Keeping it local
Town of Nederland puts in bid to buy Eldora ski area from corporate owner

On any given winter weekend, the I-70 corridor becomes bumper-to-bumper traffic as thousands of people flock to Colorado’s ski resorts – many of which are owned by ski giants like Vail Resorts or Alterra.

Ski resorts in Colorado, like the rest of the U.S., have quickly become dominated by these corporations. Locally owned resorts, such as Ski Cooper outside Leadville, are becoming an endangered species. 

But Nederland, the small town outside of Boulder, is hoping to become the newest municipality to own and operate its own ski area, Eldora Ski Mountain Resort.

“Eldora is already a part of Nederland,” Town Administrator Jonathan Cain said. “What we would like to do is make sure that continues in the future.”

Cain said despite being one of only a handful of local municipalities to even attempt to buy out a big resort chain, he’s not intimidated. 

“This town has run Eldora for decades,” Cain told CPR News. “What will make this successful is if we’re able to lean on the expertise of our community and use an asset-based approach to really make sure we're running the mountain the way it needs to be run. We know we have those people in our community that can do that.”

Eldora is currently owned by POWDR, which announced its intent to sell the resort three months ago. According to Eldora President and General Manager Brent Tregaskis, the decision to sell the ski area reflects POWDR’s strategy to balance its ski operations with new ventures in national parks and Woodward, its action sports brand. 

Since acquiring Eldora in 2016, POWDR has made many upgrades to the 680-acre ski area, including updating snowmaking equipment and trail systems, expanding parking, as well as, most recently, the addition of the Caribou Lodge. 

According to Cain, these improvements, along with Eldora’s position as the only ski resort in Colorado served by RTD, gave the town good reason to put in an offer. Additionally, the resort would provide a new revenue source and could potentially give locals year-round access for activities like concerts, night skiing and summer events.

“We'd like to think that as a municipality we can offer ways that might help maintain the mountain without raising costs too much so we can keep it as accessible and as affordable as possible,” Cain said.

However, Nederland officials shared on Facebook that “there’s still a lot to figure out” when it comes to how the town would acquire the $100-$200 million ski area.

According to Cain, the town plans to build a partnership with state and local advocates for “local control” of the ski area. “It’s a bit of a moonshot, but it’s a moonshot that would create resiliency within our community,” Cain said. “I think it’s worth exploring for that reason alone.”

Eldora is currently on the Ikon pass, but according to POWDR, future operations will depend on the buyer. 

“While a new owner has yet to be identified, I am very optimistic the next stewards of this special place will inject excitement and a new wave of capital investment,” Tregaskis said.

For more from Colorado Public Radio, go to www.cpr.org