A gentleman by the name of Jim Justice bought Wintergreen in June of 2012 for $16.5 million. Since then, Wintergreen has significantly updated their snow making capacity as well as facilities. Now all of this can be yours – including a new water storage tank to help with snow making that cost $6 million and the $850,000 renovation to the Devil’s Grill.
You’ll need some pretty deep pockets, although Jim has not ruled out the possibility of partnering with someone in operating the resort.
Wintergreen is on 11,000 acres, with 129 of those skiable on 26 trails. The resort also includes 2 golf courses, 22 tennis courts, and an array of facilities. Wintergreen is one of the largest employers in the county (Nelson) with almost 1,000 on payroll during the ski season and 300 year around.
BTW – The current owner, Jim Justice, also owns the Greenbrier Resort. This I did not know.
I am heading up to Wintergreen this weekend for my first visit of the season and I am excited to get a taste of the “new” mountain. Hopefully I’ll find the box to put in my resume to help Jim run the mountain. I’ll also have a trip report up on Sunday probably.
I announced the SkiSoutheast Summit yesterday. If you missed it, check out the thread on the message board. I’ve gotten some great feedback so far and I am very excited at the prospects of meeting so many SkiSoutheasters. Don’t wait to book your room and drop me an email to let me know you’re going.
It is going to be a fairly damp day if you’re heading to the slopes today. Taking a look at the weather forecast shows clouds, under developed snow, and fog at many of the resorts this morning. Cruising the resort cams backs this up. It was pretty hard finding a decent picture to share.
The base cam at Beech Mountain
The slightly less than optimal weather conditions are continuing to impact the resorts a bit, but nothing too noticeable. Appalachian, Beech, Cataloochee, Massanutten, and Sugar are all reporting losing 2-4” of base since our last update. But bear in mind that Appalachian and Beech still have 40+” on the ground, Massanutten 44+”, Sugar 46+”, and over 60” at Cataloochee. Nothing to fret over, we’re just looking at some spring like conditions here in February.
You guys take care out there today. Let me know if anyone is interested in ponying up to purchase Wintergreen with me. I wonder if we can crowd fund a ski resort??
Tim Bahlke
Drop me an email at [email protected] to let me know what you think or with suggestions on what we could be doing better.