COKEVILLE, Wyo. — A vandalism incident at Pine Creek Ski Resort in Cokeville left members of the family-operated business scrambling to mitigate damage and resume operations last weekend.
Alicia Etcheverry, who manages Pine Creek with her husband Nathan and father-in-law Paul, told Buckrail that someone drove a UTV onto a beginner ski trail on Sunday evening. As the culprit reached the steeper pitches of the run, the vehicle’s tires began to spin, kicking up snow and eventually the mud and dirt beneath. Paul Etcheverry was able to cover the damaged area with snow using a snowcat, but warm temperatures in the forecast could cause the patch to melt sooner than the rest of the snow base. Shutting down operations early this winter is a fear that the company is hoping to avoid. If Mother Nature cooperates, the family plans to keep the ski area open through the end of March.
“When you get damage like that, it just exacerbates what we’re already facing,” Alicia Etcheverry said, referring to warm winter temperatures and below average snowfall. “We talked with the people who did it, they were apologetic, and we aren’t pressing any charges. They were remorseful. It was just poor decision making and they didn’t realize the effects of what they’d done. It could have huge financial ramifications.”
Paul Etcheverry is the general manager of Pine Creek and has been involved with operations since the 1970s. When he’s done grooming the trails, he oversees the mountain’s one chairlift. Installed in 2002, the quad lift gives skiers access to 1,450 vertical feet of terrain on 32 trails and 640 skiable acres. Pine Creek does not use any snow-making equipment and it is open to the public on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays throughout the winter, plus more days around school breaks and holidays. The mountain is available to be rented out for private parties on days that it’s not open to the public.
“As a small ski area, with a rural demographic, we don’t get the same mega volumes of skiers coming through,” said Alicia Etcheverry. “We don’t have the same resources as the big ski areas. … With the warm temps, we’ve been burning through and grooming everything we can. It’s a punch to morale.”
She said the silver lining in this incident is the way the Pine Creek community has rallied around the ski resort. Some regular skiers live locally and others travel two to three hours to ski with a season pass or a day pass. The loyal community has offered its support and praise for the mountain, and she said it’s nice to be reminded of the love and respect people have for the ski area. A Pine Creek Ski Resort social media post with photos of the tire tracks received numerous comments of support and frustration on behalf of Pine Creek.
“It’s nice to raise awareness to this,” she said, “being mindful of business operations and all the people affected by it, from people who ski and have a good time as well as the employees.”
