49 Degrees North: Major Resort Improvements
CHEWELAH, Wash.— Chewelah Basin Ski Corporation, the parent company of 49° North Mountain Resort, and Alpine Developments Group, LLC, announced details of the resort’s planned improvements to the Sunrise Basin area for the 2015-2016 ski season and beyond “This comprehensive 5 year $25 million capital plan for 49 Degrees North Mountain Resort is one of the most ambitious plans undertaken at a Pacific Northwest ski area. It will transform the experience at the resort and create the largest single ski resort in Washington State with ski-in/ski-out residential housing” said Eric Bakken, General Manager and Vice President of the 49° North Mountain Resort. He added, “The improvements will offer skiers and riders ski-in/ski-out home ownership and upgraded lifts and will enhance the guest experience by offering new and upgraded amenities, snowmaking, and an overall improvements to all aspects of the resort.
Major improvements and additions to the resort will include a high-speed detachable quad chairlift to replace Klondike (Chair 1), new day lodge facilities in the Sunrise Basin and mid-mountain on Silver Ridge and 25 acres of snowmaking on five ski runs. The new Nelson Creek chairlift will serve added terrain and home owners in Sunrise Basin from well below the Sunrise Quad to the top of the Blastface trail. The Nelson Creek lift and the new Klondike Quad will be the hubs of summer activities, which will include a zip line, downhill mountain bike trails, and a mountain bike park.
This project has been in the works for over a decade, and the County’s land use plans and USFS special use permit reflect these proposed resort improvements. The plan was based on feedback over the last 15 years from resort guests and the local community, as well as extensive discussion and analysis with resort planners. The plan is also subject to approval by Stevens County as it will become Washington State’s only alpine master-planned resort community. The initial real estate development phase will offer approximately 170 deeded ski in/ski out single and multi-family lots near the base of the Sunrise Quad chair lift. Approximately 18 single family home sites and 34 multi-family lots will be available as early as spring 2016.
49 Degrees North will continue planning, permitting and engineering during the summer of 2015, and begin reconstruction and upgrades along 1.5 miles of Nelson Creek Road that provides access to Sunrise Basin, the ski-in/ski-out residential community. In addition, utility infrastructure with local utility providers, water system development, snowmaking infrastructure, and hospitality yurts and restroom facilities in Sunrise Basin are expected to be completed this summer.
The summer of 2016 will be an ambitious construction season with continued snowmaking and domestic water development, including construction of a 150,000 gallon water tank and two miles of water transmission and snow making pipe. Road construction within phase I of the home site area will continue along with construction of single family and multi-family residential properties.
The summer of 2017 will bring continued ski area upgrades and development, including real estate development and construction, the new Nelson Creek lift, and lodge additions and improvements.