Powdr

POWDR
Company typePrivate
Founded1994
FounderJohn Cumming
HeadquartersPark City, Utah
Key people
Justin Sibley, CEO
Websitewww.powdr.com

Powdr, stylized as POWDR, is an American privately held company that owns and operates ski resorts in the United States and Canada. It is headquartered in Park City, Utah, and was founded in 1994 by John Cumming, an early investor in the clothing company Mountain Hardwear with his father Ian.[1][2]

History

Powdr was founded by John Cumming in 1994[3] with the purchase of the Park City Mountain Resort in Park City, Utah, about 30 miles outside of Salt Lake City. Later that year, the company bought the Alpine Meadows ski resort near Lake Tahoe, California. In August 1995, the company bought the Boreal Mountain Resort near Lake Tahoe and the Soda Springs ski area near the Donner Summit by Soda Springs, Nevada County, California. In April 2001, Powdr bought the Mount Bachelor ski area in Central Oregon.[4] The company bought Las Vegas Ski and Snowboard Resort in November 2003. Powdr bought the Killington and the Pico Mountain ski resorts near Killington, Vermont, from American Skiing Company in May 2007,[5] and in December 2019 Powdr purchased SilverStar Mountain Resort, its first mountain resort in Canada.[6]

In July 2007, Powdr sold Alpine Meadows to JMA Ventures.[7]

In 2008, Powdr bought the Outside TV media venture, which it later sold in 2021 to Pocket Outdoor Media, which simultaneously renamed itself to Outside.[8]

Powdr bought Copper Mountain in Colorado in December 2009 from Intrawest.[9] Powdr bought "World of Adventure Sports Presented by GoPro", an Emmy Award-winning TV series on December 3, 2013.[10]

In July 2011, Powdr bought a majority share of Camp Woodward, an operator of youth summer camps established in 1970.[11] As of 2022, Camp Woodward destinations include Woodward Mt. Bachelor, Woodward Tahoe, Woodward West, Woodward Park City, Woodward Copper, Woodward Eldora, Woodward Pennsylvania and Woodward Killington. Woodward Sydney is planned to open in 2024.[12]

In June 2016, Powdr bought the 55-year-old Eldora Mountain Resort near Boulder, Colorado.[13][14]

In December 2019, Powdr opened Woodward Park City youth sports complex.[15]

In 2023, Powdr was awarded the contract for Stovepipe Wells Village near the entrance of Death Valley National Park.

In August 2024, Powdr announced it would sell Killington and Pico Mountain ski resorts in Vermont,[16] Eldora in Colorado, Mt. Bachelor in Oregon and SilverStar in British Columbia.[17]

Lawsuits

Non-honoring of certain passes issued by prior Killington owner

In July 2010, a federal judge dismissed a class action lawsuit against Killington Resort over so-called 'lifetime' ski passes. Judge Christina Reiss found that the resort's current owner (Powdr) was under no legal obligation to honor previously issued investor season passes when it purchased Killington Resort in 2007.[18]

Loss of Park City lease

When Park City Mountain Resort, a Powdr resort, mistakenly failed to renew a "sweetheart lease" for a portion of its ski terrain acreage, the company was eventually evicted from the property and, after a protracted legal fight, "reluctantly" sold its remaining area assets to Vail Resorts for approximately 180 million dollars in late 2014.[19][20]

Properties

Ski resorts

Western United States

Northeast United States

Canada

Camp Woodward youth camp locations

  • Bend, Oregon; Mt. Bachelor, Oregon; Tahoe, California; Southern California; Snowbird, Utah; Park City, Utah, Copper Mountain, Colorado; Eldora Mountain, Colorado, Killington Mountain, Vermont, and Woodward Pennsylvania.

Other operations

  • Sun Country Tours, Oregon
  • Powderbird Helicopter Skiing, Utah
  • Stovepipe Wells Village, California

Former properties

References

  1. ^ "John Cumming on Mountain Hardwear's Founding". OutInUnder. February 11, 2021. Retrieved December 23, 2022.
  2. ^ "Last Chair: The Ski Utah Podcast". Transistor.fm. October 26, 2020.
  3. ^ "Our people: About our founder". Powdr Corp. official website. Retrieved January 16, 2023.
  4. ^ admin (May 2, 2001). "Powdr Corp. gains ownership of Mount Bachelor". Daily Journal of Commerce. Retrieved December 23, 2022.
  5. ^ Parkinson, Patrick (February 21, 2007). "Killington is sold to POWDR Corp". www.parkrecord.com. Retrieved December 23, 2022.
  6. ^ Powdr Corporation (December 3, 2019). "Powdr acquires SilverStar Mountain Resort in British Columbia". www.parkrecord.com. Retrieved December 23, 2022.
  7. ^ Rugh, Pete (April 6, 2007). "Powdr Corp. sells California's Alpine Meadows". Ski Racing Media. Retrieved December 23, 2022.
  8. ^ Roepke, Michele (February 24, 2021). "Powdr Corp sells Outside TV". TownLift, Park City News. Retrieved December 23, 2022.
  9. ^ "Archived copy". Summit Daily. Archived from the original on February 24, 2012. Retrieved October 6, 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  10. ^ "Powdr Enterprises Acquires Adventure Sports TV series". Ski Area Management. Archived from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved December 3, 2013.
  11. ^ Kirk, Andrew (July 30, 2011). "Powdr acquires Camp Woodward". www.parkrecord.com. Retrieved December 23, 2022.
  12. ^ "Woodward to open first urban center in Sydney, Australia, one of several major investments in action sports". Powdr Corporation (Press release). November 15, 2022. Retrieved December 23, 2022.
  13. ^ "Powdr Acquires Eldora Mountain Resort". Powder Magazine. June 6, 2016. Retrieved December 23, 2022.
  14. ^ "Chasing Icons: Powder Laps Through Eldora's Trees". www.tetongravity.com. Retrieved December 23, 2022.
  15. ^ "Woodward Park City to open December 14, public invited to grand opening celebration: Nation's First Year-Round, Action Sports and Ski Resort to Open for 2019–20 Winter Season". Woodward Park City (Press release). Retrieved December 23, 2022.
  16. ^ "Local investors to buy Killington and Pico Mountain ski areas". VTDigger. August 22, 2024. Retrieved August 22, 2024.
  17. ^ Blevins, Jason (August 22, 2024). "Eldora Mountain Resort listed for sale as Utah-based operator Powdr sheds ski areas". The Colorado Sun. Retrieved November 20, 2024.
  18. ^ Edwards, Bruce (July 6, 2010). "'Lifetime' Ski pass holders lose lawsuit against Killington". The Times Argus. Retrieved July 6, 2010.[dead link‍]
  19. ^ "Mt Bachelor's parent co. Sells big Utah resort | News - Home". Archived from the original on September 13, 2014. Retrieved September 13, 2014.
  20. ^ "Park City Mountain Resort Loses Lease After Costly Error – Law360". Archived from the original on March 3, 2021. Retrieved October 6, 2021.
  21. ^ "Park City Mountain Resort sold to Vail Resorts for $182.5M". ksl.com. Archived from the original on September 11, 2014. Retrieved September 11, 2014.
  22. ^ "Vail Resorts Acquires Park City Mountain Resort in Park City, Utah". Vail Resorts Corporate. Archived from the original on September 12, 2014. Retrieved September 11, 2014.
  23. ^ "Lee Canyon - April 4". mcp.ski.
  24. ^ a b Winchester, Stuart (August 22, 2024). "POWDR to Sell Killington, Pico to Group of Locals; Seeks Sale of Bachelor, Eldora, Silver Star". The Storm Skiing Journal.