CHARLEMONT — Jon Schaefer, whose family owns Berkshire East Mountain Resort, has taken over operations of Burke Mountain Resort in northern Vermont.
The purchase, valued at $11.5 million, was approved in April by U.S. District Court Judge Darrin Gayles in Miami, Florida. This deal ends a decade-long federal receivership for Burke Mountain and begins a new chapter under Schaefer and Bear Den Partners LLC.
In a message sent to season pass holders of Berkshire East and Catamount Mountain Resort, Schaefer shared that he and his partners had been working for four years to acquire Burke Mountain Resort. Their goal is to preserve the old-school charm of the nearly 70-year-old ski area while ensuring the business’s future stability. He also noted the resort’s special connection to his family.
“My wife grew up skiing at Burke Mountain, and my bachelor party was at the Kingdom Trails. Since then, it’s felt like home to me too,” Schaefer wrote. “The community here shares many of the same values as the Berkshires. For nearly five years, I have been working on business plans, infrastructure development, and operations to buy Burke out of receivership with a great group of partners.”
Bear Den Partners includes the Schaefer family; the Graham family, represented by Ken Graham, whose father briefly owned the resort in the early 2000s; Burke Mountain Academy, represented by Head of School Willy Booker; and other investors such as employees, pass holders, and ski enthusiasts.
Schaefer expressed gratitude to those who stayed loyal to Burke Mountain through difficult times. “Employees, pass holders, condo owners, residents, and frequent visitors who stuck with this mountain through nine years of limbo—you are rock stars. You made it,” he said. “For the first time in nearly a decade, Burke Mountain isn’t at the center of an international investment scandal.”
Burke Mountain entered federal receivership in 2016 after its owner, Ariel Quiros, was accused of defrauding foreign investors of more than $200 million.
Looking ahead, Bear Den Partners has prepared both short-term and long-term plans for the resort. These plans include an additional $10 million investment in infrastructure upgrades.