http://www.berkshireeagle.com/stories/bousquet-ski-area-for-sale-history-and-all,533537

Bousquet Ski Area for sale ”” history and all

ousquet owner Sherry Roberts, 63, said she is selling the ski area with an eye to retirement. Roberts said she has worked at the mountain for 26 years, and acquired it when her longtime life partner and former Bousquet owner, George Jervas, died about six years ago. 

She said Jervas bought Bousquet in 1981.

"I was George Jervas' companion for 20 years," she said. "We worked and ran the ski area together." 

Roberts said she is in no hurry to make the sale, as she would like to see it in proper hands, and the plan is to continue operations until that happens.

"We're taking our time," she said. "My commitment when George left was to keep the ski area running. My hope's that it will continue as a ski area."

The sale includes 155 acres across eight parcels, including the summit of Yokun Ridge, 22 trails, several structures and key equipment. 

The Realtor marketing the property, Rich Aldrich of Stone House Properties, said a more detailed list of assets will come this spring. 

"That's a lengthy list, and we're going to be adding to that after the season," he said.

He said the plan is to market the mountain in Berkshire County first, then move beyond the Berkshires this spring.

Roberts said Bousquet opened in 1932 and is one of the oldest ski areas in the country. She said that because of the local expertise the mountain found in General Electric, Bousquet was also able to outfit the mountain with lighting for nighttime skiing and snow-making. 

Back when trains came from Grand Central Station in New York City to Pittsfield, Aldrich said, the ski train brought hordes of city dwellers to Bousquet for wintertime recreation. 

"It's very much a Berkshire County landmark," he said. "It's an opportunity for someone to build on the decades of success Bousquet has enjoyed." 

Cindy Bartlett, head of Bousquet's ski school, said that when she first started teaching there, as a teenager in the 1970s, she would take on busloads of 40 New Yorkers at a time. Those ski tours stopped coming in the 1980s, she said. That's when Jervas started tapping the all-season market and leaning more heavily on local families.

"The heart of our business is our local season pass holders, our race team kids, the local families who bring their kids here for lessons," she said.

Still, she said, "we need those tourism dollars. Any ski area does."

Bartlett said the mountain means a lot to local families, including hers.

"My kids grew up here, I met my husband here, and so it's a pretty important part of my life and my family's life," she said. "It would sort of take a piece of my heart if it wasn't a ski area." 

Bartlett said Bousquet leaders are determined to continue providing recreation for local families, as Jervas intended.

"A lot of us here are committed to carrying on his legacy and keeping Bousquet accessible to the community," she said.

In the time it has served skiers in Berkshire County, the mountain has reared Olympic-caliber athletes, Aldrich said. It also has become an all-season destination over the past two decades with additions like the water park, go-karts, zip-lining and mountain biking.

Roberts said sweet opportunities on the mountain come in no short supply. 

"I'm running some maple syrup lines as we speak," she said.
 

Bousquet Resort is for sale for $3.2M.

http://www.masslive.com/business-news/index.ssf/2018/03/bousquet_mountain.html

The area is open all year, has a working snowmaking system, night skiing, working lifts, waterpark, adventure park, go karts, and a 18 hole disc golf course.

Stowe: $50 Million

Bousquet:  $3.2 Million

Timberline WV: ??

teleman wrote:

Stowe: $50 Million

Bousquet:  $3.2 Million

Timberline WV: ??

 

Catamount ski area in NY was just sold to the Birkshire East of $2.3 Million, which included $650,000 in cash and they assumed $1,644,275 in debt.  The final sale was for a total for $3 Million, which included some additional properties and assets.

Catamount has 36 trails, 1,000ft of vertical, 7 lifts (including modern fix grip quad), 98% snowmaking coverage, 1/2 mile dedicated bump run, glade skiing, and an aerial adventure park.

http://www.newenglandskiindustry.com/viewstory.php?storyid=688

teleman wrote:

Stowe: $50 Million

Bousquet:  $3.2 Million

Timberline WV: ??

 

Catamount NY: $3.0 Million.

I think one has to take into account the vast slopeside real estate holdings and successful affilliated business enterprises at Timberline when trying to decide how much a sale could bring.

jimmy wrote:

teleman wrote:

Stowe: $50 Million

Bousquet:  $3.2 Million

Timberline WV: ??

 

Catamount NY: $3.0 Million.

I think one has to take into account the vast slopeside real estate holdings and successful affilliated business enterprises at Timberline when trying to decide how much a sale could bring.

The Catamount sale included taking over $1.7 million in debt.  What kind of debt is Timberline holding?

I stopped by Catamount a few days ago on my way to Boston.  It was clear from the lodge and signage that they know their market and what they are doing but needed capital to make necessary upgrades.  The high ropes course is pretty impressive and has been successful for almost 10 years already.  Turned out the big problem was that a small inn right at the base refused to cooperate in a plan that would've led to more development of nearby lodging by another company.  The inn filed lawsuits related to changes in zoning that stalled the project for three years.  They lost in the NY Supreme Court but were filing an appeal.  The development company had had enough and pulled out in 2015.

Inside the Catamount lodge there was a display of lift tickets from all over the US and a few from other countries too.  The South and Midwest were in one frame.  Mnut, Bryce, Wintergreen, Timberline, Snowshoe, and Wisp were included.  Even had a lift ticket from Alabama.  The tickets were from 2005-09.  The title for the display was "EVERYONE COMES TO CATAMOUNT!"  Nearby was a display of pictures of custom license plates related to skiing.

I've skied a day at Berkshire East, also a family owned ski area.  BEast and Catamount have a lot in common.  It shouldn't take too much effort to put Catamount back on track.  Hopefully the new owner has enough financial resources to pull it off.  The former owners who will continue to operate Catamount are the sons of the two men who dedicated themselves to Catamount in the 1970s.  Catamount opened in 1939 but had to close due to WWII in 1941 and didn't reopen until 1946.

SCWVA wrote:

Bousquet Resort is for sale for $3.2M.

http://www.masslive.com/business-news/index.ssf/2018/03/bousquet_mountain.html

The area is open all year, has a working snowmaking system, night skiing, working lifts, waterpark, adventure park, go karts, and a 18 hole disc golf course.

The tricky part for Bousquet is that Jiminy Peak is less than 30 min away.  With it's high speed quad to the summit, excellent snowmaking, and night skiing on intermediate and advanced terrain at Jiminy, hard for Bousquet to attract any but local families with younger kids during the winter.  In the summer, vacationers from the cities are more likely to take their kids to Bousquet for a day of fun as an alternative to Jiminy.  The "waterpark" at Bousquet is a few outdoor water slides.  Nothing like the concept at Massanutten or Jay Peak.

jimmy wrote:

teleman wrote:

Stowe: $50 Million

Bousquet:  $3.2 Million

Timberline WV: ??

 

Catamount NY: $3.0 Million.

I think one has to take into account the vast slopeside real estate holdings and successful affilliated business enterprises at Timberline when trying to decide how much a sale could bring.

Owners are trending away from real-estate interests to focus on ski mountain operations.  At the state of the Shoe address, Frank anounced First Tracts is taking over the Snowshoe Mtn Homes real estate business.  This, plus them getting out from running of sewage and water companies reinforces that thinking.

marzNC wrote:

jimmy wrote:

teleman wrote:

Stowe: $50 Million

Bousquet:  $3.2 Million

Timberline WV: ??

 

Catamount NY: $3.0 Million.

I think one has to take into account the vast slopeside real estate holdings and successful affilliated business enterprises at Timberline when trying to decide how much a sale could bring.

The Catamount sale included taking over $1.7 million in debt.  What kind of debt is Timberline holding?

Well there's an interesting question. 

Hey VAIL ARE YOU LISTENING ?  Just go ahead and buy Timberline - please !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Found more history of Bousquet but haven't read carefully yet.  Hard to think of it as a destination resort but it was just that in the era when people took the train from NYC into the Berkshires for skiing.  There were four rope tows by 1938.  The founder invented a rope tow grip that was patented in 1941.  He sold 500,000.  Was the first to have night skiing and installed snowmaking early on.  But the new owner who took over in 1956 had grand plans that never worked out.  It's been rocky ever since.

http://www.newenglandskihistory.com/Massachusetts/bousquet.php

http://www.iberkshires.com/story/13661/Bousquet-the-beginnings-of-Berkshire-skiing.html

I'd be good with 500 feet of vert, a rope tow, and 5 snow guns.  Anything more would be too much to keep cleared, mowed, groomed, etc.  Add in the insurance, rental equipment management, ski school, etc..  The logistics of even a small mom and pop ski hill business can probably be pretty overwhelming for a small family to manage..