JOHNSBURG -- Driving through town up Route 28, on the highway referred to by locals as "the bypass," a hill obscures Gore Mountain to the west, and undeveloped land blocks the view of North Creek to the east.

At this time of year, before the snow falls, the hillsides are as gray as they'll ever be. Cold winds have swept away the last of the fall color.

But appearances can deceiving. The future is brighter than the scenery on this bleak road.

A property development group from Connecticut recently spent nearly $2 million for 323 acres next to the town's old ski bowl, which was one of the first ski areas in the Northeast when it opened in the 1930s, but which closed to skiing two decades ago.

Plans for redevelopment, including connector trails between the ski bowl and Gore Mountain, a cluster of townhouses, plush single-family residences, private lodges, a golf course, an equestrian center and a day spa -- are set to lift the region out of obscurity.

Realtor Mark Bergman, with Adirondack Country Homes Realty in North Creek, brokered the deal, and is now eyeing the future with heady enthusiasm.

Bergman has lived in Johnsburg for three years, but he was a weekend resident for 13 years before that, commuting each weekend from Syracuse to ski Gore. He joined the Gore Ski Patrol in 1990, and eventually settled here.

His personalized license plate is "SK1 LIFT." He skis Vale once a year. He knows his way around a mountain, and right now, he said, Gore is underutilized.

With about 2,200 feet of vertical drop, Gore is bigger than Bromley and more challenging than Okemo. It attracts tens of thousands of tourists each winter, but few stay during the week, and even fewer venture into North Creek. The ski bowl deal will change that, he said.

A 2004 study by the state comptroller's office indicated the project, complete with connector trails, could pump as much as $45 million into the region's economy, roughly double what is currently spent there.

The area is perched not far from the Northway, said Bergman, which is a huge advantage not yet harnessed. By comparison, if people want to ski Vermont, they're in for a drive on smaller, crowded roads, he said.

To get to Stratton means an hour's drive on Route 100. To get to Stowe, it's two hours. Yet New York residents spend $100 million a year in Vermont, Bergman said.

"I'm not a Vermont-basher," he added. "It's just that New York state has a competitive advantage." One that, until now, has not been realized.

Bergman said the real estate market has been thriving since the Sept. 11 attacks, when urbanites began feeling as though they wanted a place to get away to, perhaps tapping "a subconscious survivalist instinct," he said. Land is also more solid and safe than the stock market, and North Creek is far enough away, there is no "T-shirt vendor, video arcade, salt-water taffy mentality."

The value of real estate within 10 minutes of Gore Mountain, and in the hamlet of North Creek, has doubled in the past two years, said Bergman, with good reason. The money in ski resort towns is not made in skiing, he said, but in residential and commercial property abutting the mountain.

"That's where the big bucks are made," he said. "With all this just impending, it's having an impact."

When the project is complete, the ski bowl will naturally mean a lot more overnight stays.

"You'd have to be a real hermit to go skiing and then just cocoon yourself in your room and not go out and eat," Bergman said.

The town will make money as the guests are fed and watered and entertained. Sales tax will be collected. Occupancy tax too. All making for a happy Main Street.

Bergman, like many locals, also envisions the far-off day when a local rail service will reach the hamlet's historic train station with passengers from Saratoga Springs, and Albany, and New York.

As a Planning Board member, Bergman has to look out for people who won't want to leave their town but may not be able to afford a new home in it. Affordable housing will also have to be found for the work force to staff the development.

"The surge in values is great," Bergman said. "But at the same time, it poses unique challenges."

But the burdens on the community will be minimal, he said. Same goes for the impact on infrastructure needs, especially when weighed against the benefits.

"When you put up 200 townhouses at 450 (thousand dollars) each, that's an enormous boon," he said, noting the riches will be shared too. "Warrensburg will feel it. Chestertown will feel it. I think the town will maintain a wonderful rural character, but there will be a huge economic benefit to the region."