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Something In The Air? Here's The Rest Of The Story

By Craig Altschul
August 03, 2007

But, we can report today there are no visible signs of trouble in the deal, presumably just dotting and crossing legal "i's and t's." However, the clock toward snowfall is ticking.

"This is not a simple transaction, but from what we know on the Kettler side, everything is still progressing," Hidden Valley's Keith James told The Industry Report this week. James added that the resort is proceeding toward the season as normally as possible, but conceded that everyone involved is "well aware of the calendar."

The Buncher Company is a privately held Pittsburgh firm that has earned its reputation in the industrial, not hospitality, world. The Hidden Valley purchase announcement was made June 29. It appeared to be a "no brainer," James says, as the company already owned 800 acres of adjacent property it plans to develop as a gated golf community. Buncher's Hampton Inn & Suites is soon to open in downtown Pittsburgh, so the hospitality world is clearly in Buncher's plans.

There are several intriguing factors in this deal. Hidden Valley is three miles as the crow flies from Seven Springs, the largest resort in Pennsylvania. Together, the pair make a formidable statement as a major mountain resort destination area. (The odds of a connection between the two ski mountains are remote, however.) Neither new owner has ski resort experience.

"Seven Springs has new owners, too, as of last year, in the Nutting family," James notes. "Key players in both companies are avid skiers, so the anticipation about the synergy brought by new blood at both resorts sets up some pretty exciting scenarios." The Nuttings own 39 newspapers and are part owners of the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Moving right along: San Francisco-based JMA Ventures, LLC closed on its purchase of Alpine Meadows resort last week. This is JMA's second venture into snowsports, having purchased nearby Homewood Resort in 2005.

JMA is a real estate investment firm with a portfolio that includes the famous Ghiradelli Square in San Francisco. Alpine Meadows had been owned by Powdr Corp. of Park City, Utah, for the past 13 years. (Just to confuse things more, Powdr purchased Killington from the decomposed American Skiing Company right after this deal went down, but still owns Boreal and Soda Springs.) JMA is partially capitalized by ARBOR, another REIT, and manages over $800 million in projects.

Spokespeople for the resort and new owners won't speculate on the future yet, but have acknowledged plans to at least link marketing efforts.

Here's news about a resort apparently not for sale: Snowshoe, West Virginia. VP and GM Bill Rock has apparently so impressed Intrawest's relatively new owners that the rumored sale of that property is off the table. Rock will rock on, but now with plenty of authority as president/COO.

Speculation has been fairly rife ever since Intrawest Corp. was acquired by the Fortress Investment Group last year that its interest was not focused on the eastern United States. That led to some understandable jitters at Snowshoe.

But, when Intrawest President/CEO Alex Waslilov and CFO Mike Forsayeth dropped in for a "town hall-style" chat with Snowshoe employees Wednesday, the "For Sale" sign was taken down if it had indeed been up. Rock's appointment was discussed, as was an internal restructuring to streamline decision-making. Wasilov told employees that Intrawest is not selling Snowshoe.

Wasilov called Rock "an excellent leader, and has proven such during his time at Snowshoe." That, coupled with Intrawest's increased confidence in Snowshoe after its best financial showing ever during the past winter season, have led to the "green light" for Rock to move forward on "positive expansion and improvements."

Still, there are some knowledgeable sources in the industry who have told The Industry Report that all of the Intrawest eastern properties might well be had for the right price and Snowshoe is no exception. Key words here: "right price." Intrawest's other eastern U.S. resorts are Stratton Mt., Vt., and Mountain Creek, N.J.

Finally (for those of you keeping score at home): The Industry Report has gleaned there still may be more shoes to drop in the matter of Talisker Corporation's pick-off of The Canyons in Utah. Talisker owns Deer Valley Resort, a snowball's toss away.

The Snow Industry Letter reported this week that Vail claims it bid higher and Wolf Mountain (previous owners) say they had the right to sign-off on the deal. Both claims are already in litigation. But we are hearing there could be another upset and interested party such as the parent company of The Canyon's next door neighbor on the other side. Don't touch that dial.

On the "watch list:" Well, there's Waterville Valley and Cranmore out there in N.H. Former ski industry player Les Otten, who was left out in the cold on the Maine sales, has coins in his pocket and still may be itching to play in the ski area slot machines. Will there be new names on more corporate office doors?

Stick with us. We'll keep you posted with in-depth reports whenever and wherever mountain resort news breaks (or even threatens to break).

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