News & Articles

Spirit Mountain has improved its financial position somewhat, thanks in part to a strong January, but a disappointing winter’s end has left the ski hill facing serious challenges. That was the message delivered to Spirit Mountain’s board of directors on March 19, 2015, by Executive Director Brandy Ream and General Manager Jody Ream.

“March is typically anywhere from a $500- to $700,000 month in revenue, but you all know the weather,” said Brandy Ream. “We’ve been closed. It is not looking good. I am extremely concerned about what we’re going to do.”

Some progress has been made. Overall, Spirit Mountain’s revenue is down $36,000 from last year, but operating expenses are down $154,000—and this is after Spirit Mountain paid out $100,000 to laid-off employees for accrued vacation time and severance pay. To reduce labor costs further, Brandy Ream said that every salaried employee, including herself, will take pay cuts or reduced hours for the month of April.

The ski hill has also adjusted its pricing in a way that they hope will bear fruit in the coming year. “We have taken a hard look at season pass pricing, as well as the Adventure Park, our mountain bike pricing, campground, SnoCross,” said Jody Ream. “A year from now, if everything stays the same and we sell the same number of season passes, we put the same number of people through the Adventure Park, we’ll have over a $250,000 [increase in revenue].”

Of course, everyone hopes that things will not stay the same. “The reality is those numbers should be going up,” said Jody Ream.

In total, Spirit Mountain has about $520,000 in cash reserves on hand as it enters the slower summer season. This includes a $250,000 grant that the city gave to the ski hill in December, which has not been spent.

On the negative side of the ledger, Spirit Mountain has little money set aside for emergencies or capital maintenance, and they have made no progress paying down the $1.2 million line of credit they receive from the city. The line of credit is currently maxed out. This worried the board.

“Now’s the time when we always went to use that line of credit, between here and November,” said Board Member Neale Roth. “I’m wondering: What’s the contingency plan? What are we going to do—go back to the city and ask for another half a million dollars? What are we going to do?”

“We’re not happy at all,” said Jody Ream. “We know exactly the situation we’re in. We have some pretty serious goals, but when the winter doesn’t cooperate, there’s certainly not a whole hell of a lot we can do about it.”

“But, Jody,” persisted Roth. “Don’t you think you should present the board with a contingency plan—we’re going to have to cut back here, we’re going to have to do this, if we’re going to even come close to a budget? I mean, you gotta bring us something.”

Board Member Sean Flaherty agreed. “It’s going to be ugly if we have to go back [to the city] again, saying we can’t make it until next fall. There have to be visible steps or a plan or something before [the city will] sign off on anything.”

“I don’t think you’re the only one that sees there’s a problem,” said Jody Ream. “There’s been one for several years now, and had some of these questions been asked then, maybe we wouldn’t be sitting exactly where we are. But they weren’t, and this is where we’re at. So we know we’ve got those weights right on our backs. Everybody wants to know how we’re going to put money in the bank, and we’re trying to figure that out, too.”

Spirit Mountain Finance Director John Thomas offered a more hopeful response. “It took us two-three years to get into this hole, and it is going to take some time to get out of it. We have some changes made; we are saving money on expenses. Yes, we haven’t paid back any of that line of credit, but I don’t think we’re going to need it again. Now, can I guarantee you that? No, I can’t. But I think we’re going to be okay, based on what we’ve done so far. We continue to make some cuts and look for ways to change things, little by little by little. So things are happening. Some of them are visible and some of them aren’t, but little by little I think things are getting better.”

To stay afloat for the summer, Spirit Mountain will keep the Adventure Park open six days a week, starting in mid-June. The Grand Avenue chalet, which less than three years ago was hailed as a crazy revenue-generator, will be open from Thursday to Sunday, primarily to cater to mountain bikers.

“We’re not going to try to make [Grand Avenue] seven days a week, because we’re not there yet,” said Brandy Ream. “We don’t have the business, and I think we’re fooling ourselves to try to start right out of the gate with a seven-day-a-week operation there.”

The conversation repeatedly turned to Spirit Mountain’s biggest problem: weather. “If there’s one thing about the Midwest right now, the weather is more irregular than it ever has been,” said Flaherty. “When I was a kid we froze our asses off every year. Now it’s all over the board, and you can’t count on it. […] We keep sinking every year. It doesn’t matter who’s running the place. We have to figure out how to stay afloat even if we have lousy weather.”

As the Reams prepare to embark on their first full fiscal year of running Spirit Mountain, they will have an opportunity to figure that out. Hopefully, the budget they develop will be more attuned to reality than past budgets have been. Whatever problems may be presented by the weather or anything else, the honeymoon is over. Now is the time for the new managers to prove themselves.

Spirit Mountain’s new fiscal year begins on May 1.

Preservation Alliance supports library

The Duluth Public Library recently found a friend in the Duluth Preservation Alliance (DPA). On March 4, 2015, DPA Vice President Robert Berg sent a statement to city councilors urging them to save the main library rather than destroying it.

“It may not be Duluth’s most beloved building, but it is interesting,” wrote Berg.


Duluth’s most beloved buildings, according to a survey by the Duluth News Tribune, are Old Central High School and The Depot. Both of these buildings were threatened with demolition in the 1970s. Thankfully for Duluth, enough citizens rose up and prevented their loss. […] The greenest thing people can do is adapt and reuse an old building. Think of the cost of demolition, filling landfills, and the incredible waste of resources. Our money could be spent much more wisely. […]

Look at Tony Dierckins’ and Mary Ann Norton’s book, Lost Duluth, and remember how past Duluthians thought the Lyceum [Theatre] and the Spalding [Hotel] were worn out, out-dated, and ugly. What an irreplaceable loss to our city! Don’t let this happen to the library!

As of April 7, no city councilors have (publicly) responded to the DPA’s plea.