“Don’t run it like Vail! It’s a tiny resort in a tiny town; make it affordable!” ”

John Thompson, Mountain Man Outdoor Store

NEDERLAND — The Town of Nederland began the new year by bringing forward the purchase agreement for Eldora Mountain Resort for the official approval of the Board of Trustees (BOT).

During their second meeting of the year, Trustees approved the financial structure of the operation, bringing the Town’s acquisition of the resort just a bit closer to fruition.

Just over a year ago, when the Town had first announced its intention to acquire the ski mountain, a spattering of responses poured in from the community, resulting in letters sent or emailed to the Board, and residents attending meetings in order to give public comment.

The majority were in support of the pie-in-the-sky plan. 

This public response was chronicled by The Mountain-Ear in November, 2024: https://www.themtnear.com/stories/education-and-recreation-leaders-voice-opinions,23511 

Now, after a long period during which the Town was embroiled in due diligence, and while still under a non-disclosure agreement, transparency has been maintained through occasional drops of Frequently Asked Questions documents on Nederland’s municipal website, and engagement from the community has severely diminished. 

When the BOT voted to approve the purchase agreement on January 6, 2026, there were just three members of the public present for the meeting, with a handful more attending virtually. No one sent letters or made a public comment. 

A Town Hall meeting was tentatively planned for the next week as an opportunity for residents to gather and discuss their thoughts, questions, and concerns with Town officials. That meeting has yet to come to pass. 

But when the news of the purchase agreement approval hit social media feeds, just as dismal reports were released regarding the historically low snowfall this season, questions and concerns from Nederland residents began to emerge.

“Hopefully we are able to follow through on plans to bring some summertime recreational activities to the hill; that would be an untapped source of revenue to help make up for the thin winter years,” one person wrote.

“Eldora will fall into disrepair over the next ten years, and there is no plan to finance the improvements that have been planned,” another opined.

“Another season like this and we won't have a town.”

Then, on Monday, January 19, skiers and snowboarders all across the Front Range and the Peak to Peak area awoke to the first significant snowfall of the season, with Eldora’s social media boasting of up to 8 inches of fresh powder. 

Nederland’s lone roundabout became clogged shortly after 8 a.m., with reports coming in just before 11 a.m. stating that traffic was already being turned away because Eldora’s lots were full. Luckily, Nederland’s business owners and staff were prepared for the holiday traffic, as many had been hoping for one good snow to bring in the crowds. 

People were modeling their fresh ski threads just outside New Moon, taking selfies in the snowy courtyard, as the line inside for warmth and sustenance grew longer by the minute. 

“On Friday night all the forecasts said zero across the board, so I didn’t think the holiday was going to be an issue,” one customer said in response to the packed streets and packed bakery. 

Down the highway at Mountain Man Outdoor Store, families temporarily turned away from Eldora searched for some other snow-related recreation. Store owner John Thompson gladly offered them sleds and gave them directions to the town’s best sledding hill. 

“How about a $100 day? Make it so you can get people interested in it, because it can be daunting. Why not make it easier for people?” Thompson said about the prospect of a Town-owned ski area, repeating the mantra he has maintained since the acquisition was first announced. “Don’t run it like Vail! It’s a tiny resort in a tiny town; make it affordable!”  

Later in the afternoon, Nederland’s stores saw a surge in traffic as groups of hyped skiers and snowboarders descended from the mountain. 

“Seems to me the only way to make that financially feasible is to make it more year-round,” Ryan Blackwell, owner of Boogie Records said, as his store became more and more busy that Monday afternoon. “You gotta think long-term. If Nederland and Eldora can become more simpatico, I think it could work; but it just seems so unbelievably risky.” 

“It’s a big deal,” said one of his customers, who had just come down from the mountain. “I do think the ownership will allow them to build infrastructure in Nederland that’ll be profitable and bring a lot of growth. And they’ve got some cool investors involved.” 

“Can Nederland take this on, and do they want to?” A customer contemplated while waiting in line at the Train Cars on the morning of Tuesday, January 20, the day the BOT were to vote on the financial structure for the Eldora acquisition and its future operations. 

“This is my fiftieth year with an Eldora pass, and the ski area needs to be run differently than it is now; and if you ask me, get rid of f***ing Ikon,” said another customer, who had just sat down to treat herself to a hot chocolate. 

“It’s scary that Nederland is buying it; the liability alone is enough to be worried about,” she concluded. 

That night, during the Board’s meeting, just before they unanimously voted to approve the financial structure, Trustee Luke Miller spoke of the framework and “guardrails” being put in place as a “multi-decade operation” for the many Trustees to serve the town moving forward. 

“Have we really done the things we need to do to ensure that future Boards are well-guided and the operations of the resort are protected?” Miller posed the question as something for his fellow Trustees to ask themselves before placing their vote. 

“People only serve for a handful of years, and I really hope we lay down as best we can these foundations so as these people turn over they’re clear about their responsibilities and the guardrails that we’ve put into place.”  

During the public comment portion of Tuesday’s meeting, representatives of the Nederland Community Library were the only residents to speak, specifically addressing a concern relating to special districts having previously received funding from Eldora Mountain Resort via their mill levies. 

Both the Nederland Fire Protection District (NFPD) and the library district have received funding from the ski operation in recent years, totaling nearly $80,000 a year for the NFPD, and an as-of-yet undetermined amount for the library, estimated at $30,000 or more. 

Representatives of the library raised concerns of having yet to receive necessary information from Town staff to provide to the county tax assessor regarding their funding allocation. It was stated that the library has been waiting for this information for at least three months.   

Town Manager Jonathan Cain stated that the Town requires the original ballot language for the library district’s last mill levy in order to provide that amount of allocation.

However, library representatives reiterated that the assessor has asked for Cain to provide information regarding all the properties the Town is expecting to acquire from Eldora, as well as an answer as to whether there will be private businesses operating on the ski mountain, which would create tax issues since the land will effectively become government property. 

Though the Town is plowing ahead, continuing to operate under confidentiality agreements as deals with the seller and negotiations with potential investors and future bond holders continue to be worked on, it is evident that, even as the community appears to be mostly silent, there are still major issues revolving around Nederland’s historic acquisition that some are willing to speak up about.