Burke Mtn sold to Jay Peak

[jimmywilson69]

Maybe they will run a highspeed gondola between Burke and Jay. They could call it the Northeast Kingdom Express

[thetrailboss]

I wonder if this will have any effect on the Academy? Is the Academy a separate entity or is it part of Burke? Does the Academy have some type of deeded rights to use Burke...and/or do they pay for the use of the Mountain?

It's kind of complicated, but as I understand it, the deal goes like this. In 2000 a group of people affiliated with BMA bought the mountain. They used folks from BMA administration to kind of fill in with both roles, but the mountain was not technically owned by BMA, but it was so closely affiliated that in essence it was "run" by BMA. Most Burke locals know who the main "money man" was with this deal, and he was the one who brought in the REIT in 2005 to buy the resort from this group.

In 2005 the BMA affiliated group sold the mountain to the REIT and Ginn. Part of the deal included BMA having a say (I can't recall if it was a right of first refusal or an option) should the REIT decide to sell. The deal, I think, also provided for a large chunk of change going to BMA's endowment. So as of 2005 BMA was not "running" the mountain per se.

As I mentioned Jay was very involved with Burke in 2000 after Northern Star left, Stenger in particular. He felt that having Burke would only help Jay because Burke had a great location and could help draw more skiers north. So he provided a lot of free advice and guidance to that regime. Of all the neighboring hills, Jay was the one who was the most generous. I wondered why he did not buy it then, but I think that the truth was, and it was the same case in the 1990's when Les Otten was seen walking around the mountain, that it needed a lot of work...snowmaking, lifts, lodges, etc. And Stenger was not his own boss. So now, in 2012 after a terrible season, Burke has seven years of expensive upgrades that include two new HSQ's, a renovated base lodge, expanded and improved snowmaking, better marketing, and the biking in the summer.

[thetrailboss]

Some comments on the Globe and BF articles:

1. I don't believe that Ginn was the seller: the REIT was. Ginn has been out for some time now.

2. "He estimated Burke's recent skier visitation at about 60,000 visits." Holy sh^&. That is way down from their previous levels of about 90k.

3. "There's a lot of history at Burke and there's been many master plans that did not roll out. We're about delivering on our promises, which means we're not making many on day one." Smart. I imagine, again, that they will want to build up the skier visits and not invest in silly extras. Burke, in some ways, has better terrain than Jay (better consistent pitch, better weather (not as windy or cold), and better location).

Burke will definitely benefit from the Jay marketing machine.

[from_the_NEK]

More interesting information here:
http://www.powdermag.com/latest-news...ak-buys-burke/

"QBurke" is the official new owner.

[riverc0il]

Just saw the email before coming here. Wow. Couple of thoughts:

The announcement doesn't say Jay Peak buys Burke. It is Stenger and partner. It remains to be seen what type of combo offering will be made. But it seems likely that a two tier pass would eventually be offered: Jay Solo, Burke Solo, and Combined. A Burke/Jay combo would be really amazing. This would drive guest visits at Burke and relieve Jay of crowding on its busiest days. Nice. Also gets folks in Metro Boston on board with a closer area than Jay for day tripping and Jay for the weekend or full week trips.

from_the_NEK points out the MTB and that is HUGE for Jay to have another non-skiing resort item to offer its guests. In fact, I suspect the MTB will be a bigger boon to Stenger and Jay than the skiing at Burke. Summer now includes full resort access, very nice modern lodging, quality on mountain restaurants, golf, water park, and one of the premier MTB networks in the east. This also gets Stenger more real estate to sell without building more units for the Jay expansion just yet.

Benefit to Burke is quite obvious: definite long term sustainability, especially in the face of having purchased two HSQs in recent years and significantly built out the resort. That debt needs to be paid and getting more guests to the mountain will be needed. Stenger knows how to do that.

I can't wait to see how this plays out. I am flying independent for one more year as I finish off my List. I was on the fence about a Jay pass for 2013-2014 but a Jay/Burke combo (with the likelihood of Burke being more aggressive with snowmaking to boot) would certainly seal the deal, even at a slight premium over the Jay pass.

[Masskier]

Just saw the email before coming here. Wow. Couple of thoughts:

The announcement doesn't say Jay Peak buys Burke. It is Stenger and partner. It remains to be seen what type of combo offering will be made. But it seems likely that a two tier pass would eventually be offered: Jay Solo, Burke Solo, and Combined. A Burke/Jay combo would be really amazing. This would drive guest visits at Burke and relieve Jay of crowding on its busiest days. Nice. Also gets folks in Metro Boston on board with a closer area than Jay for day tripping and Jay for the weekend or full week trips.

from_the_NEK points out the MTB and that is HUGE for Jay to have another non-skiing resort item to offer its guests. In fact, I suspect the MTB will be a bigger boon to Stenger and Jay than the skiing at Burke. Summer now includes full resort access, very nice modern lodging, quality on mountain restaurants, golf, water park, and one of the premier MTB networks in the east. This also gets Stenger more real estate to sell without building more units for the Jay expansion just yet.

Benefit to Jay is quite obvious: definite long term sustainability, especially in the face of having purchased two HSQs in recent years and significantly built out the resort. That debt needs to be paid and getting more guests to the mountain will be needed. Stenger knows how to do that.

I can't wait to see how this plays out. I am flying independent for one more year as I finish off my List. I was on the fence about a Jay pass for 2013-2014 but a Jay/Burke combo (with the likelihood of Burke being more aggressive with snowmaking to boot) would certainly seal the deal, even at a slight premium over the Jay pass.

What debt? Jay's expansion is being funded through the EB 5 program. And I would think that he may do the same at Burke.

[riverc0il]

Sorry, typo. I was referring to Burke's debt for the HSQs. I imagine they would need to do another application process to do EB5 at Burke. Would they be able to do it with the Jay project still on going?

[psyflyer]

Sorry, typo. I was referring to Burke's debt for the HSQs. I imagine they would need to do another application process to do EB5 at Burke. Would they be able to do it with the Jay project still on going?

Who says Burke financed the HSQ with debt?

Excellent news!

[thetrailboss]

I just saw on the latest WCAX news article that Stenger's immediate plans for Burke are to focus on "substantial" snowmaking upgrades in time for next season.

[Masskier]

Sorry, typo. I was referring to Burke's debt for the HSQs. I imagine they would need to do another application process to do EB5 at Burke. Would they be able to do it with the Jay project still on going?

As long as they are able to attract the foreign investors and create the jobs.