Utah Adding 14th Ski Resort
Beaver, UT - Eagle Point ski area is slated to open this winter on the site of the former Elk Meadows Ski Resort
east of Beaver, once again giving Utah its 14th ski and snowboard resort.
Eagle Point Ski Resort
Officials have spent the past month flooding online and print publications with postings for jobs ranging from ski patrol
to customer service, signaling that ski operations will resume this winter high in Beaver Canyon.
Utah's defunct Elk Meadows ski area will be reborn this winter as Eagle Point.
The mountain's new owners, private equity firm XE Capital Management, have quietly spent the summer reviving
and recertifying ski lifts, clearing runs of overgrown brush and remodeling lodges.
Elk Meadows was one of only two ski areas in southern Utah, the other being Brian Head Resort, when it shut down in
2002. The owner at that time, Wayne Case of Portland, Ore., filed for bankruptcy protection and the ski area went
dormant. Subsequent efforts to transform the property into an ultra-luxury, über-exclusive property to be called the
Mt. Holly Club drew the ire of local residents and Elk Meadows homeowners alike. Those plans offered by Craig Burton,
the president of Holladay, Utah-based CPB Development, ultimately failed amidst the current economic downturn, and
CPB put the property on the Internet auction block in November 2009. XE Capital Management, which was actually
involved in the development of the Mt. Holly Club, entered the $1.9 million winning bid.
For 25 years, Elk Meadows was a hidden stash in the Tushar Mountains west of Beaver for skiers and snowboarders
looking to escape the crowds of Salt Lake City and Park City in northern Utah. However, its location -- nearly four
hours south of Salt Lake and a 90-minute drive past Brian Head for Las Vegas skiers -- left the mountain with less
than 20,000 skier visits annually in its later years.
The ski area has six fixed-grip lifts spanning 1,300 vertical feet. Lacking snowmaking, the resort relies entirely upon
natural snowfall.
www.skimap.org - The 36 trails in the resort cater for all ability levels with 20% being beginner,
50% intermediate and 30% for expert skiers over the 400 skiable acres. Eagle Point is three and a half hours from both
Las Vegas and Salt Lake City and around seven hours from Southern California and Phoenix.
Former Elk Meadows to open as Eagle Point ski area in Utah
By Mike Gorrell
The Salt Lake Tribune
After being dormant for eight seasons — and going through a contentious period when it was promoted as an
exclusive private resort — the former Elk Meadows Ski Resort east of Beaver plans to reopen this winter as Eagle
Point.
“Our goal is to be family friendly, deliver outstanding dining,amenities and service, and appeal to those who might
be looking to get away from the crowds,” said CEO Shane Gadbaw.
He acquired the resort in a bankruptcy proceeding involving the would-be developers of Mount Holly Resort. They had
hoped to turn the southwestern Utah resort into a gated community with a private ski resort and a Jack Nicklaus golf
course, but encountered financial difficulties and resistance from many property owners.
Gadbaw intends to open the ski area Dec. 15, weather permitting. He said daily lift tickets will cost $45 for adults, and
$32 for seniors and children. The resort will have 36 runs covering 400 skiable acres, served by one quad chairlift, one
triple chair and two double chairs.
The resort is almost equidistant between Salt Lake City and Las Vegas, about 210 miles away.
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