Eden • After all, building a utopian community at 9,000 feet is harder than it sounds.

In 2013, a group of four tech entrepreneurs purchased Powder Mountain, the largest ski area in the United States. The dream was to create their lofty, expensive Summit Series conference and a permanent home for stars, politicians and technologists. Moguls who joined them. But ten years later, they found out. It takes a lot of time and money to run a ski resort and develop a mountain community. than they expected.

Two weeks ago, Elliott Bisnow of Summit Mountain Holding Group approached Netflix co-founder and board member Reed Hastings, who owns a house on the mountain, with the following proposition: A member of the board that governs the mountain, and a hand that shapes its future.

“‘From our perspective, in terms of loving the mountain and appreciating it for what it is,'” Hastings said Bisnow told him. “And frankly, you have the money.”

“I was just like, ‘I’m in!'” Hastings told the Tribune in a video call on Monday.

Powder Mountain management announced a final decision on the transaction on Monday. According to Forbes, Hastings, who has a net worth of $3.5 billion, did not disclose how much he bought Summit Group shares or what price he agreed to. He becomes a minority shareholder and receives one vote on his five-member board of directors that oversees the operation of the resort. Venture capitalist Greg Mauro, the original owner of Summit Group, remains the majority shareholder.

Still, Hastings will “share management and operational oversight,” according to a news release. Whether utopian ideals stay at the forefront of Hastings can depend on one’s definition of utopia.

“At some point, it was a world saver,” Hastings said of the Summit Group’s vision. of ski mountains.”

Hastings and his wife Patti, who live in Santa Cruz, California, are avid snowboarders and have owned land at the top of Powder Mountain for eight years. They will complete construction of the unique “tubular” home in 2021. He said he spent much of the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic there. He also retired from Netflix in January. He said he spent most of the last three months there.

What’s next for Powder Mountain?

The deal closed so quickly, Hastings said, that he didn’t have time to form a complete vision of what he wanted Powder Mountain to look like two years from now, let alone 10 or 20 years from now.

“I don’t have a concrete plan because I haven’t given it much thought, but I’m pretty sure there are no radical plans,” he said. “I know there’s some kind of crunch point, but it’s really about, ‘Can we enhance what’s great that we have?'”

It seems to start with improving the beginner area. General Manager Kevin Mitchell said the resort will undergo some renovations this summer, and Timberline plans to install new lifts in the area. Hastings said he wanted to upgrade the lifts in the area, which is home to ski schools, and food options, which are minimal at best. In addition, the restructuring of the car park, which may include a reservation system, is a priority.

This summer, the resort plans to build additional trails for early-stage downhill mountain biking operations, tours and lessons, Mitchell said.

Mitchell joined in November when Summit Group was quietly looking for someone to buy its shares. His employment caused concern in the ski world as he had been active in the ski world before. Homewood Mountain, Lake Tahoe, CA Moves to Semi-Private ResortAs such, it will be open only to home owners in a few communities on the mountain and nearby in the next few years.

Ever since Wasatch Peaks Ranch, which adjoins Powder Mountain to the east, has also seen clear success with its private ski resort model, fears of powder privatization have risen. Since opening in 2021, he has installed three chairlifts and plans to add four more. According to his book Make No Small Plans, the resort was aimed at his 1% of people and was also the inspiration for Bisnow and the Summit group to purchase Powder Mountain.

Mitchell makes no promises that Powder Mountain will remain a public resort. One reason is that he doesn’t have much time to discuss plans with Hastings and the rest of the board.

“I don’t think we’re in a place that would put people away,” he said, “whatever our caps are.

Powder Mountain has long made headlines by capping the number of people allowed on its 8,400-acre ski area. In the past, he was limited to 1,500 passes per day, but combined with his pass holders for the season, the average square footage per skier was about 3 acres. However, it would be nice to get an unlimited season pass. About 6,000 people were on the waiting list for full passes last year, according to a resort spokesperson. And those who already have a pass (or who own land in the mountains) get their first dib on the next year’s pass, so usually only a few dozen new passes are issued each season. .

It may change under the remake board. A spokesperson said the resort doesn’t disclose season and day pass caps.Powder Mitchell said when asked if his mountain skiers could own his three acres of land themselves. said:

But he already has one suggestion for locals in the nearby communities of Eden, Huntsville, and Wolf Creek who are frustrated by their inability to ski or ride the mountains. This spring, the resort announced that people in the community who were already on the waiting list would queue up to purchase full season passes shortly after those renewing.

“They are the most enthusiastic customers who live here and want a season pass,” says Mitchell. “So, overall, we just wanted to make sure they were trying to help them ski more in Powder Mountain.”

He’s also trying to make sure there’s more terrain to ski on. Powder Mountain itself has a total area of ​​about 12,000 acres, but the resort will this year expand the adjacent 20,000-acre private reserve. Formed a broader partnership with Monument. The two companies have partnered to offer cat ski adventures, scenic snowmobile trips, and snowshoe tours on terrain within both the Powder Mountain and Monument boundaries. They also expect to partner on expanded mountain biking options in the near future.

Future Challenges for Powder Mountain

As The Summit Group discovered shortly after purchasing the resort from a developer for $40 million in 2013, the mountain’s promising future is rosy, but not without challenges.

but, Former developer received zoning approval for 2,300 homes and hotel and condominiums, Mauro and Summit Group planned to offer 500 relatively small but well-equipped, creatively designed and eco-friendly homes. But as of March, only about 65 building permits had been issued in the area, according to Weber County Treasurer John Bond.

The Summit Group says in its book, “In developing Powder Mountain, we didn’t move as quickly as we would have liked.” too innocent. ”

That trust may have extended to investors they believed would help them advance their vision.

In August 2021, Summit filed a lawsuit in federal court in Utah against two groups of lenders based in Delaware and Arizona. Summit argued that the lender did not postpone the termination of the contract that agreed to fund it after the resort was purchased. They loaned Summit $120 million and specifically agreed to use it for a large-scale development near the summit of the Mountain Resort, featuring hotel space, condominiums, single-family homes, shops and restaurants. He will pay a balance of $87 million to complete the

But the deal went south. The lawsuit alleges that the lender raised the $120 million needed for the project — arranging for NBA star Kobe Bryant to meet with the investor, according to Summit, and that effort was bolstered. boosted — but they spent that money on other projects. , cut off that money.

A group of Delaware lenders also filed a counterclaim alleging they served a default notice to Summit in July 2021, just one month before the original lawsuit. The group alleges that Summit’s lawsuit is an attempt by the company to circumvent the “absolute and unconditional” terms of the loan agreement.

As of this week, the lawsuit is still pending in federal court.

Ahead of the announcement that Hastings will be on board, Weber County Treasurer Bond believes Powder Mountain is running well under the Summit Group. But with talk of bringing wealthy people and economic development to the neighborhood faded, Bond showed Summit Group was ripe for change. .

“I’ve never seen so many people come and be able to see an event. …It hasn’t had a huge impact on our community,” he said.

“It will be interesting to see where they go and who ignites their vision. And I think that’s what we’re waiting for.”

Hastings said he doesn’t want to be CEO of the mountain — that’s Mitchell’s job. Still, he feels up to the challenge of making sure Powder Mountain is where he wants to stay.

“[I’m] I’m incredibly excited,” Hastings said. “My happiest moment has been riding this mountain for the last eight years. [I’m] I am very excited to continue it. ”