Eagle Crest faces $1.68M subsidy request or severe cuts

Eagle Crest's board told the Anchorage Assembly Finance Committee Tuesday that operating at the city's historical $930,000 subsidy level would require cuts so severe the facility might not survive the season.

The ski area presented three budget scenarios for fiscal year 2027. The $930,000 scenario would slash staff by 56 percent to 18 full-time employees, cut operating days from 86 to 66, and eliminate food service and most maintenance capacity.

"This scenario would just eliminate our capacity to address planned and unplanned maintenance," an Eagle Crest board member said. "We could stub a toe and not be able to keep the door open in this scenario."

The board recommended a $1.68 million subsidy instead. That is still $750,000 less than the negative fund balance Eagle Crest originally requested, but enough to maintain what board members called bare minimum operations. That scenario cuts staff by 44 percent to 27 full-time employees while preserving enough administrative support for a new general manager to plan for the facility's future.

"It takes money to plan to make money, and that's the part of this budget that's missing," the board member said of the $930,000 scenario.

Eagle Crest Acting General Manager Erin Lupra walked the committee through the cuts required under the lower subsidy. The facility would eliminate Wednesdays and holiday Mondays from the schedule, operate only 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. instead of extending to 4 p.m. in spring, and start the season later near Christmas break. The ski area would eliminate in-house food service without the staff bandwidth to recruit a vendor. It would cut travel, training and certifications that keep ski patrol and instructors current.

"It eliminates travel, training, and certifications," the board member said. "So travel, training, and certifications all lead to acceptable levels of safety and operations, safety for people that recreate at the ski area, safety for the employees."

The facility would also reduce retail and repair service. Eagle Crest is the only place in Juneau where downhill skis can be mounted or serviced.

"All this adds up and more, adds up to an incredible loss of resilience," the board member said.

Board members acknowledged the $930,000 scenario represents a real budget Eagle Crest could attempt to run. But they compared it to driving from Chicago to San Francisco in a car without oil or a working water pump.

The revenue projections of $2.1 million already reflect downward adjustments from poor recent seasons, Lupra said. Eagle Crest started this winter with maintenance issues that prevented lifts from running despite good snow, and season pass sales plummeted.