Whitetail homes prove hot properties

November 19, 1996

By STEVEN T. DENNIS

Staff Writer, Waynesboro

MERCERSBURG, Pa. - Whitetail Ski Resort's new slope-side townhouses are selling like hotcakes to convenience-conscious Washington-area skiers, resort officials said.

The resort has sold nearly $6 million worth of the single-family homes in its first phase of construction now under way. Twenty-eight of the 48 units averaging $206,000 have been snatched up, said real estate director David Loughlin. About five more homes are in the process of being sold, he said.

About 30 of the units will be built in time for part of the upcoming ski season, while the rest will be finished in the spring, Loughlin said.

The second phase, which is still being designed, will include 70 condominiums priced at about $140,000 each.

Already, 25 people have put in refundable reservation deposits on the condominiums, Loughlin said.

Loughlin said having skiers live on the slopes will boost Whitetail's ski revenues. "We've got just about all we can handle on the weekends," he said. "It's the weekdays where we really need the help."

Loughlin said almost all of the sales have come from the Washington, D.C., area. For those families, owning the homes is a matter of convenience. "They can leave their family here, they can commute to work."

Having housing on site also will help Whitetail with its goal of becoming a four-season resort, Loughlin said.

Ultimately, the Whitetail long-term master plan calls for 1,450 units, Loughlin said.

Ski season approaching

Whitetail hopes to start its ski season in early December, weather permitting, said spokeswoman Rachel Nichols.

Skiers will find a few new wrinkles at the resort when it opens, Nichols said. The resort doubled the number of hourglass-shaped skis and snowboards available for rent.

The skis have been popular because they allow sharper turns, Nichols said.

Many of the new snowboards also have a new step-in binding system. Instead of using straps to attach the board to your boots, the boots snap in, Nichols said. "It's much more like a ski binding," she said.

Skiers new to snowboarding will can get a boost through a new training program called Quick Carve. It gets skiers snowboarding in one lesson using techniques they have already learned while skiing, Nichols said.

Also, the resort plans to add banks and bumps at various places on the slopes to up the fun quotient, she said.

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