British Columbia Ski Resort Raises $10 Million via Equity Crowdfunding Campaign

2,923 crowdfunding investors decided to “Fight the Man and Own a Piece of the Mountain” by investing a minimum of $1,000 each on StartEngine.com 

By Robert Hoskins

Rossland, BC – On August 22, 2016, RED Mountain Resort launched a $10 million crowdfunding campaign on StartEngine.com called “Fight the Man. Own The Mountain.” This was the first time a for-profit ski resort explored equity crowdfunding and nobody at RED knew what to expect in Phase I, of the “Test The Waters” campaign. As of last Thursday morning (Feb. 9), RED hit their $10MM Reservation Goal — an historic achievement within the North American ski industry.

RED Mountain Resort launched a $10 million crowdfunding campaign on StartEngine

“We went into this campaign feeling that these were uncharted waters,” says RED CEO Howard Katkov. “But the response was immediate, passionate, and unequivocal. Our choice to plant the flag for independent skiing and snowboarding during a time of high-profile mergers and acquisitions really resonated.”

Since launch, “Fight the Man. Own The Mountain.” has been featured many times in the mainstream press across North America, and has been covered extensively by ski and snowboard outlets. The videos created for the campaign have so far received over half a million views.

Equity crowdfunding is a new style of investment and RED’s choice to accept a relatively low minimum reservation of $1,000 allowed “everyone from Lifties to Learjet owners” to make a reservation for this unique equity financing campaign. (And they did!) RED’s campaign on StartEngine will continue to take reservations as they prepare their auditing and legal documents to be provided to investors for Phase II, which is scheduled to launch in the Fall of 2017.

“Our goal was to hit $10 million in reservations by April, but we managed to hit that number months in advance. We now sincerely hope that a large percentage of the RED fans that pledged their support will convert their reservations to a real investment when the Phase II launches this fall,” says Katkov.

There are two exciting aspects of “Fight the Man. Own The Mountain.” in investment terms. The first is the “Last In, First Out” feature. What this means is that investors in Phase II — whether they’re in for $1,000, $25,000 or more — would receive their investment back before all previous equity investors. The second is the “rewards” associated with each level of investment, from lift tickets, custom skis or snowboards, season and family passes and access to a purpose-built clubhouse and overnight cabins. These rewards are laid out in the StartEngine platform.

RED Mountain is the oldest ski resort in Western Canada and has been the site of many firsts: First World Cup ski race in Canada; one of the largest terrain expansions in North America in over 40 years… This campaign marks another first — the opportunity through equity crowdfunding to own a slice of world-class ski resort for as little as $1,000.

“The groundswell of support from the snow community, the press, and investors has been nothing short of astonishing,” says Katkov. “The success of the campaign, thus far, has been a nice reminder of just how passionate and free-spirited the ski and snowboard community really is. It’s been an incredible winter so far and I’ve had a number of guests come up to me and say they booked their ski week at RED after hearing about us through the campaign. Some of them invested, some of them didn’t, but all of them sensed that we have something special going on in Rossland and needed to check it out in person. And to us, that means more than anything. We can’t wait for what the future holds.”

RED is the last great, unspoiled resort. Located in Rossland, BC, 1st stop on Canada’s famous Powder Highway, RED delivers 2,877 acres of pristine, unfettered skiing. RED recently added nearly 1,000 acres of intermediate to advanced terrain on Grey Mountain.

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Robert Hoskins
(512) 627-6622
@Crowdfunding_PR

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Mr. Robert Hoskins is a seasoned marketing veteran with a proven track record of helping entrepreneurs, startups, small businesses as well as Fortune 500 corporations launch successful marketing communications campaigns to gain market traction for a wide variety of products and services.

On a regular basis, Mr. Hoskins consults with crowdfunding campaign managers as well as crowdfunding sites, portals and platforms to deliver successful crowdfunding marketing campaigns.

Google search “Robert Hoskins Crowdfunding” to see why Mr. Hoskins is considered one of the industry’s foremost crowdfunding experts that has amassed a huge social media following, which is dedicated to supporting donation-, rewards- and equity-based crowdfunding campaigns.

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RED Mountain Resort Makes History to Secure Future via Title IV Regulation A+ Equity Crowdfunding

“Fight the Man. Own the Mountain.”

By Robert Hoskins

Rossland, BC – RED Mountain Resort, the oldest ski resort in Western Canada, is dropping into the history books this week. The fierce, independent mountain that is the first stop on British Columbia’s famous Powder Highway is bucking the trend of MegaResort mergers and acquisitions and taking its next capital campaign to the people via equity crowdfunding. 

RED Mountain Resort Makes History to Secure Future via Equity Crowdfunding Campaign

RED’s equity crowdfunding campaign through StartEngine.com goes live August 23rd and will allow hardcore skiers, snowboarders and savvy investors to put their money where their heart is — and come away with actual ownership of a marquee ski resort.

On August 23rd, you can access the campaign page here. 

“RED started as a ski club that was owned by the community,” explains RED CEO Howard Katkov. “You can feel it in the spirit of the place, the camaraderie, the spark. We have done everything in our power these last 12 years to keep that flame alive and this StartEngine.com campaign is simply the latest expression of our intent to keep RED independent and thriving. Our shared community values and the current consolidation of the resort industry make NOW the perfect time to help save this ‘endangered species’. We’re ‘ReBooting’ the Red Mountain Ski Club Community Ownership Model from 1947 — only this time the clubhouse will have wireless!”

The sport of skiing truly has changed immeasurably in the last 20 years with luxury shopping malls at base areas, covered escalators to the lift line, water parks — with all of this ‘growth’ funded by skiers whether they support it or not. Regular ski families are routinely being priced out by corporate decisions made many time zones away from the mountain communities they affect. Skiing and snowboarding are now on the cusp of becoming pursuits for the elite like polo or Formula 1 and RED Mountain is keen to reverse this corporate tide before it’s too late.

“RED Mountain is an endangered species within the ski resort world,” says Katkov. “We have the snowfall, vertical drop and world-class terrain to go boot-to-boot with the Big Guys, but have consciously maintained our mom ‘n’ pop/weird uncle feel for over 100 years. We’re tired of seeing families priced out of a premier ski vacation by chains. And we think that RED Mountain’s preservation as a fiercely independent, non-corporate entity is beyond worthwhile.”

Round 1 of the equity crowdfunding campaign, which goes live August 23rd, is deemed “Test the Waters,” and parties can express interest in the investment without handing over any actual money now or later. (The “Test the Waters” phase is similar to a reservation or a hyper-convoluted “Like” Button and is 100% risk-free.) RED is setting the minimum buy-in at $1000, considerably lower than many tech and transportation offerings and startups on StartEngine.com.

When the Test the Waters campaign gains sufficient traction, RED will file an offering statement with the SEC in the United States and prepare a Canadian offering memorandum to launch RED’s offering with real dollars, actual equity, and unique perks are sure to appeal to ski and snowboard enthusiasts especially.

“This is truly a once in a lifetime opportunity,” says Katkov. “It’s never been done this way before, with a For-Profit ski resort soliciting community funding through equity crowdfunding, a kind of ‘third way’… We like to joke around the office that we’re going to be the Green Bay Packers of the ski world. It’s a legitimate opportunity to actually own every asset of this place: The mountain, the chairlifts, the lodge, snow making — you name it.”

RED Mountain Resort is coming off its best fiscal year ever with deep snow and sales up across all major categories. The last three seasons have seen the resort enter the big leagues by opening Grey Mountain and adding ~1,000 acres of skiable terrain in the process, putting it on par with Breckenridge and Jackson Hole, size-wise.

RED also launched Get Lost Adventure Centre to round out its Four Season adventure offerings, and the Legacy Training Centre to underscore RED’s reputation for breeding top notch kick-ass ski racers. This newest equity crowdfunding campaign is aimed at continuing this momentum, keeping this grand adventure real and sustainable for years to come.

All monies raised for this campaign will go toward improving the adventure here at RED such as: additional run development for expanded cat skiing on Mount Kirkup; building a new restaurant, clubhouse, and overnight on mountain cabins at the top of Grey Mountain; chairlift extension for multi-mountain access; spring and summer multi-use top to bottom trail expansion for hiking and mountain biking; and more. Investments will also support the creation of an annual local academic Scholarship fund for higher education.

“See, we aren’t just ‘keeping it real’ for us,” adds Katkov. “We’re keeping it real foreveryone. This is serious. That’s why we call ourselves a Keystone Species. We believe that keeping a place like this thriving betters the sport for everyone in a time where families that love this mountain lifestyle are getting priced out left and right. Skiing and snowboarding should never become elite sports. That’s just wrong.”

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