The partnership that tied up the family that owns Aspen Skiing Co. with Denver’s KSL Capital Partners to acquire 12 ski resorts in the last year will be named Alterra Mountain Company.
“A new destination group that is changing the landscape of the mountain resort industry,” read an announcement from the Denver-based Alterra Mountain Co. on Thursday.
KSL Capital Partners, the private equity firm that owns California’s Squaw Alpine Meadows ski area, joined the family of Henry Crown, which owns Aspen Skiing Co., last year to buy Intrawest, Mammoth Resorts and Utah’s Deer Valley ski area.
Alterra Mountain Co. is expected to rival Vail Resorts, creating a duopoly where the titan companies between them control about two dozen major ski areas that host about 16 million visits each year.
Alterrra Mountain’s 12 year-round resorts — including Steamboat and the long-term operating contract for Denver-owned Winter Park ski area — host about 6 million visits each year, compared with 10 million at Vail Resorts’ stable of 10 destination resorts in Colorado, Vermont, California and Utah.
The new company soon will unveil a pass product for its resorts that will rival Vail Resorts’ industry-leading Epic Pass, which is nearing 700,000 in annual sales.
Alterra Mountain’s resorts span five states and three Canadian provinces and include southern California’s Mammoth Mountain, Vermont’s Stratton and the largest heli-ski operation in the world, British Columbia’s Canadian Mountain Holidays.
Don’t expect to see a lot of Alterra Mountain, though. The idea is not to forge a new brand but to create a platform that will elevate the individuality of each of the company’s resorts.
“Our vision at Alterra Mountain Company is to protect and enhance what makes each destination special, inviting guests back to their favorite mountain, and enticing them to visit new destinations on their bucket list,” president and chief operating officer David Perry said in a news release. “We respect and continue to learn from the pioneers and leaders that built these iconic locations and paved the way before us, as we push the boundaries and innovate for our future.”
