Hawksnest To Freeze Ski Operations

Hawksnest Ski & Snow Tubing had already dropped the "Golf" from its original name of Hawksnest Golf & Ski Resort, and now it's losing the "ski" as well.
The ski resort in Seven Devils has announced it will concentrate solely on snow tubing due to continued frustration with the town residents and officials over a planned expansion. The resort had also had conflict with the town and some residents over the fate of its former golf course.

"It's just the constant fighting with the town over the years and with the continuing findings (by town officials), we're not willing to sink $5 million in a resort that the town doesn't seem to want," said resort co-owner Lenny Cottom. "We've been continuing trying to work things out over the last four or five years, but it seems we're not all on the same page."

Cottom said not allowing the expansion was putting the business at a competitive disadvantage. "The ski resort was here before everyone else," Cottom said.

Seven Devils mayor Bob Dodson said Cottom told him it was a business decision. "We're sad to see it and we hoped they would keep going," he said. "We had given them essentially what they wanted, with an expansion of tubing and a 6,000-foot building. They're making it sound like the town is doing this and that's not true at all. Frankly, we're surprised."

Dodson acknowledged there may have been lingering resentment over the possible municipal operation of the former golf course, which closed in 2005 after storm damage. "We knew deep down we didn't have the money to go out and operate a golf course," Dodson said, noting that an eminent domain action was never intended against the resort. "At the request of the association, we did some studies and it all pointed to the fact it would be too much money. To put that much debt on the shoulders of the town was just too much to do."

Dodson said there was still interest in a golf course but no buyers or solutions have yet panned out. "The town wants a golf course and wants skiing and we were glad to have it," Dodson said. "To hear he (Cottom) was shutting down skiing was a complete shock."

Cottom said "some townspeople" had appealed a May 13 decision by the town's Board of Adjustment to allow the expansion, adding to the mounting frustration. The expansion has a long history, dating back to 2005 when the original request was denied by the town's Board of Adjustment. The resort then filed an appeal of the decision. A civil court sided with the town but it triggered a mediation process, with the Seven Devils Community Association intervening so their interests would be considered.

As a result of mediation, the BOA agreed to review the plan and consider it again with modifications. That expansion was approved on May 13. However, another appeal sidetracked the process again.

Bill Diercksen, president of the Seven Devils Community Association, said an appeal filed against the town's Board of Adjustment's May 13 decision was made by private parties and not the association.

"It was filed by a former president of the association," Dierksen said. "It was Noble Hendrix and wife Pattie who appealed it personally, and they've added some other people's names on here that were part of an earlier arbitration hearing. We as a community association are okay with that (May 13 BOA decision) and we're not appealing. A lot of these names were put on the appeal without their knowledge."
Diercksen characterized the ski closing as a business decision made by Hawksnest. "This issue is over, as far as we're concerned. This decision to close the skiing is his (Cottom's) business decision."

He also said the community association had not sought to gain the resort's abandoned golf course, but had asked the town to explore ways of purchasing the golf course or an eminent-domain action. "They came to the conclusion this year that it was not worth doing," Diercksen said. "The community association was not an agent in doing that."

Cottom said he expected the resort's visitor traffic drop a little bit, but believes the resort "will make up a whole lot of it on tubing," a sport which he said had increased in interest over the years. The move will also result in lost jobs. Cottom said in the past he hired about 150 seasonal employees, but now will probably hire about 40 people. He's also exploring other options to have year-round activities.

"We've been here going on 18 years now and put money into the business," Cottom said. "We've forged a lot of friendships and a lot of long-time employees are going to lose their jobs."

Cottom said he didn't anticipate resolving all the lingering disputes but would sit back down at the table "if they happen to change their minds and think about it."
In the meantime, Hawksnest is redesigning its Web site and brochures to focus on its new mission of operating 20 lanes of snow tubing.

"We're excited about having the largest tubing operation on the East Coast," Cottom said. "On the weekends, we sell out almost all sessions. I don't even know where the ceiling is."