NEWS

Granite Peak's proposed expansion could cost $50M

Bob Dohr
Daily Herald Media

RIB MOUNTAIN — The owner of Granite Peak in Rib Mountain on Tuesday outlined a $50 million dollar expansion proposal for the ski area that would add lodging and more than a dozen new ski runs to the grounds and increase the number of hiking trails and summer recreation opportunities there.

Granite Peak Ski Area owner Charles Skinner said he submitted an expansion proposal to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources about a week ago to expand the ski area's leased area within Rib Mountain State Park by 150 acres, from 415 to 565 acres. That would allow Skinner to create a dozen new novice and intermediate runs on the west side of the mountain and an additional two-and-a-half runs on the far eastern portion of the ski area.

"The ski area is really too small to survive long-term," Skinner said. "The existing runs are really pretty crowded now." Annual skier visits are currently 110,000 according to Granite Peak, and the ski area has 3,500 season pass-holders.

Charles Skinner, owner and president of Granite Peak Ski Area, gestures as he speaks during the press conference announcing plans for expanding the ski area, Tuesday, December 16, 2014, in Rib Mountain.

The ski run part of the expansion would cost about $20 million, Skinner said. The slope-side lodging — which would be located on a 25-acre parcel off of Grouse Lane that Granite Peak purchased in 2000 — would cost about $30 million and be completed in phases.

The improvements would be funded from company earnings and bank loans, Skinner said. How fast they will be completed will depend on how strong business is at the hill.

"We'll need to grow our skier visits as we go along, so it will depend on the pace of the growth of skier visits and that kind of thing in terms of how long it will take to complete the project," he said.

The ski area is projecting the expansion will result in a boost in annual skier visits from 110,000 to 200,000. Employment would jump from 200 workers to 380.

Granite Peak needs to improve to compete with ski resorts in places such as Colorado and Utah, Skinner said.

"If you look in the Midwest, a lot of the destination ski areas that we grew up on -- we may have gone to Telemark or a whole host of other ones depending on which state we lived in -- many of those ski areas no longer exist," Skinner said. "And the reason is because they didn't keep up with the improving standard, as being set by western ski areas."

Skinner said the DNR will host open houses to gather public feedback on the proposed expansion.

Skier Robert Jackman, 29, of Chicago said he was happy to hear Granite Peak is looking to grow.


Granite Peak Ski Area is looking to expand by 150 acres including more beginner runs, marked in green. They held a press conference at the ski hill, in Rib Mountain, Tuesday, December 16, 2014.

"The more acres the better," said Jackman, who was skiing at Granite Peak for the first time on Tuesday. "Coming up from Chicago, you want as much variation in the terrain as you can get, so that would just make this place more attractive."

Rib Mountain's Phyllis Pomrening, 71, wasn't as enthusiastic. She worries about how much water the hill is drawing from the area to feed its snow-making machines and the loss of pristine wilderness on the hill itself. Her view of Rib Mountain has changed over the years as trees have been replaced by ski trails and lifts.

"We've had lots of the most beautiful trees, the maples are all gone, most of them, of course they've got all those runs up there, and it's just kind of sad to see that," she said.

But Skinner said minimizing the impact on the environment will be a priority, saying a pristine environment is the foundation of a successful ski area.

"It's also vitally important that we're good stewards of the land so we can enjoy its beauty for generations," Skinner said.

He said the proposal maximizes use of the existing land within the leased area of Rib Mountain State Park's 1,628 acres. And the proposed expansion will use the smallest amount of land possible to increase size and scale of some of the runs to alleviate crowding. It also promises to minimize impact on the rest of the park.

"The land does not contain any known endangered or sensitive species," said Skinner, who intends to work closely with the DNR on the state park's environmental priorities.

The added terrain would serve beginner and intermediate skiers, an important factor for families traveling to a ski resort, said Granite Peak General Manager Vicki Baumann.

"We're finding that our guests are coming and having longer stays, two to three days, and to have that small area (of beginner and intermediate runs) and to be here that many days, it gets boring for them, so we truly see a need to have more beginner and intermediate terrain," Baumann said.


Tim Keefe, Wausau, checks out one of the drawings of the proposed expansion at the Granite Peak Ski Area as they announced plans for expanding, Tuesday, December 16, 2014, in Rib Mountain.

The business is still in the preliminary stages of planning ski-in, ski-out lodging, ski business lingo for accommodations that allow skiers to walk from their hotel rooms or condos to the slopes.

"We haven't gotten that far yet," Baumann said. "We know that we want to build something with condos and units, (and a) possible ice skating rink in the center of everything, but we really haven't discussed that too much."

What is known, Baumann said, is that ski-in, ski-out accommodations are important to visitors.

"We're finding that a lot of people are calling us over the last few years, you know, 'Reservations please,'" she said. "Well, we direct them away from the ski area. They want ski-in, ski-out."

In addition to the increased skier visits and added jobs, Granite Peak is projecting the proposed expansion would boost the local economic impact from $30 million to $53 million.

The ski area hosted a news conference on Tuesday to announce the plans.

Bob Dohr can be reached at 715-845-0660. Find him on Twitter as @BobDohr1.