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By TUX TURKEL, Staff Writer Sunday, January 28, 2007

SANDY RIVER PLANTATION - Views sell vacation homes. And when a visitor enters one of the new units at the Rock Pond II condominiums here and takes in the unbroken view of forest, mountains and lakes out to the horizon, well, that's a moment real estate brokers live for.

But is stunning scenery enough to kickstart a $150 million, 10-year expansion that could turn the Saddleback ski area into a four-season, destination resort? Can it help draw enough visitors to support a mountain village of up to 900 housing units, including an inn, hotel, snow-tubing park, tennis and swimming?

These are key questions waiting to be answered this year, as marketing ramps up to promote a new owner's vision of Saddleback. A consultant hired by the ski area has mailed 30,000 post cards to potential condo buyers, offering them discounted meals, lodging and ski tickets - if they tour a model unit and spend some time in the Rangeley Lakes area.

At 4,116 feet, Saddleback Mountain is an awesome slope that offers some of Maine's best alpine skiing. And with $40 lift tickets and $25 specials, the prices are hard to beat.

Bargain lift tickets are helping to pump up skier visits. Unfortunately, they don't cover the cost of running the ski operation and turning a profit. For Saddleback to grow, it has to sell enough condos to underwrite the next phases of development.

"The money is in real estate," said Ronald Roberts, president of Sage Marketing Group in Burlington, Vt. "You're not going to make a lot of money selling lift tickets."

Selling condos in a soft housing market is tough, but Roberts is not discouraged. The Rangeley Lakes, he said, has a wild charm that can appeal to well-off baby boomers who live north of Boston and are looking for solitude. Roberts just needs to convince people to drive to Saddleback, which is 125 miles northwest of Portland, and experience the surrounding area.

"We're going to push down on the marketing pedal hard enough to get buyers for the units we have in the ground," he said.

AFTER THE SNOW MELTS

Saddleback's challenge is shared by other destination ski areas, including Sugarloaf and Sunday River.

Skier visits are growing only slightly across the country. In New England, they're essentially flat; Maine is stuck at roughly 1.2 million a year. Partly to blame is the region's aging population and the preference among many youngsters to chill in front of video screens, rather than on a chair lift.

But retirement-minded baby boomers with enough cash to handle a vacation home offer hope to the industry. Maybe they'll take a few runs, but their kids and grandkids are the next generation of skiers and snowboarders. In the meantime, everyone will buy food and drinks in the lodge.

But the ski season is short, so developers need to give people something to do after the snow melts. That helps support the ski area infrastructure and maintain a year-round work force.

Here at Saddleback, the old base lodge has been transformed into a spacious post-and-beam gathering place. Weddings were held there last summer, and two-thirds of the dates are already booked for this year.

Over time, Saddleback hopes to pull half its revenue from non-ski activities. That could increase employment, now at 125 in winter and 30 in summer. Big ideas are not new at Saddleback.

More than 20 years ago, a Massachusetts businessman bought the ski area with the intention of creating an "Aspen of the East." Donald Breen was able to build some condos and upgrade the ski operation, but not much else.

The Appalachian Trail runs along Saddleback Mountain's 3.5-mile summit, and Breen's plan to extend ski area development across the hiking corridor caught the attention of environmental groups and the National Park Service. The battle that followed put all development on hold by 1995. The parties finally reached a settlement in 2000, but the project never recovered.

In 2003, Breen sold the ski area and roughly 8,000 acres to Bill Berry and his family, for $7.5 million. Berry is a retired geology professor at the University of Maine at Farmington and a longtime skier and condo owner at Saddleback. He and his seven children were able to swing the deal, with a little bank financing.

SELLING THE CONCEPT

With the Appalachian Trail issue settled, the Berrys hope to avoid further controversy by limiting development in sensitive places. More than half of the property will be untouched by ski trails or construction.

Saddleback is in the unorganized territories, so development is controlled by Maine's Land Use Regulation Commission. The family won approval three years ago for some primary projects, including the lodge, condos, new lifts and better snowmaking. That work alone cost $25 million.

Now the agency is reviewing the expansion, which includes dozens of projects over 10 years.

Saddleback is in a special planned development district that recognizes its dependence on a natural resource ­ in this case, the mountain. Marcia Spencer-Famous, a senior planner at LURC, said the staff recently received most of the application's background material. She's preparing to send the request out for other agencies and interested parties, including the National Park Service, to review. It's hard to predict when the staff will finish its job, what it will recommend to LURC's commission, and how the commission will act. It's also unclear if new opposition will surface.

Uncertainty is never welcomed by developers. Because even when large-scale projects are approved, there's always a risk that planners could impose conditions that hurt the economics of the venture. So aside from marketing a vision to buyers, Saddleback has to sell its concept to conservation-minded regulators.

John Cannizzaro was looking at the bright side last week, as he gave a tour to explain how the ski area would evolve under the 10-year plan.

Saddleback's planning and development manager, Cannizzaro showed where timeshare condos are scheduled to go up, a strategy to attract mid-week skiers to the mountain. Off the access road, workers were finishing a model unit for the South Branch condominium project, 24 one-and-two bedroom units that will appeal to renters. The asking price starts at $149,000.

Higher on a ridge, more contractors were framing up a unit for a new phase of the Rock Pond condos. These models have three bedrooms and sweeping views. Earlier units weren't selling last year at $329,000, so the current asking price is $295,500. Nearby, four house lots are under contract.

Farther down the mountain, where a moose was crossing the access road, Cannizzaro pointed to the site of a new lodge, lift and ski trails. This will require LURC's blessing, and sales of existing condo units.

"We need to roll the profits into the next expansion," he said.

SKIER VISITS ON THE RISE

More homes will translate into more skier visits. Saddleback sorely needs that. Visits hit a low point of 16,000 just before Breen sold in 2002. Advertising and improved ski conditions brought visits up to 35,000 last year, and they continue to grow this winter.

It's still modest, by comparison. Nearby Sugarloaf pulls in more than 300,000. Saddleback would like to see 180,000 skier visits a year within 10 years.

More visitors would be welcome news off the mountain. The Rangeley Lakes region does attract snowmobilers in winter, but remains largely a summer tourism destination. So Bob Wentworth, who owns the Rangeley IGA, really notices when skiers stream into his store at dusk to stock up for the evening. "That's the only thing carrying me this winter," he said.

The local business community is grateful for what the Berry family is doing at Saddleback, Wentworth said. Some people worried that the ski area might shut down, prior to the sale.

"It has really saved the town," he said.

In the months ahead, Wentworth and the rest of the community will be watching to see if Saddleback is able to move to the next level.

The post cards sent to prospective buyers make this pitch: "There are few places left anywhere in America where you have the opportunity to become part of a new 4-season resort village - one that is surrounded by 8,000 acres of unspoiled mountain and forest wilderness." The mass mailing went out less than 10 days ago. A couple dozen people responded right away.

Some will visit. And a real estate broker will take them into the Rock Pond condos, to see the view.

Staff writer Tux Turkel can be contacted at 791-6462 or tturkel@pressherald.com