CAMDEN — During the 16th meeting of the Snow Bowl Four Season Committee, on March 13, the two most-talked about topics were a presentation made a week earlier by Mark Hayes of Highland Park LLC, and the need to get moving on determining the future of food and ski/bike rental and retail operations at the Snow Bowl.

Since the fall of 2016, the committee has been talking about ways to improve the sustainability of the Snow Bowl, and the Ragged Mountain Recreation Area. There has been talk of creating a "Friends of..." fundraising program to passively capture revenue from those who don't necessarily ski the Snow Bowl, but use the mountain, its hiking trails and natural amenities in other ways.

The committee has also discussed the need to review and revise the fee structure for use of the Snow Bowl by private groups, year-round.

There has also been discussion of charging a "reservation fee" for groups that want to reserve the baseball field for games and tournaments on given days, evenings and weekends. That idea has been floated around by town officials before and put aside, but the need to engage the groups that use the ball fields with its upkeep and annual maintenance has never been more apparent than now, from the committee's point of view.

The most exciting activity that the committee has discussed, which has come up again and again, has been to expand the trail system and make it a more professional and accessible activity for mountain bikers of all ages and experience levels. Eventually, the scope would be to utilize the double chairlift, and eventually the triple to bring riders to the summit, where they would be able to ride the most difficult trail and take the longest technical and steepest run down through the woods.

During nearly every committee meeting held at the Snow Bowl before the snow and ski season arrived, mountain bikers have been seen emerging from the woods and traversing across the main ski slope. They have been doing it on their own, for free, and its the committee's viewpoint that with an investment in money and shared vision, those riders would pay for the experience. But they would need to get a better experience, with lift-service, to make that happen.

The person assuring the committee that mountain bikers would be willing to purchase a pass for such an experience has been John Anders, president of the New England Mountain Bikers Association Midcoast Maine chapter. His group and other enthusiasts have done a lot of trail grooming work already, as well as engaged neighbors and stakeholders around the mountain of Midcoast Maine NEMBA's desire to make the Snow Bowl a mountain bike destination spot.

Enter Mark Hayes and Highland Trails LLC. According to former Snow Bowl director Landon Fake at the Sept. 22 meeting, a coalition of the New England Mountain Bike Association, the Snow Bowl and the Ragged Mountain Foundation agreed to spend up to $7,000 to hire Hayes to work on a plan. Anders had also been in touch with Hayes in recent years, and suggested his group work with Camden on a proposal and plan.

On March 6, Hayes presented his Bike Park Master Plan for Ragged Mountain Recreation Area-Camden Snow Bowl. Hayes distributed the 67-page document to committee members at the presentation, which included more than a dozen interested community members as well as Camden Select Board member Marc Ratner. Some of those in attendance were trail runners and hikers, some were mountain bikers and fat-tire bike riders and others were mountain bike-related business owners.

Hayes told the group that during the time he spent reviewing all aspects of the Snow Bowl and its operations, equipment, infrastructure and trails, he came to the conclusion that the town and the Snow Bowl were a natural draw for mountain bikers seeking wholesome, outdoor adventures in beautiful places.

If pursued, Hayes said the Snow Bowl Bike Park would be "designed to attract first timers to the sport, while creating fun for the whole family and catering to people near and far."

"It will be made accessible to all that want to experience the thrill of mountain biking on terrain that offers unmatched views of the Atlantic seacoast. Modern day trails and training programs will encourage rider growth and retention, which in turn will create recurring revenue business," said Hayes in the report.

During the presentation, Hayes said that unlike when he set out more than 10 years ago to create Highland Mountain Bike Park in Northfield, N.H., many ski mountains around the country are looking to add mountain biking to their off-season activities. He said that it can be a much easier and quicker transition to break-even when the mountain already has lifts installed and operating.

"I did not have that at Highland Mountain, and so I incurred a lot of debt and it has taken 10 years for me," said Hayes. "For you, if you follow the three-phase plan we have mapped out, it would be three to four years, depending on how well the mountain is marketed and received by riders."

He said that the proposal is to complete each phase of the build-out in a year, making this a three-year project if the funds are available for each phase. A bike park at the Snow Bowl would also include trained staff, including lift operators, trail maintenance staff, bike patrol and bike rental/shop staff. Some of those roles could be cross-trained.

Hayes said that there are already existing bike and nordic trails on the mountain, and a key will be to improve those trails and add access to them via the double chair.

Phase 1 would include creating two new trails, one being an easier beginner Freeride Trail and the other a More Difficult (intermediate) Freeride Trail that connects to the easier trail.

The easiest trail would include rollers and berms to build the rider's confidence, while giving them something fun to practice on. The intermediate trail would connect to the easier trail, and include jumps, non-gap drops and berms.

Also during Phase 1, there would be work on the existing Kuller Trail to fix water management and update the switchbacks, while the Pump Track/Skills Area would get an update with added jumps and freeride features.

The cost of Phase 1, according to Hayes and his proposal to build and consult, would be $196,000.

Phase 2 calls for building a new Mid-Mountain Climb Trail for beginners that is about 8,000 feet long. It would provide access to the top of the mid-mountain zone and transition to downhill once the triple chair is running to provide bike lift-service. There would be two new/existing trails in Phase 2, including a 5,800-foot-long Mid-Mountain Freeride Trail (intermediate) and a 3,168-foot-long Upper Mountain Technical Trail, both with triple chair lift-service. One would include building and updating the Dreadnought woods with a new Freeride trail and the other would be to update/build a trail to access the lower mountain Freeride trails.

Also in Phase 2 is the build a new Base Area Cross Cut (easier) that is about 700 feet long.

Proposed at a cost of $20/foot of trail, including labor, machines and travel cost, the total trail length of Phase 2 would cost around $353,360.

Hayes' proposal did not include a cost or estimated trail lengths for the new Summit Technical Trail (most difficult-expert) or Spinnaker Freeride Trail (more difficult) included in Phase 3.

According to the Maine State Comprehensive Outdoor Recreation Plan, the most popular and most frequent outdoor recreation activities in the U.S. (2013), as reported by the Outdoor Foundation are:

Top 5 Most Popular Activities:
• Running/Jogging - 33.8 million
• Fishing - 31.0 million
• Bicycling - 27.4 million
• Hiking - 23.8 million
• Camping - 22.1 million

Top 5 Most Frequently Participated in Activities:
• Running/Jogging - 2.8 billion
• Bicycling - 1.4 billion
• Birdwatching - 422.3 million
• Wildlife viewing - 413.4 million
• Hunting - 230.3 million

And in a 2014 Maine SCORP survey, respondents were more drawn to rivers, lakes/ponds, mountains and forests than they were to coastal trails and beaches. Respondents who rated a given setting on a five-part scale of "very desirable" to "very undesireable" rated the following eight settings "very desirable" as such:

• Lakes/Ponds - 69.4 percent
• Mountains - 53 percent
• Forests - 50.3 percent
• Rivers - 49.2 percent
• Beaches - 44.8 percent
• Coastal trails - 40.2 percent
• Backcountry trails - 39.9 percent
• Cultural landmarks - 32.5 percent

Hayes said that in addition to offering lessons to guide youth and inexperienced adults into becoming confident and "hooked" mountain bike enthusiasts, there could be opportunities to provide day and overnight camps, as well as events and endurance races, such as what is provided at his Highland Mountain Bike Park.

At the committee's March 13 meeting, everybody agreed the presentation was very informative and offered a lot of information about how the Snow Bowl could implement a plan to build and run a bike park during the off-season.

Committee member Dennis McGuirk called it a "very good" presentation, and said, "The one thing that stuck with me is how long it took him [Hayes] to break even, but I was also encouraged when he said that had he known then what he knows now, he could have broken even sooner, plus we have the infrastructure already in place."

Anders called Hayes a "straight shooter," and someone who sticks by the lessons he has learned.

"If something didn't work, he put it aside and moved on," said Anders.

McGuirk also recalled that Hayes said that if a bike park starts with the beginners, teaching young riders, the park will break even faster. Hayes said that if one starts out by seeking higher revenue prices out of the gate, it will be longer to break even because the number of users won't be as high.

Committee member Ray Andresen asked what the downsides of turning the mountain into a bike park would be.

"My concern is that if we turn the mountain into a bike park, that's all we are going to do in the summer. And until we can see a new lodge in the future, we have to say that you will see bikes for rent in your ski rental area, not in a new location," said Snow Bowl Director Beth Ward.

Committee co-chair Sarah Ruef-Lindquist said that the project doesn't have to rely on one person showing up with $200,000 to get it going. She said that if the Foundation were approached with the proposal for the bike park as a way to get the Snow Bowl on better footing, which could in turn get the new lodge project moving, there could be a change of heart.

"I talked with Bob Gordon [Ragged Mountain Foundation] about this over the weekend," said McGuirk. "He thought there was some more receptivity than there was a while ago. He said there was talk of going back to the donors and offering to give their money back if their money for the redevelopment and the lodge does not go where it was originally intended, but to now ask if the donors would be willing to let it go somewhere else."

Select Board member and committee liaison Don White said that engaging with working with the foundation was a must, and that that group must be brought in some way.

"There are those in this community, based on how the weather works, that to make the four season work we need to do needs to involve everybody with vested interest. The key ingredient in the meeting will be Beth and her staff. She knows what you can and can't do on that mountain if you are going to do something brand new. We have to sell this that it is the best thing to have happen to this mountain for long term survival, viability," said White.

White also said that as much as the committee thought, or hoped, there would be some sort of mountain bike park at the Snow Bowl this summer, "it's not going to happen."

Vendor policy and RFP

The committee Monday night also entertained comment from Sidecountry Sports co-owner Andrew Dailey, who urged the committee and the Snow Bowl to move forward on securing its 2017-2018 winter ski and/or bike rental and sales offerings. He also asked that the policy on selling and/or renting bikes at the Snow Bowl be determined soon, as the current vendor contracts for Ragged Mountain Sports, and food vendor French & Brawn, expire May 1.

"There is a set-up time, whoever has the next contract," said Dailey. "The person hired for the bid needs to prepare. For anyone who has an idea to sell equipment at the Snow Bowl, orders for new ski gear are due at the end of March."

Ruef-Lindquist asked Dailey how much practical space would be needed. He said either the current ticket trailer or ski shop trailer would be adequate, adding that if his company were to secure the contract, they would need time to spruce either place up so it's presentable and a good looking for the users' experience there.

Ward said that since Sidecountry Sports already had a lease approved by the Snow Bowl to be on site for three days a week this summer, she and her staff would be able to handle having him set up in either trailer, even if all he offers is repairs this year, as Dailey subsequently suggested.

White brought up a topic that the committee has discussed recently, and that's to nail down the vendor tolerance at the Snow Bowl.

"What's the capacity, how many vendors do we want to allow, or can we tolerate? We want the vendors to have a successful experience, no matter who they are," said White.

Dailey reiterated the need to put the RFP out sooner rather than later, due to the need for a successful vendor to purchase inventory. He said that he was all set for being out at the Snow Bowl this summer, but that if a summer RFP came out for this year, he would be pleased. He added that the next discussion the committee should have would be the winter RFP.

"This committee should not have to worry about a potential new vendor's need or desire to place an order for equipment by a certain date. The Snow Bowl has operated in a certain way for many year, and it can continue to do that until we make decisions and do what we need to do for the better of future vendors," said committee member Holly S. Edwards.

White said that if a new vendor, other than Ragged Mountain Sports and French & Brawn, were coming in to operate at the Snow Bowl, it was his understanding they would need to go before the Camden Zoning Board of Appeals due to the zone the Snow Bowl is in. He said because it is town property, there might be other hurdles necessary to cross before someone new could hang out their shingle.

Further complications, which White said he would work to get clarified by the next committee meeting, are to the process for handling pop-up tents and food trucks on town property and as competition to on-site vendors, as well if Ward wanted to run the food and retail/rental venues in-house and work that into her budget.

Committee member Jeff Charland said, "I keep hearing the issue being how many of each type. I think we want one fixed retail location, one fixed food and beverage vendor, and then the discussion is whether we have room for trucks, pop-up tents, demo vans, etc."

When asked where she was in her thinking of vendor tolerance and make-up, Ward agreed with Charland and said, "For me, vendor tolerance would be not more than one of each kind, and the exception is for events."

Charland also said that "today's skier" has come to appreciate and expect more and regular ski demos, food trailers and on-hill food options. His question was, 'How will the food vendors partner with the skiers and the community?' He said the mountain should provide for some capacity to include other things to do on it.

Anders said, "Snow Bowl management needs to be a little more nimble, be able to make some of these decisions without having to go to Select Board or the Planning Board or the ZBA for permission."

White asked Ward how soon she could come back to the committee with a draft RFP and draft vendor policies, as far as renting space for food and beverage and ski rental/repair services.

Edwards asked if it was appropriate for potential bidders to be in the room during the RFP drafting and finalization process, saying she did not want the committee to run afoul of the process for developing an RFP or give a potential bidder an unfair advantage. The comment was directed, without malice, at Dailey, who had been sitting at the table with the committee members during the meeting and had been involved in the discussion as such.

"I want to keep the process as transparent as possible," said White. "He [Dailey] can be here, but he needs to be in the audience, not at the table and part of the discussion as he has been so far about things."

McGuirk then suggested that the Snow Bowl should go forward with its vendor process as it has for one more year, and then work on the new process for the following year. "To me, to rush this through, I think it's impossible," he said.

White agreed with McGuirk and said that there is a process in place for vendor bidding, but that he wanted to see each vendor pay a fee to be there. Each vendor needed to bid, and in recent years, only French & Brawn bid on the food contract and only Ragged Mountain Sports bid on the ski rental/repair contract.

"That's the process that needs to take place. We weren't exercising the policy we have, and we should be doing that, not going to an RFP this year," said White.

When committee chairman Morgan Laidlaw said he believed Ward had time to come up with RFP language based on the previous RFP and that the committee could help craft a final version for the Select Board and town manager to review, White turned to Laidlaw, pointed and said, "No, we shouldn't do an RFP this year."

"I would like to say that Don, as a select board member on this committee, does not get to say 'No' we aren't going to do an RFP for this year. This committee gets to decide, to make a motion or decide by majority what we want to do, what we want to recommend to the select board, not just one person does that," said Edwards.

Edwards then made a motion asking if there was consensus on the committee to move toward creating an RFP and RFP process. Laidlaw seconded the motion and after some discussion, Andresen moved to amend the motion to say:

"This committee asks the director of the Snow Bowl to come up with an RFP for food and retail equipment vendor services (two RFPs) within a reasonable amount of time (two weeks).

The amended motion was seconded, again by Laidlaw. Charland said it seemed doable because there was a functioning RFP in place that was something Ward could use as a base. Ward agreed she could make changes to that RFP and have a draft ready for the committee within two weeks.

She added that it was her hope that the Select Board would see pop-up tents and food trucks for events as something she can sign off on as manager of the facility and the primary contact with event coordinators. She said it would be similar to how she works with the Toboggan National committee and the vendors they bring on site for the weekend.

The vote on the amended motion was unanimous.

Following that business, Ward said, "What if I want to have the ski sales and rental in-house? Hire someone to run it and keep the revenue?"

She said the upside would be more control of the operations and the experience, since they would be Snow Bowl staff. She said there would be an opportunity to make money, and with the right manager, could set up the shop how they want it set up, not how someone else wants it set up.

The downside, she said, would be the risk of hiring the wrong manager and the risk of buying the wrong equipment and quantities and being left with unsold inventory at the end of the season.

McGuirk said, "I don't think we have convinced the public we know what we are doing out here yet. It's a bit premature, and not really proven."

Dailey said that when Jeff Kuller was the Snow Bowl manager, it was his idea for the Snow Bowl to take over all the retail and rental operations. Dailey said the opposition came from downtown businesses, who saw the town competing against them for business.

"As an employee at that time, I did not agree but that was the firestorm back then. I think the rental shop is the thing to look into taking over. There is a lot of money to be made there," said Dailey.

Ruef-Lindquist said, "I want to respect Beth's role, and if Beth feels it is best to bring something in-house, we should respect that. I don't want to see that little light go out."

Andresen agreed, and said a decision should also be predicated on how Ward works it into the Snow Bowl's budget.

Other Business

— The committee briefly talked about the need to discuss the policy on use of the ball fields, and whether or not and how much to charge for organizations seeking to reserve use.

— The committee reviewed a second draft of the Friends of the Snow Bowl kiosk sign/letter, and decided that the suggested donation/fee amounts be discussed further. The committee said that there could be a mailer in addition to the kiosk box at the Snow Bowl gate, and that it will pick up the discussion once the vendor RFPs and policies had been ironed out.

Related links:

• Highland Mountain Bike Park

• Maine SCORP 2014-2019

• New England Mountain Bike Association - Maine

• Pinkbike.com Storytellers - East Bound and Down: Camden, Maine