More Salmon Hills Stories

I copied the previous posts about Salmon Hills to a friend of mine (Bob
W)and he wrote some recollections;

Behind the scenes, it was at times a bit more chaotic but of course a
fantastic experience MOST of the time. I will never forget the time
Hans and I drove the PB160D across the original bridge for the first
time, not knowing if the logs would hold us! Hans, Russ Houck and I
sleeping in the parking lot in a small travel trailer for months of
weekends during the initial build, with a nightly inspection looking
down at the growing facility from Coy Hill. Mounting bindings on all
the rental skis in assembly-line fashion...ugh! Listening to bands in
the Lodge on a Saturday night. Dinners at the Century House. Hosting
Mid Atlantic BK Festival and JOQ races. Helping MANY skiers learn to
ski or ski better, including training camps with Ben Husaby, Peter
Ashley and Rachel Steer. Sweeping lost & hatless skiers off the trail
at dusk with temp below zero, seeing the look of gratitude on their
faces (we are not going to die!). Perfect classic tracks on Sunday
mornings for my personal 60k overdistance sessions to prep for the THT.
Skiing in the moonlight on Hemlock Ridge with 4 feet of snow stuck to
the evergreens. Sunset on the trail by the Reservoir. Etcetera.

The financial challenges started on day one. We built the yurt village
inefficiently in the snow and Hans spent significantly more than planned
getting it all set up initially, despite the volunteer help he had. The
initial trail building was done in too much of a hurry, with the timber
not harvested (missed opportunity to generate $50k+???) and bulldozing
outsourced at cost of over $100k! Snow removal turned out to be a much
larger expense than planned too, especially those first couple years
with amazing snow totals.

The main reason for the initial failure however, in addition to H&L
breakup and use of too much $$$ planned for capital used to cover
expenses, actually had nothing to do with skiing or the biz mgt of SH.
Niagara Mohawk was a PARTNER in the venture and when NM was sold, the
new owners were no longer interested in the development of the real
estate surrounding power-generation properties. The original SH biz
plan was never close to break even for the skiing facility alone (in the
current configuration). It always relied on completing a golf course
and associated real estate and year-round business opportunities. When
this all fell apart, there was ZERO chance that SH could pay off the
original loans, especially since the SH corporation did not own the land
(only 10 acres under the village). It was only a matter of time. At
the end, H&L didn't have the biz experience or connections to put
together a new coalition to keep it going. Perhaps in addition they
were both ready to move on, although I know that although they were done
themselves, they did for sure want SH to continue as a TOP resource for
skiing in NYS.

Dianne and I were fortunate to be able to attend Liz's funeral in
Syracuse, attending with Russ and Gina Houck. It was a small gathering,
with only a few other skiers there along with her immediate family.
Hans was not in attendance. Had to be one of the saddest days...closing
a big chapter in our lives and the lives of many in attendance.

I have spoken with the "new" Hans regarding SH issues and opportunities
on many occasions. I suggest that although I certainly agree that the
facility is in need of attention...and the grooming could NEVER be as
good as Hans Giuliani did it...that the recent lack of investment was
not for lack of trying. He just didn't have the resources, bandwidth or
the support of his family in the endeavor.

gr wrote:
The main reason for the initial failure however, in addition to H&L
breakup and use of too much $$$ planned for capital used to cover
expenses, actually had nothing to do with skiing or the biz mgt of SH.
Niagara Mohawk was a PARTNER in the venture and when NM was sold, the
new owners were no longer interested in the development of the real
estate surrounding power-generation properties. The original SH biz
plan was never close to break even for the skiing facility alone (in the
current configuration). It always relied on completing a golf course
and associated real estate and year-round business opportunities. When
this all fell apart, there was ZERO chance that SH could pay off the
original loans, especially since the SH corporation did not own the land
(only 10 acres under the village). It was only a matter of time.

As I read this I see parallels to Tony Wise and the collapse of
Telemark in northern Wisconsin. He was successful in establishing
the Birkebeiner as a destination ski race, but his attempt to
expand and develop his way to a sustainable operation failed.

I think that if one is looking for a goldmine there are better
places to look than in nordic skiing.

Bob Schwartz

On Dec 7, 8:36*pm, gr wrote:
I copied the previous posts about Salmon Hills to a friend of mine (Bob
W)and he wrote some recollections;

Thank you so much for posting this. I didn't know the details about
NM.

I was so sorry to have been too far away to attend Liz's funeral but
I'm glad that there were some skiers there. Bless you for going for
all of us; I know that there were more of us there in spirit. I
imagine it was a terribly sorrowful day.

I find it hard to think about Liz even now without tearing up. It's
hard to imagine someone enduring as much as she did toward the end of
her life. Liz's story and that of SH is sad enough to make a Lifetime
movie, but I think those all have happy endings, don't they?