The Department of Justice, part of the US Federal Government, is reported to be looking at the planned purchase of Colorado's Arapahoe Basin ski area by the Alterra Mountain Company.
The department last looked at Arapahoe Basin when a deal to buy it nearly three decades ago when it ended up blocking Vail Resorts' planned purchase of it along with Breckenridge and Keystone as Vail Resorts were starting their rise to domination of the US ski industry. Vail got Breckenridge and Keystone but Arapahoe Basin was sold to a Canadian company which has since morphed into the business now planning to sell the resort to Alterra.
At the time the Department of Justice said their aim was to maintain competition to ensure prices stayed as low as they could be for Colorado skiers.
In the years since, Vail Resorts has grown to operate 36 US ski areas along with resorts in Australia, Switzerland and Canada and North America's largest, Whistler Blackcomb. In Colorado they operate Beaver Creek, Breckenridge, Crested Butte, Keystone and Vail.
The Alterra Mountain Company, only established in 2018 by the owners of aspen Snowmass, operates 18 North American resorts including Colorado's Steamboat and Winter Park ski areas.
Arapahoe Basin is one of the world's highest and most snowsure ski area with a season that typically lasts from late October to early June.