The Adirondack Park Agency approved the plan to link the Gore Mountain Ski Area and North Creek Ski Bowl, setting the stage for a proposed $200-million development next to the Ski Bowl.
    "This approval will now allow Gore and the Olympic Regional Development Authority (ORDA) to work with the town of Johnsburg to establish the connection, "said Bill Thomas, Johnsburg town supervisor and chairman of the Warren County Board of Supervisors.
    "The APA approval provided everything but the money," Mr. Thomas added. "We need the money now to make that connection happen."  
    Mr. Thomas estimated that it will take $11-million in state funding to complete

the Ski Bowl-Gore connection, adding that town officials "suspect there might be some money in the state budget" now being hashed out in Albany.
    With the connection in place, Front-Street Mountain Development plans a hotel and inn, golf course, equestrian center and 175 townhouses on land adjacent to the Ski Bowl.
    Mr.Thomas said Front-Street Development will now seek APA approval. "They needed this move to know they could go forward with their project," he said.
    Town officials say the project will generate $50-million in economic spinoff.
    Mac Crikelair, a principal in the development group, did not respond to requests for comment from The Chronicle.