Contrary to a recently televised news report, the Midwest's finest ski hill isn't for sale just yet, Searchmont Ski Association Inc. Chair Justus Veldman insisted at a special general meeting this weekend.
"Those damn news people," Veldman said, responding to anxious audience questions about a segment broadcast by CTV Northern Ontario one week ago, on Sunday, March 15. "Right now, there is no 'for sale' sign on the hill," he said.
"Searchmont Ski Resort near Sault Ste. Marie has been in operation more than 50 years," proclaimed anchor Carrie Trownson in last week's CTV story, titled "Searching for a Buyer."
"It's long suffered an unstable future," Trownson said. "And now, the newest buyer - the City of Sault Ste. Marie - is looking to sell it."
"Searchmont Ski Resort season is winding down, but the efforts to sell it are ramping up," added reporter Jordan Allard.
Aside from the disputed claim about a ramped-up bid to sell the resort, the CTV story contained at least one major and indisputable error, in that Searchmont is not owned by the City of Sault Ste. Marie.
It was actually bought from the ski association late last year by Sault Ste. Marie Economic Development Corp. - an independent not-for-profit economic development agency that operates autonomously from the city but leases space in the civic centre.
EDC made it clear from the beginning that its ownership was a short-term measure, intended to keep Searchmont open this season and to make some necessary improvements before selling it a year or two down the road.
And, so far as Veldman is concerned, it's just not true that Searchmont is currently for sale.
"I don't have anything to substantiate that it's for sale," he told a crowd of more than 60 members and concerned citizens that packed the resort's Slopeside room on Saturday.
But the audience was skeptical.
"It was on the news," one participant said, referring to the CTV segment, which included appearances by Chris Greensted, Searchmont's general manager and Ian McMillan of the EDC's Tourism Sault Ste. Marie division.
Interestingly, neither Greensted nor McMillan said anything in their broadcast clips supporting the story's main point - that efforts to sell the resort are "ramping up."
SooToday reached Allard on Sunday and asked him whether anyone interviewed by CTV indicated a sales effort was being launched.
"I hope my story didn't give the impression that they were looking to sell it immediately," the reporter responded.
The intent, Allard said, was to communicate that the current owner of Searchmont "isn't interested in having long-term ownership."
As for reporting that the City of Sault Ste. Marie had bought Searchmont, Allard said he was aware it was actually the EDC, but he doesn't have final approval over his scripts.
"At this point, the EDC does not have the hill up for sale," Veldman assured the crowd.
Could Veldman buy Searchmont?
One participant asked Veldman about rumours that Searchmont will eventually be sold to Veldman's own Riversedge Developments or to another company controlled by him.
"At this point, all of the options are out there," Veldman replied. The hope, he said. would be to find an investor to sink $1.5 million into ski hill remediation and additional funds into constructing new chalets.
"It's going to be very difficult to find that kind of investor in the current financial shape of the hill."
And might Riversedge be interested?
"No," Veldman said. "This hill is going to lose a quarter million dollars this year. It's very, very difficult to operate."
"I think that if one looks at the broader picture of tourism in Sault Ste. Marie and the region, and you can attach a bunch of the attractions together....one marketer, one image, one brand, something really easy for the consumer to buy....that would put the hill into a sustainable future. But that's a lot of work and planning and it's probably three or four or five years out."
Quarter-million dollar loss this season
There were also pointed questions on Saturday about the complexity and fairness of Searchmont's membership pricing.
Veldman cautioned that it will be absolutely essential to derive more revenue if the resort is to survive.
"What everyone has to realize is that this resort, even this year, is going to lose a very significant amount of money," he said.
Searchmont's current financial situation is currently being reviewed by KPMG, whose findings won't be disclosed until the annual general meeting later this year.
However, Veldman predicted that losses for the current season are expected to be in the $250,000 range.
Priorities for 2015-16 season
Major priorities for the 2015-16 season will be hill remediation, upgrading snow-making gear and in-ground piping.
Sault College will pay a major role in the hill remediation work, with excavators and operators provided through a college training program.
Another priority for the board of directors will be rebranding and re-imaging the resort as part of Sault Ste. Marie's "backyard."
Veldman said it will be essential to eventually persuade the City of Sault Ste. Marie that Searchmont is a critical part of its infrastructure and it needs to step up to support the resort.
He hinted at the possibility of merging the ski resort's administration with some other local tourist operation.
"To retain a manager for just this resort, I'm going to propose to the members and to the board that we look at the other tourist operations in Sault Ste. Marie that are possibly slow during the winter, and to see if we can't look at bringing one or two of the operations together, to have one very strong general manager, pay a very good wage," he said.
"Managing this hill all by itself, as a skier hill only, is very difficult," Veldman said.
"The overall goal here is to end up with some support from city hall that says this is like a library or a community centre. This is part of the community's fabric."
Quad lift
Searchmont's quad lift is inoperable with its equipment mothballed and will require a quarter of a million dollars in repairs to open it in its present location, the meeting was told.
"To me, the quad is an asset and to move it is very cost-prohibitive," Veldman said.
One participant jokingly suggested it be offered for sale on eBay.
Veldman said he's been involved in naming-right discussions with some large corporations, aimed at re-opening the quad.
This spring, summer and fall, the ski association board will discuss whether the necessary money can be raised.
Some expert advice
Frank O'Connor, owner of the Voyageur Lodge and Cookhouse in Batchawana Bay and a business teacher who wrote the first entrepreneurship curriculum for Ontario secondary schools, emphasized the current popularity of education tourism, suggesting that the ski resort do more to celebrate the sports and forestry history of Searchmont.
O'Connor praised Searchmont's Mac Marcoux display but he said there are many other national and Olympic-level athletes who trained here.
"I would like to see these bare walls covered with things that celebrate the history and the community of this place," O'Connor said.
New slimmed-down board
Searchmont Ski Association members voted Saturday to reduce the size of its board by four directors, to seven.
A slate of seven candidates was brought forward from the association's nominating committee.
Brian Mealey, a long-time ski coach who was involved in designing and building many of Searchmont's 18 runs, was then nominated from the floor.
That would have necessitated a vote to eliminate one of the candidates, but Frank Shunock then declined nomination.
Here's the new Searchmont Ski Association Inc. board of directors, as elected Saturday:
- Aaron Gordon, a business faculty member at Algoma University with a PhD in project management
- Rita Mannarino, a nurse practitioner
- Andrea Reibmayr, a masters in leadership degree from Royal Roads University and a certified executive coach.
- Jill Thatcher, with a decade of experience in ski and snowboard instruction and a background in sports marketing and brand management.
- Leo Tiberi, vice president of academics and research at Sault College.
- Justus Veldman, president of Riversedge Developments
- Brian Mealey, coached at Searchmont for 46 years.
The last day of skiing in Searchmont's 2014-2015 season is expected to be March 29.
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