A local group that includes longtime Burke Mountain benefactors and community stakeholders is on the cusp of acquiring the Northeast Kingdom ski resort, according to people familiar with the deal.
The group, Bear Den Partners LLC, includes members of the Graham family, who have previously invested heavily in the mountain, as well as Burke Mountain Academy, an elite training school for skiers in the area. Bear Den Partners also includes Jon Schafer, owner of the Berkshire East Mountain Resort in Massachusetts, who would oversee resort operations at the mountain if the takeover bid proves successful.
Details about the group’s attempt to acquire Burke were first reported in the Caledonian Record.
In an interview with VTDigger Wednesday, Ken Graham, chairman and co-founder of Bear Den Partners, emphasized that a deal had not been finalized but confirmed the group was attempting to buy the beloved Northeast Kingdom resort and invest heavily in its development.
“We’re not trying to change the culture and the ethos and everything that makes Burke special,” Graham said. “The mountain is separate from the whole corporate ski experience that’s growing all over the country. It’s sort of back to the roots of why people love skiing in the first place, and that’s what we want to protect and build.”
An overview of Bear Den Partners’ vision for the resort shared with VTDigger outlines sweeping plans to upgrade the mountain’s snowmaking and chairlift infrastructure, expand trail access and renovate the resort’s mountain-side hotel.
“It’s needed this kind of investment for a long, long time,” Graham said.
The details of the prospective acquisition come just a month after Michael Goldberg, the court-appointed receiver of Burke Mountain, announced he was in the process of “finalizing” a deal to sell the Northeast Kingdom resort to an anonymous party.
At the time, Goldberg denied claims from investors Todd Firestone and Mark Greenberg that he was ignoring their bid, saying that he had found a buyer that “has deep roots in the community and will insure (sic) that Burke Mountain will have the stable future it deserves.”
Goldberg did not immediately respond to VTDigger’s requests for comment Wednesday.
If a contract is signed, the federal judge overseeing the mountain’s receivership would need to sign off on the agreement. If completed, the deal would cap Goldberg’s almost decade-long attempt to successfully sell the property.
The lawyer was appointed receiver of Burke Mountain and Jay Peak, another Northeast Kingdom resort, in 2016 in the wake of a financial scandal, after the resort’s former owner, Ariel Quiros, was indicted for defrauding investors.
Quiros and Bill Stenger, the former CEO and president of Jay Peak, were in the process of funding massive upgrades to both resorts with money from the EB-5 visa program when federal regulators accused both men of misusing $200 million of the $350 million they had raised for the projects.
Prior to Goldberg’s latest announcement, he had stated on two separate occasions he was on the verge of selling the resort, only to have the deals collapse. His drawn-out receivership provoked frustration among community members, who argued that the property and the surrounding community were losing value.
But Bear Den Partners’ bid seems to enjoy strong community support. Included in the group is Tom Bledsoe, president of the Burke Mountain Owners Association and a representative of Burke Mountain Community Partners, organizations that represent the bulk of Burke homeowners and community members.
Frank Adams, a Burke homeowner who in January launched a petition urging Goldberg to expedite the sale of the mountain, said he was “thrilled” that Bear Den Partners appeared poised to acquire the resort.
“I think that this is the right team,” Adams said. “I honestly believe that this mountain will be here for decades to come now, and I didn’t always feel that way.”
Correction: An earlier version of this story misstated the role of a Burke Mountain Academy representative in the expected purchase deal.
