/y 



267 



Rates paid for ski area use of other Federal, State or private lands 



The "comparability" or "comparable sales" approach to market evaluation is the 

 method generally preferred by appraisers to provide the most accurate indication of 

 whether fair market value is being realized for real estate sales. 



Finding "comparables" for ski mountain rentals is not as easy as it is for other 

 leasing situations because the vast majority of ski areas in North America that are 

 not on government land, own their own land and do not pay rent. 



However, the ski industry has conducted a thorough survey of ski areas in the 

 United States and Canada and has assembled information on areas which do lease 

 government or private lands. The findings of this survey, which we believe covers 

 every larger size, non-National Forest ski area in the North America, are contained 

 in Appendix A to this testimony. 



They confirm, in our opinion, that the Forest Service has been a fairly tough 

 negotiator and has set rental fees that are significantly higher than most other 

 government or private rates. For example, in the most significant cases we could 

 find involving larger ski areas which lease lands from State or private landowners: 



25 areas in British Columbia, Canada, including the two largest areas 

 in all of Canada, Whistler Mountain and Blackcomb, are located on 

 provincial land and pay a flat fee of 2% of lift revenues 

 (approximately 1.4% of gross revenues) to the Provincial government. 

 In many areas, the government has also financed roads and other 

 infrastructure and makes the lease even more attractive by selling 

 valuable base property to the developer at raw land costs. 



5 areas in British Columbia located on Park land pay a fee of 2% of 

 gross revenues 



4 areas in Alberta, Canada, located on National Park land pay 2% of 

 gross revenues to the Crown 



the Mt. Tremblant ski area in Quebec, one of the oldest in North 

 America, pays a flat rate of $5,000 per year to the province, which 

 amounts to a mere 7/lOOths of one percent of gross revenues. In 

 recognition of this low flat rate, the area invested $21,000,000 in 

 capital improvements. 



