Red Mountain’s Crowdfunding Close To Closing

Two years ago, seeing how the industry continued to change and evolve at a rapid rate, RED Mountain CEO Howard Katkov hatched a plot to disrupt the ski resort world from his own little corner of BC. In an industry that had seen unprecedented acquisitions, mergers, and consolidations in the last few years, the campaign, “Fight The Man, Own The Mountain” offered an alternative for passionate skiers and snowboarders to be a part of.

“Despite going quiet with the press and our database over the last couple of months, we’ve continued to see steady investments on both sides of the border,” says Katkov. “People still want to be a part of this historic crowdfunding effort and unique community. People are definitely talking…whether they’re from Vancouver or Alabama (seriously).”

The campaign began accepting investment commitments in August, 2017 after gauging interest through a ‘test the waters’ campaign on Startengine.com and Frontfundr.com the previous year. By December 1st, 2017, on the cusp of what has been another massive winter on the hill, RED Mountain hit its first target of $1.5 million. With an intentionally low minimum investment of $1,000, Katkov and Co. wanted skiers and snowboarders from all different financial abilities to be able to invest in a company and lifestyle they truly believe in. And so far, they have been with us every step of the way.

FTMOTM BY THE NUMBERS:

• Currently over 650 individual investors
• Residents from at least 42 out of 50 states have invested—for a resort located in Canada!
• They believe about 25%-35% of investors have never even visited RED!
• As of March 1st, 2018 completed and pending investments have totaled $2 million.

April 2, 2018 marks the end of the ski season at RED, and represents the very last chance for skiers, snowboarders and other investors to own a part of history. RED is the oldest ski resort in Western Canada and has a rich history full of cranks, characters, and bon vivants. “Fight The Man, Own The Mountain” represents the first time ever a for-profit ski resort has offered actual ownership of all assets through crowdfunding and the cross-border campaign has been featured in Powder, Bloomberg, Pique, TransWorld, The Globe & Mail and others.

“The growing passion for independence in skiing is real,” says Katkov. “And investing in RED is casting a ballot for not just independence, but for a welcoming community and culture that someone truly wants to join as part of a family. It’s a place I’ve been beyond proud to co-own and captain since 2004 and now the door is open to almost anyone to share that feeling. Despite the friendly atmosphere, this is also one of the Top 20 resorts in North America in terms of terrain. Plus, the snow’s unreal…with over 20 feet of snowfall thus far this season!”

With the $2 million already committed and invested, RED wasted no time acting on promised improvements. These upgrades - so far - have included a full remodel of fan favorite Paradise Lodge (incl. flush toilets!) as well as the expansion of its retail and High Performance centres. This summer we’ll also see the construction of overnight on-mountain cabins and the investor clubhouse (plus friends!).

“I get the sense that we have another 500 potential investors out there who are playing wait-and-see…” says Katkov. “They’re holding out ’til the last minute to see if the campaign will be successful. Well, here’s my two cents: it already is! We’ve raised a respectable level of investment dollars and have already started re-investing those funds in on-mountain improvements. Old and new fans of RED have come out of the woodwork to support us with kind words and their hard-earned money. The best part is that folks have been reminded just how special this place really is. They want to hold onto that feeling forever, share it with their kids. They want to protect it. We couldn’t agree more.”

If you want to throw down for independent skiing and snowboarding, do it now before it’s too late. Even the smallest $1,000 investment tier comes with additional perks and there’s no other place like RED Mountain on earth. Really.