WHEN WILL ROYAL GORGE LLC WAKE UP AND SMELL THE COFFEE?

It's been a few weeks since Sugar Bowl made the announcement they were pulling their letter of intent regarding ski lifts out from under Royal Gorge LLC, but as we're now well on into April, and springtime, one does wonder why Royal Gorge Future's Qs and As still blithely describe "Ski Camp" with lifts, slopes, bells, whistles, and, presumably, ski rental shops and all the other downhill trimmings? Are Royal Gorge LLC's plans frozen in amber?

Isn't it time for a major reality check on the part of Royal Gorge LLC?  Why in heaven's name are they still considering building 3 and 4 story condominiums in the watershed of the little Serene Lakes,  in order to serve a ski-less "Ski Camp", when, to borrow Gertrude Stein's words, "there's no there there"?  Who would possibly want to shell out money for condos, timeshares, and hotels on the sleepy side of a mountain, when there is no ski access?

Have Kirk Syme, Todd Foster, and his cousins Mark and T. Jack Foster taken a good look at the real estate situation in Serene Lakes lately?  There are around 200 already entitled lots that are presently undeveloped. In addition, there is a huge number of cabins, in all price ranges, on the market. Even to the casual observer it is abundantly clear that there is absolutely no shortage of houses for sale. You don't need a B-school degree to wonder about a development model that proposes almost 1000 new units for a market that appears pretty saturated, especially when house prices have a slow leak, and credit is almost nonexistent.

"Ski Camp" seems as dead as a dodo, poor bird- but what about "Lake Camp", the development proposed for what is now one of the best cross country ski areas in the country? There's another bird who suffered the same fate as the dodo, and that was the golden goose.  As you'll recall, the greedy owners of the fabled golden goose, not satisfied with the speed of golden egg production, sliced the goose open to get at the source of all the wealth.  That action presaged the end of  the goose, and the end of a steady stream of income.  

Royal Gorge Cross Country Ski Resort, if it is covered with development, no matter how artfully designed, could meet the same fate as the lamented golden goose, as those who choose to ski at Royal Gorge may become disenchanted by the prospect of skiing over and under bridges and through suburban sprawl. Instead of skiing through condos, and a suburb, they may choose to ski elsewhere.

As to buying homes and fractional ownerships at "Lake Camp", why wouldn't  cross country skiers be equally attracted by all the homes currently for sale on Donner Summit?  When you look at the Mello-Roos burden buyers will be carrying for all the infrastructure costs of Royal Gorge LLC's new proposed development, with the incredibly expensive costs for sewer, water, roads, and the moving of a major high voltage transmission line, older homes will seem quite a bargain.

It's morning on Donner Summit, and at Serene Lakes, and it's past time for Royal Gorge LLC to take a realistic look at the situation up here, and to change their plans accordingly.  Water is scarce, sewage disposal is problematic, and houses are not exactly selling like hotcakes.  Just because would-be developers lashed out huge sums of money on the gamble they could convince the county to change zoning to let them turn recreational areas into suburbs doesn't mean it's rational to keep pushing ahead, no matter the cost. The bankruptcy filing of Dyer Mountain's would-be developers should serve as a wake up call to all--and a terrific incentive to explore more reasonable plans before everyone is saddled with dodos, dead golden gooses, and white elephants.