Virginia — The 2020s appeared to be the dawn of indoor ski resorts in the United States.
Opened in late 2019, Big SNOW American Dream has helped introduce more people to the sport and helped keep the stoke going for avid skiers and riders in the U.S. year-round. Big SNOW was the first indoor ski area to open in the United States. Snow Operating, which runs Big SNOW, has plans to add more facilities but has yet to announce potential new locations.
Then there’s Alpine-X. Announced in 2018, Alpine-X is led by John Emery, the former CEO of Great Wolf Lodge (a comparable hotel concept to Alpine-X) and former President of Interstate Hotel & Resorts (now a part of Aimbridge Hospitality).
The concept is intended to create a destination for both day skiers and vacationers. The main attraction would be the skiing facility, with different slopes for various skill levels. In addition, Alpine-X would offer affordable rates, allowing the local community to shred there.
“Skiing and snow sports in general are really expensive,” said John Emery. “Our experiences are going to be much more affordable because we want everybody in the community to be able to experience it. We can do that because people may only come out for a couple of hours. You can come after school, after work, or on weekends. It’s not a weekend-long commitment, and it’s not a long drive.”
The snow center would also include a tubing park and snow play area where people can hang out and engage in snowy activities like building snowmen. Various food and drink facilities would be available on the property. For overnight guests, an attached hotel with around 300 rooms is also part of the plans.
The first location was announced adjacent to Washington, D.C. The first Alpine-X location was announced in 2018 for Fairfax Peak, located in Lorton, Virginia. In 2022, Alpine-X announced plans to build facilities in Dallas and Austin. Some international sites are also being considered. These projects are in the pre-development stages, with the one furthest along being the Fairfax Peak facility.
However, progress in making these projects come to life has seemed slow. Some avid skiers and riders have wondered whether the ambition is still there. A few weeks ago, I had the chance to chat with John Emery. After chatting with John Emery, I feel a lot more optimistic about the direction of these projects.
“Full steam ahead, and we’re as enthusiastic as ever,” Emery told Unofficial Networks.
The two main challenges that Alpine-X currently faces are from inflation. Construction costs are up somewhere between 50-100%, and interest rates have increased since the introduction of this proposal, resulting in Alpine-X calculating how to make this happen in a financially viable way. The estimated price point of the Virginia complex is between $400 and $500 million.
At the end of 2024, the exclusive right to negotiate with Fairfax County on the Lorton site expired. However, this doesn’t mean Alpine-X can’t build the indoor ski resort in that intended spot. Alpine-X still intends to build on this site, as no other parties have expressed interest in developing it. While the Washington Business Journal reported earlier this week that Fairfax County has paused its review of the project, the County stated that they review any other further/updated proposals that Alpine-X sends them. Alpine-X intends to remain engaged with Fairfax County to make this development happen.
Alpine-X also brought in more experience to its team this year. Ryan Bennett, who’s the former Chief Marketing Officer for Vail Resorts, and Jamie Crittenberger, who’s the former head of ZRG Partner’s Global Sports and Entertainment, were added to Alpine-X’s leadership team. In addition, they began a partnership with Peak Skis, which is led by Bode Miller.
In 2025, John Emery told us that the aim is to start work on one facility in the United States and one internationally. Alpine-X wants the build-out of these facilities to happen around the same time, but it’s possible they would occur at different sequences due to the varying paces they’re going at. The next step for the Fairfax Peak project is filing the applications for the zoning change, which they aimed to do this year.
Ultimately, while it isn’t definitive on whether these Alpine-X facilities will be built, it’s clear the intent and leadership are still there. The questions in 2025 are whether costs and interest rates will remain high and whether there will be more economic uncertainty in the years ahead.
Image/Video Credits: Alpine-X
