SAM Magazine—Burke, Vt., May 6, 2025—The Bear Den Partners ownership group closed on its purchase of Burke Mountain Resort on Friday, May 2. The resort has been in receivership since 2016, and the sale was allowed to go through following the approval by the overseeing Florida judge for the group’s $11.5 million bid. 

Members of the new group addressed media and members of the local community during a press conference today, saying it was a four-year process to put the plan and the people together to buy the resort.

“It's been a long four years wandering in the wilderness, trying to find a way through the receiver,” said Jon Schaefer, principal operator of Bear Den Partners and owner of Berkshire East Resort, Mass., and Catamount Ski Area, N.Y. “We figured it out this winter and there's been a lot of work … for a place that was really ripe for a sale.” He added that there’s a lot of opportunity at Burke and complimented the community, saying, “this is really a community effort.”

Part of that community is Burke Mountain Academy, a specialized sports school for alpine ski racers that trains at Burke Mountain. As the ski area went through several owners and questionable financial stability, it presented challenges for the academy. Head of school Willy Booker, who is also a partner in the new ownership group, said having Burke Mountain as a training venue has “been a been a big question mark. It has been the biggest risk for our school and the biggest point of potential instability for our school since day one.”

Now, with stable owners in place who are well capitalized, “putting that to rest is just a massive relief for our entire community,” said Booker.

The group’s stated first order of business is to upgrade and expand the ski area’s snowmaking system. Schaefer said the on-mountain infrastructure is “in pretty exceptional shape, and the water withdrawal permit has a pretty high threshold. So, we just need to boost the power in the snowmaking system.” New pumps were mentioned as part of that effort, with the goal of ultimately tripling the system’s capacity for the 2025-26 season.

Snowmaking, said Schaefer, will be Burke Mountain’s biggest marketing tool, as well.

Bear Den Partners principal investor Ken Graham agreed. “Improving the product here is step one on marketing,” he said. “It's not about what you say. It's about what you do. We're gonna deliver on this snowmaking and the other improvements.”

As far as future growth is concerned, Graham said, “We have to prove ourselves to the broader community. I think we'll get some trial this coming year, but we can substantially grow skier visits, and so that's a piece of the equation. And then we're certainly looking aggressively at the year-round component, and then collaborating and partnering with Kingdom Trails and keeping the needs of the town in mind. There's a lot we can do—camping offerings and so forth—to make this a year-round resort.”

A major component of future success is the Burke Mountain Hotel and Conference Center, which opened in 2016. Burke Mountain general manager Kevin Mack said the hotel was “a game-changer” for the resort, and has been successful, but there’s opportunity to improve on that success. “It's no doubt one of the reasons why this team is here,” said Mack. “Absent a hotel, this is a very different resort.”

Will the group create a multi-mountain season pass that includes Burke, Berkshire East, and Catamount? Schaefer didn’t dismiss the idea. “I haven't quite gotten there, but it's pretty logical that people will be able to ski multiple mountains on their pass,” he said.