Jay Peak Resort

Jay Peak, Inc. was incorporated around April 1955 under founding president Harold Haynes, per New England Ski History's Jay Peak page. The resort's first lift, a Poma platter lift installed in 1956, began operating on January 6, 1957, marking Jay Peak's first ski season, 1956-57. Weyerhaeuser Company acquired a financing stake in the mid-1960s to fund expansion, then sold its interest in 1978 to the owners of Mont Saint-Sauveur, in Quebec. Mont Saint-Sauveur International recruited Bill Stenger as general manager in 1985. The aerial tramway, built by Von Roll, was installed in 1966-67; its cabins were later replaced with Garaventa-built cars around 2000, and the tram was retrofitted again in 2017, per Wikipedia's Jay Peak Resort article. The Green Mountain Flyer, a high-speed detachable quad chairlift, was installed for the 1999-2000 season. Ariel Quiros, through Q Resorts, purchased Jay Peak in 2008 for $15 million plus assumption of $8.5 million in debt; Bill Stenger remained as president and CEO. Starting around 2008, ownership used the federal EB-5 immigrant investor visa program to finance expansion, including a hotel, ice arena, parking garage, and the Pump House indoor water park, which opened in 2011. On April 14, 2016, the SEC charged Jay Peak Inc., Ariel Quiros, William Stenger, and related entities with securities fraud — of more than $350 million raised from EB-5 investors, more than $200 million misused in a "Ponzi-like" fashion — and a federal court appointed a receiver, per SEC Press Release 2016-69. Quiros pleaded guilty to wire fraud, money laundering, and obstruction of justice and was sentenced to five years in federal prison, per reporting dated April 29, 2022. Stenger pleaded guilty to making false statements in 2021 and was later sentenced to 18 months in prison, of which he served about 10 months, three years of home confinement, and a $250,000 fine. In September 2022, Pacific Group Resorts placed the winning $76 million bid in the court-supervised receivership auction for Jay Peak; the sale closed on November 2, 2022. In February 2024, Jay Peak fired five employees after a photo showing them posing in a Nazi salute was posted on social media.