BC’s RED Mountain Makes History With US Launch Of Innovative “Community Capitalism” Program

In August 2016, RED Mountain, Western Canada’s oldest ski resort, made waves in the ski-travel industry with a campaign dubbed “Fight The Man. Own The Mountain.” It launched the same week as Vail Resorts’ historic acquisition of Whistler-Blackcomb for $1.4 Billion, the edgy campaign saw immediate traction and quickly surpassed even its loftiest goals.

“Even before the big Whistler-Blackcomb sale, we’d been fearful for independent skiing and snowboarding,” says RED CEO Howard Katkov. “We took the opportunity to get loud—and proud—on behalf of independence from the get-go. By planting our flag as we did, when we did, RED became a de facto mouthpiece for independent resorts across the world. It’s been great hearing from so many of my colleagues at other resorts who love what we’re doing here.

The “Test The Waters” phase of the historic FTM/OTM crowdfunding campaign surpassed its $10 Million goal and received over $12 Million in promised support, from homemakers to hard cores, occasional family ski enthusiasts and pro riders from other resorts. Today marks the first step on the next leg of a year-long journey as StartEngine.com begins to receive equity investors in RED Mountain.

“We launched in Canada a few months earlier due to differences in securities regulations,” explains Katkov, “and we’re very happy with what we’re seeing North of the border on FrontFundr.com, our Canadian crowdfunding portal. As of today, we’re over $900,000 of investments waiting to close and we are hopeful our American offering to be snatched up at an even higher rate.”

Folks interested in standing up for independent skiing in a resort industry climate that is all about mergers, acquisitions and mega-passes that price out occasional day skiers can purchase “shRED equity” in packages as little as $1000. A generous Tiered Rewards System includes not only equity in a world-class resort that is among the Top 20, size-wise, in North America—it also includes perks such as custom Blizzard skis and Lib Tech snowboards, an on-mountain clubhouse, overnight membership-access cabin stays, season passes and more. Even the lowest Tier offers generous rewards including five day tickets and a lifetime access to the clubhouse which is transferable.

“RED has always been a bit of an oddball on the North American resort stage and we like it that way!” says Katkov. “We saw an opportunity to raise money in this new way thanks to Internet Crowdfunding and every day has been a reminder of why I love the ski resort industry in the first place! We weren’t sure when we started if riders really cared who owned the slopes they skied on. Well, it turns out they do. They really, really do…”

For more information on how you can walk away part owner of a world-class ski resort for as little as $1,000, head to StartEngine.com to learn more about the offering: https://www.startengine.com/red-mountain-resort