Mount Baldy ski resort in the south Okanagan has been bought out of receivership for $3.4 million and the new owners plan to open this winter, according to G-Force Group, the receiver-manager of Mount Baldy Ski Resort Corp.
The BC Supreme Court approved the purchase of the bankrupt resort June 27 by 1063205 B.C. Ltd., which will do business as Baldy Mountain Resort. The principal investor is Victor Tsao, a Chinese-born, Vancouver-based lawyer.
Joey O’Brien, an experienced resort operator, will be the managing director.
Mount Baldy closed during the 2013-14 season after its U.S. owners ran into financial difficulties. The resort opened again in January 2015 when Fred Johnston and Baldy Capital Corp. operated it while unsuccessfully trying to buy it. The resort stayed closed for the 2015-16 ski season.
Gary Powroznik of G-Force Group has been the receiver for the resort since December 2014 and had been seeking a qualified buyer to acquire the resort’s assets and operate it. G-Force reports that the buyer paid $3.4 million, plus $300,000 for one serviced lot.
Mount Baldy owed $4.4 million in mortgages when it was forced into bankruptcy.
“We are very pleased to have found a purchaser with the financial and operational capability to restart the ski operation and lay a solid foundation for a sustainable resort for the community,” Powroznik said.
O’Brien was president and chief executive officer at Fortress Mountain in Alberta from 2008 to 2014. Prior to that he owned Ski Martock in Nova Scotia from 1979 to 2003.
“I’m hoping the community is going to rally around these guys because we think that Baldy can really hum,” Powroznik said.
This marks the second sale of a B.C. ski resort in the past year. In November 2015, U.S.-based Pacific Group Resorts of Park City, Utah, bought Vancouver Island’s Mount Washington Ski Resort, a going concern. That sale price has not been released.
