Despite the hype we undoubtedly created when we wrote about New Hampshire's Whaleback Mountain going up for auction for under a million bucks, the August 2nd auction was a muted affair. About 20 people gathered for the 11 AM bidding at the base of the mountain, but despite the auctioneer's attempts at humoring an "expressionless man" with a grim poker face, no one seemed into bidding, and the only person to raise their hand was a gentleman from Randolph National Bank - the guys who'd held Whaleback's mortage and who got the ski area for the reserve price of $848,000, down from the auctioneer's starting bid of $2 million.
The Upper Valley Snow Sports Foundation, who'd previously made their interest in purchasing the mountain public, did not bid, but remained optimistic at their chances of keeping the small ski area open this winter. As UVSSF chairman John Schiffman told the reporter from the Valley News, "There may be one or two other parties interested in doing the same thing (operating Whaleback as a community-centric ski area) for less than the reserve price."
· Whaleback on the Block [Valley News]
· Whaleback Mountain archives [Curbed Ski]