Steamboat Springs Happenings

New lift, mountain coaster, mini golf slated for Steamboat Ski Area


Story by Matt Sensland from The Steamboat Today
Posted: February 09, 2016 by Coldwell Banker Distinctive Properties Steamboat Springs

Intrawest CEO Tom Marano announced Wednesday morning that a mountain coaster, mini golf course and new Elkhead lift will be built this year at the Steamboat Ski Area.

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Intrawest plans to build a mountain coaster at the Steamboat Ski Area. Intrawest has a coaster at Blue Mountain in Ontario, Canada.

During a conference call to discuss Intrawest's second quarter earnings, Marano said the company would spend between $43 and $48 million on capital projects at its resorts.

"I'm particularly excited about the projects at our Colorado resorts — Steamboat and Winter Park — as well as our planned investment in technology," Marano said. "Building on the success we have experienced with summer activities at both Blue Mountain (in Ontario, Canada) and Winter Park, we will be installing a mountain coaster and a mini golf course at Steamboat in order to capitalize on the large number of guest that visit the Steamboat Springs area in the summer. With 30,000 to 40,000 visitors in the Steamboat area during peak summer weekends — a visitation base comparable to a winter weekend — we believe the addition of the coaster and mini golf to the existing activities will create a massive attraction to bring families currently visiting town to participate in revenue generating activities at the resort."

Steamboat Springs City Council President Walter Magill said it will be nice to have more attractions at the base area to attract visitors during the summer.

"There has been a lot of competition with what Vail (Resorts) has been doing the past couple years," he said.

Marano said the new, high-speed quad Elkhead lift would increase capacity.

"Elkhead services a high-volume area of the mountain and facilitates lunchtime and end-of-day egress from the popular beginner and intermediate terrain pods on the south side of the mountain," he said. "The increased speed and capacity of this new lift will substantially improve the guest experience at Steamboat."

Local Steamboat Ski and Resort Corp. officials referred questions to Lis de Roziere, Intrawest's director of finance and investor relations.

She said both the mountain coaster and mini golf course would be located on private land owned by the ski area. Initial plans call for locating the mini golf course near the base of the Christie Peak Express lift.

The plan calls for the end of the mountain coaster to also be situated near the base of the Christie Peak Express lift. It would be similar to the one at Blue Mountain and could be operated during the winter. People would ride the coaster cars up the mountain and then ride down.

Wednesday's conference call also provided some insight into the financial performance of Intrawest's resorts.

Compared to last year, Marano said skier visits to Winter Park and Steamboat were up a combined 6.4 percent.

Warm weather caused a dramatic decrease in skier visits at Intrawest's resorts in the northeast. Combined skier visits for all of Intrawest's resorts combined was down 26.9 percent.

"It was the warmest December on record, with temperatures in the Northeast approximately 50 percent above the 100-year historical averages," Marano said.

Intrawest revenues for the second quarter ending Dec. 31, 2015, were $79.4 million, down 14 percent from the same period last year.

Earnings were -$6.9 million.

Intrawest benefited from the Jan. 29 sale of Intrawest Resort Club Group, which resulted in $80.8 million in proceeds.

"With the increased liquidity provided by this transaction, we are well-positioned to continue to support organic growth at our core mountain resorts and adventure businesses, actively pursue strategic acquisitions and evaluate opportunities to unlock the value of our real estate holdings over time," Marano said.

To reach Matt Stensland, call 970-871-4247, emailmstensland@SteamboatToday.com or follow him on Twitter @SBTStensland Photo: Courtesy/Blue Mountain

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