Sunlight Ski Resort is SOLD!! What next, a private mountain maybe?

by mike

Well it looks like the ski world has another update this weekend as Sunlight Ski Mountain is sold to a private developer. The ski resort has been on the market for a reported $50 million, and the final purchase price has not been disclosed.

It makes sense, in a sad way, that this resort would be for sale. I skied Sunlight once years ago and remember it being a small family based destination. I was skiing with a friend whose parents had bought a condo there years and years ago. She told me stories about learning to ski with her sister at that resort, where the short runs didn’t matter because it was all about family. I think her parents still keep their condo, that they bought for almost nothing and they try to all get together a couple times a year at this old style resort.

It was about history, now it is about the future. While I am not sure which is better (so please comment and share your view point) I do think this will be interesting to watch. Will the locals stay? Will property values go up and they will sell? Is it possible this will become a private gated community and ski mountain (can you say Yellowstone Club)? Unlike Bachelor Gulch, which allows homeowners to drift over to bigger skiing in Beaver Creek this mountain is all there is.

Only time will tell, but share your comments now.

Sunlight Mountain Resort to be sold to development company

GLENWOOD SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) — Sunlight Mountain Resort has agreed to be sold to a Florida development company, general manager Tom Jankovsky said Saturday.

The sale of the privately owned ski area to Exquisite Development, based in Destin, Fla., is contingent upon winning approval from Garfield County for development of residential units at the base of the resort, he said.

Jankovsky said that could mean the sale might not be completed for a couple of years.

The sale price was not disclosed. The resort had an asking price of $50 million when it went up for sale last fall.

Sunlight officials said money from development at the base is necessary to pay for upgrades to outdated lifts, snowmaking, and to upgrade the base of the mountain.

“Whether there is climate change or not, just to give us the stability, the snowmaking is really important,” Jankovsky said. “It’s been a while since we’ve had anything up here happen. It’s time. Our infrastructure’s getting old. Something has to happen.”

Jankovsky said the buyer plans to keep the existing Sunlight management team and has expressed interest in keeping Sunlight an affordable spot for local skiers.

He said it was too early to know how much residential development the buyers may pursue. An existing master plan calls for 780 homes, but it hasn’t been subject to county review.

Sunlight is marking its 40th anniversary this year.

Sunlight is owned by the Colorado corporation Sunlight Inc., which has about three dozen shareholders. Two principal investors are Leonard Lorentson, a manufacturer living in Indiana, and Michael Bodnar, former chief executive officer of the Shoney’s restaurant chain. Both own about a third of the company.

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