Acquisitions Anonymous - #1 for business buying, selling and operating - Would You Buy a Ski Resort That Only Opens in Summer?

Episode Date: July 18, 2025

The hosts break down a Wyoming ski resort open just 40 days a year, calling it an amazing local novelty — but likely worth zero as an investment.Business Listing – https://beartoothbasin.com/for-saleWelcome to Acquisitions Anonymous – the #1 podcast for small business M&A. Every week, we break down businesses for sale and talk about buying, operating, and growing them.💼 This episode is sponsored by Verivend — the platform built for independent sponsors and private market investors to move faster and cut out friction. From raising to returning capital, Verivend streamlines investment management with instant, secure payments and automatic reconciliation. It’s like Venmo for capital calls, deployments, and distributions — all with no transaction limits. Learn more at https://www.verivend.com.🧠 Powered by Acquisition Lab — founded by Harvard MBA Walker Deibel, the Lab helps aspiring business buyers navigate search, diligence, and acquisition with expert support and community. Head to https://www.acquisitionlab.comIn this episode, the team tackles one of the quirkiest deals ever sent in by a listener — a tiny ski area in Wyoming and Montana that only operates during the summer. Tucked away off a seasonal mountain highway, this resort offers about 40 days of skiing each year. With two high-speed lifts running on diesel generators, capped daily tickets at just 100 skiers, and pricing of $50 a day, the business might top out at $200K in annual revenue under perfect conditions.Key Highlights:- Located on a seasonal highway with a 20-year forest service permit over 90 acres- Open only ~40 days a year, with capped daily revenue of ~$5K- Includes two high-speed lifts, three snowcats, seven trailers, and all tools- Powered entirely by portable diesel generators — no built infrastructure- Raises the question: why just $50 tickets for such a unique experience?- Everyone agrees it’s a super cool concept, just not a business that cash flowsSubscribe to weekly our Newsletter and get curated deals in your inboxAdvertise with us by clicking here Do you love Acquanon and want to see our smiling faces? Subscribe to our Youtube channel. Do you enjoy our content? Rate our show! Follow us on Twitter @acquanon Learnings about small business acquisitions and operations. For inquiries or suggestions, email us at [e-mail]

Welcome to Acquisitions Anonymous, the internet's number one podcast about buying, selling, and investing in small businesses. I am Michael, one of your co-hosts. Heather and I today went through a deal that I think you'll find fascinating. It is totally run off a generator and out at the middle of nowhere and with a very patient seller who is willing to take as long as it takes to sell the business. So I think I'll enjoy what we did with this one and also it's in Montana. So stay tuned and see what we thought of it. Here you go. Hello. Oh, another episode of Acquisitions Anonymous. We don't have 100% beers anymore.

And thumbs downing on just the plus inventory line. Hey, everyone. I just want to tell you that this episode is brought to you by Varevend, which is the only platform purpose built for independent sponsors and private market investors who want to move faster and eliminate friction. VerraVend is cool because it combines investment management and secure instant payments into one platform. So that means capital calls, deployments, and distributions.

they all work like Venmo, one-click real-time transfers with no transaction limits and automatic reconciliation. So from raising capital to returning it, Verovan handles it all. Deal marketing, data rooms, KYC and accreditation for your investors, signatures, capital flow, dashboards for your investors, and even fund administration, accounting, and taxes. So whether you're raising a single deal or managing a full fund, VARAVAN gives you the speed and confidence to execute all in one single platform. So you can check it out and learn more at very vend.com. V-E-R-I-V-E-N-D.com. Heather, I have some great news. Oh, good.

I got in today with an Allen wrench and I took the arms off of my chair so now I can get closer to the screen so I can see. Okay. I thought we were going to just see more of you like your face is going to be bigger, but you just want to be able to see, which I totally get. I got glasses too. Yeah, well, I have the thing where you get new glasses and they may, you know, you get new glasses and they make them a little bit too aggressive when you get the glasses intentionally,

and then you have to get accustomed to them. And so I'm in that phase right now where each year I'm getting stronger and stronger glasses. It happens as we age, as you know. And so I've gotten new glasses. So that means I have to be like eight inches from the screen to see anything clearly. I know. It is rough. The reading glasses thing, I didn't enjoy that when that started.

It is a pain. I saw a quote from a guy in his 70s, and somebody was interviewing him. He's like a rich old guy in the 70s. And the young guy goes, hey, like, what's it like, you know, being old? And it's like a 20-year-old asking him like a 70-year-old, 70-year-old. The 70-year-old goes, every morning I wake up, and I feel like I'm a 20-year-old inside, and I look in the mirror and a 70-year-old looks back at me. I was like, I get it.

Shit. I do get it. shit this sucks so anyway as that segue can i pitch you on this ski destination for sale okay now i know why you're excited a ski destination heather this is a no judgment zone okay okay all right this is it's a really good business right it's going to be a good business okay it's a crazy business i i'm actually familiar with this this business because um well i'll share it with you because It's fascinating. So it comes from actually from a listener named Derek Bergman.

And Derek is a B-Sool student in L.A. and he's at the UC and L.A. Anderson School of Business. I can find my mouse pointer here. I'll read you. And he says, can you value this summer-only ski resort? Hi. First, thanks for the podcast. I'm a UCLA MBA,

interested in entrepreneurship through acquisition. And this has been such an incredible resource. Here's a challenge for you. It's a Wyoming ski resort called Bairtooth Basin, and it's listed for sale. It's located on a remote section of the Beartooth Highway, and the resort is one of the only summer-only ski resorts in North America. Honestly, I doubt this business generates much cash flow, but I would love to hear you guys evaluate if there's any case for acquiring this business and at what price. If you're interested in tackling this, here are some key facts compiled with the help of chat GPD. ticket pricing and capacity.

Daily lift tickets are priced at $50 with half-day tickets available for $40, and season passes are $395. The season ski area limits daily sales to $100 to preserve the experience and manage resources. All right, I'll pause there and tell you, I'll skip a little bit because he's got more analysis here. He's very MBA. Then he says, okay, so what's special about this ski resort, so it's in the middle, nowhere, Montana. And it's actually only exists on a road that is open only during the summer. That's why it's summer only because you can only get there. I get it. Okay. I need to understand that. I was very

confused. Now I get it. Yeah, it's an unplowed road. So it's not maintained in the winter. So it's only open the summer, but it's in a part of Montana that is snow capped all the time. And then there is no amenities whatsoever. The amenity is they have a little hut there. And as you can see here from the picture, because I pulled up their website that it's for sale. Basically, they have a ski lift, and there's no power, obviously here in the middle of nowhere. Yeah. So they run this ski lift with a generator. Hmm.

And it's one ski lift. Yeah, it's a ski. Both ski areas have ski lifts plural. This one has ski lifts singular. He lift. So the owners, the owners haul out a generator to power the things. thing each season and run the ski lift. Huh.

Fascinating. This is fascinating. Boy, oh boy. There's no EBITDA or any of that. We're not getting to that or we're not going to, no one has that. So we don't know. But our friendly neighborhood MBA student has a analysis that he's done of what he predicts is the profitability and the revenue. But here I pulled up Beartooth and where this is. And believe it or not, somebody went up to the Beartooth Pass in a Google Street View car.

Yep, they sure did. And here it is. There it is. The Bear tooth stuff. And it's obviously summer then because there's an RV up there. And that's really kind of cool. Yeah. So I don't know where the actual, I can't see the ski lift from here.

No. But it's up there somewhere. I mean, yeah, that's another like probably dirt road, right? Off to somewhere. It's up there somewhere. Yeah, because there's not enough snow where this highway is. So it's got to be a dirt road further back in or further up or something. But that is really, really interesting.

Oh, so here it is, actually. Oh, there you can see it. There's the ski lift. There it is. You're right. So it looks like this is actually one of those. You park up there and it looks like you ski down and then the basin. is down there somewhere.

Okay. And then you take that lift back up as long as the generator is working. The generator is free. Otherwise, you can be, if the generator doesn't break, otherwise you're walking your ass up to hill. You freeze to death. Oh my gosh, this is crazy. I didn't know such a thing could even exist.

I don't, I mean, do we know if they own the land? It doesn't seem like they do. This looks like a national forest because the next thing they say here is it's a 20-year permit. allowing year-round operations to 90 acres and 1,000 vertical feet. This exclusive ski area permit is on the Beartooth Highway. They have a two high-speed, oh, they have two lifts, two high-speed doppelmeyer service lifts, three snowcats, a portable jeezer generator, seven trailers, and all tools and equipment

need to operate the ski area. Serious inquiries only, Beartooth Basin at gmail.com. You better be serious if you're thinking about this one. It is still for sale or for partial or full investment. we'll continue to operate the business until we find the right group that shares our vision for independent community-based ski operations. Come take a lap at the base in the summer to generate your interest. So I think the first thing maybe for us to talk about, this is in the middle of nowhere. I mean, it's at the border with Wyoming, and I think the nearest airport appears to be Billings, Montana.

Okay. which is still quite a ways yeah are you ready to take a leap into business ownership but you don't know where to start well look no further than acquisition lab the premier resource for entrepreneurs seeking to buy their dream business founded by harvard mb a acquisition expert walker dibel the lab is your fast-track to success in the search diligence and acquisition process with hands-on support world-class resources and a community of like-minded entrepreneurs acquisition lab gives you the tools and confidence to navigate every step of the journey. And we're proud to call Walker and Chelsea, the lab's director, long-time friends of the podcast.

They're passionate about helping entrepreneurs like you take the next big step. So don't wait to make your business ownership dream of reality. Visit AcquisitionLab.com today to learn more and schedule your free consultation. And when you do, be sure to tell them the Acquisitions Anonymous podcast sent you. So this is kind of a local thing. Like they sort of said it already in the description. It's a community thing. It's people that live with.

within an hour or so, I guess, of there might be a really novel experience because you're skiing in the summer. And you can just drive up the highway and get out of your car. And there you are. You're basically at the lift right off the highway. But it is out in the middle of nowhere. And someone spent the money to, you know, put those chair lifts in and the generator and the trailers and all the equipment that was needed. I can't imagine, I really have no idea what that cost. That's kind of the first place I want to go is what would that have cost?

I mean, those lifts are a million bucks. They're super expensive. And, you know, it said they're high speed. So I don't know what that means in terms of how modern they are, but Doppler is like a real brand. Those are like Swiss or German. Like those are the ones you want to be on. They're super safe.

Yeah. Okay. And it's not some old-fashioned toe line or something crazy from the past. It's a real modern ski lift that costs a lot of money to put in there, but you can't generate much cash flow. Yeah. Well, so the Mr. Bergman here went through into analysis for us. Daily lift tickets are priced at 50 bucks with half-day tickets for $40. And season passes are $395.

Bear tooth basin plans to operate from May 28th to July 6th, totaling approximately 40 days, assuming favorable snow conditions. The estimated revenue, assuming full capacity, because they only sell up to 100 tickets each day, is $50 per ticket over 40 days. So that means potential daily revenue before any sort of food, beverage, amenities, and stuff like that,

is daily tickets at $50. So $5,000 per day. Total revenue is $5,000 per day for 40 days. That's $200,000 in total revenue. This estimate excludes additional income from season pass sales and merchandise infrastructure and so on and repair and stuff like that. So your total cash flow is about $200,000 if everything goes great and you get your whole 40 days in. But imagine any weird weather or road conditions you may not always get your 40 days in.

And you can't sell, there's no food, right? There's no services. So you can't sell other things. They said they have trailers and stuff. So they may be selling people snacks and that sort of thing. Maybe there's some snacks. Okay. But, I mean, the first problem with this thing is if somebody's going to drive to the middle of nowhere to get there and ski at this thing, which is arguably like a pretty amazing pilgrimage to do as a skier, they're going to pay more than 50 bucks.

Like, why are they priced like in stupid land? Yeah. That's my first question. This is a unique experience, right. Yeah, this is the case and point of why, you know, Vail of Beaver Creek and all that kind of stuff, why they charge three. $300 a day. It's really expensive to run a ski thing, but people are paying for a once-in-a-lifetime experience to go to, you know, Deer Valley, right? And just have like a luxury experience. So I don't understand $50 a day. It makes no sense. Yeah. There you go. But maybe they've, who knows,

maybe they've tested higher prices and that didn't go well because of the population that they serve. That could be the other problem. But yeah, I mean, pretty novel to say you're going skiing in June. you know, and be able to enjoy it all day right there. I just don't, I don't know what they can possibly say. I can't believe someone spent the money to put those lifts there. It had to have been a personal passion, right? There is, you are probably better off if you want to ski in the summer to fly to Chile and ski there than you are to try to get to this place. I would be willing to bet that it would take me just as much time to get from here in Texas to Santiago, Chile,

and then drive the two hours to the ski resorts there, as it would to get to Nowarsville, Montana, and drive six hours from Billings and connect. I mean, you're going to have to connect through, there's only a couple connections that get you there. Like, it just doesn't make any sense. And then there's no hotel, you know, you got all the way out there. There's, where's the hotel?

That's probably two hours back the other way, if there is one. So, yeah, this is kind of crazy that somebody did this. So here's where I meant on this one. I will give it a thumbs up because it's freaking awesome and somebody should totally do this. I will be your customer. But based on the revenue numbers here, I don't see how this is working. I don't see how it's even coming close to breaking even. And the way they write on the website is they've got patient money that's kind of willing to wait this out.

You know, more power to them. But I think as an investment, it's horrible. They could maybe lease it to an operator. You know, if they don't, if the reason they're selling it is they just don't, want to run it every year. Maybe they can enter into some kind of lease and have somebody operate it for some kind of profit sharing or something. But you really can't sell this for much of anything. Yeah, not unless there's a bunch of revenue flying in that we just don't even know about. Yeah. But to your point, like, you could do price discrimination, right? Like, okay, Wyoming and

Montana residents get $50 a day. Everybody else is $250 a day. Yeah, but then you've got to do some marketing because how are you going to bring people here? Yeah. So that's a spend right there. And marketing on destination kind of vacation stuff, you know, you're competing with a, like you said, chilly. You're competing with so much, you know, that your marketing spend is probably really maybe futile a little bit. Yeah, 100%. All right. So you're going to put an offer?

What are you thinking? I am not putting in an offer. But I would love to hear about it if this does trade. I'm thumbs down, unfortunately, a pretty cool find. Yeah, and listener of the day award goes to Derek Bergman from UCLA Anderson, who's interested in ETA. Like, strong, strong submission, Derek, thanks for doing it. And if you have a deal that you'd like for us to value, though I don't know if we valued this one. I think I valued it at zero.

Negative. It's valued negatively. Please submit it to us. This is some great content, so I loved it.