Town of Nederland, Colorado to Buy Eldora Mountain Resort

Featured Image: Eldora Mountain Resort

The town of Nederland, Colorado has announced it intends to buy the local ski area, Eldora Mountain Resort. A terms sheet between Nederland and Eldora proprietor, POWDR Corporation, was signed yesterday, July 8, as confirmed in a letter released by the town on the same day.

The terms sheet is described in the public letter as, “a high-level ‘rulebook’ both sides will follow as we negotiate the final purchase agreement.” This indicates that while nothing is set in stone, both POWDR Corp. and Nederland have strong intentions of seeing the deal through. It’s estimated that the sale could be finalized as early as October 2025.

Nederland, a town of just 1,500 people, has multiple reasons for buying the resort outside of pure profit. “Nederland aims to turn Eldora into a year-round, community-driven asset – expanding recreation, sparking local jobs and outdoor industries, and weaving sustainability and social equity (i.e. workforce housing) into every run, trail, and event,” the announcement reads. “These economic development opportunities will give the Town a long-needed, sustainable way to fund infrastructure.”

Blending growth and sustainability is a common challenge facing every mountain town throughout the American West. Nederland is all too familiar with this problem, as the municipality sits just 16 miles from Colorado’s Front Range and 45 miles from Denver. Eldora’s convenient location has made it a popular spot for riders, especially in recent years as terrain expansions, lift upgrades and operation improvements (like the addition of a Woodward terrain park) have drawn more and more visitors.

The increasing traffic to Eldora is an economic positive for both the resort and the town of Nederland, but there are changes that locals and workers want to see made. This purchase aims to offer solutions.

Importantly, the sale will not impact local taxes. Instead of funding the purchase with tax dollars, Nederland is issuing municipal bonds backed only by the revenue of Eldora. “This avoids risk to the taxpayers,” stated the announcement letter. “The Town will also be exploring opportunities for grants and private-sector dollars to help lower the total debt.” This means that the sale is not up for voter decision.

While the final price is confidential, the Nederland Board of Trustees will approve a not-to-exceed debt ceiling. It’s said that the resort is indeed profitable enough to back the aforementioned revenue bonds and thus service the debt.

Nederland expects to pay off the bonds and subsequent debt within a decade. After that, they estimate that free cash flow from the resort will be between $2 and $5 million, which is to be wisely reinvested in town infrastructure. If executed well, it’s a unique and resourceful idea that could hopefully be modeled by other ski towns.

Eldora’s offerings have expanded dramatically in recent years, including new gladed terrain, a Woodward park and lift upgrades.

The transition period will not be overnight, as the current owner POWDR Corp. will continue to help manage the ski area for the next two years. A new position titled Deputy Town Manager, Executive Director of Mountain Operations, will be created to help facilitate the relationship between POWDR and Nederland.

Furthermore, the open letter states that a “coalition of local Front Range ski-industry veterans” dubbed 303 Ski will support mountain operations as POWDR’s contract expires and their management team is removed.

This deal is interesting in many ways, such as the financing of the sale through bonds and staff becoming employed directly by the town of Nederland. Still, it’s reminiscent of POWDR’s recent sale of Killington Resort in Vermont. There, a group of local investors banded together to purchase the mountain, with overall positive feedback thus far and new infrastructure already being installed.

Eldora has implemented many positive changes over recent years, and it’s now up to Nederland to carry on in a positive direction. Part of that is keeping the current team in place, which has already been guaranteed. All current employees will be simply transitioned into town employees, with no decrease in pay.

“Our goal is to use every tool at our disposal to build employee resiliency and sustainability,” the letter concluded. “Our people are your people. For decades, Nederland residents have worked at Eldora: they coach youth sports teams, volunteer in emergencies, and wait in line at the post office… They are the reason Eldora feels like more than a resort; they are the heart of a mountain that belongs to the region. This is why we feel so deeply about offering strong benefits, coordinated childcare, and as much year-round employment as we can.”