Insiders debate Mt. A expansion viability

As if negotiations between the City of Ashland and the Mt. Ashland Association weren't complicated enough, now industry insiders from California are weighing in on the financial viability of a proposed Mt. Ashland Ski Area expansion.

At an Oct. 3 City Council meeting, Kurt Buser, CEO of the Mount Rose Ski Tahoe near Lake Tahoe, Calif., presented a letter to the council and Mt. Ashland Association recommending the ski area upgrade its facilities rather than expand terrain.

"Over the last five years, I've watched it and thought, 'this project is going to get killed," Buser said.

Not wanting to get involved earlier, Buser decided to "stick his neck out" when a federal judge ruled in favor of the U.S. Forest Service in a lawsuit against the organization. The lawsuit, filed by three environmental groups, claimed the Forest Service record of decision approving the expansion violated the National Environmental Policy Act by not adequately considering the expansion's effects on the Middle Branch of the East Fork of Ashland Creek. The creek leads into Reeder Reservoir, the City of Ashland's main water supply.

So Buser sent the council and Mt. Ashland Association Board of Directors a letter expressing his insider's economic viewpoint.

His letter cites the instability of the ski industry and global warming as threats to financial viability.

"For 30 years there has been no significant growth," Buser's letter said of the national industry. "In fact, there are signs that the numbers might decline, despite our concerted efforts."

Buser said improvements in snow-making machinery, newer lifts and grooming machines would behoove the Mount Ashland Ski Area better than expanding terrain.

He also slated global warming as an unpredictable factor in ski area economics. Born in Switzerland, Buser said he returned to his home country last summer to find people planning for global warming.

"Global warming is not going to wait," Buser's Oct. 3 letter reads. "Mt. A would not rank among the more 'snow proof' resorts."

In a second letter, dated Oct. 23, Buser claimed the concept of fundraising to gather the $3.7 million necessary for the first phase of expansion is a way to mask its true business plan.

Last week, the Mt. Ashland Association refused to reveal its fundraising plan. The City of Ashland has taken over communication with the Forest Service regarding the expansion until the MAA shows its detailed business plan.

Weeks after Buser's letter questioned the expansion plan's economic viability, another letter surfaced. This time it was in favor of the expansion.

Richard Kun, president of Snow Summit Ski Corporation in California, sent a letter to the Mt. Ashland Association, contesting Buser's points.

Kun's letter said the growth of the Rogue Valley will support a larger ski area with more customers in coming years. Kun said he didn't know of any resort in the country holding back expansions because of the risks of global warming. Also, as a non-profit entity, Kun said Mt. Ashland is in a different spot than other for-profit ski areas.

"Any ski area worth its salt develops intermediate terrain, certainly as a priority over its advanced terrain, because that's what most of the market demands," Kun's letter reads.

Kun's wife has relatives on the Mt. Ashland Association Board of Directors, but he said he sent a letter to the MAA when he heard about Buser's letter. Both Buser and Kun claim they wrote letters on of own accord.

"I do not know Mr. Buser's motivation in opposing your project, but his specious, inaccurate, self-contradictory and hypocritical comments lead me to conclude that he has other reasons for opposing your efforts and is simply using his ski area ownership relationship to pose as an industry expert to gain credibility with those who may not be familiar with our industry," Kun wrote.

As public relations strategies battle back and forth over the proposed ski area expansion, opponents claim the Mt. Ashland Association's financial statements are skewed numbers and the expansion is not viable. Mt. Ashland board members claim their business plan will work, but it is not a public document. Because the Mt. Ashland Association is a non-profit group, its business plan is not a public document under Oregon public records law.

Neither Buser nor Little have heard back from the Ashland City Council regarding the letters.

The Mt. Ashland Association asked Buser to meet with them to talk finances, MAA President Bill Little said.

Staff writer Alan Panebaker can be reached at 482-3456 x 227 or apanebaker@dailytidings.com.