Mount Waterman, the rustic ski hill tucked into the Angeles National Forest and billed as the closest ski resort to Los Angeles, is back on the market for $3,275,000 after a deal to turn it into an exclusive private club collapsed. The resort was relisted in September, nearly two years after a buyer first announced plans to transform it into a members-only mountain retreat complete with helicopter access and powder-day exclusivity.
The saga began in October 2024, when Angeles Mountain Partners LLC announced it had purchased Mount Waterman and promised to reopen the resort for the 2024-2025 winter season, according to a company news release cited by SFGATE. But listing agent Marc Ramirez said the firm never actually closed escrow on the property. Instead, Ramirez said, the company issued purchase marketing materials before the sale was ever finalized.
At the center of those marketing materials was Waterman100, a planned 100-member club that would have reserved the mountain's best conditions for paying members. Joshua Shelton, identified as a co-founder of Angeles Mountain Partners, said in an October 2024 news release that Waterman100 would reserve the resort's best conditions for its members. Club materials promised private powder days, helipad access, preferred event entry and even limited ownership in the project, along with unlimited lifetime slope access for members and their immediate families. The plan called for members to be flown to the mountain by chartered helicopters, with the company planning to limit post-storm bluebird-day access to Waterman100 members specifically, according to the Los Angeles Times. Membership pricing ranged from $100,000 for the first 25 slots up to $250,000 for members 76 through 100, plus $5,000 in annual dues, the Times reported.
Why the Deal Fell Apart
Ramirez said the sale ultimately fell through due to a combination of factors: delays from the U.S. Forest Service, the 2025 Los Angeles wildfires, and the death of one of the sellers. Rick Metcalf, who had gathered friends to purchase Mount Waterman decades earlier, died in 2025. Transferring the resort's special-use permit took nearly all of 2025, and Ramirez said Angeles Mountain Partners ultimately did not have the funds to complete the deal, prompting the buyers to withdraw from the permit process altogether.
The U.S. Forest Service approved the special-use permit in December 2025, but by then the deal had already unraveled. The property was taken off the market in January, per Ramirez, before being relisted in September at a higher price than its earlier 2024 listing of $2,275,000. The sale does not include any land — buyers would instead receive a 20-year special permit from the Forest Service to operate the ski area, along with existing chairlifts, a warming hut with a kitchen, bar and lounge, a ski patrol building, and two mobile employee-housing trailers.
A History of Starts and Stops
Mount Waterman's struggles are not new. Founded in 1939, the resort was owned by the same family from its founding through the 1990s, when it was sold to a group of businessmen. It closed from July 2001 through February 2009 after the ownership group failed to meet Forest Service operating requirements, and the agency considered revoking its permit during that closure. Metcalf gathered friends to buy the resort, and it reopened in 2008.
Even under the Metcalf family's ownership, reliable operation proved elusive. From 2011 through 2017, Mount Waterman opened for only a few dozen days as it battled higher temperatures, reduced snowfall and destructive wildfires, the Times reported. On average, the resort was open to the public just 12 to 25 days a year. The ski area relies entirely on natural snowfall and cannot open during drier winters, since any snowmaking system would require new Forest Service approval — something the earlier buyers had also planned to pursue, along with new approvals for proposed cabins and an outdoor event venue.
The Bigger Climate Picture
The Bigger Climate Picture Mount Waterman's inconsistent seasons reflect broader pressures facing small ski operations in Southern California. A study projected that Western U.S. snowpack would decline, the Times reported. The San Gabriel Mountains have experienced destructive wildfires. Even so, Mount Waterman has drawn investor interest, even as the national ski industry logged a record 65.4 million visits during the 2022-23 season.
Ramirez told SFGATE he is now seeking a buyer who will operate Mount Waterman for public access rather than as a private resort, a notable shift from the exclusivity pitch that defined the Angeles Mountain Partners proposal. The Forest Service had previously signaled it would not allow exclusive use of the public land, according to the Times.
