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The Doctor Will See You Now - Bob Fries, 'M.D.' Set To Operate Again

By Craig Altschul
July 09, 2007

Fries is on the job this summer at his latest rehabilitation project, Ragged Mountain, N.H., a struggling 47-year-old family-oriented "resort" about 90 minutes from Boston.

"Ragged Mountain offers a good opportunity for development into a productive resort," Fries said, "largely because it is completely unspoiled. It's a beautiful, scenic area, but there are virtually no condominiums, lodges, or anything else to get in the way of starting fresh."

Fries began his career with Tommy Corcoran at Waterville Valley, first as controller and for 19 years as the resort's general manager. That probably was his Med School. He left to run Breckenridge, but was "sold out" in an ownership transfer.

The doctoring began in earnest when he jumped in to right the ship at the Olympic Region Development Authority (ORDA) after a near-scandal had displaced management there. Intrawest, then the bright, new kid on the block, came calling less than a year later asking him to take over their Stratton Mountain acquisition in Vermont. "How could I refuse that one?"

Making the long story short, he did some interim consulting after Stratton as well as running the Manchester and the Mountains Chamber of Commerce (during its hottest time as a retail outlet center). One of his consulting assignments was to advise the Vermont Land Trust on how venerable little Bolton Valley Resort (then in bankruptcy) could possibly operate at a reasonable level. They also were concerned about how the acreage could be saved from splitting into parcels.

"I looked it all over and decided to buy it myself," he said. That was five seasons ago. Doug Nedde and Larry Williams, Burlington area real estate developers, became involved early on with Fries, later as partners, and bought his share of the resort this past spring.

His prescriptions worked. Bolton Valley is healthy again, a player in the market, and a much-improved product has the resort poised at just the right crossroads. Early season pass sales are reportedly up by 40 percent for next season. Fries said Bolton would have turned the profit corner this year without the weather problems that saw the snow piling up only after mid-February. It will be profitable with a normal winter.

A unique innovation Fries brought to Bolton is The Ponds, a stunning Adirondack-style wedding, conference, and event facility. Other places set up tents, but as Fries puts it, "when a bride walks in and sees this in the Bolton Valley setting, the sale is easy." The wedding business is profitable and bookings are strong. Adding night skiing served a good niche as well.

The Vermont Ski Areas Association presented Fries with its Industry Achievement Award as a send-off last month. "Get the award title right," he kids. "It's not yet Lifetime Achievement. But, that was really nice and I appreciated receiving the award. I liked living and working in Vermont and especially knowing the players in the industry," he said.

Moving right along as Fries dropped off another "change of address" slip at the post office, we found him settling in at Ragged Mountain last week.

Industry veteran Phil Gravink led him to the attention of RMR-Pacific, the new owners of Ragged Mountain. The new owners are an affiliate of The Pacific Group, Salt Lake City area developers, newbies to running ski resorts, but coming to the east with decades of experience in resort real estate development, mostly high end.

They purchased the 1,650-acre resort (200 acre ski area and 18-hole golf course) after Ragged's previous owners, brothers Al and Walter Endriunas, defaulted on a $5 million loan to begin expansion plans.

"The ski area has quite a few infrastructure and deferred maintenance issues that we're jumping in on this summer with projects totaling about $2 million," Fries said. Pinpointing the future market targets is high on the agenda, but like Bolton, it's an ideal set-up for families.

He indicated the expansion build-out, referred to in New Hampshire media as a 10-year effort, "is on a faster track than that. We're already doing tests to determine potential major improvements as we plan to redevelop the golf course." The year-round staff was down to four people, "but we're starting the ramping up process right now."

There's no point in talking about the future of New England skiing without discussing the weather, is there?

"I did an interview on Vermont Public Radio at the height of the snow problem last winter," he said. "They were clearly ready to blame global warming for what was happening. I told them the bad winter was due to El Nino conditions and I didn't think it had anything to do with global warning.

"I look at the weather thing through New England eyes, of course," he says. "I suspect we'll have more normal winters coming up. We have a couple of decades at least."

Fries is convinced there is a place for the small to medium resort to survive, and perhaps thrive.

"The right location and being able to fill a niche in the market is important," he says, reminding that there was a time not long ago when it looked like the industry was going to be gobbled up among just a few conglomerates. But, perhaps it has come full circle.

"That's all changed. The industry has dipped from a high of 1,400 ski areas to about 500 today, so the pie is just split among fewer players. REITS are playing a role through financing and leasebacks. I'd predict that even Stowe will eventually be sold. AIG doesn't need to run a ski resort."

The prognosis for Ragged Mountain is good. Give it a few years and call Bob Fries, M.D. for an appointment.

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	Ron, I thought you would get a kick out of this.. Peter
	Posted by: Ron Roberts | August 4, 2007 07:08 AM