Mid-Atlantic The Neverending Timberline, WV: Info, Weather, and Stoke

[jimmy]

Well Phred is right about one thing it certainly is the right time to pass Timberline on to new ownership. What a tool.

 

[Philpug]

Exactly. I wish these media outlets would do a little research and stop allowing Fred and Tracy to attempt to re-write history. The Herz's did not develop or create Timberline. Doc Reichle purchased it from David Downs along with the water utility (which the Herz's also repeatedly falsely claim they developed). Doc Reichle kept on taking cash money out of the resort and not investing anything substantial back in. It had it's hay day when Doc was running it simply due to the local employees, who loved the sport and mountain, running the place....and employees who had a knack for cobbling back together aging infrastructure. Then Doc turned it over to Fred and Tracy who embezzled money from the utility, ran off all the employees who had held the place together and destroyed the ski resort and utility.

But I guess the "raw mountain" story is a little more believable then the camp fire story that Fred and Tracy sold to Trip Advisor and Trip Advisor has published on the front page for Timberline resort.....

"Fred Herz was camping in the Canaan Valley in 1985, while sitting by a camp fire, staring up at a mountain he thought that it would be a great place to ski. He convinced his entire family to buy into his idea and create Timberline Four Seasons Resort. in 1986 Timberline opened for business. Fred is a true visionary. Today we are proud to state that we have the longest trail south of Vermont, the highest average vertical in the SE, and the best glade skiing south of New England.... Our most proud accomplishment, however, is in helping preserve the highlands ecosystem. The Cheat Mountain salamander, a threatened species that is unique to West Virginia, may have a shot at recovery, thanks to conservation efforts that are underway at Canaan Valley National Wildlife Refuge." Trip Advisor

This is why it's called his-story.

 

[Johnfmh]

The Hermitage Club, a private resort in VT, just converted from Chapter 11 to 7. I wonder how long it will take Timberline to do likewise:

https://unofficialnetworks.com/2019/07/29/hermitage-club-liquidation/

 

[scottyb]

That place probably has some actual assets unlike Hurtz Mtn.

 

[skidrew]

The Hermitage Club, a private resort in VT, just converted from Chapter 11 to 7. I wonder how long it will take Timberline to do likewise:

https://unofficialnetworks.com/2019/07/29/hermitage-club-liquidation/

I would guess about 5 minutes into the bankruptcy hearing.

 

[mmcshane]

The US Trustee filed a motion today asking the court to convert the case from Chapter 11 to Chapter 7 on the basis of debtors not filing any of the monthly required operating reports or paying any fees to the trustee. Case on for hearing on September 18th.

 

[pipestem]

so johnfmh pretty much nailed it.

 

[The Colonel]

so johnfmh pretty much nailed it.

Hopefully somebody can explain the implications should the court agree to make this a Chapter 7 vice chapter 11. From a TL customers perspective, is this a good or bod development?
MorganB

 

[Johnfmh]

The US Trustee filed a motion today asking the court to convert the case from Chapter 11 to Chapter 7 on the basis of debtors not filing any of the monthly required operating reports or paying any fees to the trustee. Case on for hearing on September 18th.

This is the scenario most of the people at our HOA meeting talked about. The current owners simply want too much money for the place. Any new owner will need to sink millions into the property and will need to buy it for pennies on the dollar to conserve as much working capital as possible for infrastructure restoration and improvements. I suppose there is a possibility that the current owners could sell at the 11th inning to avoid the Chapter 7 scenario but that would require a buyer offering a price acceptable to them and and approval by the US Trustee.

 

[jimmy]

I am wondering if they did liquidate the snow making equipment that was approved by the court? The longer this Chapter 11 drags on the worse, any proceeds get sucked up by legal fees and the trustee. There is no way the current ownership is going to reorganize and reopen. They basically admitted this when they decided to put the resort up for sale. I think this is good news.

 

[Laurel Hill Crazie]

...The longer this Chapter 11 drags on the worse, any proceeds get sucked up by legal fees and the trustee. There is no way the current ownership is going to reorganize and reopen. They basically admitted this when they decided to put the resort up for sale. I think this is good news.

Do you think that newspaper guy in Wheeling is at all interested? He has Epic to the east and west and Ikon to the south. Both have attractive big resort options. He might have to shore up that DC market to remain competitive in the Mid-A market.

 

[jimmy]

Folks in their organization are aware of what's going on down there and are following the situation but IDK any more than that.

 

[Johnfmh]

Court papers were posted on Timber-lies


Bottom line: there’s ample cause to convert. I don’t see why it won’t convert at this point.

 

[jimmy]

This is the scenario most of the people at our HOA meeting talked about. The current owners simply want too much money for the place...............

So they advertised the resort for sale on SAM. Do you know what the asking price was?

 

[Johnfmh]

So they advertised the resort for sale on SAM. Do you know what the asking price was?

Jimmy

The number I read on the Timber-lies Facebook comments section was $32,000,000. Yep that’s right: $32 mil. I did not mash down on the zero button by accident.

 

[Gary Stolt]

Maybe if they came down a bit on price, say $32,000 and if WV would offer some tax incentives, a few potential buyers might surface? It's going to take a couple years to re-establish a customer base.

 

[scottyb]

I say $3,200 and we Whitegrass the place.

 

[Laurel Hill Crazie]

 

[fishnski]

Back in 2001(and many years past that) as I tried to Rally the Troops at DCSKI to support Bill Brights effort to buy and build the 'Almost Heaven" resort ski area on Mt Porte Crayon I was slammed by most because in their words..they would rather see the 2 areas in the valley improved and that a new area would just ruin the pristine nature of the Area...I at that point I had been coming to the Valley for 5 years and that was more than I needed to know that the Valley was just a Non Evolving Dinosaur...27 friggin years after my 1st run down White Lightning and then 2 winters ago my last run down the same slope using the same old lift..heck..the Queen Lift was a 1964 lift from Colorado..what A Joke..but Noooo..some of the Same People posting here were so against the best Mountain West Virginia had to offer for Skiing....so friggin stupid..such a waste of Time...

 

[Johnfmh]

We could have had Almost Heaven but now we have Almost Nothing. I was against the development of a new resort for the reasons mentioned but I don’t think opposition killed it. Bright either did not have the capital to pull it off or could not get the permits to build the resort on National Wilderness Area lands or both. At this point, I still think it makes more sense to resuscitate Timberline with its higher base elevation, already cut trails, and most importantly, 700 mountain properties than build an entirely new resort at a lower base elevation, with very little in the way of water supplies in Dry Fork.