State To Pick Ski Area’s Operator Study Group Says Ski Company Not Playing By The Rules

A state commission will decide in June whether the company that now runs the Mt. Spokane Ski Area will continue to operate the popular hill or if a new group takes over.

The Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission met in Spokane on Friday to listen to both the Mt. Spokane Skiing Corp. and a lawyer for the non-profit group trying to take over the ski area.

The corporation agreed to run the popular ski hill under guidelines set by the Mount Spokane 2000 Study Group, made up of Spokane business and civic leaders.

The study group, unhappy with Gregg Sowder’s management, wants changes at the area and entered the bidding war for the state concession two years ago.

Last July, the commission looked at the two concession proposals and sided with the study group. But the ski company had the right of first refusal for the new concession agreement and exercised that right early this month.

In doing so, the company changed crucial language in the concession, said study group attorney Duane Swinton.

The study group wants a non-profit company to operate the ski area. The company would use any profits, estimated at $100,000-$400,000 annually, for area improvements like better parking and better ski lodge maintenance.

The ski company, headed by Sowder, changed the definition of operating expenses to include payment of income taxes and “reasonable” dividends to investors in the company.

Those changes meant that Sowder had not agreed to the study group’s terms, Swinton said.

“It’s not a matter of not crossing t’s or dotting i’s,” he said. “This is a case where they’ve come up with a whole new alphabet.”

Sowder attorney Todd Startzel said the company believes it complies with the study group’s rules and will respond to the commission in writing.

The commission will look at the two sides’ arguments and should make a decision on what to do with the concession by its next meeting June 21 in Ephrata, said Wayne McLaughlin, state contracts manager.

Sowder said after the meeting he was disappointed the commission did not sign the version of the agreement that his company sent the state.

“The real losers in this deal are the public,” he said. “We want to have a decision as soon as possible because we’ve got a lot of work to do on the mountain.”

, DataTimes