The Spruce Cliffs area skis like an elevator shaft, plunging over a knoll and into the dense trees near the top of Spruce Peak.

The ski area is composed of Mount Mansfield and Spruce Peak.

For ages, skiers on Mount Mansfield have been separated from the runs on Spruce Peak.

By then at least three steep trails on Mount Mansfield should be under snow as well as one or more beginner runs on Spruce Peak.

A golf course will be built into the side of Spruce Peak itself.

Skiers can now look down from almost any trail on Spruce Peak at the skeletons of a handful of wooden town houses peeking out of the snow.

Stowe Mountain Lodge at Spruce Peak at Stowe has no hotel rooms.

It is at the foot of Spruce Peak, which is connected by a new lift to 4,393-foot Mount Mansfield, the state's tallest mountain.

Stowe also offers two two-hour lessons and a lift ticket good for the season on one beginner lift at Spruce Peak for $40.

Moderate grades and southern exposure make Spruce Peak, the resort's other hill, ideal for those new to the slopes.