A ski resort in Utah that I’ve never heard of is up for sale in an internet auction today. The ultra exclusive Elk Meadows ski area in Beaver Canyon was so highend and remotely located that only 20,000 skiers annually visited. Asking people to drive past some of the best skiing in the world to get to your Central Utah, overpriced resort may not have been as solid a business plan as we all thought. The bad news is that you can’t pop into the auction and throw up a $400 bid to take it away at the last second; the minimum bid for the resort is set at $1 million.
ByRocky Thompson
Elk Meadows, in the Tushar Range east of Beaver, is an excellent little ski area that operated as a nice, small two-lift resort with GREAT POWDER for many years. Then it went into bankruptcy and was bought by a consortium of investors who wanted to turn it into a gated, private golf/ski/Log Majal retreat modeled on the Yellowstone Club. That was a no-go from word one (golfing at 10,500 feet? Yeah right, and distant from airports). Hence it’s up for auction.
But don’t knock Elk Meadows. If it starts up again, it’s got the most scenic novice terrain in Utah, and the old 800-vert-foot Mt. Holly runs are steep. I’ve skied untracked, waist-deep powder there all day long, with only 8 other skiers on the mountain. There are small clusters of nice condos set amid mixed aspen/pine forest. In its present state, it’s just what ski areas should be. Not an overblown, overpriced Disneyland.
If it sells, wait for an incoming storm, then grab your buds, rent a cheap condo and stay there for several weekdays of shred.