RESORTS BEAT BACK LEGAL CHALLENGES
Resorts in Wisconsin and California have managed to remove liability and safety-related laws from the front burner this spring. In Wisconsin, a provision that would have made larger settlements possible was removed from the governor’s massive budget bill in mid June. In California, a safety bill that would have mandated changes in the way accidents are reported died in committee, a victim of budget issues.

On the national level, the FLAME act appeared en route to passage. This would separate fire-related expenses from the programs budget in the way Forest Service programs are funded. In the long run, this should make a difference in resort dealings with the Forest Service.


Utah Liquor Laws Become Normal (ALMOST)
As of July 1, Utah eliminated one of its quirkiest remaining liquor laws: the requirement that drinkers belong to a private club and pay a membership fee to get a drink in a bar. That quaint rule has now been swept away. Coupled with the state’s landmark decision to change the amount of a single shot of alcohol from 1 ounce to 1.5 ounces in 2008, the state has become almost liberal in its libation legalities.


CrossHarbor Gets Yellowstone Club
After months of wrangling, CrossHarbor Capital Partners wrested control of the Yellowstone Club from founder Tim Blixseth and a lender group headed by Credit Suisse. CrossHarbor owner Sam Byrne, a multimillionaire member of the Club who built his fortune by buying distressed properties, has now combined his vocation and avocation in the Club. And he got quite a deal: CrossHarbor had offered to buy the Club a few years ago for $400 million, and won the resort at auction in May for about $175 million. Ah, real estate, where timing is everything.

For Tim Blixseth and his ex-wife Edra, though, the wrangling rages on. Edra has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, claiming debts of more than $500 million. The judge converted that to a Chapter 7 liquidation. Edra still hopes to sue Tim to help pay off her debts, and Tim responded by accusing her of causing all the Club’s ills. Not entirely convinced, the judge has reopened the Club members’ suit against Tim. This tale just won’t quit.


Tamarack: New Owners Soon?
Another resort that ran afoul of an aggressive loan from Credit Suisse, Tamarack, is reportedly in the sights of several potential investor groups--including rival groups headed by Jean-Pierre Boespflug and Alfredo Miguel Afif, who were until recently the majority partners. Two other minority partners are also in the hunt, as are financial heavyweights Starwood Capital (current resort holding: Mammoth) and Apollo Investments (former resort holding: Vail Resorts).

It’s considered quite possible that, with so many suitors, a new owner will open the resort for the coming winter. If so, it will need deep pockets: it will take substantial investment to complete work on the village, and to convince potential buyers and visitors that the area will remain open and viable. How big an investment? The rumored pricetag is $30 million to $60 million, with another $100 million or so needed to complete the village. At yesterday’s prices, at least, that sounds like a bargain for a brand-new resort--it probably cost $30 million just to get the resort through the permitting and planning stage. Another way to look at it: the price range is 10 to 20 cents on the dollar for the lender group’s $300 million loan.


Fellowship of the Motor Rings
Scott Tuttle had a simple dream: establish a one- or two-day motors and controls class for Wasatch ski areas. He hoped to build a fellowship of local resorts so that lift technicians throughout Utah could learn a little, get some questions about DC motors answered, and get to know one another. That way, they would not think twice about calling on one another for help if a lift went down.

As soon as he began approaching his managers at Park City, he was overwhelmed by the support and feedback he received. Everyone he spoke to was on board. By early June, he had 20 people from Deer Valley, Snowbird, Alta, and Solitude signed up for the early July session, along with a few folks from Doppelmayr CTEC. In a weak economy and after last year’s drop in skier visits, Tuttle found resorts were open to a cost-effective and local way to provide class hours—-and establish a network of troubleshooters when troubles arrive.


CSCUSA Grapples with Its Mission
The past presidents’ panel at CSCUSA’s annual meeting June 11 was fascinating. The key topic was whether the organization’s budget should focus on marketing or public policy. The answer from all six, ranging from Garrett Mathews (1976-1980) through Rob Perlman (2002-2008), was that marketing had been the focus for almost all of their 32 years of experience.

This balance, of course, is at the heart of the battle that has split the state into the 22 members of CSCUSA and the four former resort members repeatedly referred to as They Who Cannot Be Named. Still, in different ways, the ex-execs argued that cooperative marketing benefits all the state’s areas. There appeared to be little argument on that point from the audience. Then again, there was no one in the room from Va—er, They Who Cannot Be Named. But simply by asking the question, it’s clear that the association has been thinking a lot about the answer.


Magazines Chart New Courses
It’s no secret that the flagship publications of winter sports, Ski and Skiing, have been flagging lately. New group publisher Mike Federle presented a far-reaching new strategy for the titles, and for the allied Warren Miller Enterprises, at the CSCUSA meeting. Simply put, the strategy involves using a variety of media, including a completely revamped and interactive modern website and smaller-circulation magazines, to reach the group’s audience in whatever format it wants. In a startling statement of how much the consumer magazine market has changed, Federle said the company’s top strategy is to mine its database, to benefit both the brands and their partners. “We are a database company,” he declared.

He’s got some competition in this multiple-media approach from Ski Press, of course, which has been pursuing a broad media strategy for years. And there’s yet another potential new player: High Country Media. This group of former Mountain Sports Media types--Jamie Pentz, Mark Peruzzi, Greg Finn, Rob Hudson, Doug Sabanosh--has its own collection of vehicles for reaching skiers and riders. This will include a reincarnated, quarterly Mountain Sports + Living, a direct-to-consumer membership club (mtnaccess.com), and a partnership with snocountry.com to provide content (and ad sales) beyond snow reports. The magazine will debut in October.


Arizona Snowbowl Clears Supreme Hurdle
When the United States Supreme Court decided not to review the decision of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in Navajo Nation v. Forest Service, it cleared the way for Snowbowl to develop snowmaking using reclaimed water. But the significance of the case is broader than that. The court's position prevents anyone who objects to an activity on public lands--recreation, energy, construction, etc.--from being able to veto it on religious grounds. The court never questioned the Navajo’s religious beliefs, it just found that because the ski area's project didn't "substantially burden" the exercise of those beliefs, it could proceed as approved. The decision thus reaffirmed the Forest Service’s multiple use policy for federal lands.

As for Snowbowl, it can now proceed to install a state-of-the art snowmaking system that will blanket about 200 acres, or 75 percent of the area’s terrain. Once the multi-year project is completed, it will transform Snowbowl from an old-fashioned ski area relying on natural snow into one of the most technologically advanced resorts in the world. To help picture that, imagine what you would do if you could design a snowmaking system from scratch.


Intrawest Continues to Struggle
The largest winter resort operator in North America continues to struggle with its finances, a victim of excess leverage and the credit meltdown last fall. The latest evidence: Steamboat pulled out of a joint venture that was planning to build a $7 million high-speed people mover gondola connecting the Wildhorse Meadows development and the public Meadow parking lot with the base area. Steamboat president Chris Diamond said the resort pulled its support when its capital request was refused by parent company Intrawest, citing the difficult condition of the capital markets for that decision.

That news follows reports that the resort company is considering the sales of some of its winter properties along with its Sandestin golf resort in Florida, and CEO Bill Jensen’s statement during a seminar at the NSAA convention that the company is in “survival mode.” Perhaps the greatest surprise to date is that, at press time, no sales had been announced.