American Skiing Company

American Skiing Company
Formerly	LBO Resort Enterprises Corp
Company type	Public
Founded	1994;30 years ago
Founder	Les Otten
Defunct	2007

Last updated August 24, 2024

American Skiing Company was one of the largest operators of alpine ski, snowboard and golf resorts in the United States. Its resorts included Sunday River and Sugarloaf in Maine, The Canyons in Utah, Killington, Mount Snow, Haystack, Heavenly and Steamboat. In the early 2000s, the company sold all assets and shut down in 2007.

History

In 1980, Les Otten, the son of a German immigrant, purchased the Sunday River resort for $840,000 from the Sherburne Corporation. Sunday River included one double chair and a couple of surface lifts at the time. Sunday River slowly grew to become New England's second most popular resort in the 1990s.

In 1994, Otten formed LBO Resort Enterprises Corp and purchased Attitash Bear Peak in New Hampshire. By 1995, Sugarbush, Vermont was added to the portfolio of LBO resorts.

In 1996, Otten purchased Mount Cranmore in the Mount Washington Valley of New Hampshire. Later that year, Otten sought to purchase S-K-I Ltd., owners of Killington, Mount Snow, and Haystack, Vermont, Waterville Valley, New Hampshire, and controlling interest in Sugarloaf, Maine.^[1] Because of monopoly concerns, the company was only allowed to purchase Killington, Mount Snow, Haystack, and Sugarloaf. Upon acquiring S-K-I Ltd., LBO Resort Enterprises was renamed the American Skiing Company

By 1997, the company expanded west, buying Wolf Mountain in Park City, Utah. It quickly was transformed into The Canyons, now the largest resort in Utah. In 1997, the company, now known as American Skiing Company went public^[2] on the New York Stock Exchange and purchased Heavenly, California and Steamboat, Colorado^[1] from Kamori International. All American Skiing Company resorts have a Grand Summit Hotel, a condominium-hotel in which investors were to buy a quarter of a year ownership of the hotel room units. The income from these condo quarter-shares was intended to be key to finances of the company.

By the time the new millennium rolled around, Les Otten had left the company amidst a huge debt crises; their earnings had not kept pace with their growth. William (BJ) Fair took over as CEO. As the huge debts racked up, ASC was forced to sell Heavenly to Vail Resorts, Steamboat to Intrawest,^[3] and Sugarbush to a group of investors.

In January 2007, rumors surfaced that ASC might be in the process of selling Killington and Pico to Powdr Corporation, and Attitash and Mount Snow to Peak Resorts. It was later confirmed in a letter to the All For One pass holders that Mount Snow and Attitash had been sold^[3] to Peak Resorts and that Killington and Pico^[3] had been sold to SP Land Company, LLC, who would join with Powdr in a new venture to operate the two mountains.

In June 2007, ASC announced plans to sell Sunday River and Sugarloaf to Boyne Resorts.^[3]

Finally in July 2007, it was announced that American Skiing Company's last remaining and flagship resort, The Canyons had been bought by the Talisker Corporation for $100 million.^[4] This was the final resort sold by the American Skiing Company, in preparation for the dissolution of the company by September 2007.^[3]

Related Research Articles

Heavenly Mountain Resort is a ski resort located on the California–Nevada border in southeastern Lake Tahoe in the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range. It opened for business on December 15, 1955 and has 97 runs and 30 lifts that are spread between California and Nevada and four base facilities. The resort has 4,800 acres (1,900 ha) within its permit area, with approximately 33% currently developed for skiing, boasting the highest elevation of the Lake Tahoe area resorts with a peak elevation of 10,067 ft (3,068 m), and a peak lift-service elevation of 10,040 ft (3,060 m).

A detachable chairlift or high-speed chairlift is a type of passenger aerial lift, which, like a fixed-grip chairlift, consists of numerous chairs attached to a constantly moving wire rope that is strung between two terminals over intermediate towers. They are now commonplace at all but the smallest of ski resorts. Some are installed at tourist attractions as well as for urban transportation.

Alta is a ski area in the western United States, located in the town of Alta in the Wasatch Mountains of Utah, in Salt Lake County. With a skiable area of 2,614 acres (10.58 km²), Alta's base elevation is 8,530 ft (2,600 m) and rises to 11,068 ft (3,374 m) for a vertical gain of 2,538 ft (774 m). One of the oldest ski resorts in the country, it opened its first lift in early 1939. Alta is known for receiving more snow than most Utah resorts, with an average annual snowfall of 545 inches (13.8 m). It is also regularly ranked as having the best snow in North America. Alta is one of three remaining ski resorts in the U.S. that prohibits snowboarders, along with nearby competitor Deer Valley and Vermont's Mad River Glen.

Sugarloaf is a ski area and resort located on Sugarloaf Mountain in Carrabassett Valley, western Maine. It is the second largest ski resort east of the Mississippi in terms of skiable area and snowmaking percentage (95%); its continuous vertical drop of 2,820 feet (860 m) is the second longest in New England. Sugarloaf recorded a total of 352,000 skier visits in the 2005–2006 season, ranking it second among Maine resorts and 11th in New England.

Lift accessed mountain biking or Mountain bike park is a summer activity that is spreading all over the world. Using the chairlifts or gondola lifts at a ski area, mountain bikers can get up to higher altitudes quickly. The bikers don't have to ride up, and the ski area operators can keep the hill more profitable during the summer. Most bike parks have a mix of dirtjumping, downhill, enduro and freeride terrain on the trails.

Steamboat Resort is a major ski area in the western United States, located in northwestern Colorado at Steamboat Springs. Operated by the Steamboat Ski & Resort Corporation, it is located on Mount Werner, a mountain in the Park Range in the Routt National Forest. Originally named Storm Mountain ski area, it opened on January 12, 1963.

Killington Mountain Resort & Ski Area is a ski resort in Rutland County, Vermont, United States, near the town of Killington. It is the largest ski area in the eastern U.S., and has the largest vertical drop in New England at 3,050 feet. The mountain has been nicknamed the "Beast of the East."

Sugarbush Resort is a ski resort located in the Mad River valley in Warren, Vermont, owned by Alterra Mountain Company. It is one of the largest ski resorts in New England. The resort encompasses more than 4000 acres (16 km²) total, 484 trail acres (2.34 km²) skiable, 53 miles (85 km) of trails, and 16 ski lifts. Sugarbush has 111 ski trails, 18 additional marked wooded areas, and substantial off-piste skiing and riding The summit elevation is 4,083 ft (1,244 m), and it has a vertical drop of 2,600 feet (790 m), the second largest in Vermont after Killington, and the third largest in New England after Killington and Sugarloaf.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mount Snow</span> Ski resort in Vermont, United States

Mount Snow is a mountain and ski resort in southern Vermont located in the Green Mountains. It is Vermont's southernmost big mountain, and therefore, closest to many Northeast metropolitan areas.

Leslie B. Otten is the former CEO of the American Skiing Company. Since resigning as its chief executive officer in 2001, Otten has been involved in numerous other businesses and industries, including the Major League Baseball's Boston Red Sox.

Park City Mountain Resort (PCMR) is a ski resort in the western United States in Park City, Utah, located 32 miles (51 km) east of Salt Lake City. Park City, as the ski resort and area is known, contains several training courses for the U.S. Ski Team, including slalom and giant slalom runs. During the 2002 Winter Olympics, it hosted the snowboarding events and the men's and women's alpine giant slalom events.

Ski Bums was a travel and social club for LGBT skiers and snowboarders, with hundreds of members from across North America. It hosted social events and group trips to ski resorts throughout North America, South America and Europe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wildcat Mountain Ski Area</span> Ski area in New Hampshire, United States

Wildcat Mountain Ski Area is a ski area located on Wildcat Mountain near Jackson, New Hampshire, United States, in the Mount Washington Valley. Its vertical drop of 2,112 feet (644 m) is the second largest in New Hampshire and the ninth largest in New England.

Peak Resorts was a publicly traded company based in Wildwood, Missouri that operated ski resorts in the Midwest, Mid-Atlantic and Northeast portions of the United States. It was bought by Vail Resorts in 2019.

Boyne Resorts is an owner and operator of ski and golf resorts in North America. The company employs over 10,000 full-time and seasonal staff. It operates 12 resort properties: 10 ski resorts, a lakeside golf resort, an adventure park in the Smokies, and 12 golf courses among them. The company, based in Boyne Falls, Michigan, owns and operates properties in the U.S. states of Michigan, Montana, Washington, Maine, New Hampshire, Tennessee, and Utah, and the Canadian province of British Columbia.

The Hermitage Club at Haystack Mountain is a private, member-owned club that provides alpine skiing on Haystack Mountain in Wilmington, Vermont to its members.

Powdr Corporation, stylized as POWDR, is an American privately held company that owns and operates ski resorts in the United States and Canada. It is headquartered in Park City, Utah, and was founded in 1994 by John Cumming, an early investor in the clothing company Mountain Hardwear with his father Ian.

Selden J. Hannah was an intercollegiate, US F.I.S. and seniors ski champion who became one of the nation's most prolific ski-area architects. He was enshrined in the National Ski Hall of Fame in Ishpeming, Michigan, in 1968. His legacy remains throughout New England and North America in more than 250 ski areas with which he was associated during his lifetime.

Alterra Mountain Company is an American hospitality company established in 2018 with headquarters in Denver, Colorado. It is privately owned by KSL Capital Partners and Henry Crown and Company, the owners of Aspen/Snowmass. It is a conglomerate of several ski resorts that offers a combined season pass.

References

1 2 Clifford, Hal (March 1, 1999). "American Skiing Company". SKI. Retrieved 2022-01-24.
↑ Parkinson, Patrick (June 23, 2007). "American Skiing Co. is dismantled". Park Record. Retrieved January 24, 2022.
1 2 3 4 5 "American Skiing Co. to sell its last ski area and dissolve". Denver Post. Salt Lake City. Associated Press. July 16, 2007. Retrieved January 24, 2022.
↑ American Skiing Company (July 16, 2007). "American Skiing Company Announces Sale of Canyons Resort" (Press release). Park City, Utah. Archived from the original on September 12, 2007.

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[Clifford_1999-1] 1 2 Clifford, Hal (March 1, 1999). "American Skiing Company". SKI. Retrieved 2022-01-24.

[2] Parkinson, Patrick (June 23, 2007). "American Skiing Co. is dismantled". Park Record. Retrieved January 24, 2022.

[AP_2007-3] 1 2 3 4 5 "American Skiing Co. to sell its last ski area and dissolve". Denver Post. Salt Lake City. Associated Press. July 16, 2007. Retrieved January 24, 2022.

[4] American Skiing Company (July 16, 2007). "American Skiing Company Announces Sale of Canyons Resort" (Press release). Park City, Utah. Archived from the original on September 12, 2007.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]