Scranton, PA – Barely a week after it was learned that the local electric utility cut off power to Pennsylvania’s Snö Mountain, news outlets in the Scranton area are reporting that the ski resort’s owners have defaulted on a $5 million state loan.

Following a review of public documents, the Scranton Times Tribune has reported that Snö Mountain’s owners haven’t made a payment on the loan issued by the state Department of Community and Economic Development through its Machinery and Equipment Loan Fund in nearly a year, and that the resort owes over one and a half million dollars in unpaid bills. A significant portion of the money owed by Snö Mountain is in the form of unpaid taxes dating back to 2009.

The $5 million loan was issued in April 2009 with a seven-year term, and after making 15 payments the resort still owes $4.6 million. The ski area has issued public statements insisting that it will open for the 2011-12 winter season as planned and has pressed forward with a job fair today. Requests for comment about financial issues, however, met without response from the resort’s owners.

Founded in 1984 by Lackawanna County as Montage Mountain, the ski area was renamed Snö Mountain in 2006. It provides skiing and riding over 1,000 vertical feet with uphill transport provided by one quad chair, three triples, one double and two carpet lifts. Its lodge sits in an unusual mid-mountain location with easier skiing on the mountain’s upper half and more challenging terrain below.