By Stacia Glenn And Kenny Ocker
The News Tribune
Crystal Mountain Resort is being sold for the second time in less than two years.
Alterra Mountain Co. has agreed to buy the state’s largest ski area for an undisclosed amount.
The deal is expected to close by the end of the year but is still subject to closing conditions and regulatory approvals, resort officials said.
John Kircher acquired Crystal Mountain, then valued at $40 million, in March 2017. He was the ski area’s CEO and president for 20 years before buying it from a company co-founded by his father.
“I’ve run ski areas since I was 23. It’s been a family business going into a third generation now, and you don’t take these things lightly,” Kircher said. “It was a difficult decision to make.”
Talks with Alterra Mountain started in June, Kircher said, after Vail Resorts purchased the Stevens Pass Ski Area.
“It changed the equation quite a bit,” Kircher said, discussing Vail’s Epic Pass, which allows skiers to visit myriad ski areas for one price. “I thought, ‘Wow, the earth has sort of changed beneath our feet.’”
Alterra Mountain operates 14 mountain resorts in North America, including Mammoth, Steamboat, Squaw Valley Alpine Meadows and Big Bear.
Crystal now will be included on the Ikon Pass for the 2018-19 winter season, assuming the sale is completed by the end of September as planned. The Ikon Pass, which was announced earlier this year, offers skiers and snowboarders access to 35 mountain destinations in North America, Australia and Japan.
“This is about what is best for Crystal in the long run,” Kircher said. “For a skier at Crystal, Alterra is going to take Crystal further more quickly than we would have been able to do.”
Kircher completed $5 million in capital improvements to Crystal Mountain in the first summer after purchasing the resort and added further snowmaking capacity this summer.
“Crystal Mountain is Washington’s premier destination and has been a favorite year-round destination for those in the greater Seattle-Tacoma area for years, and we are excited to include it in the Alterra Mountain Co. family,” Alterra CEO Rusty Gregory said.
Crystal Mountain includes a gondola and 10 lifts, 57 runs and a vertical drop of 3,100 feet across 2,600 acres.
