A fundraising campaign to rebuild Maverick Mountain after the Sand Creek Fire destroyed the Montana ski area’s only chairlift in August has received a boost with a $250,000 matching gift. The contribution comes as the community hill works through insurance claims, engineering assessments and extensive cleanup efforts in preparation for installing a replacement lift.
Friends of Maverick Mountain, a fundraising initiative launched by the Dillon Jaycees in August, announced the gift from an anonymous donor. Through the “Maverick Magic Match,” every dollar donated to the campaign will be matched up to $250,000. The campaign has raised $385,000 from more than 500 individuals and companies toward its $1.5 million goal as of Nov. 2.
“It’s a great group of individuals that have put together this nonprofit to support the mountain and raise funds,” Maverick Mountain owner and operator Erik Borge told SAM. “They are really stepping up to help us put the pieces back together, and there has been a lot of local support from individuals and businesses.”
“We are amazed and thankful for all the support in the last two months,” said Jason Schumacher of the Dillon Jaycees, a member of the Friends of Maverick Mountain advisory board. “This significant matching gift is a great way to double your donation and get us closer to getting all the kids back on the mountain.”
The Jaycees have run the Little Skiers program at Maverick since 1955. Together with rural school and homeschool programs, it helps provide skiing and snowboarding opportunities for about 250 children annually, according to Friends of Maverick Mountain.
With the ski area’s only chairlift out of commission, those children currently have no mountain to ski.
Parts Already in Place
When the Sand Creek Fire reached Maverick Mountain, Mont., on Aug. 10, the ski area’s chairlift was running. Borge had started spinning the lift in an effort to minimize damage, but the fire took its toll anyway. The communications line failed, stopping the lift. The haul rope snapped, sending carriers to the ground. Towers were scorched and bent by the heat, and axles and sheave assemblies were damaged.
The lift, what Borge calls a “Franken-Riblet” because of its customized configuration, must be replaced. Fortuitously, Maverick already had a plan for that.
In 2024, the small, independent ski area purchased a complete used lift (a Poma fixed-grip quad nicknamed “the Couch”) from Aspen Snowmass, Colo., and most of an identical lift from Jackson Hole Mountain Resort, Wyo., minus the carriers. The intention was to use the components from the two to build a single replacement for Maverick’s aging Riblet.
The fire accelerated that timeline considerably.
“Paying for the trucking and getting the lifts here stretched us, but I feel lucky that we have those,” said Borge. “I feel lucky that the hard-working men and women fighting the fire saved those, that our base area was saved, and ultimately, that the community was saved.”
The used lifts were sitting in Maverick’s boneyard when Borge learned that the fire was headed toward the ski area. With roughly 24 hours’ notice and no equipment capable of moving the lift components, Borge and his team worked to protect the storage area and lodge.
“We dropped a whole bunch of trees around the boneyard and lodge to try to protect those,” he said. “And then we just had to walk away and hope.”
Air tankers dropped retardant and fire crews put down hose lays and sprinkler systems to create a fire break around the lodge, which helped preserve the base area, including the lift components.
According to Friends of Maverick Mountain, the ski area has been quoted $2.9 million to refurbish and install the chair from Aspen. The ski area is working through the $1.4 million Riblet insurance claim and also raising funds for the project while waiting for U.S. Forest Service approval to move forward with the replacement. Maverick operates within the Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest.
Cleanup Efforts
The fire destroyed a ski patrol building and communications infrastructure at the top of the mountain. And roughly a third of the 250-acre ski area burned, leaving extensive hazard-tree removal work. The burned timber has little commercial value.
The resort has started clearing hazard trees along the lift line, but broader work is also awaiting Forest Service approval. Much of the work is being done in-house by Borge and two staff members, supplemented by a few additional workers.
“I’m a hands-on guy. I want to get to work,” said Borge. “At night, I try to organize the planning. During the day, I’m down there taking down trees. It’s one foot in front of the other.”
Other Montana ski areas have offered crews and equipment. Teton Pass owner Charles Hlavac even arrived unasked to help Maverick prepare for the approaching fire. “He helped with all those little things that you don’t think about,” said Borge. Big things, too.
Hlavac helped mitigate fuels at the ski area and around Borge’s home; he was also a shoulder to lean on. “It was an emotional time, and having someone who understands the industry to talk things through with was really valuable,” said Borge.
Borge said the response from the entire Montana Ski Areas Association membership has been special. “It’s a really tight knit group of ski areas,” he said.
Maverick hasn’t been able to take full advantage of those offers of help while it waits for the necessary approvals, but Borge expects more substantial tree clearing work to get underway in the spring.
Moving Forward
Maverick won’t operate normally this winter, although its Sunkid conveyor survived, and the ski area hopes to offer some children’s ski days if circumstances allow.
Borge bought Maverick in 2015 with his wife, Kristi, and two investors after leaving Bozeman in search of small-town life. He and Kristi sold everything they had, initially living in an RV at the base of the mountain. Borge went years without a paycheck. But the sacrifices have felt worth it.
“The hard experiences have only amplified my love for the community and area,” said Borge. “This is not what I signed on for, but I’ve never been so sure of what we are doing because of the outpouring of love and generosity.
“It truly is a community mountain,” he added. “It’s not an if, it’s a how we put it back together.”
