Burwell Enterprises Announces The Sale Of Echo Mountain
On Monday of this week, Burwell Enterprises’ wholly owned subsidiary SkiEcho, LLC closed the sale of Echo Mountain to new ownership, JOGAN INC, LLC. The transaction concludes nearly seven years of the Burwell family’s ownership and operation of the historic Denver ski area.
“Our goal with Echo Mountain was to create Colorado’s most affordable, most accessible and most diverse ski and snowboard” said Burwell Enterprises CEO Peter Burwell. “Our remarkable team members at Echo built that vision into a reality – and my family is incredibly proud of that and them.”
Incorporaating learnings from previous ownership groups and looking to face industry-wide challenges like rising consumer costs, increasing Qme commitments and lack of ethnic and socio-economic diversity head on, SkiEcho focused on providing an authentic Colorado snow sports experience to everyone that visited each day, regardless of whether it was their first-time seeing snow or their 100th day that season.
“I am so incredibly proud of all the hard work our team at Echo put in over the last 7 years to create, build, and grow it into what it is today,” said Fred Klaas, who managed Echo Mountain while it was owned by Burwell Enterprises. “We were able to build a great foundation for Echo and execute on a lot of its vast potential, and yet, we recognize there is stil so much more opportunity ahead for it.”
“It has been such an honor to be a part of Colorado’s ski resort community, and I am profoundly appreciative for everything it did to help grow our business,” Burwell concluded. “Echo Mountain’s new ownership has gained a great asset, and we wish them much success with it.”
The new owners, Jogan, Inc. have been rapidly expanding since being founded by entrepreneur Dan Dietrich in 2021. When Dietrich’s passion for skiing and innovative approach to business brought him the opportunity to acquire a Colorado ski area, he described it as “a dream come true.”
“Growing up skiing and working at Stevens Pass in Washington gave me the opportunity to not only develop my own love for skiing, but it gave me an inside view at how ski areas work to deliver the joy that so many people get from snow sports,” said Dan Dietrich. He added, “My fascination with how ski areas operate and passion for the industry has grown tremendously over the years, so I’m thrilled at the opportunity to work with the experienced team at Echo and empower them to keep building on its current foundation.”
Echo Mountain has evolved over the years, but its near-universally recognized and still untapped potential carries it forward. In recent years, Echo Mountain has grown to become Denver’s Closest and Most Affordable ski, snowboard and tubing area, offering a Colorado snow sports experience requiring less time and money than neighboring industry-giants. Those efforts have attracted a unique customer base that Dietrich feels is essential to the success of
the industry’s future.
“It’s no secret that the ski industry has been struggling to diversify its customer base, and we feel like Echo has really tapped into something special. We believe we can help create more skiers and snowboarders, and that we can continue to bring in more and different groups of people than you’re used to seeing at other resorts,” said Dan Dietrich.
Recently, Echo has been working to capitalize on its summer season potential through weddings, events, and concerts. Seeing this summer’s success, the Jogan team believes with strategic investment and partnerships, Echo can quickly become one of Denver’s most desirable outdoor mountain venues.
“We have a lot of great ideas, some of which we’ll be sharing more about over the coming weeks and months, and yet we recognize that there’s no shortage of challenges ahead of us,” said Dietrich; “but we believe we have a vision for Echo to help fully realize its potential while continuing to offer a one-of-a-kind experience for guests, whether it’s just for a day of skiing or the biggest day of their life.”
Echo Mountain is a ski, snowboard and tubing area located in Clear Creek County, west of Evergreen, Colorado. It is the closest ski area to the Denver metro area.
Echo Mountain is located at the former site of the Squaw Pass Ski Area. Echo opened late in the 2006 season as a terrain park-only concept. The area began to shift its focus away from terrain-park only and sold at auction in 2012. The new owner turned the ski area into a private ski racing training facility. After several seasons under this concept, the owner filed for bankruptcy in January 2016. The area sold in the fall of 2016 to Burwell Enterprises looking to open to the public and appeal to a broader base of snow sports enthusiasts. It is fully lit to offer night skiing. There are roughly 60 acres of skiable terrain and is located within the Arapaho National Forest and sits on the North face of Chief Mountain (elv. 11,709 ft.).
The main lift, the Hot Laps Special, is a fixed-grip triple that has a turn around time of 4 minutes 39 seconds.
Echo's Yan Triple chairlift was purchased from Vail Resorts' Heavenly Resort and installed in 2005. The triple, named Hot Laps Special, is situated to serve the entire mountain. The second lift is a new covered conveyor lift by RMCE and was installed in 2017. The third lift is also a new covered conveyor lift by RMCE and was installed in 2019.
The entire mountain is wired for sound so music can also be played. The two lodge buildings are of modern industrial design featuring many windows overlooking the slopes, corrugated metal walls and exposed ceilings. Modern interior design provides a comfortable place to rest while not on the slopes.
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