Silver Mountain Resort owner considering sale

The Oregon company that owns Silver Mountain Resort, in Kellogg, said it will sell the resort if a buyer comes up with the right figure.

Silver Mountain’s asking price won’t be publicly disclosed, said Teri Cline, a spokeswoman for Klamath Falls-based Jeld-Wen Inc., a private corporation that purchased the resort in 1996.

“All I can say is we are telling our employees that we’ll consider offers,” Cline said.

Cline declined to say if Jeld-Wen began considering offers recently or some time ago.

She said Jeld-Wen executives won’t comment on why they might sell the property.

Jeld-Wen bought the resort from the city of Kellogg for an undisclosed price. Idaho law doesn’t require sale deeds to record the sales price.

In addition to the ski operation, the resort includes a nine-hole golf course, condos and an indoor waterpark. Silver Mountain also operates a three-mile gondola that carries passengers from the parking lot to the top of the mountain.

Kellogg Mayor Mac Pooler said he’s heard talk of Silver Mountain’s sale, “But I look at it as just a rumor. They’re pretty good about keeping us in the loop, and they haven’t told the city anything” about selling, Pooler said.

Jeld-Wen started out in 1960 as a manufacturer of doors and windows; later it expanded into a variety of industries, including developing recreation sites. The company has a number of resorts and real estate developments. But Cline said Silver Mountain is the only ski resort the company operates.

Ski resorts that are well-maintained and efficiently run are making money, said Mike Berry, president of Colorado-based National Ski Areas Association. Berry said the overall U.S. ski industry had a record year in 2007-’08 and one almost as good a year ago.

Resorts aren’t listed for sale as houses and other commercial properties are, he noted. “Alpha resorts put out the word quietly, and if they are worth looking at, people spread the word,” Berry said.