Boulder County’s popular hometown ski area, Eldora Mountain Resort, has been sold to Utah-based chain Powdr, which also owns Copper Mountain.

Whether the new owners will continue the high-profile battle to expand the resort west of Nederland isn’t clear yet, but officials on Monday said that pricing for the 2016/2017 Super Value Pass will remain the same.

Powdr Executive Vice President Tim Brennwald said the acquisition would bolster the company’s presence in Colorado, providing a strong complement to its operations at Copper Mountain.

Powdr is known for owning small, family friendly ski areas, something that applies to Eldora as well.

Powdr’s ski-area portfolio Copper Mountain, Colorado Eldora Mountain Resort, Colorado Killington, Vermont Mt. Bachelor, Oregon Boreal Mountain Resort, California Pico Mountain, Vermont Lee Canyon, Nevada Gorgoza Park, Utah Soda Springs, California

“From an overall perspective, it fits in really well,” Brennwald said.

In addition to Copper, Powdr owns seven other resorts from California to Vermont, including Killington in the Green Mountains of central Vermont, and Mount Bachelor near Bend, Ore. Eldora will be the ninth ski area in Powdr’s portfolio.

Eldora General Manager Brent Tregaskis said it’s premature to say whether Powdr will continue the battle to expand the resort, something which local groups adamantly have opposed over environmental concerns.

“It’s too early for Powdr to determine the best path to proceed, but we have no plans at this time to discontinue the effort,” Tregaskis said.

Eldora, which opened 21 miles west of Boulder in 1962, has been engaged in a years-long attempt to expand by about 88 acres beyond its current boundaries.

It has proposed an ambitious range of improvements it deems critical to competing in the statewide winter sports landscape, challenged as it is by the changing habits and tastes of consumers and the looming effects of climate change.

An Oct. 1 decision by the U.S. Forest Service effectively granted the resort half a loaf, green-lighting improvements that Eldora sought within its borders, but deferring a decision on improvements that would entail expansion on its northern and southern boundaries.

“Any future decision would result from the ski area and interested parties working collaboratively to resolve environmental and social issues,” then-acting Forest Supervisor Ron Archuleta ruled.

Eldora submitted an appeal of that decision on Nov. 16, calling it “arbitrary and capricious” and contrary to the law. That appeal was dismissed on procedural grounds Nov. 30.

Tregaskis said the resort hoped to complete significant work on new runs and some base-area improvements — already approved by the forest service — by the time the winter season begins. He said work to install new chairlifts will not occur until the summer of 2017.

‘Great to be tied to Copper’

He said one of the most exciting parts of the deal will be efforts to create new ski school programs and the possibility of new ski pass programs with Copper Mountain. Eldora, through the Super Value Pass, already enjoys some joint skiing opportunities with Copper, but those could expand if its current agreement with resort company IntraWest changes.

“From the public’s perspective, it’s going to be great to be tied to Copper,” Tregaskis said.

Mike Chiropolos, the attorney representing the Middle Boulder Creek Coalition, which has opposed the proposed expansion, said he’s hopeful that the sometimes strained relations between the community group and the resort’s former owners would ease with Powdr’s acquisition.

“I’m optimistic,” Chiropolos said. “At first glance it looks as if Powdr will be a better fit than some of these huge corporate operators. Eldora is unique. We don’t want to be Vail or Telluride or Aspen. Folks here don’t want to be displaced by a bunch of billionaires. And this operator seems to realize that getting along with the locals is important.”

‘Good time to get out of the business’

William Killebrew, along with Penny Lewis and Graham Anderson, had owned Eldora since 1991 and had been negotiating the sale for the past three months, Tregaskis said.

“They felt the future tied to a larger resort would be more stable, and because they are getting older, they felt it was a good time to get out of the business,” Tregaskis said.

In a statement, Killebrew said, “I’ve had the privilege of knowing John Cumming for nearly 30 years. He has built a great adventure company and has the reputation as an outstanding operator. When we decided to consider selling Eldora, we wanted to put our resort in the best hands possible and Powdr was the first company that came to mind.”

U.S. Forest Service spokeswoman Reid Armstrong said her agency had approved the sale and had signed a new lease with Powdr.

Rumors that the resort was on the market had been circulating for weeks.

Financial terms of the sale were not disclosed. Tregaskis, who will continue as general manager, said no jobs will be cut as a result of the deal.

Jerd Smith: 303-473-1332, smithj@dailycamera.com or twitter.com/jerd_smith