Nederland, Colorado Plans to Buy Eldora Ski Resort

Picture This: Community-Owned Ski Resort vs. Corporate Ski Empire

One path leads to a billion-dollar ski empire with glossy brochures, $25 burgers, and RFID gates scanning passes from L.A. to Vermont. The other path? A scrappy mountain town where kids toss their backpacks in a snowbank after school and lap the local hill until dark.

It’s the classic contrast between a community-run ski area and a consolidated, multi-resort operator—two models shaping the future of Colorado skiing.

Last month, Nederland, Colorado—a quirky mountain town of just 1,500 residents—made headlines by announcing it will buy Eldora Mountain Resort from POWDR. That’s right: a municipality is taking over a ski resort. Instead of another deal that hands a local mountain to corporate shareholders, the people of Nederland are stepping up to run it themselves. In a state dominated by mega-passes and mergers, a town-led purchase of Eldora is a watershed moment for the Front Range ski scene.

Here’s the Plan: How Nederland Says It Will Buy Eldora

The town will issue revenue bonds backed by Eldora’s own earnings, not local taxpayers. The Ikon Pass stays to guarantee financial stability, while leaders eye summer operations like a bike park to keep the mountain humming year-round. POWDR will support operations during a two-year transition, Eldora’s ~700 employees will be retained under town employment, and Nederland is exploring annexation to manage land use and collect sales tax—projected at roughly $1–2M annually. Employees keep their jobs, and this time the people who actually live in town will have a louder voice in how the mountain is run.

It’s a bold move, and it highlights a bigger question: who should own winter?

The Bigger Picture: Who Should Own a Colorado Ski Area?

On one side, you’ve got the corporate model—mega passes, huge investments, and a relentless focus on maximizing revenue. That’s the engine behind Vail Resorts, Alterra, and POWDR.

On the other, you’ve got a small-town experiment: treat skiing as community infrastructure, something like a library with chairlifts, where access and affordability come before profits. Supporters argue a town-run Eldora could prioritize local access, transit, and environmental commitments. Skeptics point to financing risk, climate volatility, and town-staff capacity.

Neither path is “wrong.” There’s nothing shameful about a luxury ski week in Aspen or Deer Valley. But there’s also something magical about the local kids skiing until dark after school, without their parents taking out a second mortgage for lift tickets.

If Nederland pulls this off, it could become a template for other mountain communities weighing independence over consolidation.

Key Questions for Skiers & Towns Alike

• Should more ski areas be run as public goods?
• Could other towns follow suit?
• What happens when skiing is managed for skiers, not shareholders?
• Will keeping Eldora on the Ikon Pass balance local access with financial stability, and can summer operations—events, trails, and bike park features—smooth revenue in shoulder seasons?

Maybe the town’s plan works. Maybe it crashes under the weight of small-town politics and financing headaches. Either way, it invites us to imagine alternatives. Skiing has always been about choices—the lines you ski, the gear you ride, the stories you tell. Now it’s also about who owns the mountain beneath your skis. For Front Range skiers and Nederland residents, 2025 could be the year the model changes—right in Boulder County’s backyard.