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

[urungus]

If Jon is the Partner the Berkshire East Summit Pass would be great adding Burke. Burke, Berkshire East, Catamount, and Bousquet. Maybe they would give discounts to their other operation Big Red Cat Tours in BC!

Burke pass alone is already hundreds of dollars more expensive than the Berkshire East/Catamount/Bousquet Summit pass. So expect a big increase in the cost of your (and my) Summit pass if the Schaefer purchase of Burke goes through. For my occasional visit to Burke, the current setup is cheaper where Burke is Indy Allied and also offers $65 any day lift tickets to other mountain pass holders.

 

[B-Eastski]

Burke pass alone is already hundreds of dollars more expensive than the Berkshire East/Catamount/Bousquet Summit pass. So expect a big increase in the cost of your (and my) Summit pass if the Schaefer purchase of Burke goes through. For my occasional visit to Burke, the current setup is cheaper where Burke is Indy Allied and also offers $65 any day lift tickets to other mountain pass holders.

Why would it increase? The majority of the skiers would be going to Berkshire East & Catamount so nothing would change. Also it would reduce the price of the current Burke pass. More passes would sell and potentially lowering the pass across the board. Its called economies of scale. Why do you think Epic is so inexpensive? Lower the price of something increase volume of sales and actually make more profit.

 

[urungus]

Why would it increase? The majority of the skiers would be going to Berkshire East & Catamount so nothing would change. Also it would reduce the price of the current Burke pass. More passes would sell and potentially lowering the pass across the board. It’s called economies of scale. Why do you think Epic is so inexpensive? Lower the price of something increase volume of sales and actually make more profit.

Because they wouldn’t want to undercut themselves. Given Burkes remote location, my guess is that a drop in Burke season pass price is not going to lead to enough additional sales to make up for the lost revenue from existing renewing passholders. Otherwise why wouldn’t Burke have done this already? I guess time will tell.

 

[snoseek]

They could always take the PRG route and have separate pass prices and a certain amount of free days at burke. It seems to work well for them.

 

[B-Eastski]

What will go up for Burke folks is the Biking pass if they combined it. However Burke regular down hill riders would now have access to Thunder which is arguably the best bike park on the East Coast. At least for advances riders. I live 5 min away and prefer Stratton or Killington places scares the shit out of me.

 

[urungus]

So the consensus is purchase by deep pocketed locals assorted with the Burke Mtn Academy, sort of like Killington. And the Schaeffers will help managing the resort without much if any ownership stake ? Sort of like the arrangement at Bousquet ? Who in that group has experience running a large hotel ?

 

[B-Eastski]

So the consensus is purchase by deep pocketed locals assorted with the Burke Mtn Academy, sort of like Killington. And the Schaeffers will help managing the resort without much if any ownership stake ? Sort of like the arrangement at Bousquet ? Who in that group has experience running a large hotel ?

I would think Jon would have some level of ownership i this deal. This is a much bigger animal than little Bousquet!

 

[thetrailboss]

So the consensus is purchase by deep pocketed locals assorted with the Burke Mtn Academy, sort of like Killington. And the Schaeffers will help managing the resort without much if any ownership stake ? Sort of like the arrangement at Bousquet ? Who in that group has experience running a large hotel ?

It's not at all clear to me IF the Hotel is part of the deal. I know that the Receiver wants it to be so he can be done with this, but those in the know have consistently told me that the Receiver has interest in one OR the other, not both.

 

[machski]

Because they wouldn’t want to undercut themselves. Given Burkes remote location, my guess is that a drop in Burke season pass price is not going to lead to enough additional sales to make up for the lost revenue from existing renewing passholders. Otherwise why wouldn’t Burke have done this already? I guess time will tell.

You are talking from a Burke only pass model perspective. If Burke were combined into a single pass with the other three down in MA, you'd sell more passes overall and revenue share across the areas. They could also keep Burke separate and offer some comp days across their portfolio (akin to how Boyne has dealt with Pleasant to date with the NEP).

 

[B-Eastski]

Jon would add more summer activities on the mountain as well and improve the bike park. Berkshire East’s park was built by gravity Logic out of Whistler so you know he is into spending money.

 

[AdironRider]

Kingdom Trails seems to be a tough relationship for partners. Previously under Q Burke reign, the relationship fell apart once already. That appeared at the time to be a one off (given the Quiros scam that was running) and the fault of Burke, but since then several other stakeholders ended their relationship with KT as well, so it is a little murkier in terms of who is the bad partner here. Others in the biking industry say KT is working through some challenges there, which is all ultimately to say, its not a guarantee that Jon or whoever the new owner is immediately going to see a huge benefit from working with KT or necessarily want to make that investment right out of the gate without seeing how that relationship plays out.

 

[thetrailboss]

Ask and ye shall receive.

 

[thetrailboss]

And we now know the buyer is not Vail or Alterra.

 

[urungus]

You are talking from a Burke only pass model perspective. If Burke were combined into a single pass with the other three down in MA, you'd sell more passes overall and revenue share across the areas. They could also keep Burke separate and offer some comp days across their portfolio (akin to how Boyne has dealt with Pleasant to date with the NEP).

Next year’s Berkshire East / Catamount / Bousquet Summit Pass is now on sale for $579, a $20 decrease from this seasons early bird price. Would be amazing if Burke wound up getting included too, but I’m not holding my breath. But with Burke going full Indy, at minimum you would now get 2 days at Burke with Berkshire East Pass + the no-brainer discounted Indy add-on pass

Season Passes - Berkshire East Mountain Resort

Berkshire East Mountain Resort is the four season adventure destination in New England. Located in the beautiful Berkshires of Western Massachusetts.

berkshireeast.com

 

[thetrailboss]

Investors Say Receiver Is Ignoring Their Bid for Burke | Seven Days

A pair of investors say they've offered $10 million to buy Burke Mountain ski area but have heard nothing from the receiver that controls the property.

m.sevendaysvt.com

Well, these two guys are not the purchasers. They also seem pretty butt hurt. I don’t see the point of them going up to East Burke on Friday. Frankly, I think they were lowballing. They should not be at all surprised that their $10 mill offer for a ski area and a $50 mill hotel got no traction. And they aren’t really locals. Jamaica, Vermont is a long ways away…..

 

[urungus]

Is 10-12 million a reasonable offer ? Town-assessed value is $20.3 million. Amazing that you could get an entire 2000 vertical foot ski area for barely more than the price of a new chairlift.

 

[thetrailboss]

Is 10-12 million a reasonable offer ? Town-assessed value is $20.3 million. Amazing that you could get an entire 2000 vertical foot ski area for barely more than the price of a new chairlift.

I edited my post before you responded. They are trying to get a steal. It doesn’t smell good to me. And if there is a legit buyer then the offer is higher than this $10 mill offer. As I said they’re trying to get a bargain.

 

[thetrailboss]

So I looked up Wisconsin Resorts, Inc. who is the company one of these guys owns. They’re not setting the world on fire. They own three feeder hills in Michigan and a couple other places. Two areas are so small that they don’t even list the vert on their sites. Bittersweet has 350 vertical feet. Their Alpine Valley Resort has 388 vertical feet. That’s not in the same league as Burke. I don’t see any advantage at all with this group running things. Besides it being a different ski market, there is no synergy with the other ski areas and no cross marketing opportunities.

Mountain Info – Alpine Valley Resort

www.alpinevalleyresort.com

They also own Searchmont. That’s 703 vertical feet.

About – Searchmont Resort

searchmont.com

Wisconsin Resorts Inc. Buys Ontario’s Searchmont Resort

SAM Magazine—Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., Nov. 6, 2018—American company Wisconsin Resorts Inc. purchased Searchmont Resort in Ontario, Canada, from the Sault St

www.saminfo.com

I’m skeptical.

 

[thetrailboss]

The link to register to watch their Zoom meeting on Friday at 5:30pm eastern.

Community Forum on Burke Mountain Resort Ownership Plans

Let's talk about the future of Burke Mountain Resort ownership - come join us for a community forum to discuss the plans!

www.eventbrite.com

Pro Tip: use an actual photo of Burke Mountain in your promotions and not that of another ski area. Especially if you’re trying to show how passionate you are about the Burke community.

 

[thetrailboss]

From the article. This might not be the right thing to say, especially if he knows the history of Burke like he said he did.

Greenberg, 71, said four of his five kids have raced at Burke, and he'd like for one of his kids to work at the resort if he can buy it.