New ORDA Director apparent

http://www.adirondackdailyenterprise.com/page/content.detail/id/537512/APA--ORDA-appointments-pending.html?nav=5047

I saw this. Go Jill B.  She should be a good representative for the So Adk.

I didn't see the part about a new director?

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A lone voice in the woods is not easily heard.

ORDA really means Lake Placid Regional Development Authority. How soon until we see the plan for the people mover connecting LP to Whiteface and all the other venues? After that maybe we can count on finding a place for an 8000ft x 100ft runway to get some 737s in so they can finally justify the convention center. There is a nice long flat spot that runs somewhat parallel to Adirondack Loj Rd. I am sure nobody would be against it.

X... would you admit Gore has done much better over the last 5-10 years then in the decade previous?

I think you should give ORDA another chance.  I think two years from today is fair.

I'll meet you back here on the summer solstice in 2015. And we'll see what direction Bell is heading.

DackerDan wrote

Hopefully Jill will have input as to how ORDA/Gore can do more for N. Creek. The area shows little signs of a recovery.

Wait, what? Seriously? You mean maybe start up a second ski hill?

I think any resort run by ORDA should consider themselves lucky----money doesn't seem to be an issue

Harvey44 wrote

X... would you admit Gore has done much better over the last 5-10 years then in the decade previous?

I think you should give ORDA another chance.  I think two years from today is fair.

I'll meet you back here on the summer solstice in 2015. And we'll see what direction Bell is heading.

ORDA was just distributing the money that then NYS Governor Pataki specifically earmarked for Gore. If Pataki had not done that most of the money would have ended up in LP. I remember a May, 2009, meeting were the ORDA Board held up a release of earmarked Gore funds for the install of the NC Ski Bowl triple and tried to get some money out of Front Street. Lussi made some comments about how he would love to contribute to a lift next door to his property that would connect with WF. I wonder how much cash he contributed to the Convention Center that sits right next to his property. At the next meeting there were a lot of people from NC in attendance and the money was released.

Mike Pratt should get more credit for the improvements and the way he has been able to properly use the money.

ORDA will do a better job than the DEC for Belleayre as now everybody will be watching. They won't be able to delay funding like they did at Gore for so many years.

Im confused, how many new lifts has Gore had installed in the last 5 years? About 4, including one High Speed Quad, and another triple with a very long lift line. How many new pods have opened up? How many miles of terrain have been added?
I think Gore has been doing very well and its a great area to be at. All the while the Country and State went through a period of recession.

Yes the convention center was a waste, but there would be some that would say the Burnt Ridge Quad was a waste also given the traffic to it. Hopefully time will prove both naysayers wrong and the investment will have paid off.

I think once and for all this Whiteface vs. Gore situation needs to die, because we should be very lucky to have two ski areas that can get these types of improvements.

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Dude, really. She's managing millions in public money to run a ski hill in North creek, gratis from NY state taxpayers. It's her responsibility to do just that, and it's not her concern how the local economy around that hill fares. That's for the politicians who have influence over that town. Mayor, state senators, governor. ORDA is there just to manage the operations of ski hills. And, well, a convention center or something I hear bitched about around here, but, that's about it. I hope.

Harvey44 wrote

I saw this. Go Jill B.  She should be a good representative for the So Adk.

I didn't see the part about a new director?

Yeah the first post got me too.  I think one should read that as "new member of the board of directors.."

evantful wrote

Im confused, how many new lifts has Gore had installed in the last 5 years? About 4, including one High Speed Quad, and another triple with a very long lift line. How many new pods have opened up? How many miles of terrain have been added?

Gore added 1 new lift and 3 used lifts. The Top Ridge Triple was supposed to be a HSQ, not a used triple. All the pods and miles that were added have been in various plans since the mid 1980s. Why did it take 20 years to get this started and another 10 years and it is still not done?

evantful wrote

I think Gore has been doing very well and its a great area to be at. All the while the Country and State went through a period of recession. ?

Gore has been doing well and is a great place to ski but the amenities on the mountain are severely lacking. The Saddle Lodge remains the only place for food and facilities on the mountain. Gore stretches for miles now. There are still outhouses at the top of the Straight Brook Quad.

Please remember that the money was earmarked in Pataki's last term (2002-2006) well before the financial crisis in 2008 and the recession that followed. So while the additions happened during the recession, the planning and money arrived well before the recession

evantful wrote

Yes the convention center was a waste, but there would be some that would say the Burnt Ridge Quad was a waste also given the traffic to it. Hopefully time will prove both naysayers wrong and the investment will have paid off.

That is your take on the convention center? It is a waste? It is a $20,000,000 waste. It is also an ongoing financial suck on the ORDA operating budget. Then you compare it to the Burnt Ridge HSQ? The HSQ is one of the ways that Gore can be built out to its 40 mile trail limit.

The problem with ORDA and Lake Placid is that 2 ORDA directors have huge resorts in LP that benefit from the convention center even if the convention center never comes close to breaking even.

evantful wrote

I think once and for all this Whiteface vs. Gore situation needs to die, because we should be very lucky to have two ski areas that can get these types of improvements.

It is not really WF v Gore, but Lake Placid vs Gore. The ORDA directors who represent Lake Placid (most of them) did not want to see Gore become what it could be because it would become a powerful competitor for Lake Placid.

Your last statement about how "lucky" we are to have two ski areas that can get these type of improvements confuses me. It seems that every ski area that Gore and WF competes with  gets these types of improvements. It is a business that needs constant upgrades and improvements. If a private company had been operating Gore and had the permits for expansion in 1985 like Gore did, it would not have taken almost 30 years to happen.

I really don't think that is true about a private ski areas ability to development to the plan.  Without the real estate development that normally pays for ski area expansion it would not be feasible in a private setting and the both Whiteface and Gore would be worse off as private areas.

The taxpayers of NYS thru their elected representititves have decided that they / we do not want development on protected lands in the APA.  Thus Orda is the only way to make this arrangement work.

Dan is right that Orda has a twin mission of promoting Winter sports and economic development for the Adirondacks.  

I'm sure that Jill will be a good new addition to the Orda board.  It is good to bring new blood and ideas.

For once and for all, North creek just will not be a destination town filled with all sorts of commerce (to benefit even the politically connected). Gore has been there for, what, 55 years, about?, and that's what you've got. A town that can barely support one or two rotating restaurants, and Inn in good times, and not a whole lot more. It's not the picture of poverty some upstate towns can be, but, it's not going to be Lake Placid or Manchester, Vt.. That after maybe a billion (think about it) of taxpayer money piled into a very great ski hill right next to it over those years. They built it and nobody comes, you know what I mean? If there were going to be condos, they'd be there, or somewhere close. But Lake George robs that market, along with Lake Placid.

It's a limited market. Not too many ski, and it's a zero sum game when the consumers move around. Maybe, if something happens to the economy and flying out west becomes too expensive for most, then there's hope of a lot of biz all over the northeast. But, oil  is dropping in price, so......,

Until then, just keep the skiing experience solid, and stop making developers drool.

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Dude

"I just don't think you  throw up your hands and do nothing"

Gore is not "nothing". It's a whole lot more than hundreds of forgotten, lost towns in upstate get. I mean, at a certain point, if the seed money doesn't grow trees, time to move on, or, at least, stop increasing the seeding.

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campgottagopee wrote

I think any resort run by ORDA should consider themselves lucky----money doesn't seem to be an issue

Unless it's Mount van Hoevenberg.

DackerDan wrote

OK - I get what your say'n. ORDA takes about $4M for NYS, let's just shut the sucker down and call it a day. No WF, no Gore, no Bell. Benny for Gov.

No. You don't.

What I'm saying is, more money and attention from ORDA directed at the perceived "problem" that the North Creek economy is less than what it could be, will not solve that problem unless the state built a hotel there, and handed out vouchers to every state resident to stay in it for a little while. Free drinks in the state built bars on Main Street, too. Even then, you may be surprised at the lack of interest.
The state's contribution up to this point has been to build and maintain a fine ski hill there for years. It has been significant. And, the response from most of the skiing population has been, well, meh. So, no more schemes for the North Creekers other than maintaining a fine ski hill and the roads in. I certainly think ORDA should still exist, because, if it was abolished (ORDA, that is), Gore would die a kinda slow death. So, I'm selfish that way, because I love Gore. Viva el Gore.