Residents of a small Colorado mountain town are growing increasingly frustrated with the local leaders' effort to buy the ski resort in their backyard,
In the fall of 2024, Nederland, atown of roughly 1,500 people near Boulder, floated the idea of buying Eldora Mountain Resort, the ski area just up the hill.
Two years, one failed financing plan and more than $1 million in acquisition-related spending later, opposition among residents is swelling, with some saying they're losing faith in the undertaking.
Town leaders have argued the $120 million purchase would be valuable because owning the ski area would let the town control a key business and recreation asset in the community and help generate revenue for town services.
Buying the resort from ski company POWDR, and preventing other corporate owners from stepping in, they have said, would allow the town to maintain the mountain’s local feel, and potentially even make skiing more accessible for locals.
City-owned ski areas are rare, but there are a handful in the Mountain West, including Hogadon Basin in Casper, Wyoming; Snowhaven in Grangeville, Idaho; Howelsen Hill in Steamboat Springs, Colorado; and the much larger Winter Park, which is owned by the City and County of Denver and operated by Alterra Mountain Company.
The town also indicated that its general fund would not be used to make the purchase; it would finance the purchase through revenue bonds, which would be paid back with resort revenue. But that plan didn’t come through because of concerns from investors.
In the meantime, Nederland has spent about $1.2 million on lawyers, consultants and other expenses related to the acquisition, and it could be on the hook for a total of $2.5 million if no deal goes through. According to the town, those costs could be reimbursed if the purchase goes through. The spending and other details have only been recently made public, with leaders citing confidentiality agreements.
In a Monday meeting, Nederland's board of trustees discussed how to address a general fund shortfall, exacerbated because of the Eldora-related payments, which could include dissolving the town’s downtown development authority or transferring money from its water and sewer fund.
In a letter to residents in late September, Mayor Nichole Sterling asked residents to “hang in there” as the town continues the pursuit.
“We aren't stopping,” she wrote. “If anything, this process has given us a clearer understanding of what it will take to make community ownership of Eldora a reality and why that work matters so much.”
Now the town is moving forward with a different financing approach called a “sale-leaseback” structure, which still involves using revenue bonds to buy the resort, but adds the property as collateral, giving more certainty to investors. To reduce the debt, it’s also seeking $20 million in outside donations, grants or other investments for capital projects
But residents have increasingly taken to town meetings, with some asking to put the Eldora quest to an end. One resident, Dallas Masters, submitted a resolution that calls for the town to limit future spending on the deal and adds transparency measures, such as more detailed updates and a clear timeline. Several people asked town trustees to pass it Monday night.
“I have no more trust to give into this endeavor,” said Tania Corvalan, a former town trustee, who spoke during a public comment period. “I also don't feel confident that if by some miracle we do purchase this resort, a town has the capacity and human power to successfully run the resort and town.”
A few trustees indicated their support for the resolution, while others wanted more time to think about it, so the board decided to table the vote until its meeting next week.
This story was produced by the Mountain West News Bureau, a collaboration between Boise State Public Radio, Wyoming Public Media, Nevada Public Radio, KUNR in Nevada, KUNC in Northern Colorado, KANW in New Mexico, Colorado Public Radio and KJZZ in Arizona as well as NPR, with support from affiliate newsrooms across the region. Funding for the Mountain West News Bureau is provided in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and Eric and Wendy Schmidt.
