On Saturday, they published this JaNae Francis article:
Investors confirm purchase of Wolf Mountain ski area
From the Saturday article,
Reports had floated about the sale for several days. However, officials from the resort and the Prudential Utah Real Estate office in Eden, where media inquiries were directed, have not been available for comment this week.
Tessa Ann Harbertson has posted on a website run by Skyline Mountain Base, a group of local and European investors, confirmation that the group has purchased the resort.
"As some of you know, I have been extremely busy with a new 'project' for the last six months," she posted. "All of the long hours and hard work has (finally) come to fruition. Skyline Mountain Base investors have purchased Wolf Mountain for development (and all around awesome-ness).
The resort has struggled with financial issues in recent years. In June 2010, officials with the 3,000-acre ski area filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
A statement at that time from the resort read: "Wolf Creek is exploring corporate restructuring and is in advanced discussions with a number of potential purchasers to sell nonstrategic portions of its operations and attract new ownership."
That new ownership apparently has become Skyline Mountain Base.
In a follow up article this morning, the principal is revealed as Ogden native and current Eden resident Josh Richards is "the man behind the Wolf Mountain deal."
Ogden native Richards is the man behind Wolf Mountain deal
In this morning's article, Francis writes:
Richards, who said he has been an entrepreneur all his life, starting as a boy who mowed lawns and then as a newspaper carrier for the Standard-Examiner for two years, said he has wanted to purchase Wolf Mountain for a long time.
And Richards said he tried unsuccessfully to purchase the resort a decade ago.
But he said this time, he was more prepared, not only with more business sense, but with additional investors.
"We have a very good feeling about the mountain," he said.
The article continues with,
Richards is president and CEO of Caelum, which grew out of a multimillion-dollar company with a focus on environmentally friendly housing developments.
His organization also formed a partnership with The Sorep Group, European investors, to finance the ski area purchase.
Together, he said the two groups formed Skyline Mountain Base, the entity that purchased Wolf Mountain.
Richards said his and the investors' goal for Wolf Mountain is for the resort to position
itself as offering a family friendly product at a fair price.
"We are steering in a very different direction than Powder Mountain and Snowbasin," he said, noting that the other Ogden Valley resorts are more like Audis or BMWs while Wolf Mountain is more along the lines of a Subaru or minivan.
But just because he wants the resort to be more for the everyday folk, doesn't mean he doesn't want it to be nice.
Richards said he plans many improvements, starting with his personal pet peeve, the restrooms. He said among the improvements will be lockers where visitors will be able to store their personal items.
Already since the purchase, Richards and his team have added ski rentals.
"Now we have the nicest rental fleet in the state from Tech Skis," he said. "People have rented our skis and taken them to other areas already."
And he wants to construct many environmentally friendly improvements on the resort's 400 acres of private property.
Richards wants to expand the lodge's offerings to include a year-round restaurant and other services, such as shops catering to local residents.
He believes one of his team members has secured a world-class pastry shop to re-locate there from France.
"We want to improve the experience at the resort," he said.
A search of Utah corporations shows this:
https://secure.utah.gov/bes/action/details?entity=8901583-0160#
Entity Number: 8901583-0160
Company Type: LLC - Domestic
Address: 1391 N 5900 E Eden, UT 84310
State of Origin:
Registered Agent: JOSHUA M RICHARDS
Registered Agent Address:
1391 N 5900 E
Eden, UT 84310
In the past year, out of three Ogden Valley resorts have changed ownership and all three seem to have aggressive development plans that will likely change the look and feel of Ogden Valley.
What say ye about the recent events?
