Silverton
Mountain: Has The Dream Changed?
by Mitch Weber
|
BLM Grants Colorado
ski area operators their long-sought after 40 year permit; owners
Aaron and Jen Brill immediately announce they will continue to
only offer guided skiing & riding through this winter. |
 |
|
October 2, 2005-- Concluding a process that began in the fall of
2001, the United States Bureau of Land Management (BLM) finally
granted Silverton Mountain owners Aaron and Jen Brill a permit
allowing unguided access to 1,300 acres of BLM-controlled expert
skiing terrain. Many, including the Brills, had expected the
BLM to restrict Silverton Mountain's operations to a combination
of guided and unguided skiing, but in a surprise move the Bureau
said yes to Silverton Mountain's key requests for a 40 year,
475 skier per day permit with essentially unlimited access. The
BLM land is located to the north of the 350 or so acres owned
by the ski area, upon which sits Silverton single chairlift,
bought used from California's Mammoth Mountain and installed
in the summer of 2001.
That first year, as the Brills applied
for their permit and began the long wait for BLM approval, the
Bureau granted the ski area a short-term Special Recreation Permit,
allowing guided-only skiing on a total of 1,600 acres to a maximum
of 20 people per day. In January of 2002 the first paying customers
boarded Silverton's recycled lift to head up to the goods. The
following year the number was upped to 40 per day, and then finally,
80 per day. The mountain was operating at this level when I finally
got to ski Silverton in February, 2004 with our good friend Hollie
Headrick. After writing an article for this website about our
day, I decided to call it "A
Dream Becomes Reality." |
|
The title was a not so oblique reference to
a much earlier Feature Story I cobbled together near the end
of the 1999/2000 ski season, the debut year of Telemarktips.
The article told the story of Aaron Brill's somewhat Quixotic
quest and desire to bring a very retro kind of backcountry-esque
ski area to the struggling, former mining town of Silverton,
Colorado. His and the town's story was very compelling, and it
undeniably struck a chord with me. In the article I quoted one
longtime Silverton local, "this is a mountain community
that loses 5 students a year from a K-12 school of only 75 pupils.
if we lose the school, this town is toast." I called the
article "A Dreamer and a Dying
Town come Together." |
|
|
Aaron Brill had a great idea.
Reportedly inspired by the simple, old
fashioned, club-run resorts he visited on a trip to New Zealand,
Brill wrote a business plan that detailed his goal of providing
a lift served, ungroomed, wild snow experience without all the
amenities dentists from Texas have come to expect while on vacation
at places such as Deer Valley, Park City, Aspen and Vail. The
plan called for Silverton Mountain, or SOLRC as it was then called...
short for Silverton Outdoor Learning and Recreation Center...
to host a maximum of 475 skiers per day, paying just $35 apiece
for a lift ticket. It was to be a unique for these times, "everyman"
ski resort.
But more than that, Brill's vision for
SOLRC was described as a backcountry skiing and riding heaven,
as well as a training ground. There would be spectacular hike-to
terrain accessible from the lift, while Brill's draft Environmental
Impact Statement (EIS) also included plans for 10 yurts or rustic
cabins, along with two rope tows along the ridge at the top of
the chair. There were to be onsite avalanche awareness courses,
and it was said purchasers of lift tickets were going to have
to pass a "backcountry skills" test.
All of this would was supposed to be part
of a new and unique resort ethic, built more on the European
model, one where skiers and boarders would be expected, and motivated,
to take a more active role in their own risk management, much
as they do in the backcountry, but in a safer, more controlled
environment. Said Brill at the time, "at most ski areas
it is expected that the ski patrol will make all of the decisions
for the visitors regarding the issues of weather, safety, and
avalanche hazard. SOLRC will provide some of the best ski patrollers
and a safe experience for our guests, but will emphasize the
process of observing one's surroundings and making the appropriate
decision on where they should be skiing."
At the time, all of this sounded like an
ideal development for Silverton. It promised to bring in a different
kind of skier and rider than those who are the target market
of the big, high dollar resorts. The project might actually bring
winter business and jobs to Silverton, and with limited change
to the town's character.
Today, it would appear that Aaron and Jen
Brill's vision for the future of Silverton Mountain may have
changed. The BLM's decision to limit the area's operation to
guided skiing might have had an unintended effect: it revealed
the existence of a surprisingly strong market for a type of ski
experience that is very nearly the polar opposite of the Brill's
original concept. Despite $119 daily ticket prices, the ski area
found itself booked to its 80 skiers per day capacity just about
every weekend the past couple of winters, and Silverton Mountain
has reportedly done surprisingly healthy business during the
week as well, particularly in peak season and after winter storms.
In fall of 2004, Ski Magazine reported
that Aaron Brill said demand for their guided services was so
strong that he was considering keeping the mountain running on
a guided-only basis during the peak season, January through March,
and allowing unguided skiing only during the early and late portions
of the ski season. Brill told the magazine that even with the
80 guided skiers per day limit, he now felt the area could be
profitable. The Ski mag article continues with pro skier Chris
Anthony weighing in with his opinion on opening the mountain
to unguided, hike-to skiing: "It would become just a bunch
of steep, bumped-out runs with ropes and access gates. If it
does become a ski area, my interest will disappear, because the
rewards won't be there."
In addition to the Brill's announced plan
for this season to keep the area on a guided-only basis until
April, despite last week's long-awaited BLM approval of unguided
skiing, the change in their goals for Silverton would seem to
be reflected in this season's ticket price structure and special
guided offerings. The peak season daily rate has risen to $124,
up from $99 a couple of years ago, and the Silverton website
says the ski area has added additional guides to its staff to
handle "increasing demand" for private group guiding
on the mountain. One day of private guide service on Silverton
Mountain for a single person will run $425. The fee will be $550
for a group consisting of 2-3 people, with an additional $240
tacked on for each additional person. That's well more than $1000
for for a single day for a mom and dad with 3 hard charging teenagers.
Now that may seem like a lot of money, but it should be noted
that a "gourmet lunch" and beer and/or wine are included.
And what has become of the educational
component that was to be an important part of the Silverton Mountain/SOLRC
plan? Their Winter
Courses and Event Schedule for this year does indeed include
a 3-day Level II avalanche course in mid-December to kick things
off, but after that, the focus quickly turns to something else
entirely. There's former extreme ski champ Chris Davenport's
Third Annual New Years Party and Ski Camp where "campers"
are invited to put on their "apres party pants and get ready
to get down with the ski stars." The three day $750 extravaganza
includes a "VIP pass to the hottest New Years Eve party
in the United States." Then there's the Silverton Mountain
Man Ski Camps in January and December. "Tired of the
old 'ball and chain?," the event notice asks, promising
great steep skiing "followed by the best partying your liver
can handle that night," and a fine party it promises to
be with "your guide reminding you how you used to party
into the night. Skiing the way you know you like it!"
So where does all of this lead? What does
the future hold for Silverton Mountain now that the BLM has approved
unguided freeskiing? It's hard to say. Despite some news reports
indicating that Silverton Mountain will open its doors to unguided
skiing in 2006, given the direction the resort has been heading
in over the past few years, I wouldn't count on anything more
than very limited freeskiing at Silverton, if at all from January
to April, at least not in the near term.
It's quite likely that Aaron Brill's future
plans for Silverton Mountain have evolved in response to his
experience over the past few years.
"We're seeing tremendous growth,”
Brill told the Durango Telegraph. "The market is continually
evolving. As the younger skiers move into their 20s and 30s and
start having expendable income, they’re also just getting
better, largely because of improved equipment."
The article then says Brill cited solid
growth for helicopter and snowcat skiing operations, while pointing
out that at the same time resorts have posted flat skier numbers.
“The only thing that’s a little bit of a surprise is
that the spectrum of people interested in Silverton Mountain
is greater than I thought it would be,” Aaron Brill told
the Telegraph reporter Will Sands.
One thing that is is unlikely to change
at Silverton is the snow and the terrain. With 400 to 600 inches
of fine powder most every year (540" last season) and steeps
that are among the best of any lift served terrain in North America,
Silverton Mountain Ski Area is destined to always be something
special no matter how the resort evolves. And Aaron and Jen Brill's
accomplishment in getting the ski area off the ground and onto
the path of long term sustainability, pretty much against all
odds, simply cannot be denied.
Hopefully some of the ski area's success
will continue to rub off on the wonderful and unique town of
Silverton. It could use it. Remember the local K-12 Silverton
School? The one I wrote about in 2000 when it was serving
just 75 students and losing 5 per year? The school is now down
to about 50. |
A Dreamer and a Dying Town
Come Together, Telemarktips.com,
August, 2000
Silverton Is Moving Forward, Telemarktips.com,
September, 2001
Silverton Takes Shape in Draft
EIS , SkiPressMag.com,
June, 2003
Areas weather skier-day doldrums,
DurangoTelegraph.com,
Does Silverton Stand a Chance?,
SkiMag.com,
BLM Issues Record of Decision
for Silverton Mountain Ski Area, BLM
News, September 28, 2005
Ski area gets BLM pass, RockyMountainNews.com,
September 28, 2005
Silverton Scores 40 Year Lease, skipressworld.com,
September 28, 2005
2005/2006 Winter Will Remain
Guided Only Skiing, SilvertonMountain.com/Latest
News
SILVERTON MOUNTAIN RECEIVES
40 YEAR SKI LEASE!, press
release in its entirety:
September 29, 2005…. After
a lengthy and thorough environmental review process, the Bureau
of Land Management today signed the 40 year Lease and Record
of Decision for the Silverton Mountain Ski Area. Silverton Mountain
will remain as a guided only skiing operation again for winter
2005-2006 however. Unguided skiing options are slated to start
in April and run through the spring of 2006.
The new 40 year Lease approves
a combination of both guided and unguided skiing options at the
1,600 acre Ski Area. “We are extremely happy to have received
the 40 year Lease. We can now start to prepare for the unveiling
of unguided skiing options for April of 2006. Silverton Mountain
will operate guided only skiing until April of 2006 however”
said Aaron Brill founder of Silverton Mountain. Since the new
permit allows unguided skiing in addition to guided skiing, starting
April 2006, skiers will have a choice of continuing to hire a
guide at the mountain, or try skiing alone for the first time
ever. Things will continue to evolve over time, as a gradual
transition will be made into unguided options for 2006-2007.
“Reservations for guided
skiing for 2005-2006 continue to be strong, and I anticipate
they will pick up even further as some people will want to experience
Silverton Mountain in it’s current and unique guided only
fashion.” said Jen Ader Brill, co-founder of Silverton Mountain
Aaron Brill added, “ I can’t thank the BLM enough for
giving us the opportunity to provide a special ski experience
to the public, especially BLM State Director-Ron Wenker, Durango
BLM Area Manager-Mark Stiles, Pauline Ellis, Richard Speegle,
Charlie Higby and Denny Hogan who put in a great effort to make
it all possible.
Silverton Mountain is scheduled
to open for 2005-2006 Guided Only Skiing on December 15th, 2005
call for reservations
|