Telluride Ski Resort Sues Three Local Officials Over Alleged Sale Pressure

Telluride Ski Resort filed a civil lawsuit in San Miguel County District Court on February 24 accusing two former elected officials and a sitting town manager of orchestrating a pressure campaign to force the sale of a majority stake in the resort, allegedly using a ski patrol strike as leverage to do it.

The complaint, filed by lawyers for TSG Ski and Golf LLC, the resort's operating entity, names former Mountain Village mayor Marti Prohaska, former Telluride Mayor Pro Tem Meehan Fee, and Mountain Village Town Manager Paul Wisor as defendants. According to the complaint, Fee and Prohaska offered to purchase a 51% share of the resort for $127.5 million on behalf of a group of unnamed investors while allegedly claiming they had the power to influence whether that deal came together on favorable terms.

The lawsuit's core allegation is stark: "Defendants have used their official powers to harass and pressure Telski into engaging in a financial transaction that it would not otherwise have contemplated, while promising to reward Telski — so long as it sold out to them and kept quiet." The complaint further accuses the three of having "colluded and acted in concert" with an "objective of harming Telski by keeping the resort closed and/or leveraging their position to purchase Telski under favorable terms."

Central to the case is the ski patrol strike that began December 27, 2025, and kept the mountain closed through at least January 7, 2026, during what would have been prime holiday season. Telski alleges that Prohaska and Fee "represented that they had the power to control a labor strike, and other resources, that prevented the resort from being open and operational" during that window. The resort is seeking several million dollars in lost revenue attributed to the closure. Wisor, for his part, is alleged to have been "instrumental in coordinating the deal and drafting the contract." The complaint frames the entire scheme as a civil conspiracy and calls it a "self-serving" attempt to acquire the mountain at the expense of resort owner Chuck Horning.

Since the lawsuit was filed, the fallout among the defendants has been swift. Prohaska resigned from her position in mid-January, before the complaint was even filed. Fee initially said she would temporarily step back from her duties during the town's investigation but later announced she will resign once that inquiry concludes. Both Mountain Village and Telluride are now conducting formal investigations into the matter.

The lawsuit arrives against a backdrop of long-running friction between Horning and the two mountain towns. At a recent public meeting, town staffers prepared an 11-question PowerPoint for Horning centered on leadership, transparency, and community commitment. Horning did not appear. Telluride council member Dan Enright captured the room's mood plainly: "I don't feel like that trust is there. I don't think I can trust Mr. Horning's word, and his failure to show up today is the prime example of that. I want to work with the ski company. You are the hub of our economy, sir. So we need you to support our community."

Resort spokesperson Nancy Clark acknowledged that town-resort tensions are not unique to Telluride. "For ski resorts, it is often perceived as 'biting the hand that feeds you.' And for towns, they often have a sense of entitlement for supporting the ski resort, and this can lead to friction," Clark said. "It is unfortunate, but it happens throughout the country."

Whether the courts find that what happened here crossed from friction into conspiracy will determine the next chapter for one of Colorado's most storied ski destinations.