Selling gondola at a loss, rather than seeking investors to keep it at Eaglecrest, gets initial Assembly OK

Sale may net city $1.6M after it spends well over $10M on project nearing final stage of cancellation; city manager says alternative is uncertain and will cost yet more money

Gondola equipment near Eaglecrest Ski Area on Jan. 17, 2026. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Independent)

By Mark Sabbatini

Juneau Independent

Selling a gondola intended for Eaglecrest Ski Area — at a heavy loss — rather than seeking one or more third-party investors for the project got an initial go-ahead from the Juneau Assembly on Monday.

The city may net about $1.6 million in a sale process that takes two to three years, City Manager Katie Koester said during a Committee of the Whole meeting. That’s less than a third of what the city paid for the original gondola, a second one purchased for additional parts, and costs such as shipping and having cars refurbished.

It also doesn’t include millions in other costs such as interest due on a refunded $10 million investment by Goldbelt Inc. Assembly members on Monday gave preliminary approval to two ordinances that cancel a profit-sharing agreement with the Alaska Native Corporation and refund the money.

Both the sale of the gondola and canceling the Goldbelt agreement need final approval by the Assembly at a regular meeting that includes public testimony. The next regular Assembly meeting is scheduled May 18.

The alternative to a sale is seeking an investor for the installation and operation of the gondola at Eaglecrest, Koester said. She said that process would likely take at least a year — possibly a few — with an uncertain outcome and the city continuing to pay for storage of gondola parts and other costs in the meantime.

"Option B is let's spend some money to sit on this decision for a while, and keep the gondola distributed across hither and yon, and make sure we still have the option to move forward with a gondola project at Eaglecrest," she told Assembly members.

The complication with that is the parts from the second gondola are still in Austria so an investor would, among other things, have to pay more than $1 million in tariffs, fuel surcharges and handling costs at current market rates, according to Koester. She said each gondola can be sold separately on the open market, but both need to be in Juneau to build the lift as designed for the ski area.

The original gondola, purchased used from a ski resort in Austria in 2022, cost $1.9 million and another $1.1 million to ship. A memo by Koester estimates the gondola’s current sale value at about $725,000, with the city earning $630,000 from after deducting a 15% commission to the seller.

Similarly, the second gondola still in Austria, purchased for about the same amount as the original cable car, is expected to net the city about $474,300 after a 15% commission. However, the city will also get an additional $850,000 via a 70% refund on prepaid shipping for that gondola.

Koester, in a text message to the Juneau Independent on Tuesday, stated the estimated current values of the gondolas are based on consultation with a broker.

The Assembly unanimously advanced the gondola sale option to a full vote at a regular meeting.

Also discussed Monday was the termination of the $10 million operating agreement with Goldbelt, which city leaders initiated after the total projected cost of the gondola — originally estimated at about $9 million — increased to more than $37 million this spring.

The repayment to Goldbelt is $12.2 million with interest and about $3.5 million of the company’s funds haven’t yet been spent. The ordinance approved by the Assembly would use $9.5 million in city funds and $2.7 million of the remaining Goldbelt funds for the repayment.

That will leave $766,000 in gondola project funds that will be used for various remaining costs including continued storage of parts and the sale process, according to Koester. Any leftover funds when the sale is completed will be returned to the city’s general fund.

Assembly members voted 8-1 Monday to advance the termination of the Goldbelt agreement, with Nano Brooks dissenting. He noted, as other city officials have at previous meetings, the repayment will require the city to spend most of the unrestricted fund balance it expects to have once the budget for the coming year is passed.

"I don't think that we should just drain that fund balance to pay this off before exercising the options and negotiations, or looking at other possibilities," he said.

The gondola was envisioned as a way for Eaglecrest, which has operated at a loss and been subsidized by the city for many years, to expand into profitable year-round summer operations. Losses at the 50-year-old ski area have increased in recent years due to factors such as difficulties with aging equipment and poor snow conditions.

Assembly members Monday said they still support the concept of year-round activity at the city-owned ski area, and the possibility of having a third party take over winter and/or summer operations. What those options might be are expected to be discussed during upcoming Assembly meetings that review Eaglecrest’s budget as well as meetings with the ski area’s board members.

• Contact Mark Sabbatini at editor@juneauindependent.com or (907) 957-2306.