Industry News
Soldier Mountain ski resort in Idaho is back on the market AGAIN, this time for $800,000. Its current owners bought it from a non-profit for only $149,000 back in November 2015, and as recently as last summer unsuccessfully tried to sell it.
The resort, which celebrated its 70th birthday in 2017 and at one point was owned by Bruce Willis before he donated it to a non-profit in 2012, suffered from a poor snow year that winter. They only opened 60-days and received less than 50″ of snow all season.
The current owners, having already pumped an additional $600,000 of their own money into the project have decided enough is enough, and that investing more of their personal capital is no longer an option.
Full listing from Craigslist… INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITY: Soldier Mountain has it all: accessible terrain for families, cat skiing for the hardcore enthusiasts, side country with endless powder and an inviting lodge and bar. Soldier has skiing that rivals the biggest and best ski areas around, with small town friendliness and pricing.
There is ample opportunity for growth and expansion at Soldier Mountain for someone who wants to create a new and improved ski area. Otherwise, this is a turn key operation with no deferred maintenance or major problems. There are chances to make improvements like expand the cat skiing operation, install the existing lift that is available on the ground, create sustainability minded improvements, do a land swap to privatize the base area so overnight lodging can be provided and add snowmaking, among other possible upgrades. There are USFS approved plans for lift assisted downhill mountain biking and a maintenance shop.
MOUNTAIN STATISTICS: 1150 skiable acres, 36 trails, 1400 vertical drop, 2 chair lifts, 1 magic carpet, 2000 skiable cat ski acres accessed by a 12-seat enclosed snow cat with a yurt in the cat ski terrain. The base of the ski area is at 5750’, the top is 7200’ and the top of the cat ski area is 9500’. Soldier has a 10-year-old lodge with a bar, restaurant, retail, rental and tuning. There is a ski school, paid and volunteer ski patrol, a cat skiing operation, a yurt that sleeps 12.
LOCATION: Soldier Mountain is located 11 miles outside of Fairfield in southern Idaho in the Sawtooth National Forest. It draws its skier base from Boise to the west, Sun Valley and Idaho Falls to the east, Twin Falls and Utah to the south. Fairfield is the county seat in Camas County and is a town of about 400.
FINANCIAL INFORMATION: In depth financial and other information is available to serious buyers only, and is accessible after an NDA is signed.
PRICE AND TERMS: $800,000 for the turn key operation with all equipment included. Terms are cash. Soldier Mountain is on USFS land and has a long-term lease for both the inbounds operation and the cat skiing operation.
WEBSITE: www.soldiermountain.com
When last for sale, the listing included:
- A Bar
- A Restaurant
- A Kitchen
- All the Lifts
- All the Buildings
- All the Vehicles
- All the Snow Machines
- The Maintenance Shop
- All the Tools
- All the Inventory
When it went on sale in 2015, the news went hugely viral and they received 800 emails in the first 24 hours and over 2,000 emails in the first 72 hours. If they get the same interest this time around, I don’t think they’ll struggle to sell it on!
Are you interested?
Soldier Mountain Ski Area Stats:
- 2 Chairlifts
- 1 Magic Carpet
- Top Elevation = 7,177 feet
- Base Elevation = 5,752 feet
- Vertical Drop = 1,425 feet
- Skiable Area: 1,150 acres
- Price: $800,000
