(Feb. 18, 2001) Someday, a generation of Anchorage skiers will think back on the cramped, worn-out facilities at Hilltop Ski Area and conjure up fond memories -- although affection may require considerable time and distance.
 Hilltop Ski Area upgrades include a faster chairlift with triple chairs. The new chalet is visible in the background. (Bill Roth / Anchorage Daily News) |
However, when officials cut the ribbon to open the new Hilltop chalet on Saturday, patrons will lay claim to a bright, spacious great room smelling pleasantly of fresh lumber.
Hilltop regulars are thrilled.
The sparkling new 7,600-square-foot chalet boasts offices, restaurant services, improved communications and even a media room. Eventually, Mom and Dad will sip lattes while plopped in a comfortable lounge with an unobstructed view of junior zooming down the slopes.
It's just a fraction of an unspoken crescendo building in Anchorage for the past year.
Hosting the 2001 Special Olympics World Winter Games, which open March 4, has meant about $4 million in long-term capital improvements to the community. The funds came from the federal office of Housing and Urban Development by way of the Special Olympics.
Four million is a figure that's hard to grasp until you begin to see what it buys. The games will leave behind a bold mark. For winter sports lovers, it's like the money fairy came through town sprinkling greenbacks.
The price tag of improvements at Hilltop included $1.35 million for the chalet and another $55,000 for electrical and telephone services, timing equipment and ski gates. Kincaid Park, the World Winter Games venue for cross-country skiing and snowshoeing, received $2.4 million from the Department of Transportation for road and parking improvements. About $1.4 million came from HUD for improvements to the chalet and stadium.
Alyeska Resort, which will host Alpine skiing, got $115,000 of the pie, funds that went to the Tanaka Foundation, a youth development program, to improve lighting, electrical work and buy new snowmaking equipment.
The list goes on.
Local sports clubs scored big, too. About $1 million went to clubs supporting the Games. The windfall bought a new Zamboni ice-resurfacing machine, public-address system and locker-room flooring at the Harry J. McDonald Memorial Center in Eagle River. It purchased racing pads (for ice safety lanes) and skate-sharpening equipment for the Alaska Speed Skating Club. The Alyeska Ski Club received ski gates, timing equipment and wiring.
The Nordic Ski Association, which grooms area trails, received $140,000 for fencing and a piston bully, a grooming machine that can turn glare ice into a gritty but more skiable material.
 The Hilltop Ski Area slopes are easily visible from inside the new day lodge. The lodge was built with federal funds distributed by Special Olympics for the upcoming World Winter Games. (Bill Roth / Anchorage Dailiy News) |
''We are totally dependent on the donations of people who use the trails,'' Stone said.
The arrangement with Special Olympics is reciprocal, Stone noted. At least 200 ski club members will volunteer their services for the upcoming Games.
Skiers who haven't made it out to Kincaid lately will be pleasantly surprised by the changes.
''They've added a beautiful new sign'' at the park entrance, said Meg Stehn, venue coordinator for cross-country skiing and snowshoeing.
But that's just the beginning. Improvements include much-needed road and parking changes. In the future, they'll accommodate popular events like the Dog Jog, concerts and sporting shows.
In the past, like the faithful at a country tent revival, users have parked along park roadways, with pedestrians weaving in and out of traffic. Kincaid's lower parking lot, which once held about 50 cars, now holds 238. The capacity of the primary lot has increased to 192 from 80.
Another big change: Buses will drop passengers off in a turn-around lane in front of the chalet. Dropoffs had always been a dangerous business during school outings, said Stehn, with kids darting across the parking lot.
''The chalet is absolutely gorgeous,'' Stehn said of what's being called the new Kincaid Outdoor Center.
The view from the center was lovely before, but renovation has made the main areas even more attractive, she said.
 Improvements to the chalet at Kincaid Park include an expanded day room overlooking Cook Inlet. (Marc Lester / Anchorage Daily News) |
Further improvements include more restrooms, a new arctic entry and a redistribution of public space.
Like each of the other Special Olympics venues, Kincaid received improved networking. New analog and digital communications mean instantaneous information for fans worldwide.
''We will be connected on a network so that when we put results into the computer, they will be dumped into the Web almost immediately,'' said Dave Duprow, technology manager for the Games.
In other words, people can follow the Games from Azerbaijan as easily as they can from a computer link in Anchorage.
''We're trying to make it like one seamless network,'' Duprow said.
Duprow's work, while important, was mouselike, hard to notice. When Anchorage skiers remember the World Winter Games' mark on Anchorage, the Hillside chalet will probably spring to mind first. Nowhere have the Games made a more striking difference.
A few days ago, Steven Remme, Hilltop's chief executive officer, stood in the new chalet's great room, where carpet squares awaited installation. The building was still empty, but Remme felt confident everything would be ready to go by the opening ceremonies.
The facility will be open to the public after a ribbon-cutting ceremony Saturday, but the actual switch from the old buildings won't take place until after this year's ski season. The old buildings will be razed this summer.
Hillside was at a crossroads before the Special Olympics money came along, said Remme. Its dilapidated buildings, in place since 1984, were on their last legs, and the nonprofit organization was working on a plan to address the ski area's growing needs. Remme believes the new facility will attract a whole new set of skiers and bring back former patrons who had grown weary of overcrowding.
Along with the new chalet, Hilltop received money to expand and improve its chairlift and parking areas.
Hilltop serves about 50,000 skiers a year. Next season, officials will assess whether the improvements are attracting enough skiers to build an additional slope, Remme said.
''This is just going to be such an asset for the community to have this,'' he said. ''Having the Games come to Anchorage and the legacy to this community are impressive.''
Reporter Sandi Gerjevic can be reached at sgerjevic@adn.com.
Special Olympics Windfall
Below are some of the benefits Anchorage will get from hosting the World Winter Games.
Alyeska Resort
• $115,000 for lighting, electrical work and snowmaking equipment for the Tanaka lift.
• $10,000 to upgrade communication equipment at finish lines, allowing real-time results of the alpine skiing competition to be posted on the Internet.
Kincaid Park
• $2.4 million for road and parking improvements. This includes widening of part of the park road and adding 400 parking spaces and a dropoff area near the chalet.
• $1.4 million to improve the chalet and stadium area. The chalet will double in size and include a main meeting room and larger foyer and restrooms. The stadium gets a new scoreboard.
Hilltop Ski Area
• $1.35 million for a new chalet, which includes a great room, offices, a ski shop and restrooms.
• $55,000 to improve electrical and phone services, timing equipment and race gates.
Local sports clubs
Area clubs will benefit from $1 million spent on equipment that will be used for the World Winter Games and then donated to the clubs, which are supporting the games with volunteers and competition expertise. These donations include:
• A new Zamboni machine, public-address system and locker-room flooring at the McDonald ice arena in Eagle River.
• Racing pads and skate-sharpening equipment for the Alaska Speed Skating Club.
• Scoreboard, gates and race equipment for the Nordic Ski Association of Anchorage.
• Improved telephone and computer lines at the Tesoro Centre for the Anchorage Figure Skating Club.
• Race gates, timing equipment and communications wiring for the Alyeska Ski Club.