Fred Johnston, president of Baldy Capital Corporation, poses with Melanie Zane, food and beverage manager, at the new office for Mount Baldy in Osoyoos. The office opens this week in the former Landsea Okanagan office at the Watermark Beach Resort. Johnston announced plans to run a daily bus service to the ski resort, have Saturday entertainment and develop an accommodation system. (Richard McGuire photo)
UPDATE: On Thursday, Nov. 5, Baldy Capital Corporation issued a statement saying that operation of the resort this year looks increasingly doubtful after failure to reach an agreement with the secured creditor. See the statement at:
The following is the story as published in the Nov. 4 Osoyoos Times before the recent statement was issued:
The company planning to operate the Mount Baldy ski resort this season has now opened an Osoyoos office and unveiled plans to lure people up to the mountain.
The office is located at the Watermark Beach Resort in the space recently vacated by Landsea Okanagan.
Fred Johnston, president of Baldy Capital Corporation, said the new office, which opened Monday, would handle sales of season passes.
People living in the valley will be able to buy passes at a convenient location without needing to trek up the hill or wait until the resort opens to purchase them, he said.
Online and telephone pass purchases will also soon be implemented he said.
The office will also handle administrative tasks.
The space will be shared with Top Cat Tours and Charters, which will operate a daily bus service to Mount Baldy during the ski season. There has not been a bus service in the past four years.
Top Cat will continue to use the space for its wine tours in the summer season, said Johnston.
There are also plans to offer entertainment in the lounge at the resort on Saturday evenings with a late bus returning to Osoyoos at 11 p.m., he added.
Johnston said his company is planning to organize a rental program that would allow the 130 residents with cabins to rent their residences out through a central reservation and rental system for on-hill accommodation.
This has not been done on an organized basis in the past, he said.
He is also partnering with 14 hotels in the valley for ski and stay programs, he said, adding that this will give visitors a choice to stay on Baldy or in the valley.
Despite moving forward with plans to market the resort, Johnston acknowledges that there have been snags in Baldy Capital Corporation’s attempts to purchase the resort through the receiver, G. Powroznik Group Inc., headed by Vancouver-based Gary Powroznik.
Any sale is contingent on approval by the receiver, major secured creditors and the court.
Johnston, however, stresses that his company plans to operate the resort, as it did last season, regardless of when the purchase goes through.
“What we have to make clear is that we are definitely separating the purchase of the mountain from the operation,” said Johnston. “The purchase of the mountain is something that may or may not happen in the timeline that we wish. There are certain complications involved, however, we’re committed to operating it regardless of how long it takes to purchase the mountain.”
He said there is not yet an agreement in place allowing Baldy Capital Corporation to operate the resort.
“It may wind up being a slightly different process than previously, but we’re working on that diligently and hoping to have that sorted out in the next week or so,” said Johnston. “That would be plenty of time to deal with what we need to do to open the mountain. The delays have obviously caused us some extra stress. We would have liked to have been doing this work in June or July, but we simply have had too many problems that didn’t get resolved soon enough to make that happen.”
Mountain Manager Matt Koenig will be returning, Johnston said, adding that some of his previous administrative functions will be taken on by others, leaving him to do what he’s best at – operating the hill, maintaining lifts, safety and supervising the ski patrol.
RICHARD McGUIRE
Osoyoos Times
