Deer Valley Buys Solitude

Deer Valley Resort is buying Solitude Mountain Resort and will take over its operations this May — the second major shift in Utah’s ski industry in weeks.

The purchase was a private acquisition and a news release about the deal does not disclose how much Deer Valley paid.

The Deer Valley management does not anticipate "any major changes in staffing at Solitude at this time," according to a Deer Valley Resort news release. Some of Deer Valley’s staff will work alongside Solitude’s this winter to learn how they manage the resort, the release adds.

"Solitude has a distinct brand. What we want to do is build upon that brand," said Coleen Reardon, Deer Valley’s marketing director. The Summit County resort will bring some of its service-oriented philosophy to Solitude, but they have no intention to re-brand. Deer Valley intends to keep snowboarding available at Solitude, and a name change would be limited to some acknowledgement that it’s now part of Deer Valley.

"We get that it’s not what we have [in] Park City," Reardon said.

In an earlier significant change for Utah’s ski industry, Vail Resorts Inc. bought Park City Mountain Resort in early September for $182.5 million.

In its announcement, Deer Valley rejected the idea that its purchase of Solitude was in response to Vail’s acquisition.

http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/news/58485678-78/deer-valley-solitude-resort.html.csp

Didn't see that coming.
Hope they leave it alone. Solitude has some secrets that are best left untold.

PeeTex wrote

Didn't see that coming.
Hope they leave it alone. Solitude has some secrets that are best left untold.

They won't. They'll turn it into a playground(resort instead of a local hill) for the top 1% like every other resort. It's already started to happen for years as they developed the property. They were developing it for sale obviously.
The death of the "locals hill" has been happening for decades unfortunately. This place has amazing powder for anyone who doesn't know. But maybe not as much as jay peak

http://blog.deervalley.com/skiing/deervalleybuyssolitude

How much did they buy it for? Just wondering in case I ever win powerball.

Watch how quickly they talk about upgrading the lifts and making a direction connection from base to summit. That's the reason it's relatively uncrowded.

Schucks. Sad I didn't get to ski there before this happened. I know everyone talks up Alta/Bird but Solitude was the SLC area that most intrigued me.

riverc0il wrote

Schucks. Sad I didn't get to ski there before this happened. I know everyone talks up Alta/Bird but Solitude was the SLC area that most intrigued me.

you and me both.

It's nice, but it ain't no Alta Bird.

In case you missed the magazine article.

I'm reasonably sure that Bryan -- who wrote the piece and recently relocated from NJ to his condo at Solitude -- is going to see a long-awaited upturn in his property value.

Jamesdeluxe wrote

In case you missed the magazine article.

I'm reasonably sure that Bryan -- who wrote the piece and recently relocated from NJ to his condo at Solitude -- is going to see a long-awaited upturn in his property value.

Not a chance, solitude is built out, the sewer line down the mountain is at max capacity. Resort real estate is a pyramid scheme, you need over priced new to sell overpriced old. The condos there will die in maintenance fee hell.

Benny Profane wrote

It's nice, but it ain't no Alta Bird.

+1!  I've been to Solitude both before and after thry added the Honeycomb canyon lift and shifted the chair locations on the main face. It is definitely fun and the crowds are quite thin, but IMHO, it doesn't have the terrain or extended steeps like at Alta/Bird.

Marcski wrote

Benny Profane wrote

It's nice, but it ain't no Alta Bird.

+1!  I've been to Solitude both before and after thry added the Honeycomb canyon lift and shifted the chair locations on the main face. It is definitely fun and the crowds are quite thin, but IMHO, it doesn't have the terrain or extended steeps like at Alta/Bird.

Solitude has very different terrain, not lacking in any sense - just different. What I like about that area is the variety. The front side is totally different from the canyon which is totally different from summit chair side. If you are willing to do the hiking like you do at Alta you can get extended steeps, even the bird's long steeps are broken up. However, when I go to Solitude it is for those hidden places which are rarely frequented. The last time I was there was a few years back when even Alta was skiing like shit, took my Grand daughter to a place where no one seems to ever find - was shown to me 15 years earlier and there we lapped untracked powder deep in the trees that the sun never hits - even though it was over a week old it skied like it fell the day before. We completely tracked it out before we moved on to the next stash.

That is what makes Solitude a great place.

They were pretty pointed about saying the price was undisclosed. But hard to believe it will never come out.

Something, not sure what, gave me the impression that things wouldn't really change until next season.

Harvey wrote

They were pretty pointed about saying the price was undisclosed. But hard to believe it will never come out.

Something, not sure what, gave me the impression that things wouldn't really change until next season.

Think it was more than 990k asking for snow ridge? lol I really wish I had a million sitting around. I'd buy snow ridge in a second and keep it open 7 days a week.

PowderAssassin wrote

Harvey wrote

They were pretty pointed about saying the price was undisclosed. But hard to believe it will never come out.

Something, not sure what, gave me the impression that things wouldn't really change until next season.

Think it was more than 990k asking for snow ridge? lol I really wish I had a million sitting around. I'd buy snow ridge in a second and keep it open 7 days a week.

And you'd be broke real fast, that is unless you could teach cows to ski. 500' of low altitude, low angle vertical - I don't care how much lake effect glob they get.

PeeTex: Here's a wiki article on the economic model of supply and demand in case you missed that class while finishing your MBA.    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supply_and_demand

James: I don't plan to move anytime soon, if ever.  So whatever appreciation occurs, if any, is sort of moot.  Then again...if the DV purchase starts mucking up the jewel we have here, I might be forced to reconsider.  I hope they don't, but I'd expect to see more crowds on the slopes.

PeeTex wrote

And you'd be broke real fast, that is unless you could teach cows to ski. 500' of low altitude, low angle vertical - I don't care how much lake effect glob they get.

You're right. Their lack of verical and a location not near any metro areas would make it not very profitable. I wouldn't buy it for the money. I'd buy it for the passion and to have my own personal mountain. As long as I wasn't hemorrhaging money and cutting near even I'd be happy. This mountain has been operating for a long time and giving out very affordable lift tickets. Good management. Period. I'm hoping whoever buys it knows what their doing and doesn't drive it into the ground.

PeeTex wrote

And you'd be broke real fast, that is unless you could teach cows to ski. 500' of low altitude, low angle vertical - I don't care how much lake effect glob they get.

Oh and I disagree about it being "low angle". It's a good/fun consistent pitch for majority of powder skiers. You sound like those jackson hole types talking about grand targhee..Hey have fun at your powder hour at Jackson....we'll keep grand targhee and it's "low angle" pow for ourselves. LOL Youre just trying(and failing) to sound core and macho. You're the guy that sits at the top of a trail and with great snobbery douche baggery says "that black wouldn't even be a green at so and so mountain"

BryanLuftglass wrote

PeeTex: Here's a wiki article on the economic model of supply and demand in case you missed that class while finishing your MBA.    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supply_and_demand

James: I don't plan to move anytime soon, if ever.  So whatever appreciation occurs, if any, is sort of moot.  Then again...if the DV purchase starts mucking up the jewel we have here, I might be forced to reconsider.  I hope they don't, but I'd expect to see more crowds on the slopes.

I'm happy for you - if you have what you want and can easily afford the monthly fees and future assessments than enjoy.

BTW - No MBA here, didn't waste my time:
Value of an MBA
My graduate degrees are in areas that actually made a difference and then got the experience to back it up.