Powderhorn ski area sold and under new management

When looking to buy a ski area, investors look for that diamond in the rough. An area that already hasn’t been developed too much, has potential to draw a lot of customers, and has room to go nowhere but up. I’m mean, why take the risk of investing if you don’t see any possible return right? Well one such deal might just have been struck.

This past August, Powderhorn ski area, located on the Grand Mesa outside of Grand Junction, CO, sold at auction for $1.4 million. The buyers were a coalition called Powderhorn Partners LLC, which includes former Vail Executive Andy Daly and real estate partners Tom and John Gart, of the Gart Companies. Powderhorn Partners got the ski area itself ($577,500) and a 700-acre development tract below the resort ($825,000) in separate groups at the auction. Other lots and properties in the base area were sold to other investors, which could also mean improvements, but not at a cost that new management would have to saddle.

Now this might already be old news to a lot of people in the industry, but let’s look at the possibilities.
The new owners hope that their capital pool will allow them to make improvements that the previous owners simply weren’t able to do. There are already talks of new lifts (a much need improvement industry wide), cross country trail expansion on top and for many departments (grooming, terrain parks, etc.) to get a little tweaking.

In 1993, Powderhorn sold to Marofuko for $6.25 million. It was sold again in 1999 to High West Group LLC. So in a day and age where inflation takes its toll, it’s amazing to see a ski area being bought for $4 million less than it was almost ten years ago.

The ski area currently brings in around 75,000 skier visits annually. But with such close proximity to Grand Junction and the improvements, that number is expected to climb.

It’s this blogger’s opinion that there is also much more potential that could be tapped. Grand Junction sits at the perfect crossroads of the western outdoor playground. But not too many people stop there. They continue on either to Moab or Telluride or up I-70. Why? They haven’t had a reason to stop until now. If Powderhorn were to undertake a mountain biking operation in the summer, many of those bikers could stop (at least as a stopover) on their way to other mountain biking Meccas.

Now this might seem ambitious, but with the Leitner-Poma factory located in Grand Junction, maybe someone would hatch a scheme to build a gondola from the suburb of Palisade up to the ski area. A long shot? Look at ski areas like Sandia Peak outside of Albuquerque, NM. With what was once the longest tram in the world, Sandia Tram alleviated the almost 1 hour drive from the city around the mountain. A tram construction would create jobs, and act as a magnet for skiers who would like that sort of fun access to a “hidden gem” ski area like Powderhorn.

Also, with the new owners who have connections to Vail Resorts, a pass deal agreement or ticket sale perk that gives purchasers of a Vail Resorts ticket a deal to Powderhorn (or vice versa) could entice skiers to make that unique trip up the mesa.

Only time will tell if the new management will take it upon itself to pursue such endeavors, but we can rest assured that the ski area is in good hands for now, no matter what improvements they choose.

By: Reed Clawson
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