Town of Nederland: Eldora Mountain Acquisition

Here’s a snapshot of the key milestones the Town can now share with everyone:

Negotiation timeline. Talks began last fall, accelerated after January 10, 2025, when the town signed a confidentiality agreement, and reached the signed term sheet on July 8, 2025. A term sheet is a high-level “rulebook” both sides will follow as we negotiate the final purchase agreement. If all goes smoothly, we could finalize the purchase by the beginning of October 2025.

Paying for Eldora. The Town will issue municipal revenue bonds backed only by the resort’s earnings, which is profitable enough to service the debt. The revenue bonds will not be backed by local tax dollars. This avoids risk to the taxpayers. The Town will also be exploring opportunities for grants and private-sector dollars to help lower the total debt.

Keeping the pros in place. POWDR will continue to support the mountain for the first two winters and summers. The Town will also create a new employment position titled “Deputy Town Manager, Executive Director of Mountain Operations” to interface between the Mountain and the Town Government.

“Not-to-exceed” price tag. In the coming weeks, the Board of Trustees will consider for approval a “Bond Resolution” that will approve a not-to-exceed ceiling amount so residents will know the maximum debt the Town can assume, even if the final purchase price is lower.

Deep-dive diligence. Over the past several months, the Board has authorized contracts with different legal, financial, and environmental teams with the purpose of completing all the diligence and legal work required for this purchase. This team is combing through every lease, permit, and lift-maintenance log. It is imperative the purchase makes financial sense for the Town and this team of experts has helped us understand and mitigate the risks associated with the acquisition. 

Early bond market numbers. Our financial underwriters have modeled several interest-rate scenarios; the preliminary range is 6% to 8%. Exact pricing will come later, when the bonds are actually priced.

Ikon Pass stays. Eldora will stay on the Ikon pass. Ikon sales provide a stable revenue stream and keeping that as a part of the funding is essential to the financing plan.

Local partner on deck. While the POWDR team will continue to support Eldora under a two-year agreement, the Town will partner with 303 Ski, a coalition of Front Range ski-industry veterans, who have been instrumental in vetting operating plans, conducting financial modeling, and assessing community programming. 303 Ski will plan to support the mountain once POWDR’s contract expires. More details to follow. The Town of Nederland is incredibly thankful to the 303 Ski team, and we are proud to finally announce our partnership.

Full financial data in hand. The seller has opened its books to Town leadership, underwriters, and advisers, allowing us to fine-tune projections. While we cannot disclose exact figures, we can share that mountain revenue will cover our municipal bond obligation. Current models show we can build a reserve of $10 million in the first couple of years. This reserve will sit in the Mountain Recreation Enterprise Fund to pay debt obligations during poor snow years. We also project some excess cash flow; however, this does not become meaningful until the subordinate bonds are paid off - something we aim to accomplish within ten years but hopefully sooner through grants and donations. After that, free cash flow will fall between $2M - $5M+, and we can reinvest those funds in streets, sidewalks, and water infrastructure.