The Park City Mountain Resort mess

The embattled Park City Mountain Resort (PCMR) was told yesterday by a judge that it will have to post a bond of $17.5 million in favor of Talisker/Vail Resorts to keep operating through April 30, 2015. This amount is based on a fair market value for the lease of $5 million per year that, according to Utah law, can be tripled by the landlord to a total $15 million. The balance was added for interest and attorneys fees.

Based on total sales of $65 million and a margin of $25 million or so, this leaves PCMR plenty of profits to operate, by normal standards. Sure the deal isn't as massively juicy as it used to be, but that's the new Talisker/Vail reality. This said, "once a mad dog, always a mad dog," and the jury is still out as the which road the Cumming clan will chose to take.

While I was optimistic that cool heads and reason would prevail, I am afraid that “family honor” may get in the way of the economic interests of the entire Park City community. Unless some divine revelation hits that crazy family, I can see many more years of suffering and less that ideal situation for a healthy ski trade around Park City.

An ominous warning sign to all people living from and near the other Powdr Resorts, including Snowbird, Cummings' new acquisition, about the schizophrenic nature of their local ski lift operator...