How to make a Big fortune in the Ski-biz?

You just duplicate what the Cumming family did in 1996. You purchase Park City Ski Area for some $80 million, then you run it sparingly without investing much. In fact, you carefully “milk” your investment.

The only new lift added in 18 years has been Crescent, a high-speed quad. The rent on the 3,000 acre land was incredibly cheap ($155,000 a year).

While I don't know the actual resort's top line, the current legal dispute between Park City Mountain Resort (PCMR) and Talisker/Vail, has revealed, through the arguments presented by both sides, an EBITDA of $25 to 30 million.

Wow! This to me is an incredible return on the original investment and debunks the paradigm I used to subscribe to, that in order to make a small fortune in the ski business, you had to start with a big one!