{"id":101,"date":"2026-05-20T17:38:12","date_gmt":"2026-05-20T17:38:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alaskamovingnetwork.com\/?p=101"},"modified":"2026-05-20T17:38:12","modified_gmt":"2026-05-20T17:38:12","slug":"juneau-assembly-officially-backs-out-of-eaglecrest-ski-areas-gondola-project","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alaskamovingnetwork.com\/?p=101","title":{"rendered":"Juneau Assembly officially backs out of Eaglecrest Ski Area\u2019s gondola project"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

The Juneau Assembly voted on Monday night to divest from Eaglecrest Ski Area\u2019s gondola project and pay back a $10 million investment from Goldbelt Incorporated.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Read more Firefighters battle 5-acre blaze in South Anchorage<\/a><\/p>\n

The vote marks a reversal of the Assembly\u2019s controversial 2022 decision to purchase the gondola for the city-owned ski area. It comes after the Assembly learned the project\u2019s price tag would be nearly four times more than expected due to additional parts, high construction costs and tariffs on imports.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Despite backing out of the estimated $37 million project, Juneau taxpayers still fronted more than $12 million up to this point, which includes the payback to Goldbelt approved Monday night.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\nDue to compounding monthly interest on the investment, the city actually owes Goldbelt around $12.2 million. But it has roughly $2.7 million still set aside for the project, so it will pay about $9.5 million. The money comes from the city\u2019s general fund.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\nAssembly member Alicia Hughes-Skandijs said the Assembly should avoid making a mistake this big again. She was one of the few members who were around in 2022 when a slim majority of members voted to purchase the gondola. She voted against it back then.<\/p>\n

\n\u201cSincerely, I\u2019m sorry that things went this way,\u201d she said during the meeting. \u201cI think it\u2019s really important that we study it after it is over so we know that we\u2019re not going to make a mistake of the same size.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Anchorage Assembly considers public safety advisory commission reboot<\/a><\/p>\n

\nWith its initial purchase, the gondola was hailed as a saving grace for Juneau\u2019s ski area, which has struggled to maintain infrastructure and pay its staff without subsidies from the city. The ski area\u2019s plan to become self-sustainable was heavily reliant on the success of the gondola to promote summer-time operations.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\nBut now that it\u2019s done for, the fate of Eaglecrest\u2019s future hangs in the balance. Last week, the Assembly voted to subsidize the ski area so it can stay open next season on a barebones budget, with a cut to nearly half the staff. What will come after that is still up in the air.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\nMayor Beth Weldon voted in favor of divesting from the project despite originally voting for the gondola\u2019s purchase.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\u201cWe did not come up with the idea for the gondola \u2014 that was totally the general manager and the board at the time,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd we grasped at the straw, trying to save Eaglecrest. So call us gullible, call us naive, but that\u2019s what we were trying to do, so that was our intent.\u201d<\/p>\n

Assembly member Nano Brooks was the only member to vote against the decision. He argued the Assembly should hold off until next year to search for other options.\u00a0 <\/p>\n

Read more After Anchorage\u2019s fourth police shooting of the year, police chief calls for broader discussion on gun violence<\/a><\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 KTOO<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The vote marks a reversal of the Assembly\u2019s controversial 2022 decision to purchase the gondola for the city-owned ski area.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":100,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-101","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nJuneau Assembly officially backs out of Eaglecrest Ski Area\u2019s gondola project - Alaska Moving Network<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/alaskamovingnetwork.com\/?p=101\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Juneau Assembly officially backs out of Eaglecrest Ski Area\u2019s gondola project - 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