Hidden Valley changes hands

By Nathan Mayberg
VERNON — The former Hidden Valley Ski Area has become the National Winter Activity Center.

Since February, the ski center has been welcoming youth from the cities and from youth organizations on the weekends to learn how to ski as its prospective new owners complete a deal to purchase the ski hill.

Hidden Valley Ski Area has been closed for two years but under new owners it will become an educational ski center run by a nonprofit organization.

Schone Malliet, the center's chief executive officer who co-founded its umbrella organization National Winter Sports Education Foundation, said the objective of the center will be to "provide all youth with the experience to enjoy outdoors."

Malliet, who has a background in the financial industry, said his organization will partner with YMCAs, Boys and Girls clubs, schools, churches and youth groups from within a 70-mile radius of Vernon, including New York City.

The goal is to make children "outdoor enthusiasts" in order to improve their physical health, Malliet said.

He said he hopes it will lower obesity rates among children by making them more active in the winter months.

Vernon Mayor Victor Marotta said the new center will not be open to the public.

Malliet said he plans to have youth from each group taking part in six visits during the winter and two visits in the offseason. Along with learning how to ski, the children will be fitted for equipment and will be introduced to coaches and mentors.

He said he hopes to create an academy of mentors who are good at sports and can work with children.

Malliet sees the mentoring aspect of the program as a significant part. He calls it "esteem building," and he wants to build confidnece in children and teach the importance of setting and achieving goals.

Malliet said he plans to partner with nearby Mountain Creek on packages so the children who learn how to ski at Hidden Valley can move on to ski regularly at Mountain Creek. They have hired Mountain Creek instructors as well.

He expects to invest more than $5 million into improvements at the ski hill, including new snowmaking equipment, new chairlifts, a renovated ski lodge and trail widening.

The work will be financed through Malliet's National Winter Sports Education Foundation which has done extensive fundraising. Malliet said he has developed contacts over the years through his financial experience, which includes stints at Merrill Lynch and Wells Fargo Bank.

Malliet currently sits on the YMCA of Greater New York Board of Managers.

The mountain is still owned by Begraft family that operated Hidden Valley Ski Area.

Malliet said that his group has been operating under a lease-to-purchase agreement with the current owners. He expects to close on the deal within the next 90 days.

Messages left with Begraft family were not returned.

The mountain would switch hands from being a private business to being a nonprofit educational facility whose owners wouldn't pay taxes, the mayor said.

In 2014, approximately $54,000 in county, school and town taxes were paid on the property, according to Marotta.

The loss of those tax dollars is "not going to have a significant impact" on Vernon, Marotta said.

"The upside," he said, is the jobs and impact on the local economy the new center will have.

Marotta said there have been talks about the Vernon Township High School ski team using the mountain. He said the purchase saves a "community asset."

"The youth of our country continuously needs to have better opportunities," Malliet said. "I've been a winter enthusiast for a long time and I've seen the benefits of it."