Donnelly, ID – Skiing and snowboarding is one step closer to returning to Idaho’s shuttered Tamarack Resort. Members of the Tamarack Municipal Association, a homeowners group, announced Tuesday that they have reached an agreement with the resort’s majority owner, Jean-Pierre Boespflug, to operate lifts, groomers and other equipment necessary to provide skiing for the first time at the resort since March 2009.

The group hopes to offer skiing and riding by Christmas, but it the plan still needs approval of the bankruptcy court hearing claims of creditors against Tamarack, which has defaulted on a $250 million construction loan. They also need the go-ahead from the Idaho Land Board as the resort operates on 2,124 acres of state-owned land.

The Tamarack Municipal Association plan calls for operations four days a week, Thursday through Sunday, with five lifts running that would primarily serve the resort’s West Mountain terrain. The proposal calls for hiring 65 people in preparation for a Dec. 20 opening. The leasing unit of Bank of America is litigating to repossess two other chairlifts.

Other litigation connected with Tamarack began this week in 4th District Court in Boise to determine the priority of creditors who will receive Tamarack’s assets.

Earlier attempts by homeowners to operate the ski resort last winter failed due to opposition by creditors to terms imposed by a potential Mexican financier.

Salt Lake City-based Pelorus Group also last month entered an undisclosed bid to purchase Tamarack. The group already purchased the resort’s conference center in July.