Bear Valley, CA – After officials with the Stanislaus National Forest approved the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) and Environmental Assessment (EA) for Bear Valley’s master expansion plan, the California ski area’s owners set out to find a buyer for the resort.  Resort officials this week told the Stockton Record, however, that a pending deal to sell the resort has fallen through.

Greg Finch, the managing partner of Bear Valley Resorts, said in January that resort owners were seeking investors to provide the capital necessary to fund the resort’s planned expansion, which includes a new pedestrian village to be built upon private land adjacent to the current Bear Valley Lodge, with retail, dining and plans for up to 350 residential units, as well as the installation of a new 1.5-mile high-speed chairlift that would link the village at 7,100 feet of elevation to the ski area at Koala Rocks at 8,200 feet. Plans further called for several new ski runs for all abilities returning to the village, employee housing and mountain top dining. An outdoor amphitheater for summer activities is proposed next to the base terminal of the Village Lift.

One unnamed prospective buyer signed a purchase contract in June. What Finch described as “complications” involving several village properties delayed negotiations until they simply ran out of time. He did not elaborate.

“Given the fact that it is September and there are many moving parts to this transaction, it is not feasible for a team to take ownership of the resort now and effectively prepare for the 2013-14 winter season,” Finch, president of Toronto, Canada-based Dundee Resort Development, told the Record.

As a result Dundee, which also owns Arapahoe Basin ski resort and numerous resort residential properties in Colorado, will continue to operate Bear Valley ski area this winter as they search for another buyer. A job fair to hire an estimated 200 winter seasonal employees has been scheduled for next month.