Powder Ridge...Lift Assisted Biking in CT?

Some of you reading this may recognize the name Powder Ridge. A small ski area in Middlefield Connecticut with approximately 500 vertical feet of elevation change. With Connecticut winters ranging from harsh to mild and everything in between the area suffered like most Connecticut areas did. The area last operated during the 2006-07 winter and shortly thereafter it shut down for financial reasons. Over the years the ownership changed hands from private, to the town of Middlefield and most recently was purchased by the owner of Brownstone Exploration and Discovery Park, Sean Hayes. Brownstone, located in Portland not far from Middlefield, is a successful adventure park consisting of zip lines, cliff jumping, rock climbing and much more. With Brownstone shutting down for the winter season opening a year round facility, that can operate during the winter, makes perfect sense.


This brings us to the most recent developments. The park is currently under renovation with slow and steady progress being made. With lots of work still to be done and a target open date currently set at November of this year, every little bit to get the park operational is needed. During the purchase process Sean went the extra mile to involve the community and the town by hosting open forum's for people to voice their concerns and ask questions. To continue to involve the community and help develop the mountain bike portion of the park Saturdays throughout the year will be volunteer workdays. Hearing this I jumped at the opportunity to attend the first workday of the year and see for myself where Powder Ridge is headed.


To keep it simple Sean has enlisted some of the top local trail builders in Connecticut to help his staff develop the trail system. Initially they worked together to layout three different trails that will vary in difficulty. The trails were rough cut to make sure the flow and layout was appropriate. Our task during this first workday would be to clear the three trails as best we could of all the debris left behind during the rough cut.


I worked on what was called "Trail 3"


Several members of our crew decided to head to the very top of the trail and work their way down as it had become fairly crowded with all of us working from the bottom up. They really went the extra mile and buffed the top part of the trail.


Overall I don't think any of us participating could have asked for a better day. The weather was fantastic, Sean served up burgers and hot dogs for lunch (Thanks Sean!), and we were able to see that Sean is really pouring his resources into the Powder Ridge site. I am excited for the future and confident that Sean and his team will continue to improve the site, turning it into something they will truly be proud to call their own. I am optimistic that Powder Ridge will emerge once again as a primary winter destination for a lot of people and potentially become the only lift assisted mountain biking in Connecticut. It will be awesome to see how the site continues to develop over the course of the year and you can count on us attending at least a few more of the Saturday workdays. Stay tuned for an update on the Powder Ridge site later this year.

Thanks for reading and remember "Life is short...get your Money's Worth"

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For more information on Brownstone Exploration and Discovery Park and Powder Ridge Park check out their websites.

brownstonepark.com
powderridgepark.com

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