Park City-based American Skiing Co. claimed victory Thursday after a judge rebuffed a New England consortium’s lawsuit over its derailed $91.4 million bid to buy Colorado’s Steamboat ski resort last year.
Triple Peaks LLC, a group of Vermont and New Hampshire investors led by resort owners Tim and Diane Mueller, initially filed the breach of contract suit in Denver’s federal court in March. The complaint later was transferred to Colorado’s state court system.
In dismissing the suit, Routt County Judge Richard Doucette found an agreement between American Skiing Co. (ASC) and Triple Peaks — which provided for a $500,000 penalty should ASC back out of the Steamboat ale — to be “clear and unambiguous.”
Triple Peaks claims the then-financially stressed ASC postponed and then ended the Steamboat sale while secretly negotiating the $102 million sale of South Lake Tahoe, Calif.’s Heavenly ski area to Vail (Colo.) Resorts.
The loss of Steamboat, which reportedly attracts 1 million skiers annually, was seen as a major setback by Triple Peaks, which sought unspecified damages beyond the $500,000 penalty provided by contract.
Tim Mueller, who with wife Diane also owns Vermont’s Okemo Mountain Resort, said Thursday he had just heard of Doucette’s ruling, having just received a copy of the Dec. 31 decision.
“Were disappointed, of course. We will review it with our attorneys and make a decision [on a possible appeal] after that,” Mueller said.
As for ASC chief executive B.J. Fair, he was pleased to see the nearly yearlong dispute resolved, and hoped it would remain so.
“It has been our position throughout that the agreement provided clear direction on the issue of [the Steamboat deal] liquidation damages,” he said. “We are also pleased that this is behind us and we continue to focus on the success of Steamboat.”
Chris Diamond, president of the Steamboat Ski & Resort Corp., said he hopes the ruling clears up “any uncertainty regarding ownership of the resort.”
He praised his staff for remaining “focused on their job . . . despite many distractions.”
ASC, which moved its corporate headquarters to Park City six months ago from Newry, Maine, is one of the largest operators of alpine ski, snowboard and golf resorts in the country. Besides Steamboat, its resorts include The Canyons in Utah; Killington and Mount Snow in Vermont; Sunday River and Sugarloaf/USA in Maine; and Attitash Bear Peak in New Hampshire.
