Ed Fowler has gone through 30 years and three different ski village proposals. With each new plan comes a new developer but the promise remains the same — they’ll build it and more people with more money will come flocking to the mountain resort town nestled in the serene Green Mountains.

Despite the worst recession in decades, Vermont’s ski areas logged more than 4 million skier visits this season – 6 percent fewer than last season but far better than two years ago and on par with the rest of the country. The Vermont Ski Areas Association released its 2008–09 skier visit numbers Thursday at its 40th annual meeting held at Killington Resort. The state’s 20 alpine ski areas reported a total of 4,068,698 skier visits.

A long-awaited proposal to build a ski village at Killington is getting a cool initial reception. SP Land Co.’s plan calls for the construction of up to 3,554 housing units on the 408-acre development over the next 20 years.