POWDR resorts up for sale

S

Sbooker

Well-known member
www.centraloregondaily.com

POWDR selling Mt. Bachelor ski resort

POWDR announced Thursday it intends to sell Mt. Bachelor and other ski resorts in the U.S. and Canada. The sale will include the Sun Country Tours rafting business.
www.centraloregondaily.com www.centraloregondaily.com
Mt Bachelor and others for sale it seems.
Do these resorts make enough money that they will definitely continue to be ski hills? I've not been to Silver Star yet and want to do so. I best drop in for a day when I'm in Canada in January.
 
Sbooker said:
Do these resorts make enough money that they will definitely continue to be ski hills?
Click to expand...
Yes they do make money. Someone will buy them for sure. I know Eldora has been one of the best performing/growing resorts in the Powdr portfolio for the past several years.

Not sure if Powdr is going for a group sale or one-off sales for each. Would not be surprised to see Alterra or Vail go after Bachelor to lock in some Portland skiers to passes. Eldora is a wildcard as neither Alterra nor Vail can realistically buy it (would be opposed by the gov't as too much consolidation/monopoly like for front range Colo skiers). No idea for Silver Star. Not a top notch place/name, but...
 
Bend locals are probably celebrating this, maybe Killington locals too.
Sbooker said:
Do these resorts make enough money that they will definitely continue to be ski hills?
Click to expand...
I'm sure they do. Killington is the biggest ski area in the Northeast and I suspect both Vail and Alterra will be interested. With no base area shopping or real estate involved at Bachelor, I'd guess Alterra would be more interested than Vail, even though pre-POWDR I characterized Bachelor as "Vail of the Northwest" due to early adoption of high speed lifts and excellent long intermediate groomers.

Silver Star does have an on-hill lodging base, smaller than Big White and Sun Peaks but larger than Apex. I had no ideal POWDR owned Silver Star. At some point Big White and Silver Star had common Aussie ownership I thought.

Eldora is a local's hill, but the local population base is Boulder, which has been booming for decades. I'll defer to EMSC on that.

This seems weird. POWDR will be left with two high visibility areas, Snowbird and Copper, plus the small and very local Boreal and Soda Springs areas west of Tahoe.
 
POWDR Corp has found local buyers for Killington, which will remain on the Ikon Pass.
townlift.com

POWDR sells Killington Resort to local passholders - TownLift, Park City News

Park City-based POWDR also plans to sell Eldora, Mt. Bachelor and SilverStar as its business strategy evolves
townlift.com townlift.com

More commentary from Storm Skiing Journal:
www.stormskiing.com

POWDR to Sell Killington, Pico to Group of Locals; Seeks Sale of Bachelor, Eldora, Silver Star

POWDR to retain Snowbird, Copper, Woodward brand; Killington to return to independence after 40 years of conglomerate ownership; will remain on Ikon Pass
www.stormskiing.com www.stormskiing.com
 
Last edited:
Seems like some sort of major belt tightening going on at POWDR? Wonder if some changes coming down the road for Snowbird and Copper too?
 
jimk said:
Seems like some sort of major belt tightening going on at POWDR? Wonder if some changes coming down the road for Snowbird and Copper too?
Click to expand...
The tagline on the Powdr homepage is:

"WE FUEL A BALANCED LIFE FULL OF ADVENTURE​

POWDR is an Adventure Lifestyle Company® that inspires every human being with cool experiences in awesome places."

Powdr bought Woodward in 2011. While Woodward includes snow activities, it began in Pennsylvania in the 1970s with summer camps for skateboarding, in-line skating, BMX biking, gymnastics, cheerleading and action-sports video production. Copper is a 4-season destination resort fully engaged with Woodward and has been for a while.

Bachelor, Eldora, and Silver Star don't really fit in with the overall "adventure lifestyle" concept for assorted reasons.
 
The portfolio of Powdr has never really been that stable as the company evolved. Cumming stepped down as Powdr CEO in 2018 soon after his father died. There were other businesses that he needed time to pay attention to at that point.

Snowbird opened the alpine slide in 2003. Clearly for summer guests, not winter. That's an indication that moving away from snowsports as the mainstay for Powdr started quite a while ago. The Park City alpine slide opened in 1978. John Cumming founded Powdr in 1994 with the purchase of Park City (without Canyons). The initial buying spree of ski mountains continued in the west until 2003. The Killington/Pico purchase was in May 2007 and Alpine Meadows was sold in July 2007.

September 2003
www.deseret.com

Snowbird now has its own alpine slide

The instructions are simple: push the handle forward to go, pull back lightly to slow and give forth with a Herculean tug to stop. There wasn't too much tugging, but there was a whole lot of pushing going on Saturday as people introduced themselves for the first time to the new alpine slide at...
www.deseret.com www.deseret.com
 
Tony Crocker said:
Dick Bass still owned Snowbird then. He sold a majority interest to Ian Cumming in 2014.
Click to expand...
While Bass owned Snowbird, his intention was to build a 4-season destination resort. Although Powdr was technically not involved with the Snowbird purchase, presumably the concept was part of John Cumming's long term thinking in general.

From SAM, May 2014:
" . . .
Cumming has the deep financial pockets Snowbird needs for capital improvement projects, including a new restaurant and skier services building atop the aerial tram set to break ground this summer.

“This partnership will enable Snowbird to achieve more rapid growth and even greater benefits for our guests in keeping with our founding perspective and philosophy of providing a year-round destination mountain resort for the enhancement of body, mind, and spirit, with our ever-present emphasis on environmental protection and sensitivity,” said Richard D. Bass in a prepared statement.

“Partnering with the Cumming Family ensures a bright future for Snowbird,” added Snowbird CEO and president Bob Bonar, one of the first employees when Snowbird opened in 1971.
. . .

Cumming founded Powdr Corp. in 1994 with the purchase of Park City Mountain Resort, but Cumming’s son John currently runs the company. The families claim the Snowbird partnership does not involve Powdr. Snowbird’s current management team, led by Bob Bonar, Tom Jones and Jerry Giles, will stay in place. It’s unclear, however, what will happen in the future, as the 85-year-old Bass has been unable to live and work at Snowbird’s altitude, and his family has shown little interest in operating the resort without Dad in charge.
. . ."
 
The relationship between Powdr and Snowbird has been confusing since it was clear at the start that the purchase of Snowbird in 2014 had nothing to do with Powdr. Powdr is the operator of Snowbird, but not the sole owner.

August 22, 2024 (Oregon)
ktvz.com

POWDR puts Mt. Bachelor, two other resorts up for sale, is selling 2 Vermont ski areas to local investor group

(Update: Adding POWDR statement) Resort official says no immediate impact; co. seeks to 'balance ski business with new ventures' BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) -- Powdr is putting Mt. Bachelor and two of its other ski resorts in Colorado and British Columbia up for sale, while announcing it's sold two...
ktvz.com ktvz.com
 
Sbooker said:
Do these resorts make enough money that they will definitely continue to be ski hills?
Click to expand...
From the latest Storm Skiing Journal article (subscriber section) about the pending sale of Killington:

"Killington is an outsized presence. It is the busiest ski area in Vermont, in New England, and in the entire Eastern United States. The ski area, with Pico, likely accounts for between 18 and 25 percent of Vermont’s 4.1 million skier visits (2023-24), and between eight and 10 percent of the 9.5 million skier visits across the six-state New England region (2022-23)."
 
The recent Oregon Public Radio interview with Dan Cochrane and Chris Porter, provides a good sense of the local effort to buy Mt. Bachelor.

October 23, 2024 - radio interview with Dan Cochrane and Chris Porter
www.opb.org

Locals spearhead effort to buy Mt. Bachelor resort

This summer, the owner of Mt. Bachelor ski resort, POWDR Corp., announced plans to sell. Bend locals Chris Porter and Dan Cochrane are leading an effort to keep resort ownership local. They’ve incorporated as Mt. Bachelor Community Inc. and hope to attract both small and large-scale investors...
www.opb.org

Getting Mt. Bachelor Community Inc. off the ground didn't take long. $35,000 was the goal for a GoFundMe and reaching the goal wasn't difficult.

October 4, 2024
www.bendbulletin.com

Community drive to buy Mt. Bachelor exceeds early funding goal

The community-led drive to buy Mt. Bachelor ski area from Powdr Corp. continues to move forward.
www.bendbulletin.com www.bendbulletin.com

October 22, 2024
www.oregonlive.com

Local bid for Mt. Bachelor ski area has enthusiastic supporters. Now it just needs millions of dollars

The central Oregon resort’s out-of-state owners are looking for a buyer.
www.oregonlive.com www.oregonlive.com
" . . .
[Dan] Cochrane said his buyer group, called Mt. Bachelor Community Inc., believes the price point is $180 to $200 million.

JPMorgan Chase is meeting prospective buyers, but none has been chosen, said Powdr spokesperson Stacey Hutchinson. That gives the central Oregonians an indeterminate time to gather support and, more importantly, money.

Whoever buys Bachelor will hold the keys to central Oregon’s second-largest private employer. It employed 1,117 workers this year, up 3% from the prior year and 25% from 2022 in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to data from economic development nonprofit EDCO. St. Charles Health System is the region’s largest employer.
. . .

If they ended up buying the resort, Cochrane signaled they’d keep much of the current operating structure intact. He praised the management of current president and general manager John Merriman, who started last year.

“The mountain runs very efficiently, and there are opportunities to reinvest,” Cochrane said, noting several ski lifts need replacing.

Cochrane views his group as an underdog as larger industry players may be circling.

Mt. Bachelor Community Inc. is getting emails from across the U.S., he said, “some of them just in support and saying, ‘Go guys, we love what you’re doing.’”"
 
Fairly detailed article about the situation for the sale of Mt. Bachelor.

January 23, 2025
www.nytimes.com

Revenge of the Ski Bums

Devotees of Mt. Bachelor are putting together a bid to rescue the ski area — and their way of life — from the titans of the industry.
www.nytimes.com www.nytimes.com
 
MarzNC said:
Fairly detailed article about the situation for the sale of Mt. Bachelor.
Click to expand...

Unofficial Networks had a post that Alterra won the bidding war, but since deleted it:

1739202034085.png


But it was deleted (like much of their reporting should be) https://unofficialnetworks.com/2025/01/28/rumor-mill-swirls-around-mt-bachelor-potential-sale/


Community purchase would be nice, but can they afford the capital investment? Almost every HSDQuad lift will need to be replaced in the next decade: Mt. Bachelor was early to install these lifts, and they are all coming to the end of their useful lives.

I don't think GoFundMe will solve this issue.

However, a community purchase might reestablish Late Spring and Summer skiing - till July 4th again, since it benefits the entire Bachelor/Bend area. Like European resorts running glacier lifts as much as possible during spring, summer, and even early fall/October.

I doubt Powdr would want to sell to Vail, given Park City's history, but they are a business and should sell to the highest bidder. Why would they care about Bend Locals when they shut down spring/summer skiing at this stage? Screwed them once, why not again?
 
Not that I've actually tried to get any info, but I've been surprised at how little info is getting out about the Eldora sale. Part of that is it is being managed in the Park City Powdr HQ, not locally. I do know that a whole pile of potentials came through to kick the tires. Roughly one per week for 6-8 weeks starting in mid-Dec though most of Jan. I'm just hopeful it does NOT end up with ANY Nederland/public involvement. That scenario would end up as a disaster the longer time goes on IMO.
 
MarzNC said:
Fairly detailed article about the situation for the sale of Mt. Bachelor.

January 23, 2025
www.nytimes.com

Revenge of the Ski Bums

Devotees of Mt. Bachelor are putting together a bid to rescue the ski area — and their way of life — from the titans of the industry.
www.nytimes.com www.nytimes.com
Click to expand...
No mention of Alterra in the NY Times article.

". . .

Bidding Against the Giants​

It is unclear whether Mt. Bachelor Community, Inc. has a viable chance at overseeing that growth. Things are moving quickly. Others are making bids, though Powdr officials declined to name interested parties.

Mt. Bachelor Community Inc. believes there are at least two other potential suitors: Vail, the industry behemoth, and Mountain Capital Partners, which owns about 15 ski areas, mostly midsize ones in the West. Both companies declined to comment.

“Over the past few months, we’ve conducted due diligence and walk-throughs, and we are now accepting offers from selected parties,” said Stacey Hutchinson, a vice president of Powdr.

Mt. Bachelor Community Inc. is on the outside. It has not been granted a walk-through or access to the “data room” to conduct due diligence. Group members said they had meetings with Powdr’s brokers this fall, and that they believed that they had met every financial requirement. They sent an overnight letter directly to Powdr in December, they said, to reiterate their interest. They have heard nothing since.

“We have never been told that we are not a candidate, and we remain steadfast that there is an opportunity here,” Cochrane said.

The group said that it had secured multiple high-dollar investors, with ties to the area and tens of millions of dollars to spend, who hope to sell smaller shares to community members. It has powerful people, including Oregon’s two United States senators, vouching for the veracity of its bid and the desire for local ownership. It would like a chance to beat any other offer.

Mt. Bachelor Community, Inc. plans to submit a formal bid to Powdr any day now, probably in the neighborhood of $200 million. Will it be in time? Will it be enough? Will it be considered?
. . ."
 
There was a write-up/podcast with new Killington local owners - by Storm Journal?

They remarked on Powdr, saying the sale of Killington was between a local group and Alterra. Primarily, Alterra can see all the Ikon Pass 'network effects' / skier days. I am unsure how one of the Big Ones would not buy up Killington.

Also, on the podcast, Powdr wanted to close the lower stage of the Killington Gondola. The gondola cars were freezing shut, and Powdr did not feel its portal was important. That's ridiculous since it gives bragging rights having the greatest vertical drop in New England and/or Vermont.

Therefore, you cannot rule out a local group.

But this seems stupid:
The group said it had secured multiple high-dollar investors, with ties to the area and tens of millions of dollars to spend, who hope to sell smaller shares to community members.

It resembles Mad River Glen Co-Op, where you tie up $2k plus yearly spending. I'm not sure how liquid something like that is.
 
Last edited:
Harvey said:
Why do you think it was taken down?
Click to expand...

One could take down 60-80% of all Unofficial Networks and/or Snowbrains posts to restore some integrity and truth in Snow Country & Sports reporting. They never fact-check anything, copy and paste other internet lists without sanity checks, pay no attention to hallucinations in Gen AI results, and copy competitors' stories (Lift Blog is their favorite source). They run on clicks and views, so it does not matter.

However, if they post 'rumors' about a sale and identify Alterra as the undisclosed winner, that's a problem for some of its advertising revenue. And I am sure any legal letter could make it disappear.

Also, it could just be plain wrong.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top