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Changes in the Mid-Atlantic: Wintergreen and Greenbrier

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bousquet19 Profile \| Galleries Rank: Member Since: Feb 21, 2005 Posts: 1811 Location:Shenandoah Valley, Virginia	Posted: May 28, 2012 - 2:26 AM GMT Wintergreen sold to owner of Greenbrier Resort The Nelson County resort had struggled with an off season. By: Nate Delesline III \| ndelesline@dailyprogress.com \| 978-7243 Published: May 25, 2012 The leadership of Wintergreen Resort in Nelson County has formally agreed to an acquisition by the Justice family of West Virginia and James C. Justice Cos. Inc., owners of the Greenbrier Resort in White Sulphur Springs, W.Va. According to a statement obtained Friday, the merger agreement, approved by the Wintergreen Partners Inc. Board of Directors, will be presented to the Class A Equity members of Wintergreen on June 24 for approval. The transaction is expected to close before June 30. Justice told the Charleston, W.Va., Gazette on Friday that the deal was valued between $12.5 million and $16.5 million. “We intend to take this property to the next level and see tremendous opportunities as we work with the Wintergreen management and staff in developing new membership programs and vacation packages,” company President and CEO James C. Justice II said in the statement. “The Wintergreen facilities are spectacular and the entire resort has a tremendous impact on the local and regional tourism industry.” Justice purchased the Greenbrier Resort and bought out another company’s interest in the Greenbrier Sporting Club in 2009, according to Greenbrier’s website. Greenbrier officials on Friday did not return a phone message seeking further comment. Located about an hour’s drive from downtown Charlottesville, amenities at the 11,000-acre Wintergreen Resort include skiing, snowboarding, golf, tennis and a full-service spa and fitness center. The Greenbrier Resort is located about two hours from Charlottesville. Its amenities include nearly 700 guestrooms, golf, a spa and a 103,000-square-foot casino. In 2010, the James C. Justice Cos. purchased 4,500 acres in southeastern Albemarle County from MeadWestvaco Corp. for $23.75 million. The Justice Cos.’s interests include coal mining, timber and farming operations. So far, the company has remained mum on its intentions for the large tract of rural land in Albemarle. “While we’re very, very pleased, I really can’t say anything else at this time,” Hank Thiess, Wintergreen’s general manager, said by phone late Friday. A 25-year veteran of the resort and recreation industry, Thiess became general manager of the resort and ski area in 2008 and headed mountain resorts in Colorado and Maryland before coming to Virginia, according to Wintergreen’s website. Wintergreen employs about 350 people year-round and more than 1,000 at the height of ski season. The statement did not indicate how the merger might affect operations or employment at either resort. L. Allen Bennett Jr., chairman of Wintergreen Partners Inc., echoed Justice’s promise to take the Nelson County resort to the next level. “We are delighted by the vision which the Justice family is bringing to the resort,” Bennett said in the statement. “While we’ve had our own challenges over the past several months, we are gratified to have found an excellent business partner who has provided Wintergreen with the opportunity to grow, while at the same time preserving the family-oriented nature of our community.” Wintergreen’s business-related challenges piled up at the beginning of this year. They included revenue that fell below expectations due to a mild winter, a now-settled state tax dispute over a conservation easement and Bank of America’s decision to cancel the resort’s $3 million line of credit. And in February, the resort announced layoffs for about a dozen full-time staffers, in an effort to reduce costs by $600,000. Justice paid $20 million for the Greenbrier in 2009, saving the property from bankruptcy proceedings, according to the Gazette newspaper. In January, the Greenbrier laid off 100 of its 1,800 staff members but indicated that the workers would be called back in the spring. Justice cited the decision as a necessary move to address a $13 million loss during the first three months of 2011. In April, some employees were rehired. “All kidding aside, I’d rather take a shot to the stomach than to lay people off,” Justice told the Daily Mail, another Charleston news outlet. Justice said the loss was due to the fact that there’s little to do at the Greenbrier in the winter, with limited outdoor activities. “If you’re me, you have to do this,” he said earlier this year. “You have to try within all in you to try to get the Greenbrier profitable so that it can sustain for a long time … We have tried every marketing scheme imaginable to get people to come in January, February and March, and we just can’t pull it off.” __________ "Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter."

MissDaEast Profile \| Galleries Rank: Member Since: Dec 17, 2002 Posts: 2318 Location:So. Cal / Exit 1-I89,VT	Posted: May 28, 2012 - 6:20 PM GMT Just for Curiosity's sake, how far from the Greenbriar is Wintergreen? And, how much does the Greenbriar discount stays in the winter? It is a lovely dream: to spend a week at the Greenbriar, but I'm no Rockefeller!

jimk Profile \| Galleries Rank: Member Since: Aug 27, 2004 Posts: 1066 Location:Wash DC area	Posted: May 29, 2012 - 12:21 AM GMT good question, i'm thinking about two hours. too far to serve as an amenity to the hotel. so I'm slightly perplexed by the buy. but certainly wintergreen badly needed a savior to get it on solid footing again. so this is good i believe.

rickbolger Profile \| Galleries Rank: Member Since: Mar 14, 2005 Posts: 2299 Location:Great Gorge, NJ	Posted: May 29, 2012 - 12:23 AM GMT Edited: May 29, 2012 - 12:31 AM GMT very interesting. BofA had cut off Wintergreen's line of credit back in early Feb. and they were scrambling at that time. [ah, I see that was in the article] Such a big place with a captive market, surprising it would come to this. let's hope the Justice Cos don't strip mine Potato Patch and Dobie...

midatlanticlost Profile \| Galleries Rank: Member Since: Jul 20, 2007 Posts: 425 Location:WV	Posted: May 29, 2012 - 12:52 PM GMT It's obvious. The Greenbrier's owners were envious of The Homestead.

70s gore kid Profile \| Galleries Rank: Member Since: Mar 09, 2010 Posts: 314 Location:Top of Cheat Mountain, WV	Posted: May 29, 2012 - 3:45 PM GMT It will be interesting to see if the Greenbrier can pull off a "Deer Valley" type skiing experience in the mid Atlantic. If you have never been there, it is an amazing historic hotel, a more high end version of the Sagamore in NY or the Mt Washington. The restaurant is spectacular. But with room prices around $600 a night, it is not for the average vacationer. However, the Greenbrier has struggled through the recession, as even its well heeled clients cut back. How high end will the ski experience be? And don't people with that kind of money simply get on the first flight to Aspen?

rickbolger Profile \| Galleries Rank: Member Since: Mar 14, 2005 Posts: 2299 Location:Great Gorge, NJ	Posted: May 29, 2012 - 5:31 PM GMT almost a three hour drive, the flight would only be a few minutes but would take almost two hours of ground time moving from hotel to airport, airport to wintergreen. I'm thinking Greenbriar to Shenandoah Valley Airport, but even if they did beef up Waynesboro or one of the little strips on the east side of the ridge, it would still be an ordeal. make more sense to run a 7 am luxury bus to the slopes I guess, but hardly an attractive sales pitch agree jimk, don't see how this could relate to the hotel.

pagamony Profile \| Galleries Rank: Member Since: Jun 15, 2005 Posts: 399 Location:NC	Posted: May 29, 2012 - 10:06 PM GMT well now, they could build a little airport on top of the 18th hole on dobie, plenty of flat land up there. or at least a helo pad. think creatively. it might be more about evening out the revenue stream. in an average year the wintergreen and greenbrier revenue might complement each other so they avoid gaps in credit repayment, or give key service employees somewhere to work, and the cross-sell and promotional opportunities are terrific (stay a weekend at the greenbrier and get free skiing for a weekend at wintergreen, or buy a season lift ticket and get a free weekend at the greenbrier). just expanding the name brand exposure is pretty good value, just think about the Greenbrier Resort at Wintergreen. the marketing demographics probably have some good overlap. Does anyone go to the greenbrier that is not attending a conference? why? __________ ski pipestem

midatlanticlost Profile \| Galleries Rank: Member Since: Jul 20, 2007 Posts: 425 Location:WV	Posted: May 30, 2012 - 12:37 PM GMT Quote: well now, they could build a little airport on top of the 18th hole on dobie, plenty of flat land up there. or at least a helo pad. think creatively. it might be more about evening out the revenue stream. in an average year the wintergreen and greenbrier revenue might complement each other so they avoid gaps in credit repayment, or give key service employees somewhere to work, and the cross-sell and promotional opportunities are terrific (stay a weekend at the greenbrier and get free skiing for a weekend at wintergreen, or buy a season lift ticket and get a free weekend at the greenbrier). just expanding the name brand exposure is pretty good value, just think about the Greenbrier Resort at Wintergreen. the marketing demographics probably have some good overlap. Does anyone go to the greenbrier that is not attending a conference? why? golf and visits/tours of the bunker. For the history buffs who are into rail travel/railroad resort hotels, I believe that Amtrak will still stop in White Sulpher Springs. The Greenbrier is one of the few remaining resorts of that type. and since we are being creative, there should be no need to bus people all the way to Greenbrier Valley, but just reopen the the old Greenbrier Airport. All you have to do is take out the golf course, which as I mentioned was one of the attractions for business. To be realistic, I think there is no real expectation of overlap of business between the two, except for maybe, bleh, golf.

bousquet19 Profile \| Galleries Rank: Member Since: Feb 21, 2005 Posts: 1811 Location:Shenandoah Valley, Virginia	Posted: May 31, 2012 - 1:18 PM GMT Agree with pagamony, rickbolger and jimk: it's doubtful that Wintergreen would be considered an amenity to Greenbrier (stay at GB, ski at WG the same weekend) but some interesting packages or incentives could evolve. Stay at one, get an attractive discount for staying at the other within nine months. Also, WG's winter income might help fill in the winter cash-flow gap during GB's off season. As pagamony says, both brand names are well-known; packaging them together offers attractive opportunities. Then there's the down side. All that capital investment, borrowing, the potential for a coal mine accident with severe economic repercussions, another recession... The whole house could come a-tumblin' down. Greenbrier's history, Wintergreen's amenities, the scenic locations of both facilities, the 25-year-plus record of The Wintergreen Nature Foundation (in environmental education and scientific research) ... quite a combination. Wish all who work at both facilities, and all who enjoy them, the best. Woody __________ "Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter."

newman Profile \| Galleries Rank: Member Since: Aug 21, 2008 Posts: 2124 Location:The mighty SKI WARD Shrewsbury MA	Posted: Jun 02, 2012 - 3:14 AM GMT I wonder if this is good or bad for York. They have all the snow there.

skipro77 Profile \| Galleries Rank: Member Since: Nov 17, 2010 Posts: 49 Location:Great Smoky Mountains	Posted: Jun 19, 2012 - 3:12 PM GMT Quote: Agree with pagamony, rickbolger and jimk: it's doubtful that Wintergreen would be considered an amenity to Greenbrier (stay at GB, ski at WG the same weekend) but some interesting packages or incentives could evolve. Stay at one, get an attractive discount for staying at the other within nine months. Also, WG's winter income might help fill in the winter cash-flow gap during GB's off season. As pagamony says, both brand names are well-known; packaging them together offers attractive opportunities. Then there's the down side. All that capital investment, borrowing, the potential for a coal mine accident with severe economic repercussions, another recession... The whole house could come a-tumblin' down. Greenbrier's history, Wintergreen's amenities, the scenic locations of both facilities, the 25-year-plus record of The Wintergreen Nature Foundation (in environmental education and scientific research) ... quite a combination. Wish all who work at both facilities, and all who enjoy them, the best. Woody I have to agree that the cash flow that Wintergreens' operation can generate would be a big boost for The Greenbrier. The key is to make sure that when summer rolls around that some of the cash is going back to Wintergreen. Unfortunately, I worked at an area where this was supposed to be the plan, but it didn't quite work that way. I had to cringe every time I answered the phone because I knew that it was someone looking for their payment.

newman Profile \| Galleries Rank: Member Since: Aug 21, 2008 Posts: 2124 Location:The mighty SKI WARD Shrewsbury MA	Posted: Jun 19, 2012 - 8:53 PM GMT Off topic, but Wintergreen is looking for a new snowmaking foreman. They run on a autimated York system. Last season was bad for laying down cover for the area. The Homestead was worse. Good luck to both. They may want to pull the old air-water guns out of storage, just in prep for a winter like last year.

jimk Profile \| Galleries Rank: Member Since: Aug 27, 2004 Posts: 1066 Location:Wash DC area	Posted: Jun 20, 2012 - 1:33 PM GMT Quote: Off topic, but Wintergreen is looking for a new snowmaking foreman. They run on a autimated York system. Last season was bad for laying down cover for the area. The Homestead was worse. Good luck to both. They may want to pull the old air-water guns out of storage, just in prep for a winter like last year. Newman, their system is fantastic. Here are some comments I made about it after a 2006 visit to Wintergreen: Skiing throughout the mid-Atlantic over the last 40 years I’ve been able to observe some of the best snowmakers in the world. Wisp, Seven Springs, Snowshoe, etc. come to mind. But this two year old York system at Wintergreen may rank right at the very top. On Sunday it seemed like 80% of the entire massive system operated for all or most of the day, even as temps rose to the 25-30 degree range. Over a 12 hour period during Saturday night conditions went from rain-drenched slush to relatively dry loose snow on many trails. I’m not sure it was even groomed. The surfaces my son and I enjoyed from Upper Cliffhanger to the far side of the mountain on Sunset seemed more like freshly cut-up natural snow. Skiing while snowmaking is underway at barely below freezing temps can sometimes be unpleasantly moist, but the slopes were in such need of new cover and the quality of the product was so good that it was a pleasure to “run the guns” on Sunday. Some fascinating information can be gleaned from the York Snow Inc. web site, providing details on the type of 100% computerized system employed at Wintergreen. Basically, 315 snowguns are mounted on towers about every 120 feet over all 125 acres of the trail layout. Electronic probes that measure temperature and humidity in various locations on the mountain (approximately one probe for every 5-7 guns) are linked to a computer providing continuous control of gun operations. Start up to full capacity can be accomplished in a matter of minutes, while requiring half the overall crew of conventional manual systems. The automated system is activated by the touch of a screen. The computer then selects which areas are to be covered with snow, at what settings the guns will operate, and their order of priority. 100% of system capacity can be utilized at all times. Every gun can be set at its optimum capacity or the operator can intervene to produce a maximum amount of snow at predetermined priority locations. As I type this several days after our visit I believe Wintergreen has been making snow almost around the clock since we left. A lady on the Big Acorn chairlift told me that it costs the resort $4000 per day to run the system. I can’t confirm that, but I know one thing, you get what you pay for! I encourage you to check out Wintergreen’s snowmaking results for yourself.

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