NY AG Asks Court to Compel Sale of Shuttered Toggenburg Mountain

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SAM Magazine—Fabius, N.Y., Jan. 31, 2024—In a new court filing, New York Attorney General Letitia James has said the owners of Toggenburg Mountain in upstate New York violated the state’s antitrust law by purchasing and shutting down the competing ski area and should be ordered to sell the property.

Intermountain Management, which owns Labrador Mountain and Song Mountain, purchased Toggenburg in 2021 and immediately ceased operations at the ski area. In 2022, the attorney general sued the company, charging that the purchase was made solely to reduce competition among ski areas in the Syracuse area.

In the latest court action, James has asked Onondaga County Supreme Court Justice Robert E. Antonacci II to order divestiture of Toggenburg “to a buyer willing to operate it as a ski facility as soon as practicable” and assess a $1 million fine against Intermountain for violating the state’s antitrust law.

In response, Intermountain Management filed its own motion denying the charges and asking for the case to be dismissed.

Since the closure, Intermountain Management has stripped assets from the Toggenburg ski area and its well-regarded (and also shuttered) Foggy Goggle restaurant, some of which reportedly have ended up at the company’s other two ski areas.

In 2022, Intermountain Management owner Peter Harris—who paid about $750,000 to buy Toggenburg—listed the property for sale for $1.5 million. The property is currently off the market, however.

Prior to 2021, Toggenburg had been in continuous operation since it opened in 1953. Set on about 156 acres with 760 feet of vertical, the ski area boasted 21 trails served by five lifts. The mountain also served an active ski racing community and offered night skiing, a terrain park, and a snow tubing park.

Toggenburg still retains local community support: for example, a Facebook group called Reopen Tog has more than 2,400 members and remains active in providing updates on developments related to the mountain.

Report by Bob Curley