Ring in the New Year at Hidden Valley. They are having a buffet in the ski lodge featuring a carving station with Priime Rib of Beef and Herb Encrusted Turkey. There's also a pasta bar with Broiled Salmon with a Porcini Mushroom Sauce. Of course there will be dessert!! $25 Adults $15 for kids 12 and under OR $10 will get you into the Yukon their new sports bar and the Clock Tower with accoustical sounds of Tim Roberts or DJ! Hats, noisemakers, and champagne toast at midnight! Must be 21 or older. RESERVATIONS REQUIRED 814-443-8000 EXT 259 This is the first celebration here for many many years! Enjoy and BE SAFE! Also John Harvard's has been replaced with the Pub and Grill at Hidden Valley. We haven't checked it out yet but here's the menu. Let us know what you think!        12/06/2008

1927 SouthRidge     $274,000 4513 Nordic Way      $192,500 1751 Greenfield       $275,000 5136 Summit View    $285,000 1504 Oliver Way       $235,000 12/04/2008

Build it and they will come. Make it free and they will come in GROVES. Arriving at the parking lot at 8:30 I saw something that you haven’t seen at this resort for a long time, a full parking lot on a Friday morning. Talking to several people unloading their equipment many haven’t been at this resort for several years and it is nice to see them back. Walking with the crowd to the lodge sunshine and temperatures in the 30’s greeted us, a perfect day for snow sports. The upper skier’s lodge has new carpet, fresh paint, new tables and chairs and the snack bar crew was busy getting ready to open. Over the last year just about everything at this resort has been refurbished and upgraded. I had a chance encounter with smiling VP of Resort Operations Scott Bender, who had his cell phone to one... 11/29/2008

12 Ridgeview           $107,000 1929 South Ridge    $267,500 8 Lake View            $150,000 5107 Summit Drive  $210,000 1145 Tanyard         $145,000 11/15/2008

SO the first successful joint venture offering season pass holders more bang for their buck goes to Hidden Valley and Wisp. Yes, we were hoping to see this type of offering with resorts in PA first but hey it's a start! Hidden Valley and Wisp are offering pass discounts that end October 31, 2008. To give you an idea of cost (posted on their sites) HV is offering an adult pass at $419 and Wisp is at $569. Here's how it works. If you have a an "unlimited Season pass" at either resort you will receive "ONE complimentary full day NON-holiday lift ticket with a 50% discount off regularly priced lift tickets for additional visits to the other resort. Available Sunday through Friday (NO SATURDAYS)." Let see how they stack up. Hidden Valley (according to their web site) has 700 vertical feet wi... 10/19/2008

1214 Veech Lane     $124,500 4508 Alpine Woods  $220,000 1306 West Ridge     $300,000 10/19/2008

2002 South Ridge  $157,500 1112 Forbes Lane  $96,000 Hard to believe but these were the only two transfers that showed up for this month.   10/01/2008

5312 Summit Drive        $186,500 1944 South Ridge Way  $345,000 1464 Gristmill               $188,000 1222 Veech                  $108,500 09/02/2008

421 Imperial     $555,000 1165 Gristmill    $155,000 08/19/2008

If hiring top of the line employees were an Olympic sport Bunchers would be on the podium as the gold medal winner. Jennifer Benford, comes to Hidden Valley from Seven Springs with double-digit years of graphic art experience. Abe recalls when she was taking extra computer classes to improve her talents. Seven Springs has lost three key employees going into their busiest festival season. You've got the Wine and Food Festival (new ticket prices) next weekend, the Subaru 24 Hour Champion Challenge Bike Race over Labor Day (let's not forget the on going Grey Rocks Amphitheater series), a Chocolate Affair and of course Autumnfest weekends. We find it interesting that on their web site of available job postings these now open positions are not reflected. It appears the people that are left a... 08/14/2008

Something to consider as you are weighing options as to buying property at Seven Springs or Hidden Valley. Both resorts are located in Somerset County. The majority of properties at Seven Springs are in Middlecreek Township with a handful in the Mountain Villas in Jefferson Township. Yes, Seven Springs sits in several other counties and townships but so far the developments have been in Middlecreek Township, Somerset County. All of the real estate at Hidden Valley sits in Jefferson Township, Somerset County. What you need to be aware of is that there is a 15.89 mill difference between the two counties. Just what does that mean to your pocket? Let's say that you are looking at two properties, one at each resort. They both have the same accessed value of $70,000. They may be very differen... 08/08/2008

"Dubby," as we know him is the first of what we consider upper management to follow Scott Bender to Hidden Valley.  We don't think he will be the last.  For those of you who don't know, when Scott was promoted from the marketing department at Seven Springs Robert took over his position.  He loves biking and has been instrumental in snagging the Nationally recognized races held at Seven Springs over the recent years. The 24 hour race that's held over Labor Day weekend was one of his brainstorms. He even has his own timing equipment for the races. So let's talk about marketing and public relations. These two fellows have data bases that are filled with everyone who is anyone in the resort or public relation industry. Their connections are infinite. We've always subscribed to, "It's not wh... 08/05/2008

2105 South Ridge Terrace $157,500 1141 Tanyard                  $130,000 1466 Gebhart Way           $260,000 08/01/2008

Barry Fitzgerald, a long time chimney sweep servicing both Seven Springs, Hidden Valley, and the local Laurel Highlands home owners has expanded his business! Technology touches every business owner; it's just a question of who decides to embrace it! He now can provide an interior view of your chimney. The "Enviroflex-cam" is a 1.4" diameter color camera head with options of instantly seeing what's inside on a 7" field equipped L.C.D. screen or a laptop! Images may be burned as a CD with voice over comments from Barry. Details about defects may be typed right into the CD. If you have a claim you can turn this into the Insurance Company. Inside chimneys, this system will show defects like open mortar joints, disconnected liners or liner warpages or blocked flues (he's found several fille... 07/29/2008

Lot 2 Stonewood $379,000 07/13/2008

Here today gone tomorrow! According to the local newspapers Scott Bender is now a Hidden Valley employee. Check out the Somerset Daily American and Johnstown Tribune-Democrat stories. Back in our July 2007 e-letter PRIOR to Buncher formally recording their purchase of Hidden Valley we wrote, "We do believe that there is a perfect storm brewing out there when it comes to finding and retaining top notch employees. Seven Springs has always carried between 800 to 1,300 depending upon the season and Hidden Valley has seen more people leave than stay for the long term. Given that housing is currently only affordable outside of both resorts (and there isn't much available) we think there is going to be major competition and better compensation packages being offered for hard workers." Then in ... 07/09/2008

1313  West Ridge       $290,000. Lot 42 StoneWood      $400,000 07/08/2008

We've been expecting this release! Headlines for the Sunday Somerset Daily American (June 22) read, "Resort Plans Housing Development" by Tiffany Wright. These releases usually are posted on the Hidden Valley site for reference although it wasn't there yet this morning. Permitting has come through for "four buildings with four condominiums near the North Summit slopes," They are hoping to have approval for two more buildings which would bring the total number of offerings to 24 units. Located off of Gardner Road the condos are to be approximately 2,000 square feet. No mention of prices yet but they hope to have the properties on the market for the Fourth of July. Also 30 lots are expected to be soon offered in the new "Green Tee" development. Which when completed would have a total of 7... 06/26/2008

5007 Summit        $197,500 1477 Gebhart        $185,000 1963 South Ridge  $321,000 06/24/2008

1308 West Ridge   $305,000 1213 Veech Lane   $161,500 1154 Kepple          $143,000 06/14/2008