Tamarack Clears Another Hurdle
The proposed Tamarack Resort in Idaho can now proceed with development this summer after receiving a 49-year lease of 2,100 acres from the Idaho Land Board. The Land Board is limited to leasing lands for a maximum of ten years, so the Idaho legislature stepped in and voted in favor of the extension. The area expects to install three lifts this summer and open to the public next season.
For more, see page 62.
Telluride Looks for Investor
Hideo “Joe” Morita, owner of Telluride Ski & Golf Company (Telski), and of Morita Properties, Inc., is seeking an investment partner or buyer for the resort. Morita has owned the company since 2001.
The possibility of a joint venture or outright sale are “just two of a number of potential options,” said Robert B. Stiles, managing director of Sonnenblick-Goldman, a San Francisco-based real estate investment banking firm that is advising Morita. “As the owner of a variety of business interests globally, Mr. Morita is in the process of rebalancing his portfolio.”
Bombardier Recreational Products For Sale
As part of a major recapitalization plan, Bombardier announced this spring its intention to divest non-core assets, including Bombardier Recreational Products, which produces its grooming vehicles and snowmobiles, among other things. At the same time it was announcing this move, Bombardier said that members of the Bombardier family “have expressed an interest in participating in the process as part of an eventual group of investors seeking to acquire the recreational products business.”
Hastening to reassure the ski area industry on this move, Chris Nyberg, v.p. international sales, said, “This is viewed by us here in Recreational Products as a good thing. Business will go on as it has.” He added that the Bombardier family “is very interested in joining with another partner to buy this group and carry on with business.”
Bombardier’s new business plan will now concentrate on the aerospace and transportation businesses which the company refers to as its core business. Ironically, the company was originally built around founder Bombardier’s inventions for over-snow travel.
An RFP is expected to be released on May 5 for interested parties and the sale price of the Recreational Products division is projected between $1 and $2 billion Canadian. A sale could be finalized as early as mid-summer.
Brodie Has Buyer
Brian Fairbank, CEO and president of Jiminy Peak, Mass., and his partner have found a possible buyer for Brodie Mountain Ski Resort. Originally, Fairbank’s company bought the resort three years ago with an eye toward development of the area’s 589 acres into a four-season destination complete with water park, hotel, restaurant, etc. However, investors were hard to find.
Pending permits, the new owners, Silverleaf Resorts, Inc., will build 332 timeshare units costing $41.8 million. The existing Brodie base lodge will continue to operate, and there are plans to expand tubing for next winter. In addition, there still exists the option of leasing land from Silverleaf for skiing, snowboarding if the market improves.
Ski Patrol Has New Union
The 400 members of the United Professional Ski Patrols of America (UPSPA) have joined the Communication Workers of America (CWA), forming CWA local 7781. The move follows the dissolution of the maritime workers’ union with which the UPSPA was previously affiliated.
According to Al Rosenthal, the patrol union president, the move strengthens the UPSPA. The CWA has 730,000 members, compared to the 4,000 members of the maritime group, and CWA includes other groups of health-care workers.
The patrollers especially like CWA’s “political movement,” Rosenthal told *SAM*. “One of our goals is to have a voice in state legislatures, especially regarding ski safety issues,” he said, and he indicated that the CWA’s size gives patrollers more clout. The patrollers’ interest in safety-related legislative issues focuses on Colorado and Utah, home to the six ski-area patrols that comprise the UPSPA: Steamboat, Breckenridge, Keystone, Aspen, Crested Butte and The Canyons.
Laurel Mountain For Sale
Despite a great winter, Laurel Mountain in Pennsylvania is up for sale. Owner George Mowl purchased the area five years ago and invested $1 million into a new lodge and $3 million into snowmaking. Subsequent warm winters hurt the resort owner’s ability to recoup money on his investments and, though good, this season was not good enough. Several interested parties are looking at the area.
Cross-Country Reader Poll Results
Cross country skiers from 39 states and provinces rated 211 ski areas, and this year’s winner of the Best XC Ski Resort Poll is Maplelag Resort in Michigan. The resorts were graded in seven areas, including staff service, food and beverage, lodge, trail grooming, family atmosphere, trail quality and scenery—and Maplelag took top honors in the first five categories. Rounding out the list were Montecito-Sequoia Nordic Ski Resort, Calif., Lone Mountain Ranch, Mont. (last year’s winner), Great Glen Trails, N.H., Lapland Lake XC Ski and Vacation Center, N.Y., Izaak Walton Inn, Mont., and Devil’s Thumb Ranch, Colo.
The poll is presented by Fischer Cross Country Skis and Sporthill Performance Clothing and conducted by RB Lohr and Company.
Crested Butte Forfeits Hotel to Lender
Crested Butte Mountain Resort has forfeited ownership of its 160-room Sheraton Hotel at the base of the mountain to New York-based CDC Mortgage Capital Inc. The resort continues to manage the hotel, but is no longer responsible for mortgage payments that, in the aftermath of 9/11, had become an increasing burden. Company representatives indicated that the hotel was planned as the cornerstone of a base village when it was built in 1993, but when the village failed to materialize, the hotel lacked the critical mass to survive on its own.
The hotel may yet become the cornerstone of a slopeside village of Mt. Crested Butte. Edward Calloway, one of Crested Butte’s principal owners, told *SAM* that redevelopment of the base area is still very much an important part of the resort’s future, citing the need to “modernize the resort and create excitement.” Resort CEO John Norton and town officials from Crested Butte have been visiting other resort towns to determine how the two entities can develop in a way that benefits both. “The idea began to develop that Mt. Crested Butte [as the resort’s base village is known] would be a bedroom community to the town of Crested Butte,” Calloway said. “We hope to reinforce what’s great about the town itself.”
Calloway credited Norton with helping to bring together the resort, along with its Mt. Crested Butte village, and the independent town of Crested Butte. “I sense that the community is beginning to come together in many ways,” Galloway said.
No Go for Powder Ridge Sale/Lease Agreement
The owner of Powder Ridge Ski Resort in Middletown, Conn., was hoping to sell the area to the town for $3.7 million and then lease it back. But Middletown’s Boards of Selectmen and Finance sidelined the action in mid-April after six months of debate, leaving owner Ken Leavitt few possibilities other than closing the area and selling the 278 acres to a developer.
Killington Faces Suit By Foreign Workers
If you rely on international workers during the winter season, beware of some of the pitfalls, as Killington is finding out. About 40 of the 200 international workers took issue with Killington withholding rent payments from their paychecks. Each week, Killington took $120 out of some employees’ wages to cover the $2,411 the ski area paid up front for their lodging. While Killington viewed the deduction as a loan repayment, some of the disgruntled workers are planning to sue based on the fact that state law limits employers in the tourism industry to withholding no more than $19.85 a week for lodging.
People
At Time4, Allen Crolius has been named vice president of sales for Transworld Media. . . Sarah Woodbury will take on the interactive editor-in-chief position at Mountain Sports Media.
This year’s recipients of the North American Snowsports Journalists Awards are: Jeannie Thoren with the Golden Quill award; Ginny Cochran with the Lifetime Achievement Award; and Chip Carey with the Bob Gillen Memorial Award.
In Maine, American Skiing Company named Christopher D. Livak the vice president of finance for Sunday River Ski Resort and Sugarloaf/USA. . . Cathy Ryle was promoted to vice president of lodging for the two resorts. Larry Kolkhorst has joined Sugarloaf/USA as conference sales manager.
Wisp Mountain, Md., named Hank Thiess as general manager and Randal Georges as food and beverage director.
The Teton Mountain Lodge, Wyo., has named Laura Cuddie director of sales and marketing and Shari Edwy becomes the Lodge’s national sales manager.
In Utah, Sundance named a new executive director, Raymond T. Grant.
At Alpine Meadows in California, general manager and president Kent Hoopingarner retired after 35 years in the industry. . . At Northstar-at-Tahoe and Sierra-at-Tahoe, Kate McDonald Brown was named destination sales manager. . . Also at Northstar, Garry Morgan was promoted to director of base area services.
Supplier Personnel
Walter Elander announced his resignation from the SE Group after nearly 17 years as vice president and a partner in the firm.
Partek Enterprises announced in February the addition of Steve Daly to its sales staff.
At Head USA, Robert Langlois became the new vice president of Head/Tyrolia Winter Sports.
Brian Brand, Elan’s snowboard product manager, has been promoted to worldwide snowboard manager.
Supplier News
Ski Racing International has merged with Inside Communications Inc.’s (ICI) VeloNews and Inside Triathlon. Ski Racing will move to ICI’s head office in Boulder, Colo. Ski Racing’s Publisher, Gary Black, Jr., will become vice-chairman of ICI and will continue to stay involved in Ski Racing. The magazine itself will be redesigned into a glossy magazine format starting with the August issue.
K2 Corp. consolidated its ski, snowboard, skate and bike divisions into a single business unit with one marketing, sales and customer service staff. The reorganization eliminated 38 jobs.
Mountain Sports Media, publishers of Ski and Skiing, retired its SnowTradeNews.com website. The site was also funded by Snowsports Industries Association. Both entities will cover industry news on their own websites. In the meantime, the director of the defunct website, Seth Masia, has launched his own news service called Snow Industry News (SIN). The news service will send out alerts and an accompanying website will host a variety of industry information, such as indemnification lists, trade show reports, editorials, etc. At presstime, the website was set to launch on May 1 under the address www.snowindustrynews.com.
Skiing magazine, under editor-in-chief Perkins Miller, has been nominated in the General Excellence category for magazines with a circulation of 250,000 to 500,000 by the American Society of Magazine Editors. The winners will be announced on May 7.
AMI News has changed its name to MountainNews Corporation to better reflect its mission and the services the company delivers to the mountain resort and travel industry.
Saftronics Inc. formed a strategic alliance to brand label ABB’s DCS400 product and market ABB’s DCS500 drive products in the US.
