The fight to keep Mt. Bachelor ski resort local

Beat Check with The Oregonian

When the Mt. Bachelor ski resort abruptly went up for sale in August, a couple of Central Oregon mountain enthusiasts had an audacious thought:

Maybe we should buy it.

Before they knew it, the me — who had not met beforehand — put in motion a plan to purchase one of Oregon’s most cherished landmarks. They organized a GoFundMe and formed a company. They hobnobbed with Oregon politicians. They sought out big-pocket investors.

They knew the challenge would be daunting.

Bachelor is a coveted property, after all. So the corporate titans of the ski industry would be swarming, likely offering bids in the neighborhood of $200 million.

But the movement was quickly celebrated as a potential win for the underdog, drawing national attention for its effort to keep the United States’ seventh-largest ski resort out of the hands of corporate America — and in the hands of local ski bums.

The group made a major announcement last week regarding their quest to buy Bachelor. Where do things stand? And how did we get to this point?

On the latest episode of Beat Check, Jonathan Bach, who covers housing and real estate for The Oregonian/OregonLive, discusses the backstory — and the latest news — surrounding the bid to buy Mt. Bachelor.

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