Geneva Basin Ski Area

Geneva Basin (originally Indianhead Ski Area) opened in 1963. Geneva Basin was developed by an Illinois family after their Indianhead Ski Area in Michigan, (now Indianhead Mountain Resort).[1] Indianhead went into foreclosure in 1965 and the property was sold at auction to former Colorado Governor Roy Romer and the Walter J. Burke family. In 1974 the ski area was sold to an investment group from Kansas who expanded the number of ski trails and chairlifts.

Geneva Basin Ski School Instructors (1979)

Old trail marker at Geneva Basin.

They later sold the ski area to an investment group based in Kansas in 1972.  By 1974, this group installed a Heron-Poma double chair that replaced the Sundance T-bar.  The group ran into financial trouble early on and the ski area changed hands numerous times from the mid-70s to mid-80s.  During the numerous ownership changeovers the ski area facilities and maintenance severely declines. During 1984, an empty chair on the Duck Creek lift fell from the cable.  This prompted the Colorado Tramway Board to shut the ski area down until the maintenance issues were resolved. Unfortunately, the owners were unable to accomplish this.  At the conclusion of the 1983/84 ski season, skier visits totaled 24,490 in what would be Geneva Basin Ski Area's final season.

The property was sold again to another investment group in 1985 with ambitious plans to revitalize the ski area.  During the summer, the Duck Creek chair lift was removed and installation of a new Borvig triple chair began, which was to be called the Phoenix lift.  The new lift ran parallel to the former Duck Creek lift but farther right, making the high-speed poma serving the bowl unnecessary.  The investors soon had financial troubles and were not able to pay Borvig for the completion of the chairlift.  Upgrades ceased and Borvig never installed the lift's drive unit or chairs. The Geneva Basin owners went into bankruptcy and creditors stripped the ski area of everything from snowcats, lift parts, snowmaking components, to dining room chairs.  The area was abandoned for 8 years.

Geneva Basin Ski School area (1979)

Another revival was proposed in 1991 when Michael Marsh, a local contractor from Aurora, Colorado made a proposal to the U.S. Forest Service to operate the ski area.  His plan was to reopen the existing facilities and complete the snow-making system.  According to the proposal, the ski area would require $3,000,000 for improvements and would create 20-30 jobs. The plans included the renaming of the ski area to Alpine Valley. According to newspaper articles, the Forest Service was not opposed to the proposal, however, nothing became of the project. Two more proposals were entertained by the Forest Service in 1992, but nothing amounted from them either.

By November 1993, voters were asked to approve a recreation tax designed to finance the ski area's reopening.  By 2:1 margin, voters widely opposed the tax for reopening the ski area. "The voters figured out that the tax wasn't the proper action for the county and it wasn't properly planned," said County Commissioner Jim Coggin, an opponent. Potentially complicating the scenario was the fact that most Colorado territorial County lines were drawn in the mid-18th Century as straight-lines. Unfortunately, the east-west line separating Park and Clear Creek counties literally runs down the middle of the ski area.

The Forest Service did not wait long to take action at Geneva Basin.  Two days after the failed Park County ballot to save Geneva Basin, Forrest Service officials decided to burn down the ski lodge to avoid further vandalism and any associated liability. Park County commissioner, Rickard Trast said, "It wasn't so much what was done as how it was done.  Now, I'd rather have us look at what is the future of Geneva Basin and where do we go from here."  Former owner, Roy Romer said, "I helped build it, so it made me kind of sad...There goes my walk-in refrigerator."  Forest supervisor Jack Weissling later sent Park County officials a letter of apology for not properly informing citizens of the method for demolition.[2]