{"id":19876,"date":"2010-11-24T07:39:34","date_gmt":"2010-11-24T15:39:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.boardistan.com\/?p=19876"},"modified":"2010-11-24T08:21:31","modified_gmt":"2010-11-24T16:21:31","slug":"squaw-valley-goes-private-equity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.boardistan.com\/?p=19876","title":{"rendered":"Squaw Valley Goes Private Equity"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Images-5\"<\/a>Denver, Colorado based private equity fund KSL Capital Partners<\/a><\/strong> announced yesterday that they had acquired virtually all the assets of the Squaw Valley Development Company<\/strong> from the Cushing family for a undisclosed amount. The Cushing’s have run Squaw Valley<\/a><\/strong> since founder Alex Cushing opened the resort in 1949<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

“It\u2019s with a respectful eye for the past that I say this news is part of a new era in Squaw Valley\u2019s incredible history,” said Andy Wirth<\/strong>, Squaw’s new President and CEO. “KSL is dedicated to further enhancing the resort and the guest experience by committing over $50 million in additional capital improvements over the next 3-5 years. The KSL team, all of whom are skiers and riders, are thrilled to be the new owners of Squaw Valley and are excited about the resort\u2019s future.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

KSL currently owns several warmer climate resorts like La Costa Resort & Spa<\/a><\/strong> in Carlsbad, California, Rancho Las Palmas Resort & Spa<\/a><\/strong> in Rancho Mirage, California or Barton Creek Resort & Spa<\/a><\/strong> in Austin, Texas, but the Squaw Valley purchase marks their first expedition into the winter resort business. This is not to say they have no experience. After years at Vail Associates, KSL’s Managing Directors Mike Shannon<\/a><\/strong> and Eric Resnick<\/a><\/strong> certainly know the ski business.<\/p>\n

This purchase, along with Vail Resort’s recent operations deal at Northstar-At-Tahoe<\/a><\/strong> is kicking the entire Tahoe resort game up a notch. Industry insiders are saying that this is exactly what Squaw needed. “This is going to be a game-changer for sure,” said one resort executive.
\nWe’ve never really liked riding Squaw. Maybe the changes KSL brings will give us a reason try it out again. For a complete list of resort upgrades follow the jump for a “personal letter” from Andy.
\nDear Valued Guest,<\/p>\n

I\u2019d like to take the opportunity to introduce myself to you as Squaw Valley USA\u2019s new President and CEO, and be the first to share some exciting news about the resort. Today we\u2019re pleased to announce that Squaw Valley USA is set to be acquired by KSL Capital Partners of Denver, Colorado.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s with a respectful eye for the past that I say this news is part of a new era in Squaw Valley\u2019s incredible history. KSL is dedicated to further enhancing the resort and the guest experience by committing over $50 million in additional capital improvements over the next 3-5 years. The KSL team, all of whom are skiers and riders, are thrilled to be the new owners of Squaw Valley and are excited about the resort\u2019s future.<\/p>\n

These are transformative times for Squaw Valley; a new era is dawning by way of our entire team\u2019s dedication to the guest experience that will put us on par with the very best resorts in North America.<\/p>\n

In many ways, the transformation is well underway with many improvements for the 2010-11 season:<\/p>\n

Olympic House Renovations<\/strong>: Olympic House has been remodeled to include all new menus and a fully renovated Bar One. New menus include fresh salads, gourmet pizzas, Asian stir-fry bowls and custom-made burritos.<\/p>\n

New Mountaintop Kids Zone<\/strong>: Belmont Park has transformed into a kids terrain park complete with a snow fort and kid-friendly jumps, bumps and whoopty-doos.<\/p>\n

Expanded Demo Center<\/strong>: Located in the Village, this high-performance shop will work in conjunction with the on-mountain Gold Coast Demo Center allowing guests to conveniently try out this season\u2019s latest technology. The shop will also offer the best in tuning with a brand new Wintersteiger tuning machine.<\/p>\n

Expanded Night Terrain Park<\/strong>: For the 2010-11 winter season we\u2019re greatly expanding night skiing and riding with new lighting in the Riviera Terrain Park and halfpipe.<\/p>\n

Renovated Squaw Kids Children\u2019s Center<\/strong>: The Squaw Kids Children\u2019s Center has been renovated, including an expanded second floor, larger lunch room and more rental room space.<\/p>\n

Three New State-of-The-Art Grooming Machines<\/strong>: Three new grooming machines have been added to Squaw Valley\u2019s snow cat fleet, significantly improving snow surface quality and grooming by 25%.<\/p>\n

Improved Snowmaking<\/strong>: Squaw Valley\u2019s snowmaking multi-year equipment upgrade to greener and more efficient models continues into its ninth year. We\u2019ve also expanded snowmaking in the halfpipe.<\/p>\n

39\u00b0 North remodel completion<\/strong>; transformation of entire ground floor
\nThe final stage of the $3 million remodel of the mid-mountain restaurants at Gold Coast is complete. On the ground floor 39\u00b0 North has been transformed with new food and an entirely new aesthetic.<\/p>\n

New Gates To Skills Ski Clinic<\/strong>: Skiers can experience race course excitement and be coached by one of the best\u2014Thomas Gardtman.<\/p>\n

New Shops in the Village<\/strong>: Squaw welcomes a host of new shops to the European-style base village: Squaw Dogs, Marmot and Squaw One Logo Company.<\/p>\n

New Conference\/Events Center<\/strong>: An extensive remodel of the Olympic Village Lodge & Conference Center (OVL) is complete and will be available for meeting space, weddings and conferences.<\/p>\n

And we\u2019re really just getting started, thanks to KSL\u2019s commitment to the future.<\/p>\n

In short, much has changed, yet there\u2019s much more yet to come that has us excited to embark upon the new season. To date we\u2019ve received nearly 8 feet of snow from the current storm cycle with more snow forecasted for today and early next week. We will continue opening more lifts and terrain as conditions permit as we look forward to an exceptional Thanksgiving weekend.<\/p>\n

I wanted to be sure you received this important announcement before we notified the press which will happen shortly. I appreciate your attention to this note and thanks in advance for your dedication and commitment during the 2010-11 season.<\/p>\n

I\u2019d like to thank you for choosing Squaw Valley USA as your mountain getaway. We look forward to seeing you on the slopes this winter!<\/p>\n

Best Regards,<\/p>\n

Andy<\/p>\n

Andrew D Wirth | President and Chief Executive Officer
\nSquaw Valley USA<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Denver, Colorado based private equity fund KSL Capital Partners announced yesterday that they had acquired virtually all the assets of the Squaw Valley Development Company from the Cushing family for a undisclosed amount. The Cushing’s have run Squaw Valley since founder Alex Cushing opened the resort in 1949. “It\u2019s with a respectful eye for the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[14,4,12],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.boardistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19876"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.boardistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.boardistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.boardistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.boardistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=19876"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/www.boardistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19876\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19880,"href":"http:\/\/www.boardistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19876\/revisions\/19880"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.boardistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=19876"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.boardistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=19876"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.boardistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=19876"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}