Black Mountain looking for co-op to come up with $5 million

Located in Jackson, N.H., Black Mountain features 45 trails and a vertical of 1,100 feet. (Black Mountain)

Black Mountain leaders gave an update Dec. 21 about the work that has gone on at the iconic Jackson, N.H. hill since Erik Mogensen announced in October that Entabeni Systems and Indy Pass had purchased the mountain with the intention of turning it over to a co-op for the 2025-26 season.

Mogensen said the mountain had been generating about $800,000 in revenue annually. For it to be successful, he said that number needs to be $2.4 million.

Someone in the base lodge asked which revenue segments need to be improved upon  to get to that number.

“The answer is really simple — all of them. Our greatest opportunities for growth are definitely food and beverage,” Mogensen said. “There’s a ton of people that drive on these highways nearby that haven’t been to Black in a long time or haven’t been here in the first place. We need to get them to come here. That’s number one, to attract humans.

“The number-one way to attract humans is to have a consistent product. You need to be open all the time, you need to be groomed, you need to be open from the top, the kitchen has to serve food. All of those things have to happen like clockwork.”

And in answering another question, he pointed out the independent ski areas that are thriving operate year-round, singling out Pats Peak with its banquet facility.

Industry veteran Andy Shepard introduced Tom Federle, a lawyer from the Portland, Maine, firm Archipelago, to explain a timeline on the initial transaction, and what needs to happen to complete the transition to the recently created co-op.

Federle said Entabeni Systems closed on the first of two transactions with former owner John Fichera on Sept. 17, acquiring all of the equipment on the property.

It also entered into a purchase and sale agreement on the real estate. It has since entered into a lease agreement to lease the real estate to the co-op, which was formed on Nov. 12, according to its listing with the New Hampshire Department of State.

There is a transitional operating agreement and a transitional board. Entabeni has assigned its rights to the co-op.

“The second part of the transaction is for the co-op is to buy the real estate,” Federle said.

That price tag is $2.6 million.

But for Black Mountain to be on stable footing going forward, Mogensen said it will require $5 million.

Whether that comes from 1,000 shares being sold at $5,000 each or 2,000 shares at $2,500 each or a combination of larger stakeholders mixed with smaller ones, has yet to be determined.

Mogensen said he would like to see 10 members of the board being able to make decisions by the end of January and shares being sold in March or April.

A co-op has been the preferred route from the beginning, but all options appear to remain on the table. For those looking for more information, the group is soliciting opinions and has a website for those looking to join the co-op.

“While we’re looking at what others (co-ops) are doing, and there aren’t a lot of other examples out there, we’re looking at other models as well,” Shepard said. “What we’re really fixated on is where we need to wind up, and where we need to wind up is $5 million, and the question is what’s the best way of getting there.

“I keep coming back to the notion of, fundamentally, what we want to accomplish is a skier’s mountain owned by skiers.”

Director of mountain operations Doug Fichera, son of the former owner, gave a rundown of the extensive snowmaking upgrades made in the fall, including a new valve house, a pair of SMI fan guns, low-energy snow guns on the beginner trail Jubilee and fixed guns on opening routes like Upper Maple Slalom, Upper Speedwell and Lower Speedwell.

“We were really able to make a lot of snow in a short period of time,” Doug Fichera said. “We rented a diesel air compressor that really gave us the go-go juice, if you will, to get top to bottom early on.”

He also noted, with much applause, that Black was able to offer top-to-bottom skiing ahead of a pair of resorts in the area.

The double chair received a new drive and auxiliary power unit and managed to pass its load test on the third try, less than 48 hours than its Dec. 14 opening, which was earlier than anticipated when Mogensen spoke in October.

But the work and investment put into the lift will now allow it to download passengers.

A new beginner area with lights and a handle tow was created where the old horse paddock was located.

“The amount of people skiing there already is incredible,” Mogensen said.

Black Mountain was one of the few mountains to do any significant earthmoving work during the offseason. It blew off a ridge near the top of Upper Maple Slalom. Fichera explained that doing so widened the trail, making it easier to groom and keep covered.

On Dec. 21, the mountain had four of its five lifts open, and Mogensen said the triple should be open for Christmas or shortly thereafter.

Decks were rebuilt, the lodge has a new bar and interior coat of paint and the rental equipment was upgraded.

Mogensen admitted it has been a whirlwind for two and a half months.

“We’ve really stretched our team to the max. We talk about financial capital all the time, but there’s the human capital as well, and that’s a problem that I didn’t quite realize coming into this. I thought it was a financial issue, but it’s also a human issue,” he said. “There aren’t that many Dougs out there, and you need people like Doug to run a ski area like this.

“Coming into this, we always said that 90 percent of our time and effort should be understanding the problem we’re trying to solve, and 10 percent solving it. One of the big understandings that I’ve had in the last 77 days is that (the human issue) is more important and more scarce than anyone realizes for a small ski area.”

Black Mountain is hiring in all departments, and its website says that pay starts at $21 per hour. Each employee receives an Employee Indy Pass and a Black Mountain family season pass.

(Keith Pearson is the editor of the New England Ski Journal. He can be reached at [email protected].)