Peak Ski Co., founded in 2021 by ski legend Bode Miller and resort veteran Andy Wirth, has closed its headquarters and laid off its staff as it seeks to avoid a bankruptcy filing, according to a report in The Colorado Sun.
Miller told The Colorado Sun that the closure of its headquarters in Bozeman, MT, was due to soaring operations costs.
“There was no way to sustain the monthly burn rate,” Miller said in an e-mail to the newspaper.
Miller stated that several investors had made commitments to support the company, but the funding had not been finalized. Miller added, “While that is unfortunate, it alone is not the reason we are shutting down most parts of the company. Year one was the main problem; we had major challenges that were outside of what we had planned and modeled for, so we had significant debt that continued to roll forward into year two.”
Miller added that he and Wirth have “scaled the company down to basically nothing to try to get through this.”
“The purpose of the company was to develop a new manufacturing process, and we got stuck because of the year one challenges,” Miller continued. “I hope that we can avoid bankruptcy and see that part of the plan through as it is both really exciting and profitable. We have a plan to completely overhaul the manufacturing process, which is badly needed on a global scale. The skis were great, but a few factors got in the way of us being able to execute on the plan the way we had it set up.”
The report notes that two other ski icons, Chris Davenport and Michelle Parker, whom Peak Ski hired as product designers, are threatening to sue the firm for breach of contract over significant amounts owed to them.
Images courtesy Peak Ski
