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!

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...

Last tango in Park City?

This is probably true as far as outdoor concerts are concerned. This past Wednesday was our last Deer Valley concert of the season with a much thinner crowd than usual and a hurried sun that dropped off the hill just when the music started playing, letting some an ominous chill come in, forcing us to layer up in a hurry.

The band that was originally booked couldn't make it and instead we ended up with a wonderful variety of talents all working hard to making that last concert one to be remembered. With the leaves changing very early this year, it's now time to bid goodbye to a summer that felt both almost perfect and far too short!

Look! Forty years ago...

Four decades ago, this past Monday, I was starting a new job and a new career with Look Ski Bindings. I had interviewed for the position at the old factory and, that day, I was beginning in a spanking brand new factory, located rue de la Pique, in Nevers, France.

I still remember the impressive conference room with its “bas-reliefs” of skiers from recent years. For a full week, I would be indoctrinated into what what the “Look philosophy” at the time. It was all about long release path, pivot in the tibial axis, water-tightness and durability, all making up for the safest ski binding at the time.

For that short period, it seemed that my new life would be easy, fun and boundless. It would prove to be significantly different!

Hike to Mt. Timpanogos

Yesterday was the seventh time I reached the top of Mt. Timpanogos, a fortress-like mountain that dominates Sundance ski resort and frames the Heber Valley, on the other side of Park City. This is a wonderful hike and I enjoyed my daughter's company to climb the 4,842 feet vertical.

For her second time climbing, she had much more stamina than I had, which is a clear signal that after seating on my duff for so long, it's now time for me to return to some serious training. There is no room for lying in mountaineering.

Another positive element that the mountain-goats, Timpanogos local resident welcome us and let us shoot pictures of them like I had never done before. Another great reason to return.

My other “wasted years”

Except for eighteen months spent serving in the French Air Force, most of my years have always been interesting and quite productive, except for those that happened when I was in 6, 7, and 8th grade, in what was called the Collège d'Enseignement Général, the French equivalent of Junior High.

While I was a “star” student in elementary school, middle school didn't work at all for me, and I had to double up 8th grade. Thankfully, that move and my going to a strict boarding school helped me regain my focus and become a human being that was more acceptable to society.

The “average” life

What should an average life be like? One with very few – if no – ups and down? One in which each day looks pretty much the same as the previous one, the future is a mirror image of the past and in which time flows uninterrupted, at pretty much the same speed? Would many folks dream of such a life? Probably an awful lot. Would have I liked it? Certainly not.

I needed strong sensations, excitement, fear and the extreme elation that came with a more chaotic living. My natural curiosity needed a daily dose of nourishment. It has kept me awake and alive so far and will continue to perk up my interest if it keeps on making waves.

As we move forward and grow older, these might be less spectacular, the ebb and flow will get closer, but there still will be plenty of room for the “extraordinary” or the “above-average”, whatever you may call what is generally known as being a bit abnormal...