Below is the text for of a Maine TV station. It’s “replace or renovate all lifts”. So I say that’s replace 2 or 3, and renovate 2. HSQ is now consistently given. I think 4 min. means exact replacement of the Rangeley. Things are getting exciting.
https://wgme.com/news/local/new-ownership-group-has-big-plans-for-saddleback
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SADDLEBACK MOUNTAIN (WGME) -- There are big plans in the works at Saddleback.
The ski mountain closed down five years ago, but it's under new ownership.
"The vibe at Saddleback is a unique vibe, and that’s what most people have missed," Saddleback General Manager Andy Shepard said.
The new owners of Saddleback plan to pump millions of dollars into the lodge and the mountain to turn it into a first-class ski resort.
They plan to replace or refurbish all the ski lifts, including a new high-speed quad chairlift to get skiers to the top of the mountain in four minutes.
"We feel like there is a Saddleback customer that has been forced to go someplace else for the last five years, but we also know there are a lot of skiers who used to ski here who just stopped skiing," Shepard said. “We’re hoping to bring those people back off the couch and onto the slopes again."
As for the lodge, the biggest renovation will take place in the bar and restaurant on the top floor.
General Manager Andy Shepard says they plan to extent the floor all the way to the windows.
"With the floor all the way out there, imagine that view is going to be one of the more spectacular views in the east," Shepard said.
He says they also plan to make Saddleback a year-round destination, with a mountain coaster, mountain bikes, hiking and even weddings at the top of the mountain.
"We want the lodge to be a year-round community center, recreation center," Shepard said.
Condo owners are thrilled with the plans to reopen Saddleback.
"It is a wonderful thing for the area,” condo owner Bonnie McGowen said. “When we first bought here, the restaurants were all full and everything was just bubbling everywhere."
Business owners in nearby Rangeley, who say they lost about a third of their customers when Saddleback closed, are also overjoyed over plans to reopen the ski resort.
"Everybody in town is ecstatic,” Tyler Bessey of Sarge’s Sports Pub and Grub said. “The economy has been suffering because of that. So that’s going to come back, and just the general spirit in town has lifted."
In all, Arctaris plans to invest $38 million into the ski resort. They also plan to hire as many as 240 full and part-time employees.
