Royal Gorge ski resort at Donner Summit, crippled by debt and a stalled development plan, is in receivership but will remain open.
The 40-year-old Soda Springs venue, which calls itself North America's largest cross-country resort, was put under control of a court-appointed receiver last month.
The move came after its lender, Armed Forces Bank, slapped Royal Gorge's ownership group with a default notice in late June for nonpayment of a $16.7 million loan.
The owners, led by Bay Area developer Kirk Syme, bought the resort in 2005 and began planning a big housing project. It was instantly controversial with environmentalists and never materialized.
Default notices often lead eventually to foreclosure, with the lender taking ownership. For now, the bank has obtained a court order that leaves ownership to the Syme group but operational control to a receiver, the Douglas Wilson Companies of San Diego.
Robert Richley, president of the Wilson firm, said Friday the resort is operating "business as usual."
He said the receivership includes the historic Rainbow Lodge restaurant and inn along Interstate 80. But it doesn't include Ice Lakes Lodge, another fixture of the 2,900-acre property, which has a separate ownership structure.
Efforts to reach Syme for comment were unsuccessful. Officials with the bank also couldn't be reached.
Syme and two partners, cousins Todd and Mark Foster, paid a reported $35 million for the property, as land prices peaked. Their dream of building 900 residential units on the resort hit rough sledding with environmentalists and failed to get far with regulatory agencies.
"Hopefully we can now put behind us the misguided development that was proposed," said Tom Mooers of the conservation group Sierra Watch.
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