As Eaglecrest Ski Area faces ongoing financial hardship, city officials continue to hope the gondola will one day make it self-sustaining — once it’s up and running.
In the meantime, Eaglecrest may need to borrow more money from the city to fix a broken chairlift and increase wages. On top of that, low snowfall means it still hasn’t fully opened for the season.
Kirk Duncan, a former Eaglecrest general manager, wrote a financial review of the city-owned ski area for the Juneau Assembly. He presented it at an Assembly Committee of the Whole meeting Monday.
“I’ve made many assumptions and it’s up to the board to determine whether they’re going to modify those, accept them, not accept them, whatever,” Duncan said.
The report is part of a broader analysis to provide a timeline for how Eaglecrest could become self-sufficient, instead of relying on the city for financial support.
Duncan said the ski area has seen similar hardship before. Last year’s sudden change in leadership and the potential financial loss this winter are reminiscent of a rough few years Eaglecrest faced when he was manager 20 years ago.
“That gives me a really good feeling of optimism, that there’s good potential for turning things around,” he said. “One of the questions is, how can we quit doing this, needing to turn things around?”
His report did suggest that, with a few different ticket price options — ranging from $45, $65 or $85 per ride — the gondola could eventually create year-round revenue the ski area could then reinvest in winter operations.
Duncan’s report offered a myriad of recommendations for how to both cut costs and fund upcoming maintenance and operations. This season, the Black Bear lift is down and needs to be fixed or replaced. Along with other maintenance fees and services, Duncan estimates that the ski area could see an additional $750,000 added to this year’s budget.
He warned against raising user fees without knowing if that would drive down the number of people buying lift tickets and season passes. He said the ski area could instead add to their negative fund balance for now and hope to pay off the deficit later, which is a strategy that has worked in the past.
Eaglecrest Board Chair Mike Satre said he’s pleased that Duncan’s report matches many of the board’s earlier projections about the potential future revenue of the gondola.
“It’s just great that the report justifies everything that we’ve done to purchase the gondola, get into a partnership with Goldbelt to install it, and make this happen,” Satre said.
While the costs may seem like a lot, Satre thinks it will pay off in the future.
“In a sense, this is like any business,” he said. “This is our startup expenses before revenue can be booked.”
The city spent about $3 million to purchase and import the used gondola in 2022. Since then, a $10 million investment from Goldbelt Inc. has paid for expenses — so far $5.8 million — but City Manager Katie Koester says $2.5 million in city funding is earmarked for the project.
Satre said the board plans to start offering biweekly reports to the Assembly on the state of Eaglecrest’s finances. That’s after Duncan’s report said that many of the ski area’s issues can be traced back to a lack of oversight and communication.
Satre said the board will present their funding needs to the Assembly for consideration. Construction is still a moving target as Eaglecrest continues to secure the necessary permits. According to the city’s agreement with Goldbelt, the gondola must open by the end of May 2028.
Eaglecrest announced Tuesday that additional snow will allow it to open more of the ski area Wednesday and this weekend.
