Residents in the Big Horn Mountains are looking to breathe new life into an old ski area.
The Antelope Butte Ski Area was a small community ski hill that opened in the 1960s and closed in 2004. In 2010 local residents banded together in an effort to revive the hill and created the Antelope Butte Foundation - a nonprofit group.
This year the Forest Service completed an appraisal of the area, and new employees were brought on board to help fundraise over 4 million dollars to reopen it.
Jamie Shectman came on as Executive Director of the organization just a few weeks ago. He says what will make it successful today is offering not only skiing, but summer activities as well.
"This has been really the secret sauce. You know, they’re going to get $4 million and a forward thinking group to create a year round facility, not just a 1960s ski area that’s a dying breed," he says.
Shectman mentions mountain biking, ziplines, and even using the lodge as an event center as possibilities for summer at the recreation area. The foundation hopes to raise enough money to open Antelope Butte in the next year or two.