Is Killington for sale?

[GlacierBoy]

What if Win Smith - who closed on the sale of Sugarbush to Aspen / IKON in January 2020 just before COVID ended the season - put together a Buyer's team with committed funding from his old employer Merrill Lynch/BofA. to bid on Killington ?

[newpylong1]

K does not fit into PGRI's target resort. Plus if you're looking for capital improvements you don't want them as the owner. They are a really good operator and provide a ton of local autonomy but they are pretty tight as far as the pocketbook.

Win Smith wants to ski every day, he doesn't want anything to do with owning a ski area.

The two that would spend money are Vail and Boyne. I don't know if Vail would pass the anti trust sniff test but then again the state hasn't seem to care this far. I would want Boyne out of all the possible owners.

I am skeptical of any sale, but things were "off" last season and it wasn't just the poor winter.

[GMCrra]

Ok I’ll spill the beans. Disney is buying K to make the village part of their vacation club. Is it April 1st?

But I think K has sold off the base camp land without the previous royalty deal that was to fund bear base lodge Reno. And they sold off 7 acres along Great Eastern recently. And Great Gulf doesn’t appear to have filed act 250 changes yet, maybe due to the streamlined Act 250 revisions not passing the VT legislature. Seems odd to me when there are TIF deadlines approaching for tax guarantees to the town.

[Skid Mark]

Since this BS topic isn't going away, what would be a reasonable price for our beloved Killington?

[GlenPLake]

Since this BS topic isn't going away, what would be a reasonable price for our beloved Killington?

Not a lot of comps in the area

Jay Peak recently sold for $76 million, I would guess double that, or maybe more?

[daytripper]

Sugarbush sold a few years ago, what did that go for?

[GlacierBoy]

Win Smith is about 75 now.

Here's his rationale for selling Sugarbush in 2019

"Terms of the deal are confidential. Smith and investors bought Sugarbush in 2001 from the American Skiing Co.

He said the recent acquisition of Peak Resorts by Vail Resorts was “the tipping point” in deciding to sell. That deal closed in September and allowed the company to offer a large number of resorts to season pass holders.

“They’re damned good for the consumer,” Smith said in an interview Wednesday, noting it was difficult to compete offering a season pass at one place, Sugarbush, for about the same price as passes that offer access to multiple resorts.

https://vtdigger.org/2019/11/13/sugarbu ... rado-firm/

Win's Letter to the community announcing the Sale - with a picture of him opening the pond ski
in 2017 carrying a dog !

https://vtskiandride.com/sugarbush-owne ... en-letter/

[Downdraft]

Sugarbush sold a few years ago, what did that go for?

Private sale/company so prob will never know exactly.

So many factors would go into a sale price of Killington. Would be impossible to factor them all in since many are unknown except to people with NDAs and lawyers. If I threw a dart, $125m

[Low Rider]

Win Smith is about 75 now.

Here's his rationale for selling Sugarbush in 2019

"Terms of the deal are confidential. Smith and investors bought Sugarbush in 2001 from the American Skiing Co.

He said the recent acquisition of Peak Resorts by Vail Resorts was “the tipping point” in deciding to sell. That deal closed in September and allowed the company to offer a large number of resorts to season pass holders.

“They’re damned good for the consumer,” Smith said in an interview Wednesday, noting it was difficult to compete offering a season pass at one place, Sugarbush, for about the same price as passes that offer access to multiple resorts.

https://vtdigger.org/2019/11/13/sugarbu ... rado-firm/

Win's Letter to the community announcing the Sale - with a picture of him opening the pond ski
in 2017 carrying a dog !

https://vtskiandride.com/sugarbush-owne ... en-letter/

There is some truth in his logic. If we were not largely tied to Killington with property, I’m not 100% sure I’d choose here as our home mountain. The reciprocal benefits are pretty nice for taking a trip or mixing it up elsewhere for a weekend. Instead we get the ikon crowds but not the ikon benefit without paying a pretty hefty upgrade in pass pricing (and even then, it is a lesser ikon)

[Leaddog]

Warren Buffet has signed papers to acquire Killington and turn it into a private ski club…. So long Superstar spring:(

[Low Rider]

Warren Buffet has signed papers to acquire Killington and turn it into a private ski club…. So long Superstar spring:(

Plans were leaked showing a gondola connecting Kilington and the Hermitage Club.

[GSKI]

Warren Buffet has signed papers to acquire Killington and turn it into a private ski club…. So long Superstar spring

NOPE! The trails are on national forest land so that is not gonna happen. I heard that Vail is taking over but will offer a limited # of walk up passes for the general public to skirt the rule about ski trails located on national forest land excluding the public. Killington will essentially become a private resort for those that can afford the proposed $1,335,214 initial membership fee and $387,535 a year dues. I expect a lot of large corporations will snap up the memberships to offer uncrowded skiing to their clients. This is a sad time for Killington regulars.

[rogman]

Yagoo Valley, Win Smith, now this? Seriously, the troll quality here sucks balls. I’m willing to settle for a plausible lie; but JHC, this sh*t is pathetic.

[Leaddog]

Yagoo Valley, Win Smith, now this? Seriously, the troll quality here sucks balls. I’m willing to settle for a plausible lie; but JHC, this sh*t is pathetic.

Lol, not as pathetic as Killy selling out to Warren Buffet… it’s a sad sad time for killington, no more superstar spring, and this year will be the final World Cup (due to the mountain turning private) :( guess I’ll have to ski at mad river… atleast I’ll be away from all the illiterate snowboarders, so that’s a plus

[Low Rider]

Yagoo Valley, Win Smith, now this? Seriously, the troll quality here sucks balls. I’m willing to settle for a plausible lie; but JHC, this sh*t is pathetic.

Ha! I'm skeptical of any sale discussion as real, but since the subject is out there, it is fun to discuss what could be real possibilities as well as pose funny scenarios that obviously would never happen.

We will all wait and see if it is real or not and I suspect we would know before ski season (but who knows - i suppose there is not a deadline on an announcement)