Mountain High on the Block?
Oaktree Capital Management, owners of southern California’s Mountain High ski area, have retained a financial advisor, Houlihan, Lokey, Howard and Zukin, to explore all of their options as it relates to returning invested capital to the original investors. This could include a sale, a merger or a recapitalization of the resort.
“The process is wide open,” says Karl Kapuscinski, GM at Mountain High. “It will be an open bidding situation. The company expects to gather proposals, narrow the field and then pick the option that’s best for its investors.”
The area, which regularly clocks half a million visits, is on pace for another record season, having already hosted over 130,00 at press time (December 15). Mountain High mainly draws on the Los Angeles market and is best known for its youth snowboard scene.
Included in the package is the recently-purchased Ski Sunrise, located a quarter mile from Mountain High. Management has plans to turn the small area into a place where families can learn to slide, whether on skis, a snowboard or in snowtubes. The area will be called Mountain High North.
There is no time schedule for the offering, but management is hoping to have it wrapped up by late spring, early summer 2005.
ASC Refinances $320 Million
American Skiing Company (ASC) completed its long-sought goal of refinancing its debt and stock obligations. First, ASC refinanced its existing resort senior credit facility and its 12 percent Senior Subordinated Notes (both due in 2006), which resulted in a new $230 million senior secured credit facility.
Second, in conjunction with the refinancing, the company has also exchanged its 10.5 percent Repriced Convertible Exchangeable Preferred Stock for junior subordinated debt due in 2012, and extended the maturity of its existing $18 million in junior subordinated notes to 2012. In all, the comprehensive refinancing involves more than $320 million in debt and preferred equity securities.
The bottom line is that ASC obtained prevailing (that is, lower) market interest rates, while also extending maturities associated with the refinanced securities by four to eight years.
Terms of the new facility also allow for increased reinvestment in the company’s resorts, so long as ASC achieves certain performance benchmarks.
Shortly after the refinancing, ASC announced its first quarter results, which reflected a net loss of $37.7 million, compared to $41.3 million during the same quarter last year. Total consolidated revenues, however, increased from $18.5 million in 2004 to $19.5 million for the first quarter in 2005.
Deer Valley Joins Ski Utah Interconnect
Deer Valley has signed on to participate in the Ski Utah Adventure Tour this season, which allows guests to ski six resorts in one day.
The guided tour, which has been in existence some 20 years, uses backcountry routes to ski between and through as many as six resorts on the same day. The price tag of $150 includes guide service, lift access, lunch, use of an avalanche receiver, transportation back to the point of origin and a finisher’s pin.
World Lift Ticket Survey Released
Snow Hunter has released its annual world lift ticket pricing survey, which compares pricing from over 200 ski resorts in 30 countries. To compare apples to apples, Snow Hunter took the list price of a six-day pass. The key findings this season include: the average lift ticket price around the world went up three percent, to $235.60; U.S. pricing continues to fall (relatively speaking) due to an exceptionally weak dollar, but the average U.S. ticket price is still 40 percent higher than the average European pass. Vail/Beaver Creek and Deer Valley have the highest ticket price in the world, both breaking the $500 mark.
To get the entire report, which also includes pricing for children, contact Snow Hunter at [email protected] or check out their website at www.dailysnow.com. The survey costs $95.
Intrawest Unveils Winter Park Village
Winter Park Resort’s plan for The Village at Winter Park Resort, unveiled in October, includes approximately 1,500 residential units, 42,000 square feet of commercial space, consolidated and expanded parking lots, and a variety of amenities. The aim is to create an authentic, human-scaled pedestrian village with maximum sun exposure. Build-out will take at least 15 years.
Intrawest will invest an estimated $70 million in the first phase, which encompasses two residential buildings with approximately 160 units, a three-level parking structure and all 42,000 square feet of commercial space. The company will also reclaim a stretch of the Fraser River, which flows through the village, and make it more accessible in the process.
Home sales are expected to begin in the fall of 2005 with construction slated for spring/summer of 2006. The first two residential buildings will be four stories at their tallest point and will step down to two stories. Completion of Phase 1 is expected for the 2008-09 winter season.
Among the project’s highlights:
- Intrawest is converting the Vintage Hotel adjacent to the resort to employee housing in 2006. A two-minute cabriolet ride to the village center will transport employees, and guests who park nearby in a new 1000-place lot.
- Another chairlift will transport guests to the mountain from the approximately 130 new condominiums and from an expanded day-skier parking lot .
Following Phase I, additional neighborhoods will be added as the market indicates.
New Urban Ski Area in Colorado?
A new ski area just 35 miles outside of Denver is poised to tackle the urban/ethnic market of the Colorado city, à la Mountain High. Called Squaw Pass, the ski area has been closed for 30 years but was purchased two years ago by businessman Gerald Petitt for $700,000. Since the purchase, Petitt has spent money upgrading snowmaking and is now waiting on county approval before moving forward on any further improvements.
Freeze on Ice
Freeze magazine will cease publication with its January 2005 issue, according to TransWorld Media (TWM).
In addition to the Freeze staff, TWM cut loose director of marketing and business development Mike Jaquet and vice president of marketing and sales Allen Crolius.
TWM said that Freeze was having difficulty hitting its circulation targets, in part because the magazine had a relatively narrow niche and little room to broaden its market without bumping up against larger stablemates Ski and Skiing magazines.
People
Justin Cobb has been promoted to associate publisher of Transworld Snowboarding.
New Hampshire saw a lot of personnel moves, starting with the departure of Ski New Hampshire’s international director, Joel Bourassa, to operate his own transportation company. . .Bonnie MacPherson is the new director of public relations for Booth Creek’s Loon, Waterville Valley and Cranmore. . .The Mount Washington Resort named Martha Wilson its new public relations manager. . .and Pat’s Peak hired Lori Cayouette as the new director of marketing.
Across the aisle, the Vermont Ski Areas Association named Parker Riehle as its VP and general counsel. . .Stowe Mountain Resort promoted Jeff Wise to the newly-created position of communications director.
Moving West, Peter Wynia is the new lodging operations director at Schweitzer Mountain.
At Big Mountain, Jeff Whiteside steps up to the plate as F&B manager.
Powdr Corporation promoted Jody Churich to director of marketing for its California resorts; Alpine Meadows, Boreal and Soda Springs.
In Alberta, Canada, Andrew Clarkas assumes the VP/GM role at Sunshine following Fred Bosinger’s retirement.
PistenBully Sells 2,000th Groomer
The folks at Mammoth Mountain, Calif., are the proud owners of a PistenBully Edge 2004, which is also the 2,000th snowcat manufactured in North America by PistenBully.
Supplier News
World Cup Supply, which distributes event and ski area supplies, launched a new website at www.worldcupsupply.com.
Technoalpin has a new service center in Park City. The address is 6440 North Business Park Loop Rd., Unit N.
Suunto, a manufacturer of sports instruments, has teamed up with the International Ski Federation to supply X-C competitors wristop computers that will transmit performance measurement data to the TV screen.
Stuart Knowles and Dave Schmidt have teamed up for the global launch of Himaya Sports Sun Protection. The sunscreen was available at retail outlets starting November ’04.
Ski rental software, Sports Rental, was granted the safety award by the Swiss Council for Accident Prevention, for its role in monitoring binding settings and inspections in rental equipment.
Athletic Lighting Company has changed its phone number to (770) 324-1110.
