West Mountain Ski Center files bankruptcy

The Post-Star has done a great job covering the West Mtn bankruptcy story.  Here's the latest: West Mountain Ski Center selling passes for this season

Pretty encouraging news overall, IMO:  updating the website, more competitive pass pricing, better operating hours (til 10pm, was 9pm in recent years) and progress on the reorg.

QUEENSBURY -- West Mountain Ski Center has launched a new website and begun selling season passes at discounted prices.

Even as the mountain winds its way through the bankruptcy process, the center’s operator, Apex Capital LLC, is working to get the slopes ready to open.

The website that launched this week, at westmtn.net, is a work in progress, and a reworked site, complete with interactive virtual tours, will launch in about a month or so, according to Apex Capital co-owner Spencer Montgomery.

East Slope Holdings LLC, which owns the ski center, filed for bankruptcy protection in June, starting a process that has resulted in a 5 1/2-year lease agreement with Apex Capital to run the business as the court proceedings continue.
Apex Capital plans to take ownership of the ski center once the bankruptcy issues have been resolved, Montgomery said.

A message to skiers shopping for season passes on the ski center’s website assures them every effort is being made to open for the winter. The site is offering special rates until Nov. 15 to encourage sales. “We are also working on bringing back the ‘good-old’ vintage West Mountain Ski Area, from the slopes to the bar,” states the website’s welcome page. “Your support is sincerely appreciated and is critical to our success.” A variety of season passes are available at prices ranging from $149 for a single adult, mid-week, non-holiday pass to $1,299 for a family of five full-privilege season pass. The “storefront” page also seeks to reassure skiers, stating that purchased passes are fully refundable if the ski center fails to open.

Montgomery said Thursday the special prices are a 25 to 50 percent discount from past season pass prices, and that is part of a new strategy for the mountain developed through talks with local business people familiar with the region’s ski offerings. “Basically, I’m figuring if someone can buy a ticket at Gore for $75, they won’t buy a ticket from us for $55,” Montgomery said. “We’ve got to be closer to a 50 percent discount, and then make it up on volume, hopefully.”

Apex is also in talks with Sports Page Ski & Patio on Quaker Road to take over the rental business for the coming season, Montgomery said. He’s hopeful Sports Page will launch a retail shop and a demo shop at the mountain, although details are being worked out. Reliable Racing Supply Inc. of Glens Falls is also on deck to help with the mountain’s racing program, Montgomery said. And several former employees have volunteered to work for free this winter in an effort to get the business profitable again.

On the bankruptcy front, Montgomery hinted a resolution to the mountain’s debt woes may happen sooner than later.
“I’ve made a lot of progress, I believe, on the reorganization front, and we’re going to move that timetable up pretty dramatically to try to get through the reorganization process,” he said Thursday. That would clear the way for investors to start helping with the ski center’s recovery, Montgomery said. Such investors are critical, he said, because the mountain is in need of upgrades, including a new chairlift or two and improved snowmaking infrastructure.

West Mountain has also reached out to schools in the area to sign up ski clubs and racing teams for the winter. And the discounted ticket prices have been extended to that program, which is “the bread and butter of our business,” Montgomery said.

Planned hours of operation for the winter are 2-10 p.m. Monday-Thursday; noon to 10 p.m. Fridays; 8:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturdays and 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sundays. Holiday hours will be 8:30 a.m. to 10 p.m.

I'll miss the morning hours and early specials.  Those were when I went there most often.  I understand what they are doing though and wish them luck.

From the Times Union today:

Ski slope debt is up for auction

A Utah bank is auctioning off the $343,000 mortgage that it holds on West Mountain as the Queensbury downhill ski center works to open this upcoming winter amid a complex bankruptcy.

The new company running the mountain, Apex Capital, has been selling season passes for the upcoming season despite the Chapter 11 bankruptcy case, which has yet to be resolved. On its website, the mountain is selling season passes for as low as $149, although a disclaimer notes that refunds will be made if the mountain cannot open this season.

Apex had tried to buy the mortgage from Zions for $350,000, but Zions demanded more, bankruptcy court records show, before deciding to sell the mortgage at auction.

Zions First National Bank has told the judge overseeing the case that it has serious doubts about the feasibility of the mountain's reorganization plan and the experience of Apex running a ski mountain. Whoever wins the mortgage would replace Zions as a major creditor.

Full article here.

Kinda funny that Zion would not take $350,000 from Apex, but the minimum bid at the auction is $100,000  

Haven't followed every message on this thread.  My uncle, who lives in Saratoga, thinks the real estate development did West in rather than the skiing.  Hope they can work something out.  The world needs more local mountains.  Both alpine and xc.

C'mon, who's in?

The online auction of the mortgage note that a Utah bank holds for West Mountain Ski Area in Queensbury has less than six hours to go.  But the bidding so far is well under the amount owed on the mortgage, so a crafty investor could come away with a potentially lucrative piece of paper.

Full post here, from the Times Union's business blog.

Hopefully Apex has the 200k bid

Update:

The bank that holds the first mortgage on West Mountain Ski Area has apparently decided to hold a new online auction for the note a day after bidding ended on a first auction.
As of yesterday, the bidding for the mortgage note was only up to $200,000 a few minutes before the auction ended.
It is unclear why Zions decided to hold another auction, although its likely the bank was not satisfied with the amount of the bid. Zions has objected to Apex’s reorganization plan, arguing it didn’t believe the group had enough knowledge of the ski industry or enough capital in place.
The new auction is set to take place Nov. 19.
Apex wants to get its bankruptcy plan in place by Dec. 1 in time to open West Mountain for the ski season. The mountain has been selling season tickets, although it is telling people they are refundable if it cannot re-open for the winter.

Full post on the TU business blog here.

Peter Minde wrote

 The world needs more local mountains.  

That just sort of struck me as funny.  




I don't know anything about this filing but I'll bet there are hot dog stands that cash flow better than that place.  I mean, how the hell does a ski mountain fall down on a measly $400G mortgage?  There are millions of middle class families that manage that payment every month.  I know that's residential with lower rates and longer terms but still.

A ten year mortgage at 7% is a little over $4600/month.  WTF.

Noah John wrote

I mean, how the hell does a ski mountain fall down on a measly $400G mortgage?  There are millions of middle class families that manage that payment every month.  I know that's residential with lower rates and longer terms but still.

A ten year mortgage at 7% is a little over $4600/month.  WTF.

The $400K mortgage is just the tip of the iceberg.  The bankruptcy filing listed $4.8 million in liabilities and $1.8 million in assets.

Haha!  Like I said, I know nothing about the filing.

What, if you know, was the 4.8M largely comprised of?  Back taxes and secured debt for improvements/lifts/snowmaking?  Is this a NDNY case?  I could just go on PACER and have a look I guess.

4.8/1.8?  Sounds like somebody's gonna get a pretty good haircut.  

Noah John wrote

What, if you know, was the 4.8M largely comprised of?  Back taxes and secured debt for improvements/lifts/snowmaking?  Is this a NDNY case?  I could just go on PACER and have a look I guess.

4.8/1.8?  Sounds like somebody's gonna get a pretty good haircut.

I don't remember what all is in it, but I guess you could look it up. It's a fairly complicated case due to all of the subsidiaries, according to the Post-Star and TU.

The Times Union ran an upbeat article in today's business section.  Apparently Apex - the investment group that is looking to re-capitalize and operate West Mountain - was successful in purchasing the $400K mortgage on the property from Zion Bank, removing a significant obstacle to approval of the ski area's bankruptcy plan.
Ski area hopes its uphill legal struggle has ended
Plans are to open for the season the first week of December.  A federal bankruptcy judge will decide on Dec. 18 whether to approve the bankruptcy plan, but according to Apex the ski area will operate this winter regardless of the outcome of that hearing because Apex has a 5-year lease agreement.

Additionally, the Post-Star has recently reported that a new restaurant / cafeteria director has been hired and that the ski shop and rental operation will be run by Sports Page, a longtime ski shop in Queensbury:
West Mountain names director for restaurant, cafeteria
West Mountain bringing in new ski shop operator

Apex has supposedly spent $400K getting the ski area ready for the winter.  Recent Facebook photos have shown renovations to the lodge's bathrooms and cafeteria underway (badly needed), as well as some much needed work in the parking lot.  There's been some work on the mountain's snowmaking equipment, but beyond that I'm not sure what else has been done on the hill itself.  

Early discounts on season passes closed out this past Friday.  I got in for a $149 mid-week pass.  Apex has been quoted as saying they are pleased with the level of pre-season pass sales.

Seems like things are heading in the right direction.  The real proof will come in the next few weeks when skis meet snow, although just being open for the winter will be a significant success when you look back at how things stood 6 months ago.

The Post Star ran a good article with a few more details yesterday morning:
Apex Capital starts spending more freely on ski hill upgrades

Times Union business blog this morning:
West Mountain in Queensbury, which is under new management after a summer of uncertainty, has started making snow and will be holding an open house on Dec. 14.
The mountain started making snow at 1 a.m. Monday.
Full post

Update from the Post-Star yesterday:
West Mountain Ski Center to open early this year

West Mountain will open tomorrow, Saturday 12/14, their earliest opening date since 2007.
There will be an open house Saturday evening, 6-11pm.  In addition, Apex reports that the bankruptcy reorganization is on-track and is hoping for court approval of the reorg plan on Dec. 18.

West Mountain's bankruptcy plan was approved by the courts yesterday.
 
From the Post-Star: Ski center slaloms toward bankruptcy finish line
The bankruptcy plan gives Apex Capital sole ownership of the ski center, which is currently owned by East Slope Holdings. Montgomery, who is also a co-owner of East Slope, said clear title will allow the venue to thrive.“The Apex partners who stepped in and helped get the place open, obviously the worst-case scenario would have been the bankruptcy not being approved after putting in all that money,” Montgomery said. “Now that we have clean title to the ski center, we can use that to either bring in other financial partners or to refinance or to do some sort of capital raise.”...

The other day, Jimmer's friend the janitor said that there may be a new lift next year.

So probably not.

From today's Post-Star:

QUEENSBURY -- West Mountain Ski Center’s owner has officially exited bankruptcy, with the “final decree” made public by the court Tuesday.

The development also means East Slope Holdings, which owns the ski center, is now owned by Apex Capital LLC, the firm that has been operating the ski center since mid-August under a lease agreement.

Spencer Montgomery, of Apex Capital, already started sketching ideas for developing the ski center, now that bankruptcy was removed as a barrier to investors.

He said Tuesday there’s a dry-erase board in his office on which he’s drawn some ideas for condominiums, time-share properties and other features near the triple-chair lift at the north end of the ski center’s property, which encompasses a total of about 370 acres along West Mountain Road.
Full article

Time shares. What a goof. Do you get a free one piece suit with neon shoulders with the purchase of that time share?