[W]EST DOVER — Mount Snow’s parent company, Peak Resorts, is adopting three more sister mountains.
“We’re thrilled to welcome these three great mountains into the Peak Resorts family, which brings us to 17 resorts across the United States,” Jesse Boyd, vice president of operations at Peak, said in an email. “Liberty Mountain, Whitetail Resort and Roundtop Mountain Resort have a great reputation and devoted community of skiers and riders down in Pennsylvania, and we look forward to embracing and building upon the success they’ve had over the past 50 years. As the winter approaches, we’re looking forward to seeing their passholders come up and explore our northern resorts, especially our flagship resort Mount Snow.”
Peak announced Monday that it had entered into an agreement to acquire Snow Time Inc. for $76 million. The private company owns the three resorts that have a combined 65 trails, more than 325 skiable acres and an average of about 700 vertical feet of terrain, according to a release. The resorts are said to be within driving distance of the Baltimore and Washington market, and they had seen more than 600,000 visitors during the last ski season.
In an email to newsletter subscribers, Mount Snow extended “a warm welcome” to the resorts in joining the Peak family. The transaction is expected to be completed in time for the upcoming ski season.
“Today, Peak Resorts announced its intent to purchase these three unique properties — just four hours down the road from us in south central Pennsylvania — bringing the Peak Resorts family to a total of 17 resorts across the country,” the email said. “Over the next few weeks, we’ll be finalizing what this means for all of our passholders, as well as their passholders, and are looking forward to sharing these details with you all in early October.”
Those details can’t come quick enough for some ski and snowboard enthusiasts.
“The question we’ve been getting the most today has been what does this mean for the Peak Pass?” Boyd said of the pass that offers holders access to Northeast resorts in the Peak family. “We’ll be finalizing what this means for all of our passholders … so you’ll just have to stay tuned for now.”
The Peak Pass covers Attitash Mountain Resort, Crotched Mountain and Wildcat Mountain, in New Hampshire, Hunter Mountain in the New York Catskills, Big Boulder and Jack Frost in Pennsylvania.
Peak said Snow Time generated about $50 million in revenue and about $11 million in adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization for a 12-month period that ended in March. The company also ran two 18-hole golf courses, a 115-room hotel, a 22,000-square-foot conference center, and more than 20 food and beverage locations, according to the press release.
For more than 50 years, Snow Time founder Irvin Naylor and his team “have established three exceptionally well cared for mountain resorts across the southern tier of Pennsylvania and we are delighted to welcome these wonderful facilities and the Snow Time team to the Peak Resorts family,” Peak President and Chief Executive Officer Timothy D. Boyd said in the press release. “Furthermore, we expect the addition of these turnkey resorts to our portfolio ahead of the 2018/2019 ski season will result in immediate financial benefits for Peak Resorts.”
Timothy Boyd said the three mountains also would “greatly expand our night skiing capabilities, further extending the fun for all visitors and providing a highly sought-after differentiating factor.”
Naylor said in the press release he is “extremely pleased to pass along the stewardship of Snow Time and our three mountain resorts to Peak Resorts. Having watched the progress they continue to make at the formerly family-owned Hunter Mountain, I view Peak Resorts as the perfect operators to take Liberty, Roundtop and Whitetail to the next level. For more than 50 years, my team and I have grown these three resorts into the magnificent properties they are today and we are delighted that Peak Resorts will continue to grow their appeal for the next generation and beyond.”
