Mt. Bachelor Ski Resort Board of Directors Rejects Purchase Offer At First Meeting

Jeff Nielson, business editor of the Bend Bulletin, reported Friday that Randy Pape, president of Mt. Bachelor Inc. and owner of Eugene-based Pape Group, the ski resort's largest shareholder, believes it should remain a Northwest-based company. "I'm not personally excited about turning it over to someone else and saying, 'Here, you run it from out of state,'" Pape told Nielson in an hour-long, wide-ranging interview. Pape Group controls about 23 percent of the company's outstanding shares. Still, Pape told Nielson the Monday meeting would be just the beginning of a process that would take some time, since details such as financial and due-diligence studies were yet to be completed. "I don't think anyone knew what to expect, but I don't think anyone expected they would reject it outright," Nielson tells GlobeSt.

The second-largest stockholder is Beverly Healy, widow of Bill Healy, the founder of Mount Bachelor. Healy controls 192 shares, or about 14%. Other significant shareholders include the Stevenson family of Bingen, Wash., and other members of the Healy family. How each of the seven board members voted is not being revealed, says Petersen, but it was a special committee of the board formed to explore a possible sale that solicited the offer from Powdr Corp. Beverly Healy, Wallace Stevenson and his brother Rees comprised the special committee. Wallace Stevenson was the only member known to have been in favor of the sale. Healy declined to be interviewed by Nielson, and Benjie Gilchrist told Neilson he had not yet taken a position on the matter. Other members did not return phone calls, Neilson wrote.

Powdr Corp. owns the Park City Mountain Resort as well as four other ski areas in Nevada and California. The company is owned and operated by Ian and John Cumming, father and son. The Park City resort is scheduled to host the 2002 Winter Olympics' giant slalom and snowboard competitions.

Mount Bachelor's skier numbers in the 1999-2000 ski year were 469,031 - down 14.9% from 551,153 skier visits in the previous season. Bad weather and Y2K fears were part of the problem. As a result, the company posted a net loss in 1999-2000 of $207,100 after four years of profitability. The ski area had a profit of $1.46 million in 1998-1999. This season, however, skier numbers during the crucial Christmas-New Year holiday week were up 25% over the same time last season.