Toggenburg Mountain Assets Sold To SkiCNY.com, Area To Close, Lifts Sold Off

Peter Harris, President of Intermountain Management, Inc. d/b/a SkiCNY.com, owner and operator of Song Mountain in Tully and Labrador Mountain in Truxton, reports that SkiCNY.com has purchased the assets of Toggenburg Mountain in Fabius from Togg Holdings LLC and its sole Members John and Christine Meier for an undisclosed figure. The Meiers are also owners of Greek Peak Mountain Resort in the Town of Virgil. They sold the Toggenburg assets to focus their efforts and capital on building their business at Greek Peak, which in addition to being a ski resort, offers a year-round water park, alpine slide, zip lines, and lodging.

The resort will be closed, lifts sold off, other equipment such as snowmaking will be utilised at Song Mountian and Labrador. Harris will not accept any buyers  to reopen the mountain as a ski area, and there would be a restriction on the property preventing that. 

Harris plans to absorb Toggenburg’s operations into that of Song and Labrador. As new strains of COVID emerge, there is still great uncertainty about future capacity restrictions and concerns about finding and keeping seasonal staff as many local companies continue to struggle to hire workers. This purchase follows a decades long trend of ski resort consolidation. Since the early 2000’s, ski resorts have followed the retail model of consolidation thereby utilizing combined assets to upgrade and make improvements.

In the midst of COVID-19, ski areas struggled through an uncertain and challenging 18 months. While adhering to State and Federal mandates regarding masks, social distancing, and capacity limitations, attendance reductions started in March 2020 as the pandemic began and continued into the 2020-21 ski season. Area operators scrambled to adapt how they did business and to find sufficient labor to keep lifts open, the slopes snow covered and groomed, and to fully staff all the various departments of a typical ski center.

Central New York’s population decline since 1980 resulted in excess ski capacity with these three resorts located within just a 12-mile radius of one another. By closing Toggenburg, Harris plans to make investments in infrastructure and equipment at Song and Labrador that will improve the overall experience for skiers and snowboarders. Both Song and Labrador have excess capacity, so an anticipated increase in traffic should have little or no impact on operations.

“The decision to close Toggenburg isn’t one we took lightly or made easily,” shared Harris. “But when you take a hard look at the numbers, three ski resorts drawing from the same pool of skiers and snow boarders every year is a challenge. I am confident that we are going to offer Central New Yorkers an excellent ski experience at Song and Labrador.”

While Harris recognizes Toggenburg regulars may be initially surprised and disappointed, he believes they will enjoy a quality ski experience at Song and Labrador. Season passes and daily lift tickets are valid at both mountains, so skiers and snowboarders literally get two mountains for the price of one.

Changes are already happening at both resorts. The newly constructed Heuga’s Alpine is a year-round restaurant located at the base of Song offering modern- American cuisine. It’s a great addition for the lunch and apres-ski crowd, and gives locals another dining option. The Labrador Main Lodge was extensively remodeled in 2015, while Lab’s Customer Service and its primary Locker Room were remodeled in 2016, 2 new chairlifts were added at Song, new groomers, new snowmaking, etc., etc., etc. The list of improvements is long and getting longer!

Harris plans to offer Toggenburg employees the opportunity to join his team. “We’ll be reaching out to former Toggenburg employees to let them know they could have a new home at SkiCNY.com if a mutual desire exists.”

A skier himself, Harris has been a mainstay on the CNY ski scene since 1986. He operated Snow Ridge in Turin from 1986 to 2006, he purchased Song in 2000 and Labrador in 2014. As a local ski center operator, he wants nothing more than to give fellow skiers and snowboarders the longest season, the best conditions on the slopes and in the lodge, at a value that all can afford.