Central California

[GiBo]

Anyone know if the road to Highlands has melted out yet?

[hopelesslyadolescent]

GiBo, haven't been by Highlands Lake road in about ten days, but I'd be surprised if you could get very far in. Couldn't even get half way down the paved section above the campground ten days ago, and that usually goes pretty quickly. But it has been a warm last few days.

[GiBo]

Thanks hopelesslyadolescent! May check it out.

[~mikey b]

y'all should be checking out Unofficial Bear Valley

lots of good info on the MRA proposal and some ideas to promote discussion about village and terrain expansion

[LongShortLong]

Anyone know if the road to Highlands has melted out yet?

Was coming here to ask the same question, so please report. The satellite data indicates it's mostly melted, but it's really low res, meaning hard to say.

[~mikey b]

more BV news



Calaveras Enterprise May 16, 2014

Bear Valley Mountain is still on the market and being showcased to various investor groups, which have voiced interest, according to the resort.

The resort further contends that several parties are finalizing offers. However, Bear Valley Mountain Cooperative – the grassroots group based on an alternative ownership model – is the only potential buyer that has moved forward with a nonexclusive letter of intent with the current owners, Dundee Resort Development.

The resort has been on the market for years now. According to reports, a deal was in the works to sell it last summer, but the prospective owners backed out at the last minute leaving the current owners to cope with another difficult winter of low snowfall.

The ongoing roller coaster ride inspired a group of local property owners and residents to start Bear Valley Mountain Cooperative, which began to build momentum at a homeowners’ meeting in October. The co-op is based on a model of public shareholders who get to vote, comment and help steer the management and operations of the resort.

Since then, a board has formed and shares are now being sold to the public – one share costs $2,500 – as the co-op tries to generate the necessary capital to make a viable offer to the resort’s current owners.

As part of the effort, the co-op is holding public meetings in Calaveras County to further educate the public on the cooperative’s efforts and unconventional ownership model.

The first meeting will be at V Restaurant, Bar and Bistro in Murphys at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, May 20. Another will follow at the Big Trees Homeowners’ Association rec center at 7 p.m. Saturday, May 24. And a third informational meeting will take place at the Hub in Arnold at 4 p.m. Sunday, May 25.

For more information on Bear Valley Mountain Cooperative, visit bvmcoop.org.


update on the BV Mtn Co-op website

We are ready to purchase the mountain and village!

We have signed a letter of intent to purchase the mountain and village and are entering into our due diligence phase (we look at the property details and financials) and will come out of that process in early summer with the details about the purchase of Bear Valley and a forward looking plan to bring excitement and improvements to the mountain and village. To help in our due diligence efforts to review the Mountain’s operations and develop our operating plan, the Co-op is working with an experienced team that operates both Mountain High Resort near L.A. and Stevens Pass Resort east of Seattle. They have decades of experience in mountain resorts and are already familiar with what Bear Valley has to offer.


About Mountain High / Stevens Pass Resort Team

Mountain High and Stevens Pass resorts are managed by an experienced group of professionals lead by Karl Kapuscinski, Paul Bauer, Michele Roy, and John McCally. Their focus is to review Bear Valley Mountains’ equipment, maintenance needs, and improvements as they work with the Co-op team to develop an actionable plan for Bear Valley Mountain as a year round destination. Some examples of their work include Stevens Pass’ addition of a very successful Mountain Bike program started by Twain Harte native Joel Martinez that was written up in this months Bike magazine. Mountain High and their VP of Marketing, John McCally were also the originators of the Powder Alliance program which shares pass privileges at 12 other resorts across the West.



Both of these resorts get over 3 times the skier visits that we do here at Bear Valley (yes, even with good snow). Steven’s Pass has had back-to-back record years at just over 400k visits and Mountain High has a 10 year average of 445k visits. Of special note, Mountain High is one of the most innovative resorts for terrain parks, youth, and diverse ethnic skier base with Stevens Pass recently winning the NSAA Golden Eagle award for sustainability efforts for resorts with fewer than 500k visits.

[Vets]

Anyone know if the road to Highlands has melted out yet?

We (Mrs. Vets and I) drove down Highland Lakes Road on Saturday. The road was clear until just past the first campground. There was a pretty big snowdrift blocking most of the road. If you had a high clearance monster truck or a Humvee you could attempt going further. We were not in the mood for blasting through with a Subaru, so we skied around Ebbetts Pass. We did have a good view of Folger Peak. Here is a photo:

Folger Peak, Highland Lakes, Hiram Peak all look like they should be good for a while.
(I should be posting an Ebbetts TR soon.)
Done, Here is a link

[~mikey b]

Keep up the stoke kids!

I'm out for the rest of the season due to injury.

Don't forget - Summer Solstice party here Sat June 21.

[tseeb]

All the higher Sierra passes are closed again.This includes Monitor, Ebbetts, Sonora and Tioga.
Howard Scheckter at http://mammothweather.com/ predicting 6-8" between today and Thurs.

[GiBo]

Heal up soon Mike! And thanks for the BV info. Keeping my eye on that.

Thanks for the report Vets.

[LongShortLong]

Visited Highland Lakes on the weekend. Skied Hiram's east bowl and a couple of the north fall lines that go nearly to the top. Had a good corn harvest Saturday evening, and good again Sunday morning. Sorry for no pix, I don't remember how to upload them _and_ make them appear (somebody PM and I'll try. A few months ago I found the thread about posting pics but could not make it work. I could upload to my folder, but not embed.)

Coverage on the mountain is good, but it doesn't seem very deep. Looks like the north faces of the east bowl had some cornice failures/point releases with the midweek warmup. South side of Folger has some patches, but is mostly bare. The cornice line on the ridge is mostly continuous. The road near the lakes is mostly snow. The lakes are mostly frozen over. We were able to ski from Hiram to the campground, though continuous snow is nearly gone crossing the meadow/road between the lakes.

Road conditions. Clear to the first campground. Snow patches between there and the 'ford.' If you a 4wd driving yahoo and quite jacked up (w/big wheels) you might get to the creek. Beyond that... let's just say that on the way out from the lakes, we skied from the low pass all the way to the 'ford.' Snow is 0-3 feet deep on the road, so skiing did involve some walking across dry patches. Maybe in 2-3 weeks you can drive there.

On the way out, we helped free a big 4wd truck that was stuck good, high centered on a snow patch. Protip - OnStar only works near cell towers.

[Vets]

^ Thanks for the Highland Lakes report. An impressive ski mission.
I hope to ski there with easier access in early June.

[~mikey b]

120, 108 and 4 opened today

Bear Valley Ownership Change

Ownership change to speed Bear sale?
Written by Mike Morris, The Union Democrat May 22, 2014 12:30 pm

Bear Valley Mountain Resort announced Wednesday a change among the partners that own and operate the resort, which could help streamline the sale of the ski area.

Following a “restructuring,” San Jose-based developer Toeniskoetter, Breeding & Halgrimson is no longer a partner, said resort spokeswoman Rosie Sundell.



The resort — off upper Highway 4 in western Alpine County — is now owned by remaining partners Dundee Resort Development USA and Palo Alto-based Radar Partners, a principal investment firm.

The 1,680-acre ski resort has been for sale since January 2013.

“The change in ownership reduces the complexity of current and future negotiations for the ski area and village assets,” said Greg Finch, president of Dundee. “The change has not altered the immediate goal to sell the property. We continue to show it and we have been working with a number of interested parties.”

One of those potential buyers is the Bear Valley Mountain Cooperative.

[~mikey b]

Here's a better article from today's Calaveras Enterprise

Posted: Friday, May 23, 2014 6:00 am

By Stephen Crane

Move could benefit sale

Bear Valley Mountain just announced an ownership shift that could help facilitate the sale of the resort, which currently has multiple parties who have shown interest in the upcountry destination.

When the resort was purchased in 2005, the ownership group consisted of three distinct partners –Dundee Resort Development out of Edwards, Colo., Radar Partners based in San Jose, and TBH.

“Each of those entities are their own corporations,” explained Rosie Sundell, marketing director for Bear Valley Mountain. “Dundee (is a) large multibillion dollar corporation. Radar (is an) investment ‘venture’ firm and TBH is comprised of three partners that have multiple interests together.”

The owners made a number of improvements at the facility in anticipation of future development and a revitalized resort. They completed the necessary Environmental Impact Report for village development and an Environmental Assessment for the mountain, which paves the way for those improvements. And in December 2012, the group received the necessary approvals for a new master plan, which includes a new ski lift, in addition to resort and village enhancements.

Soon after the master plan was approved, the owners put the resort’s assets on the selling block, and a buyer was reportedly lined up to purchase the resort last summer. But the deal fell through at the last minute, with the potential buyers citing a timeline that had become too short to adequately prepare for the 2013-’14 snow season.

The resort owners maintained business as usual, while battling another year of low snowfall and still hoping to sell the resort.

In the recent ownership shift, TBH – or Toeniskoetter, Breeding and Hallgrimson – opted to sell its share of the resort’s assets to the remaining two partners, which now hold 50 percent each and will continue to operate the resort.

“The change in ownership reduces the complexity of current and future negotiations for the ski area and village assets,” said Greg Finch, president of Dundee.

With only two remaining partners, the change is anticipated to simplify the sometimes arduous negotiating process with potential buyers.

“(It) makes it easier,” said Sundell. “There are a number of entities looking at the property and the new 50-50 partners have flexibility to move forward in whatever manner they feel is best for Bear Valley.”

While multiple potential buyers have reportedly shown interest and been moving forward in the process, only one has gone public with its progress – Bear Valley Mountain Cooperative, a grassroots group of homeowners and residents that wants to take ownership of the mountain and its future through a shareholder program. The group has publicly acknowledged that it has signed a nonexclusive letter of intent to purchase the ski resort – but not the village assets – which gives it access to operational details of the ski resort.

“I don’t expect any of the others (potential buyers) will (go public), until their process is done,” Sundell said. “The co-op is looking for additional people to sign up so they can raise the funds to buy. They are actively marketing the co-op.”

For Bear Valley Mountain, it’s full speed ahead.

“The change has not altered the immediate goal to sell the property.” Finch said. “We continue to show it, and we have been working with a number of interested parties.”

And if no sale goes through this year, the resort will still provide folks with a place to strap on skis and snowboards once the snow starts falling.

“Buyer or no buyer, Bear Valley is planning to remain open this season and beyond,” the resort concluded.

[hopelesslyadolescent]

Drove two miles up Highlands Lakes road today before hiking with skis on packs. Word was that snow was continuous a week ago from the bridge up the steep pitch of road. Not so today. Hiked to the Tryon Meadow trailhead, then traversed around to the north side of the ridge, skinned the last half mile or so up into the northfacing bowl of Folger Peak and bootpacked the rest of the way up. Excellent soft snow top to bottom. 3-4 inches of fresh, pre-corn above 8700 ' that skied very well. Beautiful day, nearly still at the top. The drifts on the road are going fast, should be able to get much farther in by next weekend.

[hopelesslyadolescent]

Went back up to Folger Peak today. The good: could drive past the cow camp to the usual big drift at the cow guard. So short hike up from the cow camp around to the north side and into the bowl. I bootpacked the whole way. My son and his friends skinned maybe a half mile. The bad: snow in much worse condition than a week ago. Steep north facing is smooth enough, but anything that gets much sun is seriously cupped. Still a good day and some good turns before my ancient Chili bindings exploded. Should have known better than to even think about taking them. Even that couldn't spoil the day.

[~mikey b]

Stoke right there. Beats the hell outta staying home...

[hopelesslyadolescent]

Heal up, Mike. You've got to be racking up a lot of points for later with all that kiddie wrangling.

[Vets]

Went back up to Folger Peak today. The good: could drive past the cow camp to the usual big drift at the cow guard. So short hike up from the cow camp around to the north side and into the bowl. I bootpacked the whole way. My son and his friends skinned maybe a half mile. The bad: snow in much worse condition than a week ago. Steep north facing is smooth enough, but anything that gets much sun is seriously cupped. Still a good day and some good turns before my ancient Chili bindings exploded. Should have known better than to even think about taking them. Even that couldn't spoil the day.

I skied there yesterday. Pretty cuppy in places, but still fun.


Looking down one of the lower chutes:

[~mikey b]

BV Co-Op says you've got to sign up by July 15 and pay by July 25 to be a voting member of the group that is trying to buy Bear Valley

http://www.bvmcoop.org/

[~mikey b]

Posted: Friday, July 25, 2014 6:00 am | Updated: 10:00 am, Fri Jul 25, 2014.

By Stephen Crane and Alicia Castro

Co-op group surpasses member goals, seeks purchase

Bear Valley’s ownership roller coaster continues to roll along, with two groups currently expressing interest in taking over the resort’s mountain assets, including the Bear Valley Mountain Cooperative.

“I think we’re going to have something to announce within the next two weeks,” said Greg Finch, president of Dundee Resort Development Corp., one of the two partners in the current ownership group and the operator of the resort.

Finch said there are two prospective buyers in the running: the Bear Valley Mountain Cooperative – which surpassed its membership goals this month – and another company that Finch declined to name.

“It’s a big company and they’re involved in other resorts in other places,” he said. “The party is serious and is qualified.”

He said the “very viable” unnamed buyer was not intimately familiar with the resort but is becoming acquainted with the mountain and village.

“They’re looking through all documents, as is the co-op,” Finch said. “At this point, I’m very confident that one is going to buy the ski area.”

At this time, Finch said he is working with the potential buyers on how to structure the purchase of the assets, which includes both the mountain property and village property. The co-op has chosen not to pursue the village assets at this time and instead, simply focus on the mountain itself.

“Our vision is to have some connection between the co-op and any sort of private entity that comes in to develop the village,” said Steve Troyer, president of the co-op’s interim board. “How that looks at any level of detail, we haven’t really gotten that sorted out.”

Finch said the unnamed party is “capable” of purchasing both entities but didn’t elaborate on purchase discussions, saying he didn’t want to discourage either party.

“There are pros and cons to each,” he said. “I have a tremendous amount of respect for what the co-op guys have done. They had a vision and performed on it really well. I think the best part – whether they’re the buyer or not – they got a whole bunch of people to pay attention.”

As of July 18, the co-op achieved 110 percent of its membership goal. Thursday’s total amounted to 888 memberships at $2,500 each, some of which are sold over time and some that are paid up front, Troyer said. Now the co-op just needs to collect the money from members.

He said the co-op is confident that it will have the money collected to close by July 31. Kimi Johnson, the co-op’s board treasurer, has been depositing a stack of checks every day, according to Troyer.

And there’s little time to spare; payments are supposed to be due today, July 25, for shareholders to vote on the approval of the business plan.

“There’s incentive for people to pay,” Troyer said. “Assuming the ratification goes through, and the money is all in the bank, then we close on the first of August.”

And if the purchase goes through, Troyer said the co-op already has plans for the slopes.

“What went into focusing on the mountain was the urgency in getting the mountain in shape for next year. It’s gone several years without the right kind of summer maintenance,” he said. “We need to get the mountain up to snuff very quickly.”

And there’s been significant support from co-op shareholders from all over, Troyer said. Some live or work along the Highway 4 corridor, and others – having heard about the effort and wanting to take part – come from outside the region, state and even country.

“We had one guy who bought during the first week who’s never even been to Bear Valley, but his family heard about it,” Troyer said. “They said they voted as a family that this was a good community effort.”

Throughout the membership acquisition process, the co-op has been in close communication with Deri Meier, a professor of business at the University of Vermont and the original chairman of Mad River Glen Cooperative, the only community-based cooperative-owned ski resort in the country. Mad River Glen celebrates its 20th year of operation in December 2015.

“The loyalty is key,” Meier said. “And I think in Bear Valley, the same thing came forward. … People on the Route 4 corridor really rallied around this and the loyalty support was coming.”

Meier said he fields a couple calls a year from people interested in forming a co-op.

“Of all the inquiries, we’ve had this was the most credible,” Meier said. “And we felt these guys actually have a shot. Where the other ones were a little dreamy, (Bear Valley Co-op) had their feet solidly on the ground – competent people working on it, the legal structure, the marketing … It’s great to see people of sort of grassroots drive like this being so successful.”

The effort came about when, in 2013, a prospective buyer with deep pockets expressed interest and the deal almost closed before falling through.

“In this case, if that happens with another buyer, the co-op is there to move forward,” Troyer said. “The people that love Bear should be assured that Bear has a future. … Bottom line, particularly for the shareholders, no matter what happens, somebody is going to buy and reinvest in it.”

Contact Stephen Crane at editor@calaverasenterprise.com or Alicia Castro at alicia@calaverasenterprise.com. Reach them by phone at 498-2053.

[GiBo]

Sweet! That sounds promising.

[~mikey b]

Yes and no.

[~mikey b]

www.mymotherlode.com


Tuolumne County, CA — A federal indictment alleges that a Columbia resident kindled a fire in the Stanislaus National Forest, and allowed it to spread beyond his control.

At the time of the fire on August 17th, fire restrictions were in place in the Stanislaus National Forest. Keith Emerald, 32, was rescued by helicopter from the Clavey River Canyon, approximately an hour after the fire started.

U.S. Attorney’s Office Spokesperson Lauren Horwood would not comment on why the investigation took nearly a year, other than to say it was “extensive.”

Court documents claim that Emerald initially admitted to causing the fire, but then later denied it.

The affidavit notes that investigators first sat down and interviewed Emerald, at length, on August 23, 2013. The report notes that Emerald initially said he believed a rockslide started the fire.

In a later interview on August 30, investigators spoke with Emerald near the site of the fire’s origin. Emerald said he had been dressed in camouflage and believed that marijuana growers spotted him, and they may have thought he was law enforcement. Emerald indicated investigators that he thought marijuana growers could have started the fire.

Court documents show on September 3rd, during an interview, Emerald allegedly admitted to accidentally starting the fire while cooking soup. Winds blew embers uphill, and he was not able to control it. Emerald was concerned about his name getting out in the media. Officials said that it would not be released until a later date, around winter.

In a follow up discussion days later, Emerald allegedly stated he only admitted to starting the fire because of pressure placed on him by investigators.

The ongoing investigation continued over the course of the next year. A search warrant was carried out at his vehicle and residence, and evidence was analyzed. This morning federal officials stated they have probable cause to believe that Emerald was responsible.

He is expected to appear soon in federal court in Fresno. It is noted that Emerald is considered innocent until proven guilty.

[~mikey b]

http://m.calaverasenterprise.com/mob...a4bcf887a.html

Bear Valley, Skyline reach an agreement
By Alicia Castro | Posted: Tuesday, August 12, 2014 6:00 am

Co-op may continue in revised partnership
The forward progress of Bear Valley Mountain Resort will soon be in the hands of Skyline International Development Inc., and leaders of the investment company want to take the Bear Valley Mountain Cooperative along for the ride.
“The co-op is the engine,” said Skyline Chairman and President Gil Blutrich at a town hall meeting Saturday. “Skyline is the supercharger.”
Blutrich shared his vision at the gathering hosted by the co-op at the Bear Valley Lodge Cathedral Lounge. Co-op members were given information about new options – including opt-outs – and the 250 to 300 people in attendance were introduced to Skyline executives, who enthusiastically spoke to an ongoing collaboration.
“We see a partnership between Skyline and the co-op as a critical element in the future of Bear Valley by making sure Bear Valley remains a viable and productive resort operation,” Skyline CEO Michael Sneyd said. “The key to making the operation profitable is to continue to improve the brand in the Bay Area and really bring back the ski-area visits that Bear Valley enjoyed.”
And as he said at the meeting Saturday, “We put heads in beds.”
Skyline is a publicly traded hospitality and real estate development and management company based in Toronto. Skyline currently owns various hotels and four southern Ontario resorts, two of which include ski amenities.
One member of Bear Valley’s current ownership group – Dundee Resort Development Corp. – and Skyline have been previously affiliated through Ned Goodman, the president and CEO of Dundee Capital Markets Inc. who served on Skyline’s board of directors until Skyline became a publicly traded company in March 2014.
“Dundee is one of Canada’s most successful companies, and Ned is one of the most experienced and respected developers in the country,” Sneyd said. “Ned made significant investments in Skyline, right until the company went public” and is no longer on the board.
Still, Sneyd said discovering the resort was “serendipity.” He had heard about the opportunity from a real estate broker in the United States and filed a confidentiality agreement with the broker. Around the same time, Blutrich was meeting with Goodman, who mentioned the agreement.
“We came at it both ways,” Sneyd said.
And they were both interested, leading Skyline to sign a letter of intent July 31, mere days after the co-op had reached its shareholder goal.
In an email to members, Bear Valley Cooperative leadership said it was informed Aug. 1 that Dundee signed an exclusive purchase and sale agreement for the ski area with Skyline and that the cooperative’s letter of intent would be terminated.
“I congratulate you again on your success with organizing the co-op and galvanizing community support,” wrote Dundee Resort Development President Greg Finch in an email that co-op leadership conveyed to its members. “Although the co-op may not be the purchaser of the ski area, the community’s support and participation is critical to the long-term viability of Bear Valley.”
The co-op has more than 900 members, and as it currently stands, those members still have the right to vote, receive member benefits and voice their opinions on how the mountain and village are operated, according to Sky-line’s preliminary discussions with the co-op.
If the resort were to eventually be bought out by a third party that didn’t want to continue the partnership, members would be refunded their individual shares, Sneyd said.
When Skyline was initially considering the purchase of Bear Valley, Skyline saw the co-op as an asset, Sneyd said.
“Skyline would not have invested without this showing of community support,” he explained. “At all of our properties, we have a membership club-style program. We’re quite used to working with the community and finding a win-win for their involvement, the resort activities and capital improvement plans.”
Though the details of the partnership are still being worked out, Sneyd said Skyline’s immediate priority is collaborating with the co-op to meet Bear Valley’s needs.
As outlined at the meeting Saturday, Skyline will likely invest in all maintenance, immediate capital improvements, marketing, operations and financial risk. The co-op will continue toward membership growth, community participation, benefits for membership and capital improvement projects by approval.
In the coming years, Sneyd said that Skyline hopes to develop the village, but that likely won’t happen immediately.
“Really, you have to have a viable resort that is in demand before you start selling real estate,” Sneyd said. “We plan to work with members of the co-op and community on specifics of design” for the village.
After visiting Bear Valley briefly for Saturday’s meeting, Sneyd said he intends for the development to feel “organic, that it looks like it was developed over time at the mountain, rather than many resort experiences elsewhere, where it looks like it was just developed yesterday and feels a little bit plastic-y. We want it to feel timeless.”
And as Skyline invests in the village, the co-op may focus its financial resources elsewhere.
“They believe the money should go into the mountain,” Sneyd said. “What we’ve said is that we would participate and agree where their co-op seeds get invested.”
Over time, Sneyd said Skyline plans to invest in the lodges, snowmaking, the rental areas, retail shops, food and beverage offerings, and the lift from the village to the top of the mountain – a project that’s long been pursued and delayed at Bear Valley.
But – with Skyline’s operation set in Toronto – Sneyd recognizes that it needs asset managers nearer to Bear Valley. Based upon recommendation, Skyline selected Chris Ryman and Betsy Cole, a Northern California ski-industry duo with decades of experience. Sneyd said the pair will meet with the current management team at Bear Valley.
“They will review and make sure that the onsite management team is establishing a great business plan and fulfilling the great business plan,” Sneyd said.
And as Skyline continues the course toward purchase, the co-op is working with its members.
“They want to confirm with their membership that this slightly different structure for the co-op is still acceptable to their members,” Sneyd said.
Next week, the co-op promised its members the details of the proposed relationship, options available to members, the process required to vote on this new direction and giving potential refunds to members who may not want to continue with the cooperative effort after this change.
But Sneyd said he anticipates – and hopes – the partnership will continue.
“I can’t imagine the co-op not continuing,” he said. “It makes so much sense: Skyline will take care of any operating shortfalls. We all know about the resort industry; there are ups and downs. Co-op members get all the same benefits they were promised, and they now have an experienced resort operation team coming in with equipment and commitment to turn Bear around.”