Lowly resort gets extreme makeover

BEAVER — In the glittering pantheon of Utah ski resorts, the one in southern Utah at the top of Beaver Canyon known at times as Mt. Holly and other times as Elk Meadows has always been treated like the proverbial redheaded stepkid.

Since its beginnings in 1970 it's been closed as much as it's been open. There have been six separate attempts to make a go of it, the last one ending five years ago.

The problem isn't the ski mountain, which starts at 10,000 feet, has some impressive vertical and gets plenty of snow.

The problem is the ski mountain sits in the middle of a rural county with a population of 6,500.

Sooner or later, usually later, every previous owner of the ski resort has come to the realization that to make it pay you'd have to charge a fortune for a lift ticket.

So the latest owners of what is being called the Mt. Holly Club have decided to do just that.

They'll be charging $3 million for a ski pass. At least.

It should be noted that in addition to unlimited skiing that price also includes a condo or a house, a golf course with unlimited playing privileges, access to a clubhouse with a five-star chef, plenty of masseuses and masseurs, a bowling alley, a theater, hot tubs, swimming pools, dozens of other assorted amenities, lots of people calling you "sir" and "ma'am" and half-a-dozen lakes stocked with trout.

Oh, and the director of skiing operations will be Ted Ligety, the Olympic gold medal winner from Park City, and the golf course will be a Jack Nicklaus signature design certified by Jack as one of his top 25 layouts in the world.

And it will be members only.

As the marketing brochures put it, "Introducing the world's finest private ski and golf resort."

Little 'ol Elk Meadows/Mt. Holly is going exclusive.

Want to pay less and stand in lift lines with the unwashed masses? Go to Deer Valley.

As far as the Mt. Holly Club developers know, the concept of a private ski and golf resort has been attempted just once in history, at a place called the Yellowstone Club near Big Sky, Mont.

There, the owners of 800 luxury homes and condominiums play golf on their private links and ski to their heart's content on their private ski mountain while the rest of the world goes spinning by. The enterprise has reportedly been a roaring — and very private — success.