Industry News
Twenty minutes from the town of Elko, Nevada, sits the Ruby Mountains. Located halfway between Salt Lake City and Reno, these mountains are the most dramatic in the state and are often referred to as the “Swiss Alps of Nevada,” with 50 peaks over 10,000 feet and another 14 peaks over 11,000 feet. With a high desert climate and a northwest flow weather pattern, the mountains average over 300 inches of light, dry powder a year. The range is already home to world-class heli-skiing, so a ski resort seems like a logical idea.
Plans for a ski resort in the Ruby Mountains picked up steam earlier this year. Landowner Peter Christodoulo purchased nearly 2,300 acres that stretch up the Ruby Mountains, starting from around 6,100 feet in elevation and going to about 9,400 feet, with plans to build a ski resort.
To allow a greater degree of freedom in developing the land and ensuring the public would have access to it, the first step was to rezone the land from open space to agricultural recreation. A meeting was held on November 21, 2024, where the Elko County Planning Commission voted on the request to rezone the private ranchland.
Due to a winter storm, Christodoulo could not attend the meeting in person, so he attended via web conference with a prepared presentation. As he started his presentation, the odds appeared stacked against him from the beginning. During his introduction, he was interrupted and informed he only had three minutes to speak. However, it was quickly clarified that public comments are limited to three minutes, but since Christodoulo was the applicant and presenter, he had more than that.
“I thought the chair of the commission was rude to him,” said John Rice, an Elko resident who formerly sat on the Elko County Planning Commission and the Elko City Council for three terms. “Within two minutes of him starting his presentation, he interrupted him and said, ‘You got to get to the point.’ And he was reminded by the attorney that he’s not making a public comment, he’s the applicant and he gets to talk. It sounded to me like that particular planning commissioner had made up his mind before he came in the door.”
At the end of the night, the commission voted 4-1 to deny the application, but it should be noted that two commissioners were absent from the meeting, including the chair of the commission, Richard Genseal. There were many Elko County residents and skiers across the country who supported the idea, as well as many who opposed it. Public comments extended well into the evening as concerned individuals wanted to make their voices heard. Ultimately, it appeared that traffic concerns, water supply, and lack of a specific proposal for what the ski area would look like were what led to the commission voting the way it did. A replay of the meeting can be viewed here.
Rice, who currently teaches at Great Basin College in Elko, felt the commissioners didn’t act on what Christodoulo was asking for.
“It’s private land,” Rice emphasized. “That commission was not there to decide about a ski area, they were there to decide about a zoning change. When thinking about the decision the commissioners made, when they deny a zoning change, they have to list what are called findings, and the findings have to do with health and safety concerns that cannot be mitigated in regard to the zoning change. And what they were asking for was a zoning change and not permission to build a ski resort. They didn’t have any strong findings, in my opinion regarding health and safety issues.”
The Ruby Mountains hold immense potential as a destination for skiing and outdoor recreation, with their stunning alpine terrain and reliable snowfall. However, the debate surrounding the proposed ski resort highlights the complexities of balancing development with community concerns and environmental stewardship. While the recent zoning change denial represents a setback, it’s clear that interest in the project, both in support and opposition, remains strong. What happens to the land now is still to be determined. Dating back to the 1950s, there has been a series of unsuccessful attempts to bring a ski resort to the Ruby Mountains. Only time will tell if the next 70 years will repeat the last 70 years of futile endeavors.
