Eaglecrest kicks off 50th season with auction of historic items, plans for $7 anniversary date lift tickets
- Mark Sabbatini
- Sep 15, 2025
- 3 min read
Celebration comes as ski resort tries to make a major transition to overcome years of financial losses and operational struggles
By Mark Sabbatini
Juneau Independent
Kyle Paddleford said he’s been coming to Eaglecrest Ski Area most weekends since he moved to Juneau in 2008 and it hasn’t changed all that much from his perspective.
"It seems like there's more people up here, which is not a bad thing," he said. "They've done some expansions here with the beginner area, but it still sort of has the same feel that it always has, the same atmosphere."
Paddleford, his wife Thea, and twin daughters Makanna and Harper, 12, were among the hundreds of people visiting Eaglecrest on Saturday for a kickoff event celebrating the ski area’s 50th season. Food, live music, game booths and other activities went on for about six hours under sunny skies at the base of the mountain.
Early in the afternoon the family was examining historic items being offered at a silent auction inside Eaglecrest Lodge, including two original chairs from the Black Bear lift — with the center cable attachment poles removed.
While the chairs might make interesting garden furniture, Kyle Paddleford said, he opted not to bid on them. The highest bidder for either chair as of early Wednesday afternoon, at $350, was Dana Kerr who said she moved to Juneau two years ago after growing up skiing at Girdwood’s Alyeska Resort — and had the same sort of use in mind.
"I think it'd be really fun to have in a porch or a garden," she said.
The chairs and other "retired" historic silent auction items such as wood signs, trail map displays and artwork are part of a collection in storage being sold to benefit the Eaglecrest Foundation, said Erin Lupro, director of the ski area’s rental, retail, repair and snowsports school operations.
"We have a shelf that is where we retire signs," she said. "We give them to the Eaglecrest Foundation so that we can do things like this, so we can help raise money to support youth programs. We just hang on to it, so it's been on a shelf for quite a while."
It’s been several years since such an auction took place — but another sale with items still in storage is planned when Eaglecrest hosts a celebratory anniversary banquet in November, Lupro said.
Another major 50th anniversary event is scheduled Jan. 16, 2026 — the actual official anniversary of Eaglecrest’s 1976 debut — with $7 lift tickets to match what was charged that first year, General Manager Craig Cimmons said.
"It's a Friday, so we'll do Friday Night Lights skiing as well," he said.
Eaglecrest’s 50-year celebration is occurring at a difficult time for the city-owned ski resort due to aging facilities resort officials say have not been adequately maintained, operations incurring rising financial losses in recent years, and difficulties hiring and retaining adequate staff. Transitional efforts to address those issues are in the works, including a significant recent wage increase and plans to expand into large-scale year-round tourism with the installation of a gondola.
Kyle Paddleford said Eaglecrest is distinctive because "the place isn’t crowded and the snow stays good for a long time versus places in the Lower 48." He said he’d like to see the existing lifts repaired and functioning, but isn’t in favor of the gondola.
"Cost is a concern and it's just another added cost," he said. "It's going to put people over on the mountain, I think too, where some of that stuff is you have to work to get there normally."
Kerr, on the other hand, said while she likes the more open terrain of Eaglecrest compared to Alyeska, the gondola will be an upgrade.
"I do have to say the lift speed at Alyeska is much better than the lift speed at Eaglecrest," she said. "On the really rainy days I'm really hoping that tram will come in."
• Contact Mark Sabbatini at editor@juneauindependent.com or (907) 957-2306.
More photos from Eaglecrest Ski Area’s 50-year anniversary kickoff (all by Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Independent)
