7/16/2000 12:30 PM Update.

It has been confirmed that Song is closing. The decision appears to be… in this order:

Sell

Liquidate

Open up and run it

A few weeks ago we got a report that the Alpine Slide was sold to another ski resort and will be open shortly. More recently we got a report that Song's $160,000 Sno-Cat was moved to Swain, their other ski resort. This report also stated that this $160,000 purchase was part of the sales tax free 'improvement' that was made to Song last year as part of their IDA tax deal.

More information as it becomes available.

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Not confirmed officially but reliable sources tell us that last night a meeting was held and the owners decided to shut the doors for next season.

Other information: Todd Miller who was the well-liked manager for Song recently quit after a dispute. See the 7/10/2000 Town Board Meeting comments for other information.

Song Mountain has been on the block for many months. Asking price was rumored to be between 1.5 and 2.5 million. It would be a lot easier to sell if they kept the lawn mowed, so it is curious that they laid off 'Hoss' who was their maintenance man. As stated in the Town Meeting comments this may be just a ploy to pressure the judge to allow their use of the well.

Whose fault is this? Some may try to blame the Song Lake Properties Owners Association, who fought the well for the last two years. Keep in mind that Song had all the water they needed for snowmaking. The well was to replace the water they had in the dams. They decided to pursue the well rather than repairing the dams, saying it was cheaper to use the well. They spent more on litigation than repairing the dams would have cost. No was caused this failure was NOT the SLPOA it was mismanagement pure and simple. I have known for a year that they were going out of business. As I stated in a ZBA meeting some months back, you cannot run a business, make this many mistakes, or lose this much money for long.

Developing

©Frank Hogg 2000