Sugar Bowl to Manage Royal Gorge Cross Country
Its October and winter sports enthusiasts are already looking out for snow. Wolf Creek Lodge at 2,400 feet elevation with its Mediterranean climate can expect snow on only a few days. The snow soon melts as the sun rises. However, it is only an hour away from Donner Summit and the Sugar Bowl ski resort at over 7,000ft.
Sugar Bowl has just announced that they will be managing Royal Gorge – north America’s largest cross country area. A little further over the summit is Tahoe Donner Cross Country – another world class cross country center.
Here is an extract from Sugar Bowl’s press release:
“Sugar Bowl Resort has signed an agreement to operate Royal Gorge Cross Country Resort, America’s largest cross-country operation, which is being purchased by the Truckee Donner Land Trust, the Trust for Public Land and the Northern Sierra Partnership.
The Sugar Bowl Resort operating agreement was inked on Monday, Oct. 1, and includes the 3,000 acres the conservation groups have agreed to purchase. The Truckee Donner Land Trust, the Trust for Public Land and the Northern Sierra Partnership put down a $500,000 non-refundable deposit on the property on Oct. 1, and plan to complete the $11.25 million purchase on Dec. 20, 2012. The previous owners of Royal Gorge defaulted on their loan on the property, and Royal Gorge was taken over by the lender last summer.
The agreement unites two of North Tahoe’s premiere ski resorts. Sugar Bowl Resort, founded in 1939, is a 1,500-acre downhill ski resort with four peaks, 13 lifts and North Tahoe’s deepest annual snowpack. Royal Gorge is America’s largest cross-country ski resort. Its 200 kilometers of trails and approximately 6,000 acres of terrain stretch from the open expanse of Van Norden Meadows to the foot of majestic Devil’s Peak. The Summit Station lodge is the center of the cross-country resort and eight warming huts dot the expansive eight track trail system. Sugar Bowl has trail leases with Donner Summit landowners, which will ensure the entire 6,000 acres of cross-country ski will be open for skiing this winter.
Sugar Bowl Resort and Royal Gorge are already connected by an “interconnect trail” that allows skiers to ski back and forth between the Donner Summit resorts, and plans are in the works to further enhance the connection with two additional beginner-friendly routes. Sugar Bowl is now offering a season pass that allows holders to downhill ski at Sugar Bowl and cross-country ski at Royal Gorge for one affordable rate. Sugar Bowl passholders can add on an unrestricted Royal Gorge pass for $149 (adult price), and can purchase an unrestricted, standalone Royal Gorge pass for $299.”
