SAM Magazine--Tupper Lake, N.Y., Feb. 19, 2004--A group of investors from Philadelphia has agreed to buy 6,400 acres, including the defunct Big Tupper ski area and thousands of acres around it, with the goal of creating a year-round resort. The Big Tupper ski area has been closed for the last four winters.

Michael Foxman, one of the project's eight investors, said he expects development to begin in earnest in 2006, and predicted the mountain could reopen for the 2006-07 ski season. He added that it will take time to complete the group's plans and obtain the necessary permits from the Adirondack Park Agency, which he said has been very supportive of the groupís plans so far. "Theyíve been more like partners than problems," he told SAM.

The development plans include a complete renovation of the base lodge in the Adirondack Great Camp style; selling lots for ski-in and ski-out townhouses and single-family homes; and developing townhouses and homes at the mountain's base and around the adjoining Tupper Lake golf course. The purchase includes waterfront acreage on Tupper Lake, Lake Simond and the Raquette River, offering guests and residents year-round activities ranging from skiing to boating.

Foxman said that 90 percent of the development (including the ski area) would occur on 500 of the 6,400-acre purchase, clustered around the base area and golf course, leaving 5,000 acres or more untouched. \