Report

Finance

Franklin Capital Corp. extends $2 million loan to Glen Ellen

Area president Walton S. Elliot says work is beginning in the architectural and engineering phases and letters of inquiry have been forwarded to ski lift manufacturers. Architects Beaudin and Moulton, of Burlington, Vt., are looking into the possibility of building a commercial village near the present base lodge.

Earlier this year, Glen Ellen had merger talks with Suburban Propane of New Jersey, which resulted in an option to buy Glen Ellen. However the option was declined due to “unfavorable economic conditions.”

This summer’s expansion will push Glen Ellen’s total assets to over $3,000,000. The area presently grosses around $750,000 annually.

Mt. Snow-Davos deal nears completion

Mt. Snow ski resort in Vermont has been on shaky financial ground as a result of large expenditures to enlarge and improve its facilities. A reprieve in the form of a deal with Davos, Inc. was virtually certain having been approved by Mt. Snow stockholders.

The arrangement, in effect, would be that Davos, Inc. will enter into a financial agreement leading to a merger of the two companies. Davos would purchase all of the area’s assets for 1.5 million shares of Davos stock guaranteed at $4 per share. This guaranteee will be backed up by the possibility that Mt. Snow shareholders will receive an additional 500,000 shares of Davos stock if said stock does not reach $4 per share in approximately two and one-half years. According to Davos’ “financial expert,” Dave Pohndorf, […] with about 500,000 shares in unexercised options. The 1.5 million shares which would go for Mt. Snow are from Davos’ treasury.

Davos, Inc. is a company which started out in the restaurant and food business and is presently in the convenience foods line. In 1969 the company took over the bankrupt Davos ski area in Woodridge, N.Y., renamed it Big Vanilla and opened it for business.

The obvious question is what changes will take place at Mt. Snow as a result of the deal. Financial changes will allow Walt Schoenknecht, president of Mt. Snow, to fulfill some of his many visions, say the principals of the agreement. “Mt. Snow is like my baby,” said Schoenknecht, “I wouldn’t go into anything if I couldn’t stay and finish my plans.” Mark Fleishman, president of Davos, Inc., feels quite optimistic about the arrangement, maintaining that Mt. Snow will become part of a conglomerate that “will always have funds available, snow or no snow.”

The Law

Committee says cut red tape of running Whiteface

A hearing of the Joint Legislative Committee on Commerce and Economic Development of the New York State Legislature concluded that Whiteface Mountain ought to remain a state-run ski area, but that all efforts, from the Governor’s office on down, ought to be directed toward effecting “more business-like” procedures for operating Whiteface.

“The most striking testimony . . . concerning the operations of Whiteface Mountain was that the red tape and problems incurred in dealing with various state bureaus along with the fiscal restrictions on the expenditures of state monies have created a situation where the state pays more than a private ski area operator would pay for materials and maintenance work on the mountain,” a committee report stated.

It was pointed out in the hearing, held in Lake Placid last year, that while large companies such as Wey- […] Cascade, American Cement and others have been investing heavily in their ski area properties, Whiteface (a $5-million investment by itself) is “too great in scope for private investment to consider. It was generally observed that the successful Vermont ski operations, wherein mountains are leased from the state, depend for their success on ancillary developments of land of private interest . . . It was concluded that stockholders generally do not profit on their investment, but merely receive skiing privileges.”

The committee’s recommendation, in short, was for the state to continue operating the area, but to do it better — including publicity and road-building activities to make the mountain, and the entire northern Adirondack region, attractive and accessible for winter tourism.

—Claire Walter

Bromley wins jury’s favor in lift suit

The case of Elizabeth C. Dilworth vs. Bromley was finally resolved in the Burlington Federal Court in the end of December 1970 in favor of Bromley. The second chairlift suit brought against Bromley, the case involved an accident in which Elizabeth Dilworth fell from the lift at the point of disembarkment, breaking her hip. The plaintiff sued Big Bromley, Bromley Management Corp. and Riblet Tramway Co. for $50,000 charging that the area was negligent in operating a poorly designed lift. Testifying on the plaintiff’s side as an expert witness was R. Ace Manley, former ski school director at Bromley in conjunction with Jack Batchelder, former ski instructor at the area.

The four day trial ended with the jury deciding in favor of the defendant.

Technology

Water replaces concrete blocks in gondola test

Instead of loading gondola cars with concrete blocks for certification testing, Steamboat ski area hooked a fire hose to the sprinkler system in the terminal building, lined the cars with polyethylene sheeting and filled the cars with water.

For the test, each of the 90 Bell six-passenger cars was loaded with 1,100 pounds — about 14 inches of water. A baffle allowed the loaders to open the gondola door wide enough to let the hose in. Once loaded, the gondola was run at full speed with all the weight on the uphill side — then the brakes were tested. The procedure was repeated on the downhill side.

Glenn Paulk, of Steamboat’s mountain crew, said the entire test took only about six hours.

Ordinarily the cars would be loaded with concrete blocks, about 24 to a car. These are difficult to load and, unless the cars are protected, can damage the interiors. And when the test is finished, what do you do with 47 tons of concrete blocks?

The new Steamboat gondola carries 1,100 skiers an hour and has a speed of 690 f.p.m. The trip takes 13 minutes.

Development

Aspen Internat’l negotiates to buy Snowmass land

An agreement in principle has been reached between Aspen International Properties, Inc. of Aspen and American Cement Corp. of Los Angeles by which Aspen International will acquire 3,100 acres of undeveloped land in Snowmass Valley. The land lies adjacent to Aspen Wildcat, an area already owned by Aspen International. The contract has not yet been finalized, but according to Robert Elmore, vice president, finance, of Aspen, the agreement should be completed within approximately 60 days.

The two adjoining areas will be integrated with an emphasis on summer activities at Wildcat and on winter sports at Snowmass, according to Elmore. Early plans call for moving the equestrian center from Snowmass to Wildcat.

Aspen International is composed of a group of investors, including the First National City Capital Corp., the Boston Capital Corp., and Lange Realty of Broomfield, Colo. All Aspen International’s […] we’ve established a name and reputation we hope to expand.”

Penn areas show rapid growth in gross receipts

Skier traffic jumped 29 per cent and gross receipts 25 per cent for 11 areas in northeastern Pennsylvania for the 1969-70 season, reports the Economic Development Council of Northeastern Pennsylvania. Skiers totalled 546,900 and gross receipts $3,111,500.

The annual growth rate of gross receipts has averaged 26 per cent for the last six years, says the report. Skiers spent about $21.70 a day on lifts, equipment, lessons, travel, meals and other items enroute to and from the areas. Total payroll for the areas’ 565 employees was $696,800. Average length of season was 89.5 days, but some areas ran 117. Sources of gross receipts were: lifts 56 per cent, ski shop 23 per cent, food and beverage 14 per cent, ski school 7 per cent.

The areas studied include Sharp Mt., Big Boulder, Elk Mt., Ski-Sno, Hickory Ridge, Pocono North, Tanglewood, Pocono Manor, Buck Hill, Timber Hill and Camelback.

Competition

Blueprint submitted to Denver committee for 1976 Olympics

An organizational blueprint for the 1976 Winter Olympic Games was unveiled in Denver recently. The 65-page report, which took four months to prepare and which cost $28,000, was submitted to the Denver Organizing Committee (DOC) by the Denver Research Institute (DRI).

DRI recommended creation of a 25- to 30-member board of directors, headed by Denver Mayor Bill McNichols. The DOC executive council, designated by the U.S. Olympic Committee, would appoint the directors. The report also called for a nine-member executive council headed by Colorado governor John Love, Mayor McNichols and the DOC chairman. Named to that council have been Robert J. Pringle, DOC president; Donald F. Magarrell, acting general secretary of the DOC; Thomas Hildt, Jr., investments; F. George Robinson, president, Robinson Brick and Tile Co.; Richard M. Davis, Graham and Stubbs, attorneys; and Rollin D. Barnard, president, Midland Federal Savings and Loan Association. The board has the power to make decisions on operational questions.

DRI also proposed appointment of a general secretary and two undersecretaries by the first quarter of 1971. The unannounced candidate for general secretary is Magarrell, on leave as senior vice president of the Colorado National Bank.

The general secretary would be the chief operating officer involved in policy and staff activities as well as community relations. One deputy general secretary would control master planning and scheduling, budget review and cost control and governmental agency contact and coordination. The other would be concerned with protocol and liaison.

DRI suggested formation of a planning commission of nine members to “provide independent review of all development plans before they would be passed along to the executive council for decision.” The commission, with broad power, would oversee virtually all Olympic efforts for the impact on the community as a whole and on […] resenting architecture, civil engineering, landscape architecture and ecology in general would be on the commission.

Three operating divisions for administration, technical direction and public affairs should be established, said the report. Named to the public affairs post was Norman C. Brown, vice president, Boettcher and Co. Sno-Engineering Co., of Evergreen, Colo., will handle technical direction.

Later the three divisions would be expanded to six to cover administration, support services, sports operations, accommodations, public affairs and special programs.

The DOC staff is projected to grow from four today to about 60 by June, 1974, and as many as 10,000, including volunteers, during the Games.

The report also calls for re-evaluation, review and final site selection by October of 1971.

The DRI blueprint also sets up a detailed timetable, grouped generally into three periods.

The 1970-71 period is primarily organizational. The DOC executive council will appoint directors. The preliminary budget for 1972 will be submitted to the Denver City Council and the state. Legislation to form the Colorado Olympic Commission will be drafted by January.

In 1972-73, international promotion will start. Agreements will be established with hotels, motels, restaurants and other service facilities to reserve sufficient accommodations for 1976. Design and approval of sites and facilities will be completed by mid-1973. Operational trials of some sites can be held in the winter of 1973-74.

In 1974-76, DOC operational divisions will expand from three to six. Ticket sales and room reservations will be opened to the public in the first half of 1974. Plans will be developed to select and train a staff of up to 10,000 persons by 1976. All sports sites will be completed by the third quarter of 1974. Final preparation of communications network and press facilities will take place in 1975. International trials will test the sites in 1975.

Following the Games, “those sites that don’t have after-use must undergo modification or be demolished and be restored to the original site.”

To prepare the report, DRI personnel traveled to Squaw Valley, Calif., Grenoble, France and Sapporo, Japan, gaining information on the Games from past and present Olympic officials.

—Lois Barr

Environment

Government action puts ban on billboard ads

Former Secretary of the Interior Walter Hickel’s decision to ban billboards is now in effect. As of December 7, 1970, all display advertising on public lands is subject to some tough new controls. The rules state bluntly, and without equivocation, that all billboards and similar advertising are now prohibited on “all public domain lands.”

In some sections of the country, ski areas are not too far from the Federal Interstate Highway System, so it has been possible for operators to advertise their slopes by large billboards. This is now totally prohibited.

The rules specify that no permits will be issued to anyone for displays of any sort visible to travelers along the interstate highways. This includes directions to ski slopes and lodges. The Interior Department explained, “the intent of this section is to insure that giant signs, which in the past were erected beyond 660 feet of rights of way of such highways, are prohibited.”

However, there is one reprieve from the government’s stern rules. Area and lodge operators using public lands can erect billboards and other promotional displays within 50 feet of their own businesses.

For operators who now have permits to use public lands for the banned advertising there is this warning: no existing permits will be renewed unless they meet these stringent new requirements.

Under the new rules, any display such as a billboard that was put up with a government permit, must be completely removed within 30 days of notice that the permit has been revoked. “If this is not done, we are directed to remove the sign at the owner’s expense,” warns the Interior’s bureau of land management.

If anyone in the ski area or other business using public lands for promotional signs has put up a billboard or other display without a permit, the new rules call for Land Management employees to remove it immediately. However, these BLM officials have been told to give the display’s owner 30 days to remove it. If he does not, government officials must take the display material down at the end of the 30-day period.

“No permit will be issued for the erection and maintenance of any advertising display which would be inconsistent with national programs for the preservation of natural beauty,” commented the Department of Interior.

—William Loomis

Promotion

Sportade offers ski areas free promotion

Cafeteria cash registers at many Eastern ski areas are ringing up a promotion success story with SPORTADE Action Drink, an energy-replenishing drink produced by the Consumer Products Division of Becton, Dickinson and Company. The lure is an introductory marketing program that offers a season of free promotion for their ski schools and ski pros.

Through a choice of three plans, ski areas can select promotion programs involving advertising in the major ski magazines, SPORTADE-sponsored ski reports, and sports page features billed as “Ski Hints.” The firm also provides on-site sales and promotion needs.

Becton, Dickinson calculates that the most inclusive plan involves almost $11,000 worth of free advertising, while the second plan which does not include the magazine ads is worth $9,000. A third plan, incorporating the Sales Promotion Kit and “Ski Hint” series is valued at $1,200. An area’s eligibility for a specific program is determined by the amount of Sportade purchased.

To date over 20 major ski areas in seven states are participating: in New Jersey, Snow Bowl, Great Gorge and Vernon Valley; in New York—Catamount, Snow Ridge and Whiteface; in Pennsylvania — Big Boulder; in Massachusetts — Woburn Ski Area; in New Hampshire — Gunstock, Tenney, Wildcat and Ragged Mountains; in Maine — Sugarloaf and Mt. Southington; and in Vermont — Glen Ellen, Bolton Valley, Pico Peak, Mount Snow, Mt. Ascutney, Jay Peak, Okemo and Madonna Mountain.

New Mexico brochure raises eyebrows around the state

The New Mexico Department of Development released its first brochure dedicated entirely to skiing, but as soon as it hit the desks of Chambers of Commerce around the state, it raised a controversy. The brochure presents a distorted picture of skiing facilities in the state for those not well acquainted with the industry.

The 20-page color booklet gives a full two-page spread to Raton Ski Basin, a one pomalift area, and includes a large picture of expert skiers dancing down deep powder on famed Al’s Run of Taos. A chairlift is in the background. The booklet gives only one page to Taos itself, the same given to other, smaller areas. Santa Fe Ski Basin, the state’s oldest major ski area, gets only half a page and no picture. None of the photographs is labeled, and at first glance, the unfamiliar reader might think a picture of a tram car and skiers was taken at Singing River instead of Sandia Peak. Singing River has two rope tows, while Sandia Peak is a major area.

Former Department of Development director James O. Roberson, who stepped down from his post the first of the year to take a job in Denver, defended the publication on the grounds that “it sets a mood” of skiing for the state. Visitors relying on the brochure, however, may find New Mexico skiing something quite different from the mood it sets.

—Patrick Lamb

USSA agrees to pay U.S. ski areas for World Cup races

The NSAA and the USSA have reached agreement on sharing the cost of World Cup events held at U.S. ski areas.

Under the agreement, the USSA will pay each area $10,000 should there be television coverage of the event, with a $3,000 sweetener to the NSAA. In the absence of TV, each area will receive $3,000.

In addition, each area will be paid $5,000 by the USSA for course preparation, timing equipment, course police, etc.

Two World Cup races are scheduled for the U.S. this year — one at Sugarloaf, Maine, and one at Heavenly Valley, California. The former is expected to be televised.

The areas will bear the cost of food and lodging for not more than 100 competitors and team officials. They will also bear the cost of required race officials, other than team or foreign officials. Room and board of the foreign press will also be borne by the ski area.

The agreement also specifies that in the event of TV coverage 1/60th of the coverage time will be devoted to area promotion, and the area will be able to use film footage for promotion.

The agreement covers all World Cup and International Team competitions in the U.S.

—Richard Vaughn

People

A hole in one with help from above

Whip Jones, owner of Aspen Highlands, hit for a hole-in-one last November at the Rifle Golf Course. He denied that the shot had help from another member of his fivesome — Rev. William Shannon, vicar of Christ Episcopal Church in Aspen.

Jones holed a wedge shot on the 120-yard fifth hole and shot a 76 for the 18. Other members of the fivesome were Snowmass Country Club pro Heiko Kuhn, rifle course manager Jim LaDonne and rifle school teacher George Smeltzer.