Canada’s Intrawest, a pillar in the ski resort development industry and host to next year’s Winter Olympics in Whistler, is selling Summit County’s Copper Mountain to Utah-based Powdr Corp.

The deal, announced today, is expected to close in December, pending approval by the U.S. Forest Service.

In a statement released today, company officials said the deal will have no impact on Copper operations, including its pass products and vacation reservations.

Intrawest acquired Copper from a Delaware investment group in 1996. The $19-million deal for Copper and Whistler in British Columbia made Intrawest the second-largest ski resort operator in North America, behind Vail Resorts, which in the same year acquired Summit County’s Breckenridge and Keystone ski hills from Ralcorp Holdings.

The deal marked the beginning of the North American ski industry’s merger mania, which saw companies paying astronomical prices for ski hills.

The 1996 Copper deal also made Colorado a battleground for the industry’s biggest players, Vail Resorts and Intrawest. A season-pass pricing war would soon follow as the behemoths jockeyed for top position in the suddenly red-hot resort real estate game.

When Intrawest landed Copper, company officials promised an immediate injection of $26 million for new lifts and other infrastructure. Over the next decade, the company promised to spend $340 million on a new base village.

Powdr Corp. is based in Utah, where it owns Park City Mountain Resort. The company owns six other resorts: Killington and Pico in Vermont, Mt. Bachelor in Oregon, Boreal and Soda Springs resorts in California and Las Vegas Ski and Snowboard Resort in Nevada.