The year 2021 brought a change in ownership at a longtime Lower Towamensing Township resort.

Blue Mountain Resort was purchased as part of a property transfer from the Tuthill Corporation to BMR Resort LLC, Denver, Colorado, 33 parcels, $31,887,343. A separate transaction was for 29 parcels for $1.

Barb Green, who has served as president of Blue Mountain Resort, announced the sale to KSL Resorts in July.

Green said at that time that KSL, which now manages the Lower Towamensing Resort, planned to fully develop the mountain to its potential.

KSL Resorts also bought Camelback Resort in Tannersville nearly two years ago, but Green said the goal was to “keep us totally separate resorts.”

In 1962, Ray Tuthill, the company’s founder and former president, bought 322.5 acres with dreams of one day opening a ski area to solve a family problem - having to travel long distances to do something they loved.

Blue Mountain Resort began its operations in 1977, opening the doors to then-named Little Gap Ski Area.

The ski area offered four trails and two lifts in its first year of operation, and lift tickets were $12.

The ski area expanded, reaching the bottom of the mountain in the 1990s, to the area currently known as “The Valley.” This allowed for a 1,082-foot vertical for skiing, the highest in the state, and the most varied terrain for guests of all ability levels.

When Tuthill died, Green stepped in as president and CEO to continue her father’s legacy.

In recent years, Blue Mountain opened Slopeside Pub and Grill, as well as outdoor adventures in its Summit Adventure Park.

The resort had been working on plans for a six-story hotel built on 1.95 acres near the Summit Lodge for the past few years. The hotel, if built, would consist of 135 hotel units, Green previously said.

Lower Towamensing Township planned to submit its highway occupancy permit application for its central sewage facility by October.

The system will connect to the existing Blue Mountain Ski Area wastewater treatment plant, which will be upgraded to account for the additional sewage flow.

The plan will cover the entire township, with concentration on the Aquashicola, Walkton, Little Gap, Weiner Mobile Estates, and Red Hill Road portions of the township where malfunctions of existing on-lot sewage systems are present.

Maureen Richardson, senior vice president at River Communications Inc., New York, said the plant will continue to be owned and operated by the Tuthill Corporation.

“Blue Mountain Resort LLC has assumed all responsibilities under the previous agreement that Tuthill Corporation made with Lower Towamensing Township as it relates to the sewage project.” Richardson previously said.

Blue Mountain Resort LLC is the company formed, which bought the land, buildings and other assets of Tuthill Corporation, the previous operator of Blue Mountain Resort.

Barbara Green remains as an owner in Blue Mountain Resort LLC and continues as CEO of the resort.

Changes

Shawn Hauver, vice president of East Coast operations for KSL Resorts, said some changes have already been implemented.

Additionally, he said they’ve also been working on a master plan of how to create more of a year-round destination.

“We’re not ready to roll any of that out yet; that’s still in developmental phases,” Hauver said. “We’re really looking at the next couple of years in terms of programming what we want the resort to become.

“We know that we want it to be a year-round destination, while maintaining it as one of the top ski boarding and tubing destinations on the East Coast. We want to enhance winter activities and grow upon what’s already a great in the winter, while also developing a year-round project for the resort.”

But, that isn’t all, Hauver said.

“In terms of preparing for this winter in terms of changes, there was a trail that had been cut at Blue Mountain several years ago, but hadn’t been able to be opened because it hadn’t yet been programmed with snow-making and lighting,” he said. “That trail will now be open this winter, so we’re excited about that.”

Hauver added “we continue to invest in snow-making.”

Improvements

“Blue Mountain has always been farther ahead of a lot of its competition in snow making and automation, which is the reason they are usually one of the first to open in the winter with the highest number of trails available.”

Hauver noted that this weekend, the resort will have at least 20 trails open.

“Not many resorts have that kind of terrain open because it’s been a little bit of a warm start to winter,” he said.

Hauver said they have purchased two brand-new state-of-the-art groomers; have programmed some additional outdoor food and beverage areas; and have three food trucks “that are really fun and interesting concepts, and they form sort of a bier garden outdoor development.”

He added that in the tubing area, they’ve also added some food and beverage options making it a little bit more of a gathering area, while adding several more lanes of tubing. They also put a new conveyor lift in there, and added more lanes of tubing so the whole tubing areas are “not just a nice place for tubing, but to also enjoy the festive environment that we’ve created there.”

“We continue to purchase brand-new rental equipment,” he said. “Really just doing what we could quickly do to enhance the customer experience and the overall product for this winter while we continue to focus on long-term changes as well.”

Hauver added “the reality is that we are here, we love what we’ve purchased, and we want to grow upon the amazing product.

“We’ve been so impressed with the team that is at Blue Mountain, both the year-round team and winter seasonal staff that comes back year after year because they are very loyal to Blue Mountain,” he said. “It’s just been very wonderful how the team is there.”

A sound investment

Hauver said they couldn’t be happier with how things have gone since taking over the resort.

“We have absolutely loved this resort; we inherited a family-run operation from Barb Green and the Tuthill family, who are all still actively involved,” he said. “We’re so happy that we have a resort that have some of the most amazing long-term team members and associates that we could have hoped for, and on top of that, an already amazing product,” he said. “There were a lot of things the family wanted to do over a long period of time, but didn’t have the capital; now we’re able to collaborate with them on those new amenities and new improvements and be able to start bringing those things to life with our capital dollars to improve the customer experience and overall product.”

Hauver said that while the ownership may have changed, the resort will always maintain its

“For us, protecting the Blue Mountain brand is extraordinarily important to KSL Resorts; we did not buy this resort to come in and change the brand, we love the brand and what it stands for,” he said. “We want to enhance the brand that’s already been created by Barb and her family.”

Hauver said what won’t change is that Blue Mountain Resort will always maintain its already-established identity.

“It’s always going to be the Blue Mountain Resort, and its always going to be the brand that’s been created there,” he said. “We’re just going to help expand upon that.”