Receiver Announces that Burke has a Stalking Horse Bid and Deal will Close by End of 2024

[crank]

I remember. years ago the receiver said he couldn't sell it until it was profitable... like that's ever gonna happen.

 

[Big Wave Dave]

In some ways I agree with that article, it really just needs to be sold and going on 8+ years of receivership does not add any value to Burke.

That said, I think a lot of the people quoted are kind of delusional in the underlying business case for Burke. It does not sustain itself and honestly, probably never will. BMA keeps it afloat, and has a pretty strong easement to ensure their operations come first. That is a pretty big hurdle to overcome in terms of sale. Who is going to come in an invest a minimum of 30 million between purchase and upgrades, with all that risk and inherent operational challenges that come with BMA and the easement?

Burke offers no realistic value in terms of getting people to come compared to Jay. They are further from Montreal and for US based population areas, to close to Jay which is a better place to visit and gets 4x the snow, and has significantly better terrain. Its location is is achilles heel and outside of ski racing, has basically nothing going for it.

Well apparently several people are willing to invest $30m in Burke as the article says.

Burke doesn’t compete with Jay. It’s not close. As a local, I’d love to see them linked again. But Burke draws people who don’t want to fight the crowds at WV, Loon, Okemo and Breton Woods and are willing to drive a little further. Burke is also drawing these days from people who want nothing to do with the mega pass shit show. Know several people who dumped Stowe for Burke this year.

4x the snow is an asinine statement as well as it has nothing going for it. It’s a classic New England ski mountain with old school trails as well as some of the most consistent pitch steep groomers around. Does it get northern greens snow? No. But it still gets more than pretty much all NH, most of Maine, and Vermont south of the MRV. In a terrible year last year Burke still got over 200”.

The Burke area has also seen a massive second home building boom in last 10 years and all these houses have cars with skis on them parked outside.

 

[thetrailboss]

Burke Mountain's Fight for Survival Under Distant Control

Burke Mountain has a magnetic quality. It attracts swarms of outdoor adventure enthusiasts – skiers, bikers, hikers, campers, hang gliders – with its steep slopes and panoramic views. It’s what

www.northstarmonthly.com

Some observations:

1. I don't feel that the Receiver deserves as much criticism as the author outlined. The alternative would have been Burke shut down. His obligation is to protect the assets for the defrauded investors. The problem is that he has about $50 million of defrauded investors and a resort that has a purchase offer of $10-13 million. The one legitimate criticism is that the sale is taking too long and that the value of the resort is dropping. I agree.
2. On that note, the author answered the question of "why is this taking so long" without realizing it. That is there are too many cooks in the kitchen on this deal. She disclosed that BMA's easement was recently amended and enlarged. She also disclosed the Homeowners Association. Then you have the 100 defrauded investors. Then you have those 100 defrauded investors who at least want a Green Card and need Burke to create X number of jobs. On the "Storm Podcast", Jon Schaefer himself alluded to this fact that there are too many complicating factors in this deal so he pulled out. This article explained some of those other factors.
3. The understanding on the ground was that "the interested bidder" was always Don Graham and his kids. Now we learn that the bidder was another BMA family--Mark Greenberg. I've never heard of him. It was not surprising to me that Graham didn't take any calls from the author. He keeps a very low profile. Perhaps the Grahams are silent partners for Greenberg--both literally and metaphorically. I don't know of Greenberg's track record on other projects. Does anyone know him?
4. The identity of Greenberg's "partner" still remains a mystery. "Greenberg has a partner whose family owns ski resorts and has experience with turnarounds and expertise in quality snowmaking." That sounds exactly like the Schaefer Family but, if Jon was telling the truth, it ain't them anymore as he said in 2023 that they were out of the deal. As to other partners, I guess that could describe Boyne, but I don't see Boyne as having much interest considering how much is needed to invest in the resort. Reading in between the lines, it does not sound like Pacific Group either. So this remains a big "?"
5. AR is correct about the summer business and mountain biking. My late Uncle, "the original trailboss" thought that the mountain biking crowd was an odd bunch for business. He commented that it was common to see folks come for the weekend with $10,000 bikes but sleep in their cars or in tents at the campground and eat raman. It is an interesting juxtaposition. I laughed when he said that back in 2017 or so, but from what I have seen, he is right. The last few summers when we have returned to Vermont I have spent most of the time in Burke. In 2023 we stayed a week at the Burke Mountain Hotel. In town one sees out-of-towners with decent cars but expensive bikes and gear. Yes, they buy beer and food, but most were not staying at the Hotel. During our week, a fair amount of the Hotel was empty, largely due to repair work for the flooding incident that they had earlier that year. There were a couple small conventions that had some overnight guests (from in-state), a few bikers, and a few others. But it was not overrun by bikers. We got a pretty good deal on our room as well. So, yes, there is MORE summer business now than there ever has been, but it is not gangbusters nor enough to probably entice someone to invest a lot of money. Perhaps if "they build it, they will come", but folks have been saying that about Burke for 40 years.....
6. The context as to why BMA, and Willie Booker in particular, were mentioned is interesting. It appears that at some event a condo owner complained to Booker about BMA's impact on operations. In fact, BMA can often, without any real warning, close a ski trail for training. When they train on the Dipper's it closes down most of the terrain on the east side of the mountain. That is a legitimate complaint. The fact that BMA's easement is over 50 pages is a real shock. The details about the snowmaking base depths was also interesting. But without BMA there is no mountain. In the 25 years or so that the Dippers have been in existence, extensive trail closures for races and training have been a recurrent problem and one for which I don't see an easy solution.

The article raises more questions than answers overall I think.

 

[thetrailboss]

Burke offers no realistic value in terms of getting people to come compared to Jay. They are further from Montreal and for US based population areas, to close to Jay which is a better place to visit and gets 4x the snow, and has significantly better terrain. Its location is is achilles heel and outside of ski racing, has basically nothing going for it.

4x the snow is an asinine statement as well as it has nothing going for it. It’s a classic New England ski mountain with old school trails as well as some of the most consistent pitch steep groomers around. Does it get northern greens snow? No. But it still gets more than pretty much all NH, most of Maine, and Vermont south of the MRV. In a terrible year last year Burke still got over 200”.

Yeah, there are not many ski areas I know of who get an average of 868" of snow. The Cottonwoods don't even get that.

 

[AdironRider]

Fellas, Burke isn’t getting anywhere near 200”.

But none the less, the point was if you are traveling that far, the extra 20-25 minutes (from population centers South) to Jay is a no brainer for better terrain snow and amenities.

 

[Zand]

Burke averages 210. Sure it's 150 less than Jay but it's not like they're Ascutney.

 

[Smellytele]

Fellas, Burke isn’t getting anywhere near 200”.

But none the less, the point was if you are traveling that far, the extra 20-25 minutes (from population centers South) to Jay is a no brainer for better terrain snow and amenities.

More like 40-45 minutes further.

 

[thetrailboss]

Fellas, Burke isn’t getting anywhere near 200”.

But none the less, the point was if you are traveling that far, the extra 20-25 minutes (from population centers South) to Jay is a no brainer for better terrain snow and amenities.

It's reported that they average 217" historically. Maybe that is dated, given the last few winters, but it historically has been in that 190-220" range.

Burke Mountain (Vermont) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

More relevant though is that you commented that there are areas that get 4x as much as Burke. I think you are using hyperbole. But I don't hear any response to that point that other areas, or Jay in particular, gets in excess of 800" of snow. Even if you use 150" as a basis, Jay doesn't get 600" either.

 

[Big Wave Dave]

Fellas, Burke isn’t getting anywhere near 200”.

But none the less, the point was if you are traveling that far, the extra 20-25 minutes (from population centers South) to Jay is a no brainer for better terrain snow and amenities.

It absolutely does get that. Even the statistics that Burlington NWS puts out verify that. St. J and Newport are the 2 snowiest cities in the state. Newport gets almost 100” a year. Add several thousand feet in elevation…..you easily get 200” a year.

Jay is almost another hour from Burke. Jay again is not Burkes competitor market. Burke is an add on to a Jay trip, not an either/or.

Jay also completely sucks in marginal snow- if you can’t ski the woods at Jay it’s a series of icey catwalks. Starting to wonder if you’ve ever been to Vermont before!

 

[AdironRider]

Burke isn't going to give you a reach around Dave, settle down.

You cannot seriously argue that Burke has close to the terrain or snowfall of Jay Peak, and when someone is driving close to four hours from Boston or the surrounding towns, they are going to drive to Jay 9 times out of 10. It isn't an hour further than Burke, and even if it was, it would still be worth it. That is why it would be a shit investment to purchase and pretty much every owner has gone bankrupt or was corrupt. In every conceivable metric, the closest resort to Burke is better.

That all said, the receiver should just sell it to the BMA family for 10 mill and be done with it. Maybe, magically, this owner will make it work.