Black Mountain

Black Mountain describes itself as serving skiers "since 1935," per its own "The Mountain" history page, which also states that its J-Bar -- originally installed as the "Shovel Handle" -- was "the first overhead cable lift in the country." The Fichera family took over ownership of Black Mountain in 1995, and Doug Fichera, who "grew up on the mountain since 1995," was later named director of mountain operations under new ownership, per NH Business Review. On October 13, 2023, the Fichera family announced Black Mountain would not open for the 2023-2024 season, citing "soaring energy costs, unpredictable weather, extreme staffing shortages throughout the region, and many other challenges," according to Boston.com. About a week later, on October 20, 2023, Indy Pass announced it would provide resources for the Fichera family to operate for one more season while a buyer was sought; Erik Mogensen -- founder of Indy Pass's parent company, Entabeni Systems -- said at the time, "We are not interested in owning ski resorts but are firmly committed to supporting independent operators like Black Mountain," per Boston.com. On October 4, 2024, Entabeni Systems announced it had purchased Black Mountain's operating entity, calling itself the "temporary owner" for the upcoming season, according to NH Business Review; Andy Shepard was named director of community engagement under the new ownership. At that same announcement, Mogensen stated his goal was to "transfer the area to a cooperative model," and Boston.com reported the plan was for Black Mountain to become a community co-op by the start of the 2025-26 season, quoting Mogensen: "This place needs to be owned by the people that are in this room. Period." Looking back on the fundraising effort in his March 12, 2026 letter on Black Mountain's own site, Mogensen wrote that the planned community corporation had sold all 15 of its $250,000 Class A shares plus over one-third of its $25,000 Class B shares, with more than 2,600 people expressing interest in $5,000 Class C shares. In that same letter, Mogensen announced the co-op conversion plan was being abandoned: Entabeni Systems would instead remain "the long-term custodian and again 100% owner of Black Mountain," buying back all shareholder stock "at par to their original purchase price," and relocating operations to "New Hampshire and the Mount Washington Valley." On March 17, 2026, Boston.com reported that Entabeni's headquarters, along with Indy Pass's, would move from Colorado to Jackson, N.H., and that Mogensen had purchased Black Mountain outright for a second time, intending to make it "a laboratory for solving the challenges facing independent ski areas." As of these March 2026 announcements, Black Mountain is not community- or cooperatively-owned: it is owned outright by Erik Mogensen through Entabeni Systems, the parent company of Indy Pass, after the planned community co-op conversion was called off.