Powder Ridge suspends operations to protect public

MIDDLEFIELD — Powder Ridge has decided to suspend operations immediately.

“The resort has no reported cases of COVID-19, the disease associated with the coronavirus. This decision is being made in response to an executive order from the Connecticut Governor’s office.

“The order limits non-essential gatherings, including cancellation of large gatherings and social distancing in smaller gatherings,” according to a statement.

During the spring season Powder Ridge becomes primarily a destination restaurant for family gatherings and larger events. Therefore, based on the recommendation from the regional health district, Powder Ridge will temporally cease all operations to help limit the spread of the coronavirus.

The resort will take this time to implement additional steps resort-wide to ensure the longterm safety of customers and employees.

Some of those steps include reducing the overall seating capacity of the restaurant by over 30 percent, creating private dining areas for individual parties, and dramatically expanding the outdoor dining spaces with full wait service.

“We are taking these measures to ensure the safety of our over 200 employees and thousands of loyal customers,” said Sean Hayes, CEO of Powder Ridge, in the statement.

“The resort will be carefully reviewing and implementing the guidelines of Governor Lamont and state health officials prior to re-opening for the summer season.

“Our sales staff is available to take group and private event reservations for the summer and fall. We will be announcing when we will be opening our biking trails, summer tubing, zip lines and a much more extensive list of outdoor dining options and yard games,” Hayes said.

Powder Ridge Mountain Park & Resort features skiing, snowboarding, tubing, mountain biking and synthetic snow adventures for all ages. The lodge at the 225-acre facility houses the Marketplace for casual dining and large events.

On the second floor of the lodge is Fire at The Ridge Restaurant & Tavern, plus 10 hotel rooms. The mountain has been upgraded with new snow-making equipment, snow grooming vehicles and updated aerial and surface lifts.