The for-sale sign has gone up on Marble Mountain Ski Resort, but Tourism Minister Steve Crocker says no matter what happens, Marble will continue to operate.
“This is not a last-ditch effort for Marble Mountain,” Crocker told The Telegram.
“If Marble Mountain doesn’t sell, all I can tell you is come ski season ’25-’26, from our perspective, Marble Mountain will be operating.”
Getting out of the ski business
The request for proposals for the sale of the Steady Brook ski resort was issued on Feb. 13.
Divesting itself from the ski resort business is something that has been on the province’s radar for a few years and is something that was recommended by both the Premier’s Economic Recovery Team’s report, led by Dame Moya Greene, and the Rothschild & Co. report into provincial assets.
The ski resort falls under the jurisdiction of the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts and Recreation, which subsidizes its operation to the tune of $320,000 annually.
Since 2022, the province has made strategic investments in the form of upgrades and additions to facilitate year-round operations and better position the resort for prospective buyers.
Decision to sell
Last summer, the province issued an expression of interest (EOI) for the sale or lease of Marble Mountain.
This stemmed from a document the province received as part of a 2022 request for proposals (RFP) seeking professional guidance on the transformation of Marble into a four-season resort.
That RFP provided an evaluation of what would be required, what some of the opportunities are, and what the challenges are, Crocker told The Telegram in August 2024.
At the same time, he said the EOI was issued as a test to make sure that there is somebody out there who is interested in running Marble, whether to purchase it or through some form of a long-term lease.
Crocker said the EOI process would give the province a better idea of how it would shape an RFP.
Crocker said his department received two expressions of interest from the EOI process.
“The EOI was a piece of the process of getting us to where we needed to be to proceed to the RFP,” he said.
“And both of our expressions of interest were for a purchase.”
Based on that, Crocker said it was clear that the type of arrangement it should pursue was the sale of Marble Mountain.
Why is a sale more appealing?
Speaking in general business terms, Crocker said a sale gives long-term stability to the operation and makes it bankable.
“It’s much harder to finance on a lease especially if it’s a short-term lease. It’s very hard to achieve capital financing,” he said.
Another obvious thing is that a sale gives control of the facility to the successful proponent.
Crocker wouldn’t speculate on whether the two expressions from the EOI will respond to the RFP.
“I feel confident that they would be some of the organizations or people looking at the RFP currently, but again, the RFP is not exclusive to the two that entered expressions of interest,” he said.
“It’s back out to everybody again. It’s a fair, open process for the RFP that’s open to anybody.”
While he recognizes the present economy could present some challenges, he’s confident a buyer is out there.
“Obviously, there’s always questions and stabilities in the economy and what’s a good time to make a business decision,” he said.
“I think anybody making a business decision today does have to factor in the geopolitical situation we find ourselves in, but at the end of the day, Marble, I think, has a really strong foundation and has great promise and it’s economically important to the west coast as it is important to recreation on the west coast.
“I see a long-term future for Marble Mountain.”
Selling points
“Marble is arguably the best skiing east of the Rockies. I realize — and we all realize — that climate change has impacted that, but with the proper plan going forward, there are ways to alleviate some of the challenges around climate change,” said Crocker.
That includes utilizing modern snow-making equipment.
“But then I see the other opportunities for Marble. It can really become four seasons,” said Crocker, ticking off some of the highlights: beautiful location, great accommodations and opportunities around other sports, like mountain biking.
Having one of the lifts geared to carrying people up and back down the hill opens up that four-season use and will come into play as Marble works with the cruise industry on offering excursions to the resort.
“The other selling point for Marble is it can be a recreation hub for the west coast,” said Crocker.
The resort employs 160 people and Crocker said hotel and hospitality operators will tell you that it brings a lot of economic benefit, but it also brings a social benefit.
“Because it brings a recreation benefit. It gives people the opportunity for people to get out and our government has prided itself on talking about healthy, active living and that area of marble Mountain can play a key role in healthy, active living as well.”
Viewings
The RFP closes on April 9, but before then, there will be opportunities for interested parties to view the facility.
The deadline to request a site visit is March 5 and the deadline for site visits to occur is March 12.
Did you know?
- The ski resort is the largest ski hill in Atlantic Canada
- It averages approximately 65,000 skiers annually
- It has a vertical drop of 519 metres
- There are 64 hectares of skiable terrain
- The resort has 39 runs and four lifts, including the only high‐speed detachable, quadruple chairlift in Atlantic Canada