Saddleback to Reopen

[freeski]

I thought something was happening when they put their main lift up for sale this summer. Mountain been for sale since last year, but not the real estate around it. I hope they can get financing.

from their facebook page:

To our wonderful Saddleback family we have some news we want to share with you:

Over the past couple of years it has been more and more apparent that in order for Saddleback Mountain to be sustainable the Rangeley Double Chair has to be replaced by a fixed grip quad similar to the South Branch and Kennebago Lifts. This will more than double the number of skiers per hour that can be transported up the mountain.

We have spent the past few years looking for funding; a total of $3,000,000 is needed for the new lift. At this moment, we are still waiting for a yes or no from three different lenders. In order to have the lift installed for the 2015-2016 season we need to place the order within the next two weeks. We have made the decision not to run the current Rangeley Chair for another season.

The lodge will continue to host weddings, functions and limited food and beverage offerings. If you have already purchased season tickets they will be refunded at a later date if we do not open on schedule. A copy of the press release is going out later this morning is included below.

Our main purpose for making this announcement now is to ask all of you - if you can recommend a good resource for obtaining financing in short order for the lift in case our current resources do not come through. If you have a viable option please give us a call or send us an email. Otherwise have a great summer and we hope to see you this winter or this fall at Fall Festival and Oktoberfest! We will keep you posted as to our progress.

Thank you very much for your continued support


The Berry Family

[Highway Star]

Did not see that coming.










.........wait a sec....no, I totally saw that coming.

[freeski]

The good news is Saddleback will be open this winter. The bad news is it will be a restaurant. Not having to run lifts and make snow will save a lot of money. The condo owners must be pretty happy about this. It will be nice to drive 3 or 4 hours to eat out and I guess there is ice fishing near by. Congratulations to those who believed in the Berry's.

[deadheadskier]

The good news is Saddleback will be open this winter. The bad news is it will be a restaurant. Not having to run lifts and make snow will save a lot of money. The condo owners must be pretty happy about this. It will be nice to drive 3 or 4 hours to eat out and I guess there is ice fishing near by. Congratulations to those who believed in the Berry's.

Link/source of this information?

[freeski]

First, the deadline has past.
Second, http://www.sugarloaftoday.com/chat/view ... &start=120" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Big Bob]

Article today in the Portland Press Herald

http://www.pressherald.com/2015/08/30/a ... addleback/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[SnoBrdr]

I thought something was happening when they put their main lift up for sale this summer. Mountain been for sale since last year, but not the real estate around it. I hope they can get financing.

from their facebook page:

To our wonderful Saddleback family we have some news we want to share with you:

Over the past couple of years it has been more and more apparent that in order for Saddleback Mountain to be sustainable the Rangeley Double Chair has to be replaced by a fixed grip quad similar to the South Branch and Kennebago Lifts. This will more than double the number of skiers per hour that can be transported up the mountain.

We have spent the past few years looking for funding; a total of $3,000,000 is needed for the new lift. At this moment, we are still waiting for a yes or no from three different lenders. In order to have the lift installed for the 2015-2016 season we need to place the order within the next two weeks. We have made the decision not to run the current Rangeley Chair for another season.

The lodge will continue to host weddings, functions and limited food and beverage offerings. If you have already purchased season tickets they will be refunded at a later date if we do not open on schedule. A copy of the press release is going out later this morning is included below.

Our main purpose for making this announcement now is to ask all of you - if you can recommend a good resource for obtaining financing in short order for the lift in case our current resources do not come through. If you have a viable option please give us a call or send us an email. Otherwise have a great summer and we hope to see you this winter or this fall at Fall Festival and Oktoberfest! We will keep you posted as to our progress.

Thank you very much for your continued support


The Berry Family

Amazing that the State of Maine doesn't have a Economic Development program to lend them the $$.

Just like K has. Oh wait K steals the money to waste it on the General Fund.

But seriously, my state, RI has such a program altho we did just get burned for $78 million on it.

[Highway Star]

Check out this map.......seriously? We should all know by now to be leary when a mountain puts out a map with lifts drawn randomly all over the place.



Their big mistake was upgrading the T-bar to quad, before the ancient double chair in the main base area.

[RENO]

What they were proposing a few years ago to do with that area by making it the biggest in the East in the future was beyond ridiculous. Everybody knew it wasn't happening. Takes a miracle to just get approval for 1 lift in the East. The Balsam's plan in NH will fail also as well as the Belleayre plan in NY. The Belleayre plan was monstrous a few years ago and shrinking with every modification since. It's about a quarter of what the initial plan was and still getting shredded. These megaresorts just will not fly in the East (even if Vail takes over them! )

[freeski]

Still no word on a buyer although there is reported interest. It's too bad the Berrys were not able to pull this off and you have to give them credit for trying. Not many families have the courage to buy and invest in a ski area these day. Something will happen up there. If not this will be the largest ski area in the east to open and then close. There have been a few larger ones that construction was started on and never opened.

Below is from Saddleback about a week ago. (I think it's from the mountain)

Latest Update: At this point putting in a lift for this season is off the table. The options we are still pursuing are as follows:
1. 4 separate buyers looking at purchasing the resort and operating this season with the current lift configuration.
2. 1 buyer looking to purchase the resort in the spring
3. A limited operation for the 2015-2016 season if option 1 doesn’t materialize.
Our goal is to have a clear future by the first week in October, so that if none of the operational options pan out we can allow our customers to look at other options for the 2015-2016 season

[freeski]

Rumor that Peak Resorts, owners of Attitash, Wildcat, Mt Snow and 8 other resorts is in final negotiations to buy Saddleback and may open in January. Hope this is true.

http://www.peakresorts.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[spanky]

There are rumors that Peak Resorts has been sniffing around Magic as well...
http://www.tetongravity.com/forums/show ... ost4587754" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

And info on their recent $15 million credit line:
http://www.bizjournals.com/stlouis/blog ... e-for.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[rogman]

15 million line of credit? For a company as large as Peak that doesn't sound like the basis for going on a shopping spree. Sounds more like operating capital for dealing with cash flow issues. It's a lot easier to secure a line of credit when you don't need it. They may well be in the market, but I sincerely doubt that they will secure it with that.

[brownman]

Fwiw...
Peak enjoys strong EB-5 investor relations. They have a backlog of willing participants.
As an example, the Mt Snow snowmaking project funding is primarily EB-5.

Wouldn't take a lot of leverage for Peak to shore up Saddleback.
Their financial performance numbers have been consistent.

Would be a shame to see Saddleback overgrown into a thicket

[freeski]

At this point you could buy Saddleback with $15m three times over. I think the family is trying to hold on to as much land around the resort to recoup losses / make money. This could be one of the sticking points. Yes, don't need any more over grown... If a large area like Saddleback went under it would not speak well for the NE ski industry.