In coming years, Spirit Mountain Recreation Area may have a second chalet, a tubing slope and rides such as a zip line and alpine coaster -- all aimed at fulfilling the area's mission of being a four-season resort.
Those ideas are contained in a master plan Spirit Mountain authority officials will unveil at a 10 a.m. news conference today. If adopted, the plan will guide development at Spirit Mountain for the next 10 to 20 years.
"This is the first time in the facility's 34-year history that we've put together a comprehensive master plan and really focused on what our stakeholders and what our users are looking for," said Lisa Augustine, chairwoman of the recreation area's board of directors. "We're really excited to finally have a comprehensive master plan."
The facility will host an open house June 25 to solicit public input on the plan.
"We're very successful in the winter season," with 250,000 to 265,000 skier visits a year, Renee Mattson, the area's executive director. "We have the campground in the summer. We do a lot of banquets. But we don't have as many recreational opportunities as we would like. So, one component of the plan addresses having more opportunities for summer recreation."
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Ideas for non-winter recreation includes zip line and alpine coaster rides, more mountain bike trails and a mountain bike terrain park. The campground would be expanded and an RV park created.
The master plan also calls for a second, smaller chalet and additional parking off Grand Avenue at the hill's base.
"Our location off of I-35 is spectacular for people driving from Minneapolis-St. Paul," Mattson said. "But we don't have the strong ties we would like to western Duluth. People right now can't get here by bus unless they have their own equipment and a season ticket" to catch the lifts up the hill to the existing chalet.
The new chalet would include lift ticket and food sales, equipment rental and lockers. A tubing slope would be build nearby.
The plan also calls for renovations to the existing chalet, additional parking close to the chalet, and better lighting and pedestrian walkways connecting existing lots.
The plan also calls for additional snowmaking capacity "so we can cover the slopes much more quickly than we can now," Mattson said, and to reduce the number of chair lifts from five to three.
