Michael Coors, a 24-year-old skier with ties to the Coors empire in Golden, is leading an investment group in the redevelopment of the dormant St. Mary’s Glacier ski area, west of Idaho Springs.
Coors’ Denver-area group bought the area for $1.65 million two weeks ago from longtime owner Iran Emeson, who closed the resort in 1984 after several years of operating losses. Coors plans to develop the area into a 270-acre terrain-park ski area with halfpipes, rails and jumps.
He said his Eclipse Snow Park could begin hosting skiers and snowboarders as soon as January.
“We would like to make it a big deal and make it one of those places that could host a big event like the Gravity Games,” Coors said. “That’s a long ways away, but I imagine we could eventually get to a point where we have the largest terrain park in Colorado.”
Coors is installing a new T-bar lift using the area’s old T-bar lift towers. He has installed several tanks to hold snowmaking water. He has purchased a Sno-Cat from Crested Butte ski area and hired a veteran skate-park designer to begin sculpting the snowy features and welding the rails that are ubiquitous in terrain parks.
The plan closely resembles that of nearby Echo Mountain Park, a small terrain park under construction on the grounds of the former Squaw Pass ski area, south of Idaho Springs, in Clear Creek County. The 250-acre Echo Mountain is being developed by former Colorado resident and hotelier Gerald Petitt, who hopes to welcome terrain-park skiers and riders in mid-January.
The St. Mary’s Glacier property includes a small chalet and an ancient T-bar lift. Emeson and his wife ran the ski area for several years before closing it. They had tried to keep lift prices below $8 but struggled to stay afloat.
“It created a loss for us for several years, and we just decided the hobby was too expensive,” said Emeson, 75. “I was trying to have very inexpensive lift tickets because I was of the opinion that other than rich people could ski.”
The property languished on the market for more than 20 years. A couple of potential buyers circled the property but backed away after due diligence, Emeson said, noting that water requirements for snowmaking are challenging.
Coors said he has leased water for the upcoming season and is pursuing more. He said he will not use water rights owned by his family’s Coors Brewing Co. in Clear Creek County.
The new ski area can operate under a temporary “prior use” permit from Clear Creek County that would allow up to 250 skiers a day, Coors said. To reach a desired 500 skiers a day, he most likely will have to rezone the ski area.
Coors declined to discuss the planned investment for the ski area but said it would be “much less” than the $5 million projected for Echo Mountain.
Once the ski area has proved itself, he wants to explore a land swap with the U.S. Forest Service to expand the area’s boundaries. He envisions night riding under lights. His target market is the young riders who pack terrain parks in Keystone, Breckenridge and Copper Mountain.
Aiming just for the urban terrain-park regulars – the same kids who crowd concrete skate parks and the growing number of ski-resort parks – is a popular approach. Two ski areas just outside Vancouver, British Columbia – Grouse Mountain and Mount Seymour – have expanded their terrain-park focus and are flourishing despite their close proximity to the continent’s largest ski area at Whistler.
Southern California’s Mountain High and Snow Summit ski areas have enjoyed great success targeting urban youth and elevating the terrain park over cruiser skiing. Several Midwest ski areas have found new life in the all-terrain-park-all-the- time movement.
“It’s the skate park reinvented,” says Michael Berry, president of the National Ski Areas Association in Lakewood.
His 13-year-old son and his friends have plans to hit the park at Echo Mountain every day after school when it opens in January.
“He’s got it all figured out,” Barry said. “They are interested in the park exclusively. It’s an intriguing trend.”
Staff writer Jason Blevins can be reached at 303-820-1374 or jblevins@denverpost.com.
