snowboarding.

“The popularity of snowboarding among younger people has made these smaller areas viable,” he said. “You don’t need a lot of vertical height for snowboarding trails, so you don’t have to cover a huge amount of terrain with expensive man-made snow.”

Mr. Leavitt said there was a chance he could reopen the ski area — despite the foreclosure proceedings.

“We are now concentrating on selling all or part of the resort, either to someone who may decide to develop houses there, or to a joint partner that would help keep it going with the water park,” he said. “Our preference is to find someone to help us move the resort forward.” Mr. Leavitt said attendance at Powder Ridge ranged from 50,000 to 100,000 people a season over the last 10 years, depending on snow conditions. Last year, the ski area closed for a few days in February because of a lack of snow.

Mr. Leavitt said he was confident that Powder Ridge could still be successful.

“We have demographics, a beautiful site and the permit to add a water park,” he said. “What we need is capital.”