Page 12 - Jan_14

Hope in

JAY PEAK RESORT OPENS STATE-

SIDE HOTEL AND BASE LODGE
Sight?

JAY PEAK RESORT cut the ribbon other EB-5 funded projects. The
on its Stateside Hotel and base lodge Newport Airport project, part of the

on Dec. 20, 2013. The new $25 mil- larger Northeast Kingdom Economic
lion project is the third hotel the resort Development Initiative (N-KEDI),
has opened in four years and debuts has shifted from simply being a place
Q Burke, Kingdom Trails to
almost four years to the day when Jay where airplanes were to be assembled,
Reopen Talks
Peak opened its first project, the Tram to becoming a full-blown manufactur-
Haus Lodge. The new property how- ing facility.

ever represents a different offering in Ariel Quiros, co-owner of Jay
By Evan Johnson
the resort’s lodging portfolio.
Peak and a partner in the $500 mil-
“We built this new hotel and lion N-KEDI, announced that a new

base lodge for two reasons,” said re- commercial enterprise, Flight Design EAST BURKE –– After a brief dispute Upper Valley Mountain Bike Association,
sort president Bill Stenger. “First, it Americas, LLC has been established and parting of ways over trails, usage a group that frequently addresses issues
was time for the old Stateside Chalet and will be based at the Newport Air-
fees and chairlifts raised protest locally as of trail access and usage between various
to go. It stunk, literally, and wasn’t the port. Quiros and Stenger had original- well as online, Q Burke Mountain Resort groups. Riordan says he was dismayed at
most pleasant place to enjoy a meal or ly intended for the airport to be solely (formerly Burke Mountain Resort) and the news of the separation and sent an e-
gather for après skiing. But more im- an assembly plant for aircraft. With Kingdom Trails now look to meet in the mail to Jay Peak and Q Burke manage-

portantly, the hotel part of this facility this new company, Quiros said Flight middle.
ment expressing his dissatisfaction. He
is aimed at bringing people back into Design Americas has secured the ex- The three-year-long relationship be- received a response hours later from Q
our sport who may have been priced clusive production, assembly and dis- tween the for-profit resort and the local Burke CEO Ary Quiros.

out. Skiers and riders will be able to tribution rights for North, South and nonprofit was regarded as a unique one, That response went viral in a mat-
lodge here with unlimited access to the Central America for the Flight Design negotiated in part by prior Burke Moun- ter of minutes. Q Burke’s Facebook
lifts for less than the cost of what some C4 aircraft. The C4 is a state-of-the- tain manager Tim McGuire, who stepped page was overrun with comments, and
down in August.
the discussion even emerged on ride-
resorts are charging for a lift ticket.”
art four-seat aircraft. Flight Design
Stenger was referring to the fact Americas has also secured the exclu- In 2010, the association constructed monkey.com, the official online forum
that Ski-and-Stay packages per person at sive distribution rights for the U.S. their first excavated downhill trail for sin- of Bike Magazine.
gletrack biking.
“I put it back in the community’s
the new Stateside Hotel will range from and Canada for other products manu-
$79 to $110 depending on the time of factured by Flight Design GmbH., a The network of three trails was hands,” Riordan says. “It can be kind of
year. The Stateside facility features an Stuttgart, Germany-based company.
accessed via Burke’s Sherburne lift. The a learning experience for someone who’s
award-winning Kingdom Trails As- not from Vermont and might not be fa-
85-room hotel, base lodge and eatery, “What does all of this mean? It sociation has maintained a network of miliar with the desires and motivations of
a restaurant and two pubs, retail, and a means more quality manufacturing jobs
state-of-the-art rental facility.
for Newport,” said Quiros. “When this over 100 miles of trails adjacent to Burke people in the area. As soon as the news
Mountain.
hit social media, the community came to-
After the ribbon-cutting cer- new facility is fully operational, Flight Through the partnership, Q Burke gether around their resource and declared
emony, resort officials moved indoors Design Americas will be manufactur- where they stood.”
for a news conference where they an- ing 200 state-of-the-art aircraft each handled monetary transactions on be-
half of the resort and Kingdom Trails: Just a few days later, Bill Stenger,
nounced a major shift to one of their
year right here in Newport.”
Q Burke charged $20 for the chairlift president, CEO, and co-owner of Jay Peak
and Kingdom Trails charged riders the and Q Burke, backpedaled on Quiros’

normal day-usage fee. No daily trail earlier comments, responding to multiple
fee was charged to those with annual e-mails from concerned members of the
Kingdom Trails membership. When the Burke community and declaring a will-
trails expanded, Burke completed and ingness to find a solution.

submitted permits and Kingdom Trails Quiros declined to comment, but
led construction.
Andrew Baird, director of marketing,
In December, when Q Burke CEO says the two parties will reopen talks in

Ary Quiros revisited the Kingdom Trails January.
contract as part of housekeeping efforts, While the development has cap-
that relationship was ended.
tured public frustration on forums and
“The reality of it was confusion social media, all agree on the need for

as to how the arrangement was being levelheaded dialogue. Tierney says he
made,” says Tim Tierney, executive direc- was surprised by the initial decision on
tor of Kingdom Trails.
Q Burke’s part, but he remains optimis-

Quiros originally refused to pay tic the two partners will reach an agree-
roughly $20,000 to the organization ac- ment that will form a much stronger
cording to the contract, which he said he relationship.
had not been aware of at the time it was “We’re ever-hopeful that sensible,

signed. He later agreed to the payment but practical people will see the strength of
canceled the partnership going forward. what we bring to the community,” he
He also said $20 was not enough to cover says. “This discussion has really caused

the resort’s costs of operating the chairlift the cream to float to the top, so to speak.
and participating in the program.
If anything, this [dialogue] will serve to
The news did not sit well with local strengthen Kingdom Trails and the rela-
bikers. Brian Riordan is president of the
tionship between the two.”

12 VTSPORTS.COM
JANUARY 2014