SAM Magazine—Routt County, Colo., March 25, 2024—It may not be the last ride for Stagecoach ski area, after all.Courtesy of Routt County Planning Department.

The Wittemyer family, which owns the property of the defunct ski area near Steamboat Springs, Colo.—that closed in 1974 after just two seasons in operation—has reportedly enlisted Discovery Land Company to potentially develop the property as a private ski and golf resort.

Stagecoach originally operated with a trio of Heron-Poma double chairlifts serving around 170 acres of skiable terrain. According to Coloradoskihistory.com, the north facing slopes receive about 300 inches of snow annually, and the terrain has a vertical drop of at least 1,700 feet.

Rumors have circulated for years about plans to reopen the resort, but have long been denied by the Wittemyer family, which has owned the property since the 1980s. 

However, the Yampa Valley Bugle reported March 21 that Discovery Land Company—the firm behind the Yellowstone Club in Big Sky, Mont.—is named in a letter filed with the Upper Yampa Water Conservancy District, seeking to confirm that adequate water would be available for ski area snowmaking and golf course irrigation.

According to the newspaper report, the document states that Discovery Land Company intends to submit plans in May to develop a ski and golf resort called Stagecoach Mountain Ranch, which would also have about 700 mountain and lakefront high-end residential units. 

Most of the development would be on the ski area property, with the waterfront homes located on the Stagecoach Reservoir. In total, Stagecoach Mountain Ranch would encompass roughly 6,500 acres of land, bordered on two sides by Stagecoach State Park. The Stahl family owns the property where the golf course would be developed, according to the Steamboat Pilot & Today.

About 65 percent of the property would remain open space, according to the letter to the water authority, which stated, “[Stagecoach Mountain Ranch] will also continue to maintain agricultural operations on a large portion of the mountain property with equestrian and participation in ranching activities as part of recreational programming.”

In 2023, landowner Chris Wittemyer sketched out preliminary details of the proposed resort, with plans showing a ski resort with five lifts and four lodges. “The proposal is to provide for additional chairlifts, terrain, snowmaking and on-mountain facilities and activities,” according to Wittemyer.

Report by Bob Curley

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