This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2007, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Posted: 9:34 AM- KILLINGTON, Vt. -- The new owners of the Killington ski resort are telling hundreds of people with lifetime passes that their unlimited access to the slopes is coming to an end.
Powdr Corp. of Salt Lake City and SP Land Corp. of Dallas said terms of the $85.2 million deal did not bind them to the people who purchased stocks or bonds from Sherburne Corp. in 1960 and 1961 to help get the resort started.
A benefit of that investment was a lifetime pass.
"At the time of the transfer of ownership, your pass will expire and the new owners have no obligation to honor your pass," said a letter to the pass holders.
Killington's new owners will honor the passes for two more years.
Many people are upset.
"I don't understand how the new company can now say that our lifetime passes are no longer honored," said Marty Post of Killington.
Post said he'd found paperwork about the sale saying the covenants containing the passes were passed to Killington's new owners.
Powdr spokesman Mark Fischer said the filings only referred to former owner American Skiing Co.
"The lifetime passes don't refer to their lifetime, it's the lifetime of the corporation," Fischer said. "Powdr, in an effort of goodwill, will provide for the passes for the next couple of years, and we're under no obligation to do that. We just don't want to cut people off cold turkey."
State Rep. Harry Chen, D-Mendon, said officials from the Vermont attorney general's office urged pass holders to file complaints and trigger an official investigation.
Chen said he thought the issue could end up in court.
"It's shortsighted," he said. "As a new company, I would think they would be trying to build goodwill rather than alienating skiers."