Solitude Ski Resort's fortunes since its opening in 1957 have been as bumpy as its biggest moguls.
Launched by Bob Barrett on the profits he made mining uranium, Barrett quickly found that the two businesses, skiing and mining, had little in common even though his first ski lifts were cobbled together from old mining machines.Chris Allaire, spokesman for Solitude, recalls that in those early days the chairlift had a penchant for "rotating backward" at which times the occupants would have to bail out.
Barrett's squabbles with the U.S. Forest Service over the equipment and other issues were legend, and the first shutdown of the resort came barely three years after it opened only to reopen and then close again in 1974, this time not to open again until 1977.
That was the year that current owner Gary DeSeelhorst and some partners first became involved with Solitude.
A California native and graduate of San Jose State College, DeSeelhorst went to work for General Electric as a management trainee, working in a variety of positions with the company and eventually being transferred to Phoenix where he worked in the company's computer department.
In 1968, DeSeelhorst left GE and launched his own company, Newcorp Properties. Newcorp was the holding company for MLSI Manufactuers Leasing Services, a firm that leases and services computer equipment.
Its second subsidiary eventually became Solitude Ski Co.
On what he termed a "joke," after reading an ad in the Wall Street Journal seeking investors in the Utah ski resort, De-Seel-horst circled the ad and told his financial adviser to check it out.
To his surprise, the adviser told him it looked like a promising investment. That was 1976, and DeSeelhorst ended up taking a minority position in Solitude with the proviso that he would "get a free parka and be allowed to cut lift lines."
But DeSeelhorst's $100,000 investment wasn't enough to rescue Solitude, and by 1986 he knew he wanted to do just that. By 1986 he became the resort's majority owner.
"It's simple: I fell in love with the place, all of it. I love the community, the youth, the enthusiasm that the people here bring to it.
For my part, I brought some vision of what it could be and the skill in running it as a business."
Their investment in the ski resort has become a full-time job for the entire DeSeelhorst family, and they say they are committed to its success and are in it for the long haul.
Gary is president and chief executive officer of the resort company; son David is vice president of development, and son Scott is vice president of operations for Solitude Village. Gary's wife, Betsy, is also active in managing and operating the resort, and Gary gives her credit for much of their success so far. Their commitment is so deep they even make their home in the canyon.
"The ski industry today is dominated by corporations, and the result is it's losing its personality," said DeSeelhorst.
"It's a brutal business, terribly capital intensive, but we are going to keep Solitude's family orientation. I'm delighted my two sons are willing to be here with me and make it happen."