RANGELEY – Rangeley Lakes Cross Country Ski Club and Saddleback Land and Timber Corp. signed a 15-year lease for the club to move its trail system to Saddleback Mountain starting with the 2005 ski season.
Allen Wicken, chairman for the partnership of several local organizations, said he’s optimistic and looking forward to the challenges, including fund-raising.
The club’s current trails are just outside Rangeley, near Loon Lake on private properties, requiring the group to sign multiple leases. The market for land in Rangeley is unsteady and the pressure to develop there is great, Wicken said.
“This was a great opportunity to work with the new owners of Saddleback,” he said. The lease “will allow us to have the confidence to build a lodge.”
Both Wicken and Tom McAllister at Saddleback recognize the advantage of cross country skiing at the mountain, which has been offered at the mountain in the past.
“It will be a good opportunity,” said McAllister, adding that it will be a good marriage.
Wicken said he hopes to see some advantage from the promotional activities of Saddleback which, in turn, will benefit from having more activities to offer guests staying at a new hotel planned for the mountain.
“It’s a good deal for everybody,” McAllister said.
The new trails will offer skate and track skiing in addition to possible ungroomed snowshoe and back-country ski trails, Wicken said.
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