It’s a pity Lew Campbell wasn’t able to capitalise on this past week’s snow, but he definitely hopes we’ll see similar snow next year because he plans to have Tiffindell up and running by next winter.

Lew is the proud new owner of SA’s only ski resort, and he has plans to turn Tiffindell into something that will rival that of many a European resort.

Lew has a long history of being involved in the ski industry and has been training skiers and snowboarders, selling ski equipment, and organising skiing holiday packages for South Africans since 1983.

Tiffindell has suffered years of neglect, and it was only fitting that someone who actually knows what they’re doing when it comes to skiing in South Africa, acquired the awesome property.

Lew definitely struck gold last month when he picked up the resort at an auction for the bargain price of R5,5 million. He said yesterday that he was “delighted” to own it, and looked forward to restoring it.

Situated on the Ben McDhui peak in the southern region of the Drakensberg, the resort has chalets that can accommodate about 140 people.

The resort has in the past operated a ski school and equipment hire shop, and had a beginners’ slope, gully slope and main slope serviced by a ski lift.

Lew said:

The process of buying Tiffindell has been a pleasure from start to finish. The auctioneers facilitated the transaction quickly and seamlessly and, as a lifelong skier, I am truly excited to have the opportunity to develop a skier’s paradise in SA.

He planned to have the resort operating in a limited capacity by next winter, and hoped to have it fully operational by 2014.

Stephen Meyer, CEO of The High Street Auction Company, which along with Ndlali Michael James Auctioneers conducted the sale of the resort, was pleased with how everything had finally come together:

Not only was the auction extremely well attended, but we are also overjoyed that as a passionate skier himself, Mr Campbell is the perfect buyer for Tiffindell. Certainly the right buyer was matched with the right property.

The resort has been closed for more than two years now, but Nick Pretorius, High Street sales director, said that although a fair amount of money would be required to renovate Tiffindell, the R5,5 million winning bid reflected a fair market value for the property.

We still think Lew got a killer deal.

[Source: BusinessDay]