British Entrepreneur Buys Snow-Starved Mid-Altitude Swiss Ski Resort For One Franc - NYT

Bruno Prior, a British entrepreneur, saw the ad from the Ernen ski-lift company one day as he was sipping coffee and looking through the newspaper in London. Several months later — after paying the token sum of one Swiss franc, or about 90 cents — he is the proud owner of four ski lifts, two trail groomers and a restaurant on 12 miles of ski slopes.

Effectively giving the ski operation away was an act of desperation on the part of Ernen, which, like hundreds of other small Alpine ski stations at medium altitudes, faces dire times. Most customers these days prefer the larger resorts with hundreds of miles of ski runs, après-ski activities and luxury shopping. As global warming brings less snow, lower-altitude stations rely more on costly snow machines.

“Mr. Prior is our lucky charm,” said Heinz Seiler, who runs the Ernen ski-lift company, Sportbahnen Erner Galen, now owned by Mr. Prior. “He spared our 560-soul village from a catastrophe.” Mr. Seiler’s tiny office looks out on the village square, with its 16th-century wooden houses. “Smaller ski stations like ours have it much harder,” Mr. Seiler said. “Tourism is the only proposition here. There is nothing else.”

Last ski season, the ski-lift company lost more than $180,000. In March, the need for $1.4 million more to renew its operating license — required every couple of decades — was the last straw. With rising losses and temperatures, and the snowfall becoming less dependable, the village, the majority owner of the company, decided to shut down the lifts. “We braced ourselves to lose two-thirds of our winter guests,” Mr. Seiler said.

EDIT

http://www.ecoearth.info/shared/reader/welcome.aspx?linkid=91762

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From the posted article:

After spending more than $450,000 on the current ski season and a feasibility study, Mr. Prior plans to invest as much as $45 million to build two new lifts and hotels, initially with 300 beds.

Mr. Prior, whose family business had just sold off a subsidiary when he saw the ad, decided to invest in “something fun.”

“As a private company we are free to invest into an unfashionable ski resort,” he said in a telephone interview. “We can afford to be patient.”

He hopes that new hotels and modern lifts will draw skiers, and that new, higher-altitude runs will guarantee snow.

Looks like he's just gonna keep it a ski resort, no?