As Durango Mountain Resort welcomes its new owner, James Coleman, employees are getting ready for the upcoming season. They started making snow Nov. 2. With new equipment in the arsenal this year, the resort is looking to offer top-to-bottom skiing on Lift 1 for opening day, Nov. 28. /Photo by Jennaye Derge

Meet the family

Purg’s new owner looks to create regional family tree

by Tracy Chamberlin

About 10 years ago, two men sat down to talk skiing, snow and an industry where they had each spent only a handful of years. One purchased his first ski resort in 2000. The other took over operations at another in 1999.

It would take a decade before these two would sit down again for a second chat. This time about the future of Purgatory.

“Purgatory was one of the first mountains where I learned to ski,” said James Coleman, the new owner of Durango Mountain Resort and Purgatory ski area. “When I learned that Chuck Cobb was interested in selling … I jumped at the opportunity.”

Although Cole-man and Gary Derck, Durango Mountain Resort CEO, had no idea when they first met where they would end up a decade later, the two are now on the same path.

One that’s moving toward the creation of a family of Southwestern ski resorts. One that could spark an economic engine in the area and create a regional destination for locals and visitors alike. And, that is something that set Coleman apart.

Derck said Cobb, the other soon-to-be former owner, and their team went through a thoughtful and careful process when selecting Coleman from a pool of interested parties. His vision for the mountain, the community and for a collection of Southwest resorts was compelling.

Purgatory is the centerpiece of that collective, which would total more than 3,000 skiable acres, 200 trails, 26 lifts and 13 terrain parks serving customers all over New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, Texas and, of course, the nation.

The other resorts in Coleman’s family are Sipapu Ski and Summer Resort, which he’s owned and been the managing partner

partner of since 2000; Pajarito Mountain Ski Area, which he’s still in the process  of purchasing; and the Arizona Snowbowl, which he’s also in the process of buying.

Sipapu is where Coleman cut his chops. Since he first purchased the resort, which sits just 20 miles southeast of Taos, he’s doubled the terrain and extended the ski season, resulting in four times the number of skier visits than when he first took the reins. Pajarito, located outside of Los Alamos, boasts 40 trails and 6 lifts on 751 acres in the Jemez Mountains.

The final member is also the one with the most luggage, the Arizona Snowbowl. In 2009, the U.S. Supreme Court weighed in on a battle over development involving the resort, U.S. Forest Service, Hopi and Navajo tribes. In 2011, protests erupted over the water used for snowmaking – wastewater treated in nearby Flagstaff. The water quality meets all the state and federal regulations, including the EPA’s rules for drinking water; and, the same water is used for irrigation at schools, parks, golf courses and more.

“The individuals who opposed Snowbowl’s snowmaking certainly did not represent the majority of our guests or the majority of the Arizona community,” Coleman explained.

The first priority is to complete the purchases. For Purgatory, that includes 100 percent of the resort assets, utilities and some properties adjacent to the resort. Durango Mountain Realty and the remaining real estate holdings are still part of the Cobb and Duncan family ownership.

After the paperwork is signed, filed and finished, and Purgatory makes it through the busy Christmas season, everyone will likely take a breath, sit down and ponder the first move.

When things do start to change, it will be about Coleman’s top priorities: extending the ski season, expanding terrain, increasing summer activities and expediting the master plan.

In 2009, the resort received approval from the Forest Service for its Mountain Master Plan, defining the direction of development. Some of those improvements have been made, like the addition of McCormack’s Maze, others have waited for the economy to recover from the recession.

Now with money starting to flow and new blood behind the wheel, it’s time to tackle those master plan improvements. One of the items on that list is replacing Lift 8.

“This is a priority, although it will not be an immediate change,” Coleman said. “First we need to develop the terrain and infrastructure, as outlined in the Master Development Plan, surrounding this lift.”

Some would like to see it replaced with a new high-speed, detachable quad. Others would be just fine if everything stayed the same. If the ride time is cut by the installation of a faster lift, skiers and riders would get more time on the slopes. However, it could also mean more people would ski the backside, which tends not to be as heavily populated as the front side.

Coleman’s challenge is to find the thin line between intended and unintended consequences. “Certainly more so than anyone else who was proposing on buying the resort – he gets it,” Derck said.

Terrain expansion is another priority. Coleman wants more terrain to ski, more acres to promote, more space for everyone.

As for extending the ski season, Coleman’s no stranger to opening first and closing last. That’s his mantra at Sipapu, which opens Nov. 15. He’s put both time and money into improving snowmaking at the New Mexico resort, something Purgatory’s been working on as well.

For the past couple of years, they’ve added something new to the snowmaking arsenal at DMR each season. Last year, it was 16 tower guns, a new fan gun and two new snowcats. This year the resort added 11 new tower guns and a high-output fan gun, covering more on the front and back sides.

Kim Oyler, DMR’s director of communications, said the resort has already started making snow and is looking to offer top-to-bottom skiing on Lift 1 for opening day, Nov. 28. All they need now is some cold temperatures from Mother Nature.

At the heart of it all is a man who’s called Durango home for almost 10 years, whose children go to school here, ski here, play here, and whose wife spends time volunteering at local nonprofits like Manna Soup Kitchen.

“James (Coleman) is in this for the long haul,” explained Stacey Glaser, director of ski area marketing, who’s also worked with Coleman since 2007. “This is not a stepping stone to something else.”

It isn’t just about what Coleman brings to the table. It isn’t just about whether or not his vision of a Southwest family of resorts intrigued anyone at Durango Mountain Resort.

Derck defines it in terms of what could have been. DMR and Purgatory could have been just another outpost on the frontier, existing on the edges of a much larger conglomerate. “Instead we’re going to be the hub,” he said. “We’re going to be the center of attention.”