Mesa, CO – Alabama-based auctioneer J.P. King Auction Co. reports that the top bidder of Thursday’s auction of Powderhorn Ski Resort in Mesa, Colo., is a corporation formed by former Vail Resorts executive Andy Daly and members of Colorado’s Gart family.
Sold at absolute auction for $1.4 million due to the retirement of its owner, the successful bidders obtained auction Parcel 1, which consists of the 1,600 vertical foot ski resort’s four lifts, day lodge with the Sunset Grille bar and restaurant, parking lots, office, two maintenance shops, rolling stock and retail shop with inventory. Their purchase also included auction Parcel 6, a 700-acre development tract below the existing ski area to the south.
Over the years, Daly has held top management positions at Beaver Creek, owned by Vail Resorts before leaving the company in 2001, as well as at Copper Mountain in Summit County and Eldora Mountain ski area near Boulder. He was the CEO of Vail Associates before the company became Vail Resorts. Daly first entered the ski industry in 1970 at Aspen Highlands.
Ken and Tom Gart, whom Daly described as “real estate partners,” are members of family behind the Colorado-based sports retailing giant Gart Brothers, sold in recent years to Sports Authority. In 2010 Vail Resorts bought Gart’s remaining shares in Specialty Sports Venture, a retail partnership first formed between the two firms.
“We really believe Powderhorn is a wonderful gem that has been undercapitalized for a number of years. We want to bring back skiing expertise and capital,” Daly told the Denver Post before adding that Powderhorn is one of the few Colorado resorts that he hasn’t yet actually skied.
Daly said that initial plans call for minor improvements to Powderhorn’s lifts and snowmaking, as well as a new snow tubing park before the start of the 2011-12 ski and snowboard season.
Other purchasers snapped up Parcels 2 through 5, which included various development lots and the Wildewood Inn. Together all of the parcels generated just over $2 million in sales.