Mount Snow has abandoned its efforts to bring snowmaking water from nearby Somerset Reservoir. The West Lake Project calls for a 12-acre, 120-million gallon water storage pond to be built on land in Wilmington and draw water from the Deerfield River. "West Lake gives us a solution that should meet our goal of increasing the snowmaking water supply in time for the 2008-09 skiing and snowboarding season," said Tim Boyd, president of Peak Resorts. Peak purchased Mount Snow and Attitash from the American Skiing Co. in April. Prospects of a protracted legal battle over Mount Snow's initial plan to build a pumping station and mile-long pipeline to bring water from Somerset Reservoir prompted Peak Resorts to shift focus. "Mount Snow put a lot of time and effort into that plan even prior to our involvement, but we feel this is the best choice currently for our resort and the Mount Snow Valley," said Boyd. West Lake is comparable in cost to the Somerset Project, budgeted at $10 million, and will include returning venerable Snow Lake to its origins as a free-flowing waterway. "We've already had meetings with the state and they are supportive of the project in principle," added Mount Snow General Manager Kelly Pawlak.