Touring America in an RV That’s Basically a Five-Star Hotel

Affluent and adventurous retirees (and soon-to-be retirees) hit the road in Class A motorhomes with plenty of comforts—and a fuel bill that rivals a small mortgage

Beth DeCarbo WSJ

Oct. 11, 2018 10:45 a.m. ET

Diehard Auburn football fans Rick and Susan Turner hold season tickets on the 35-yard line at the university’s Jordan-Hare Stadium. But when the Tigers are on the field, the Turners are in the parking lot.

Every home game, the Birmingham, Ala., couple tailgates from their 45-foot 2016 Tiffin Zephyr, a luxury motorhome. The Zephyr offers an entertainment center and a full kitchen with solid-surface countertops and stainless-steel sink, as well as a range, microwave, dishwasher and refrigerator. And unlike the stadium, there’s no line to use the Zephyr’s bathroom. Most important, electrical hookups and an automatic generator ensure that the motorhome is fully air-conditioned.

“It’s hot in Alabama in September,” says Mr. Turner, 64, senior vice president of Greenbrier Rail Services, a company that makes freight railcars and equipment.

When the Turners hit the road—which is quite often—they travel with all the luxuries of a five-star hotel. In the world of motorhomes, Class A models that measure 40 to 45 feet are among the most lavish. New, fully loaded Class As off the lot start at about $250,000, and customized coaches can reach $3 million. Because of the price, Class A buyers are typically retirees or those nearing the end of their careers.

Mr. Turner, who paid about $525,000 for his Tiffin, retired once, but returned to the Portland, Ore.-based company at the request of the CEO. When he travels for work, he likes to take the RV, and his wife Susan, 63, and Labrador retriever Buddy typically come along for the ride. But they take plenty of personal trips to visit friends and extended family, as well as motoring to New Orleans for Mardi Gras and to the Florida Keys. In all, they put 10,000 to 15,000 miles on their motorhome each year.

Getting there isn’t cheap—most Class As get roughly 8 miles per gallon in good conditions. “If you have to worry about MPGs, don’t get an RV,” Mr. Turner says. “You’re spending $300 to $400 every tank of gas. It’s a small mortgage for some people.”

Elevate Your Tailgate With a 500-Square-Foot RV

Rick and Susan Turner tailgate before every Auburn University football game. But with their 45-foot-long Tiffin Zephyr RV, it’s not your average tailgate. Take a tour of the big rig with the Turners.

Mr. Turner plans to retire full time in a few years. The couple—he was 15 and she was 13 when they started dating—hopes to spend six to eight months taking their RV up the West Coast from Southern California, across the country to northern Maine, then down the East Coast back to Birmingham.

Alabamans Susan and Rick Turner inside their 45-foot-long Tiffin Zephyr. PHOTO: CALEB CHANCEY FOR THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

Recent retirees Doug and Dani Stiebeling found their happy place in Petoskey, Mich. The couple’s full time home is in Orlando, Fla., but they wanted a summertime destination to escape the Florida heat. In June they paid $250,000 for a 42-foot 2014 Itasca Ellipse, and drove it to Hearthside Grove, a luxury motorhome resort in Petoskey exclusively for Class A models. Their wooded lot, purchased in “the $250,000 range” measures one-fifth of an acre and includes a paved driveway with electrical, water and sewer hookups. Like many of the lots at Hearthside, the Stiebelings also have a 200-square-foot bungalow on their property where guests can stay when they visit.

The Stiebelings, along with their dog Pumpkin and cat Sammi, make Hearthside Grove their home base for much of the season, which runs from mid-May to mid-October. They hitch a car to the back of their motorhome to use for trips to the grocery store and other errands.

“There is so much to do in northern Michigan,” says Mr. Stiebeling, 65, who retired in April after a 35-year career selling medical devices and artificial skin to burn centers. “The water is so clean, and there’s trout fishing, golfing, restaurants galore—and not the typical chain restaurants. They’re ma-and-pa places.”

If they ever decide to take longer trips, they can put their Hearthside lot in the rental pool, allowing other Class A owners to lease their space and bungalow for $100 to $175 a night. Leasing their lot won’t necessarily keep the fuel tank filled, but it could defray the property taxes and insurance on their lot, as well as a rental fees to store their motorhome when not in use.

The Stiebelings put about 6,000 miles on their Itasca each year but plan to take longer trips down the road. They recently stopped at Gettysburg National Military Park in Pennsylvania, where they stayed at a campground. But many national parks limit RVs of this size. (Look for parks and campgrounds that say “big-rig accessible.”) And wherever they go, Mr. Stiebeling does the driving. “She has driven it, but it makes her palms sweat a little bit,” he says of his wife, Dani, who is 58.

Living in such close quarters could lead to domestic squabbles, but the Stiebelings’ RV has three “slides” that can increase the floor space to almost 400 square feet when they’re expanded, giving them their own space.

If anything, the RV life allows couples to spend quality time together and share experiences on the road. “We enjoy going places and seeing things together,” says Mr. Turner. “I’m 64. I want to maximize the time I have with my wife.”

Take a 3D tour of a motor home

Spending time with his wife, Linda, was one of the main reasons Nicholas Grimaldi purchased his 45-foot 2017 Entegra Anthem.

The Grimaldis live in Port Jefferson Station, N.Y., and are retired from the family’s canvas and upholstery business. Mr. Grimaldi, 64, also works for an insurance company in claims, and he had Wi-Fi installed in his RV so he could work while on the road.

But the real driver behind the decision to buy is Linda Grimaldi’s bucket list of destinations—the Grand Canyon, Mount Rushmore and Minnesota to see the aurora borealis. “Because of my wife’s medical condition, she can’t fly. She has a hard time breathing,” he said. In the RV with portable oxygen, “we can go out and not skip a beat.”

Mr. Grimaldi says a “great deal” made a Class A motorhome possible. This summer, he paid $302,000 for an unsold 2017 model with an original sticker price of over $500,000.

“It’s all about timing in life. I always wanted to buy one. I never thought I’d be able to swing it,” he says. “Never give up. If I can do it, anyone can.”

WHO’S BUYING RVS?

Consumers between 55 and 74 years old are the “sweet spot” for the RV industry, and manufacturers are already seeing a baby-boomer bump in sales.

A record 504,600 recreational vehicles were shipped to dealerships last year, a 17.2% increase from 2016. And shipments this year are expected to reach 539,900, according to the RV Industry Association, a Reston, Va.-based trade group that represents manufacturers of motorhomes, towable trailers, fifth wheels and other recreational vehicles.

Most people buy RVs for the convenience and flexibility. “People can go when they want, where they want,” says Phil Ingrassia, president of the RV Dealers Association, another trade group, based in Fairfax, Va. “They’ve got their stuff with them—whether it’s golf or fishing. When we do surveys, we find that traveling with pets is a big motivation.”

Class As represent a smaller segment of the overall market in terms of volume, with just over 62,000 units shipped last year, Mr. Ingrassia adds.

With six dealerships in the U.S., Lazydays RV is the country’s top seller of Class A diesel motorhomes, says Bill Murnane, chairman and CEO of the Lazydays. Its main location just east of Tampa sits on 126 acres, with 1,500 to 2,000 RVs on the lot at any given time.

Class A buyers are often retired snowbirds who have a house in the North. “They’ll hop in the RV and tow their car and travel south to one or multiple campsites they’ve reserved. Many times they’ll travel in groups,” Mr. Murnane says.

Most buyers select their RV from what’s available on the lot, but Class A purchasers increasingly want custom features on their motorhomes, says Ryan Roske, Class A-diesel product manager for Winnebago Industries, based in Forest City, Iowa. “There’s been a shift in interest in owners wanting to really make the motorcoach their own,” says Mr. Roske, noting that Winnebago has a customization division. Custom touches include specialty shelving in the wardrobe, an office suite instead of a dinette, and storage space converted into kennels to house pets.

With all those upgrades, some Class A owners make their motorhome their primary residence, says Brion Brady, general manager of Entegra Coach, a brand made by Middlebury, Ind.-based Jayco. Roughly 60% of Entegra buyers are on the road traveling six to eight months of the year, Mr. Brady estimates.

“This is for the older buyer that doesn’t want to sit still or just golf every day,” he adds. “They want to experience everything. And they want to take ‘home’ with them. It’s your pillow, your sheets, your refrigerator, your shower.

Resorts for Motorcoaches

When they’re not on the road, many Class A motorhome owners camp at luxury resorts that offer basic hookups, lavish amenities and an active social calendar. Here’s a sampling of three resorts exclusively for Class A owner:

Las Vegas Motorcoach Resort

Las Vegas

Lots: 407 total, with 41 currently on the resale market

Price range: $88,000 for an unimproved lot, to $379,000 for lots with ‘palapas,’ shelters typically with kitchens and entertaining spaces

Amenities: Clubhouse, pool, tennis/pickleball, fitness center, putting green

Social scene: Monthly movie parties as well as scavenger hunts, poker parties, barbecues.

Desert Shores Resort 

Indio, Calif.

Lots: 141 total, with on the resale market

Price range: $300,000 to $600,000. Every lot includes a villa, a 1,200- to 1,800-square-foot structure with a great room, kitchenette and bathroom.

Amenities: Dog park, clubhouse, pool, fitness center; financing through Wells Fargo .

Social scene: Dancing, Jeep excursions and an annual ‘Casita Crawl,’ in which some owners serve cocktails to other members.

Hearthside Grove Motorcoach Resort

Petoskey, Mich.

Lots: 165 total with another 17 under construction; 45 lots currently listed

Price Range: $99,000 to $923,000 for lots with bungalows, outdoor entertaining space and water/fire features

Amenities: Clubhouse, pool, theater, tennis/pickleball court, fitness center, business center, laundry facilities.

Social life: Cooking classes, billiards tournaments, movie screenings, and manufacturer-motorcoach parties

Write to Beth DeCarbo at beth.decarbo@wsj.com

Utah may see a wave of wealthy people buying million-dollar homes.....

By Tony Semerad Salt Lake Tribune

 · Published: June 16 

Wealthy out-of-staters drawn by Utah’s many charms have lifted sales of million-dollar homes along the Wasatch Front in recent years.

Now, thanks to the latest federal tax reform, some economists are predicting that steady flow of rich homebuyers could turn into a flood, potentially pushing already-high housing prices even higher.

Be they ivy-clad mansions in Salt Lake City’s Federal Heights or Harvard-Yale districts; upscale new dwellings in the Avenues, Sandy, Draper, Alpine or Provo; or exclusive winter retreats in Park City, sales of homes priced at or above $1 million have surged.

Across Salt Lake, Utah, Davis, Weber and Tooele counties, 257 homes in that price range sold in 2017, according to the Salt Lake Board of Realtors. That’s a 59 percent rise over sales the year before and a whopping 101 percent leap over similar transactions in 2014.

Through May of this year, buyers have snapped up 110 homes in the five-county area, all priced at $1 million or more.

“A roaring economy and wealthy transplants are fueling million-dollar home sales,” said Adam Kirkham, the board’s president and associate broker with Summit Sotheby’s International Realty, with ties to the British luxury auction house of the same name.

In wealthier Summit County, the median home prices in Park City, Park Meadows, Old Town and in the Snyderville Basin are all well above the million-dollar mark — and sales are, in most cases, ahead of last year’s numbers.

“Everything is going up,” said Todd Anderson, president of the Park City Board of Realtors.

‘A good thing’

Utah’s population is projected to exceed 5 million by 2050, much of that driven by its higher-than-average birthrate. But net migration of new residents to Utah has come roaring back from a two-year period of net exodus during the Great Recession. It’s now projected that Utah will add 30,000 transplants in 2018, according to the latest report from Utah Gov. Gary Herbert’s Economic Council.

That’s expected to climb to between 35,000 and 41,000 people per year through 2065, that report said.

How many of those new residents will be wealthy people buying homes and what their impact may be on the market are hard to ascertain, for complex reasons.

“It’s not just millionaires moving to Utah, obviously,” said Dave Anderton, spokesman for the Salt Lake Board of Realtors. “It’s everyone coming in.”

But, anecdotally, area real estate experts say well-heeled out-of-state homebuyers — lured by Utah’s economy, recreation, scenery and quality of life — are already a notable force in home markets.

“As somebody who has a well-rounded mix of price points that I work on, there has been an increase at that level,” said Cheryl Acker, an associate broker and owner at Utah Key Real Estate in South Jordan.

“And to me,” she said, “that’s a good thing.”

Now, a series of new limits on federal tax breaks have the potential of bringing in even more big-ticket buyers — some say thousands more.

For some, a new tax bite

Signed by President Donald Trump in December, the tax overhaul capped federal deductions for state and local income and sales taxes at $10,000 per family. According to prominent U.S. economists Arthur Laffer and Stephen Moore, that change alone could dramatically boost the tax bills of wealthy residents living in high-tax states.

While 90 percent of U.S. taxpayers won’t be affected by the deduction change, Laffer and Moore wrote in April, big earners in states with relatively high income taxes could see their federal taxes soar, leading some to consider pulling up stakes and moving.

In a column for The Wall Street Journal headlined “So Long California. Sayonara, New York,” Laffer and Moore estimate “that both California and New York will lose on net about 800,000 residents over the next three years — roughly twice the number that left from 2014-16.”

Connecticut, New Jersey and Minnesota combined will lose another 500,000 in the same time frame, they estimate.

“The winners are likely to be states like Arizona, Nevada, Tennessee, Texas and Utah,” Laffer and Stephens wrote. ”Red states ought to brace themselves: The Yankees are coming, and they are bringing their money with them.”

Through a spokesman, Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, a key architect of the tax plan in his role as chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, noted that the Beehive State was one of the top states for attracting businesses well before the tax reform became law.

“While we expected people to continue to migrate to Utah for any number of reasons, we also expect the positive impact of tax reform to make life easier for Utahns for years to come,” said Matt Whitlock, Hatch’s deputy chief of staff.

High-price anxiety

While the precise political and social effects of this potential migration are unclear, Laffer and other economists predict real estate values in low-tax states where these folks resettle will climb.

To some in Utah, that’s a daunting prospect. Recently published research indicates that Utah home prices have already grown faster than almost anywhere in the nation in the past 25 years.

Salt Lake County’s median single-family home price hit $340,000 as of early May, the highest ever recorded. Adjusted for inflation, that is 11 percent higher than the peak in Utah home prices in summer 2007, just before U.S. housing markets crashed.

“Higher home prices are becoming a hurdle for many first-time homebuyers,” said Kirkham, with Summit Sotheby’s International.

Few are talking about another housing bubble just yet, but many worry rising prices could start to hamper Utah’s record-setting economic growth as incoming workers find it increasingly difficult to afford homes.

For the first time in nearly 40 years, the number of Utah households has outstripped available homes. Supplies of the three major types of housing in Utah — existing homes, rentals and new construction — are all currently “strained,” according to a recent campaign launched by the Salt Lake Chamber.

That squeeze led both single-family home and rental prices to go up by 6 percent last year alone, its analysis showed.

Why we move

Hold on, say some leading Utah experts on the economics of migration. Large projections for how many people might exit high-tax states for Utah and other locales may be overblown.

Taxes, they argue, are just one factor in a constellation of reasons why Americans move, whether across the state or across the country.

“They don’t just go for income,” said Pam Perlich, director of demographic research at the University of Utah’s Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute. “They consider lifestyle, family ties, quality of life, schools for people with kids, safety, crime rates — even the weather.”

In fact, Perlich said, polls show that tax rates fall well behind considerations like cost of living, health care and climate as people weigh whether to move. And for many, employment itself is the main driver.

“They are moving for jobs,” said James Wood, Perlich’s colleague, senior fellow and economist at the Gardner Policy Institute. “That’s the reason they come, and that’s the reason we’re doing well, because we’re creating a lot of jobs.”

Utah will probably see increases in those moving to the state — particularly retirees — due to the latest changes in U.S. tax law, Perlich said, “but it won’t be like the floodgates opening.”

“There will be some more people that come to Utah,” she said, “but those would have been people who were probably getting ready to move anyway.”

Greener pastures

California native and well-known restaurateur Aaron Ferer fits that description in many ways.

Ferer, 75, came to Utah in the 1990s and built a home in Deer Valley’s Bald Eagle development that later sold for more than $6 million, a record of sorts at the time. He has since partnered with retired Utah Jazz player Mark Eaton and others to create the high-end Italian eatery Tuscany in Holladay, one of seven restaurants in Utah and California that Ferer has opened.

With a financial foot in both states, Ferer says taxes are indeed driving businesses and residents at higher income levels out of California. He estimates his costs would be 30 percent to 35 percent higher if he lived on the coast full time.

“People cannot afford to live there anymore,” he said one recent morning, standing outside his current Utah residence in Federal Heights. “You’ve got wealthier people saying, ‘Enough is enough!’ “

What’s more, Ferer said, a million dollars buys far more home in Utah than it does in California’s San Francisco Bay Area.

Their five children grown, Ferer and his wife, Sandra, hope to downsize and now have their fully modernized, 3,299-square-foot, federalist-style home on Arlington Drive on the market — asking price: $1.1 million.

In the three weeks or so it’s been listed, Ferer said, “we’ve had a lot of showings” but no buyers yet. “That’s OK,” he said. “People are liking it. We’re not in a hurry.”

Like Your Apartment’s Design? Thank Your Agent

As the market for high-end condos in New York and California gets crowded, developers seek brokers who understand buyers’ needs for input on finishes and layouts

Development-marketing partners Fredrik Eklund and John Gomes suggested oversized windows and 10-foot-plus ceilings for units at the Steiner East Village complex in Manhattan to lure affluent buyers. PHOTO: EVAN JOSEPH

As the market for high-end condos in New York and California gets crowded, developers seek brokers who understand buyers’ needs for input on finishes and layouts

By Amy Gamerman Wall Street Journal

Updated July 12, 2018 4:14 p.m. ET

Although real-estate agent Fredrik Eklund hobnobs with celebrities as a star of reality television’s “Million Dollar Listing New York,” he is perhaps most in his element when scrutinizing burnished-brass door handles and marble bathroom tile for planned luxury condominium developments—often years before he is able to earn a commission selling them.

“I say to developers, ‘If this was a movie, we would be the director, you would be the producer,’” said Mr. Eklund, speaking of himself and his business partner, John Gomes. “We sit in on every construction meeting and showing.”

Real-estate agent and TV personality Fredrik Eklund, right, with his development-marketing partner, John Gomes, photographed at 40 Bleecker Street. PHOTO: DOROTHY HONG FOR THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

The partners, who head their own development-marketing team at Douglas Elliman Real Estate, have collaborated with developers on the architecture, interior design and amenities of more than 50 high-price residential projects in New York. One of their latest is the just-completed Steiner East Village, a seven-story Danish brick-clad complex on the city’s Lower East Side, with 82 units priced from $1.1 million to $11.25 million. All but three are sold.

“I remember meetings where we looked at grout,” Mr. Eklund said.

High-profile agents like Mr. Eklund and Mr. Gomes are helping shape the landscape of luxury real estate in New York. There, as in other cities where millions of dollars can ride on the sale of a single apartment, developers are bringing in brokers at the earliest stages to conceptualize the design, identify target buyers and set the price point.

“It’s a collaboration,” said Doug Steiner, the developer of Steiner East Village. “Fredrik and John have sold a lot more apartments than we have; they know the buyer.”

Developers of the Pacific, a 76-home luxury residence in San Francisco, invited more than 30 of the city’s top-selling real-estate agents to be part of a broker advisory board PHOTO: SCOTT HARGIS

In San Francisco, the developers of the Pacific—a new luxury residence with 76 homes priced from $1.5 million to over $15.5 million—invited more than 30 of the city’s top-selling real-estate agents to become part of a broker advisory board two years before breaking ground. Although the developer, Trumark Urban, hired its own sales and marketing team, it consulted with the handpicked brokers through the design process.

“We had the interior designer lay out room vignettes. We handed out clipboards and got feedback about what type of bathtubs they wanted—if they wanted honed marble or a more glossy finish, wide-plank floors or narrow,” said Arden Hearing, a former Trumark Urban managing director, who recently launched his own investment firm.

One key recommendation: Leave some units unfinished, so buyers can customize them with their own designers. As a result, the Pacific’s eight penthouses were built as shells with utilities but no walls. All but one have sold.

Trumark Urban, developers of the Pacific building in San Francisco with units up to $15.5 million, formed a broker advisory board of top-selling agents. PHOTO: SCOTT HARGIS

“I had one billionaire say, ‘Thank you for not finishing it, we had a condo in New York where we had to rip everything out and replace it,’” Mr. Hearing said.

The remaining penthouse, listed for $13.85 million, is the building’s only unsold unit. The Pacific has racked up $290 million in sales to date, according to Trumark Urban’s development team.

In more intensive collaborations, brokers are teaming up with developers in exchange for exclusive listing rights when the condominiums come to market.

Without their input early on, brokers say, a developer may make critical decisions that will hurt sales. “The mistakes can run the gamut from buying the wrong site, to buying the wrong building—all the way down to minutiae, like closets that are too small,” said Raphael De Niro, an agent who heads his own team at Douglas Elliman Real Estate.

Mr. De Niro has invested several years in the development of 108 Leonard—a landmark McKim, Mead and White building in New York’s Tribeca neighborhood. Set to open in 2019, 108 Leonard will have over 150 residences priced from $1.535 million to more than $20 million; the developer is the Elad Group. “Before the building was even acquired, I was touring it with one of the developers,” Mr. De Niro said.

At Mr. De Niro’s suggestion, one of the building’s three entrances will be a private underground “motor reception” for paparazzi-shy residents.

In New York, where inventory of new condominiums is at its highest in a decade, a competitive market has pushed brokers from their traditional spot behind the curtain to center stage. To attract attention to buildings in such a crowded field, they are urging developers to add amenities such as steam rooms and libraries, raise ceiling and window heights and pile on rich materials like Pompeii basalt and matte-finished white oak floors.

“If you roll back the clock on New York real estate 30 years, there weren’t so many condos being developed, and if they were, they were usually pretty cookie-cutter. The brokers were more like order-takers,” said Dan Hollander, managing principal of DHA Capital, a New York developer. “Now, you have to have star power.”

A rendering of 75 Kenmare, a 38-unit boutique condominium in New York’s Nolita district slated to open next year.PHOTO: REDUNDANT PIXEL

Mr. Hollander has teamed with Mr. Eklund and Mr. Gomes on several buildings, including 75 Kenmare, a boutique condominium in New York’s Nolita district slated to open next year. The project, which will have 38 homes priced from $1.6 million to over $12 million, is being designed by Lenny Kravitz, the rock star turned interior designer.

“The developer wanted a big number for those apartments. We felt we had to create something that would really stand out,” Mr. Eklund said.

A rendering of a 75 Kenmare kitchen in New York’s Nolita district, a project designed by Lenny Kravitz, the rock star turned interior designer. PHOTO: REDUNDANT PIXEL

Steiner East Village—at the site of a former church just off Tompkins Square Park, home of New York’s annual Wigstock drag festival—was originally envisioned as a modestly appointed rental building, with almost double the number of units. When Mr. Steiner decided to develop it as a luxury condominium instead, he brought in Mr. Eklund and Mr. Gomes.

Their collaboration has resulted in a building with a host of lavish amenities in the once-gritty East Village, including an indoor pool, a sauna and steam room, a library with a fireplace and a 4,000-square-foot roof deck.

“That way, we lure buyers who would never consider Avenue A,” Mr. Eklund said.

Every apartment has oversized windows, 10-foot-plus ceilings and a stylish powder room. The brokers recommended the designer Paris Forino for the project and sat in on her presentations, weighing in on everything from the bronze window frames to the herringbone-pattern marble mosaic for bathroom floors.

“If they want things tweaked, we tweak them,” said Ms. Forino. “They have the voices of the buyer in their ears.”

Appeared in the July 13, 2018, print edition as 'A Honed or Glossy Marble Tub? Who D

Mountain Capital Partners Enters Into Operating Agreement with Nordic Valley Ski Area

 

•   20 APR  2018 from SIN Snow Industry News

James Coleman, managing partner of Mountain Capital Partners, recently announced that he is entering into an operating agreement with Skyline Mountain Base, LLC to manage and operate Nordic Valley Ski Resort

“We’re excited to add Nordic Valley to our family of ski resorts and begin working with the resort staff,” stated James Coleman, managing partner of Mountain Capital Partners. “Nordic Valley is a fantastic ski area and is consistent with our goals as a company of making skiing affordable to everyone in order to continue growing the sport.”

Nordic Valley Ski Resort, located in Eden, UT and only 25 minutes from downtown Ogden, was first established in 1968.  Nordic Valley offers beginner, intermediate, and advanced terrain for skiing and snowboarding with 140 skiable acres, 23 trails, four lifts, a terrain park, and snowmaking which covers 60 percent of terrain.  The Utah ski area receives an average of 300 inches of snow annually, and has a 965 foot vertical.  It also features a day lodge, rental shop and ski & snowboard school.

“We are very happy to partner with Mountain Capital Partners, who will run the operations of Nordic Valley starting this month,” stated Laurent Jouffray, Skyline Mountain Base, LLC board member.  “We’re committed to the success of the resort and its future developments, and are confident that it will become one of the best ski resort destinations in the U.S.”

Nordic Valley is a family-friendly resort, known for its ski and ride school and beginner terrain.   The boutique ski area became known internationally as the best downhill training ski area for the 2002 Winter Olympics.

Coleman announced that the 2018/2019 Nordic Valley season pass has been reduced this year and will be offered at $299 for adults and includes unlimited access with no blackout dates to Nordic Valley, as well as Sipapu Ski & Summer Resort in New Mexico, Pajarito Mountain in New Mexico, and Hesperus Ski Area in Colorado, which are also managed by Mountain Capital Partners.

Mountain Capital Partners also offers the Power Pass at $599 for adults which provides endless mountain experiences at ski resorts in Colorado, New Mexico, and Arizona, and will now include the Nordic Valley Ski Resort.  With the Power Pass, ski enthusiasts receive unlimited access with no blackout dates to Purgatory Resort, Arizona Snowbowl, Sipapu Ski & Summer Resort, Pajarito Mountain Ski Area, Hesperus Ski Area and Nordic Valley.  The Power Pass also offers three free days at partner ski resorts including:   Copper Mountain(CO),  Powder Mountain (UT),  Loveland Ski Area (CO),  Monarch Mountain (CO), Grand Targhee Ski Resort (WY), Brundage Mountain Resort (ID), and more.  The 2018/2019 Power Pass is currently on sale at the lowest price of the year through Apr. 20, 2018.

In the summer, Nordic Valley offers a variety of activities for all ages, including lift-served mountain biking and hiking, an 18-hole disc golf course, a 400-foot long slip-n-slide, bungee trampoline, Nordic Nights Saturday evening concert-series, and more.