Industry News
For dust you are and to dust you will return.
On Monday, Cockaigne Ski Resort in Cherry Creek, New York, shared a Facebook post that it will not be opening for the 2023-24 season. The 462-acre property, including a 10,000-square-foot lodge built in 2019, has been for sale on-and-off for the past year and was relisted this summer with a reduced price tag of $3.5 million, according to Ski Area Management.
“It is with sadness that we share that Cockaigne Ski Resort will not open for the 2023-24 season,” the ski area wrote on its Facebook page. “To all of our past team members, ski clubs, jelly rollers, season pass holders and guests, extended family and friends—thank you for your support over the years and for being the true spirit of skiing.”
Over the past decade, Cockaigne has experienced lots of highs and lows, including a slow start to winter 2022-23 that didn’t allow the ski area to open until Jan. 28. Ski Area Management reports that Cockaigne shut down after its base lodge was destroyed in a fire in 2011. In 2017, the resort got new owners that updated its lifts and snowmaking amenities before reopening for the winter of 2020-21. Then COVID happened, and the ski area was once again plagued with hardship. In recent years, Cockaigne received financial support from the Chautauqua County Industrial Development Agency and the state of New York, according to WKBW News.
“Anytime a ski area closes it is a sad day for us all, but Cockaigne has risen from the ashes before and with the investment in the facility, new base lodge, maybe there is a buyer out there,” according to President of the Ski Areas of New York Scott Brandi. “It sits in the snow belt of Lake Erie and is 20 minutes from Jamestown, so we are hopeful that a buyer will see its potential.”
The $3.5 million listing for Cockaigne Ski Resort states that it averages 175 inches of snowfall a year, offers 15 trails, three lifts, and a snowmobile adventure park, along with a stage for outdoor entertaining and an airstrip. Its snowmaking and grooming equipment, an array of rental skis, and kitchen equipment for the base lodge are available for an additional cost, according to the listing.
