Last week, I was at Sugarloaf and wanted to get a tour of the new competition center without waiting for the grand opening, which was yesterday.
I remember the first races I covered where I worked out of Chip Carey’s office in the basement of the old base lodge and had to go down to the Dick Bell Chapel, where Jean Luce would be putting together the results in that basement. When the administration building was erected, marketing and press relations moved there along with all other administrative functions. The competition center moved into the building that had housed the base of the gondola, and it has remained there for more than 20 years.
Also 20 years ago, the Sugarloaf Ski Club started setting aside funds for a new competition center — the one that just opened.
A year ago, I visited the old comp center on the first Saturday in December and found it jammed with young skiers registered in the CVA weekend programs. There were lines of parents and kids as they filled out the forms and claimed their parkas. Coaches were booting up in the same room where the kids were in line — there was no extra space.
Upstairs were the offices. Restrooms? Walk outdoors to the base lodge. Somehow out of this space, along with the ski school headquarters in the base lodge and a room for the press in the hotel, Sugarloaf has hosted multiple U.S. Alpine Championships and too many other competitions to name. Add in CVA and its programs, and the space was really cramped.
This year on that first Saturday, the new center was busy. On one side of the new lobby dedicated to the King Cummings family, the 200 kids in the CVA weekend programs were picking up their parkas. On the other side, Bruce Miles represented the Sugarloaf Ski Club handing out schedules and greeting skiers and parents.
Just beyond, I could look into the new Great Room (the actual gondola building) where coaches were introducing the young skiers to their programs. Directly across from the entrance to the room is a fireplace with the stone work in a pyramid shape topped by the familiar blue and white Sugarloaf logo. Hanging above the room on the opposite side is one of the original gondolas totally restored by a Sugarloaf skier who operates a body shop.
Bruce drafted longtime Sugarloaf race coach Jay Marshall to give me a guided tour of the new facility. As we walked the main floor and the second floor, Jay pointed out the Heritage Conference Room named in honor of Bruce and Kathy Miles, offices for the Sugarloaf and CVA Coaching Staff, office and meeting space for the Sugarloaf Ski Club, dedicated team rooms for Colby and UMF, and space for local middle and high school teams. A tuning and wax room has special ventilation and will be fully equipped with tables and vises. An athletic training room is being equipped with exercise machines. The weekend program and CVA coaches now have their own locker room and there is a special locker room for Sugarloaf ski Club members. An elevator completes the requirements of making the entire building compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act, and there is an equipment repair workshop and snowmobile garage. In all, the former space of 2,600 square feet has been quadrupled to 11,000 square feet, and skiers and staff will no longer have to walk through the snow to reach restrooms in the base lodge.
“CVA is tremendously grateful for the support of the town of Carrabassett Valley, the Ski Club and Sugarloaf. Together we are fostering friendships, instilling a life-long love of winter and making competitive dreams come true for generations to come,” CVA head of school Kate Punderson said.
Bill and Joan Alfond donated $1 million and the Sugarloaf community met the challenge to raise the rest of the $2 million-plus needed to complete the project. The Sugarloaf Ski Club pitched in the $200,000 they had raised and set aside over the past 20 years, and its members, along with the rest of the community, put the campaign over the top.
“They did a wonderful job, a great community effort. It reinforces what Sugarloaf is all about, the history of the mountain and racing. It took a lot of meetings over the last year and everyone had input,” Sugarloaf President Karl Strand said.
He noted that while CVA owns the center, Sugarloaf will finance the operational costs. In return, the resort will have use of the facility in the summer for weddings and other events.
Congratulations to the Sugarloaf community for another job well done. I look forward to the reaction of the U.S. Ski Team when they show up for the National Championships in March.
See you on the slopes.
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