After laying dormant for over a decade, the Antelope Butte Foundation can now renovate lodges, fix ski lifts, and ultimately get the Antelope Butte ski area outside of Sheridan, WY back to snow business reports the Casper Star Tribune.
Related:Â Non-Profit Purchases Antelope Butte Ski Area in Wyoming for $275,000
The ability to start construction comes on the heels of a federal permitting process that ended Monday, giving members of the non-profit a special use permit to start construction at the defunct ski area. The special use permit allows the operators to being working on various ski area facilities including the lodge, chairlifts, and ski trails.
“The impact of Antelope Butte is so positive to our Sheridan community and there is an economic impact by attracting both locals and visitors.” –Â Jay McGinnis, Executive Director, Sheridan County YMCA
The permit was the last obstacle in the Antelope Butte Foundation’s long fight to bring the local’s ski area back to life in the otherwise barren ski landscape of the Big Horn mountains.
As of now, foundation officials are hoping to start renovation of the base lodge as soon as possible before starting on chairlifts next summer. The Antelope Butte Foundation hopes to open its slopes sometime during the winter of 2017/2018.
[sigallery id=”BDcwwAweb2y7oCgnSEmUmd” title=”Antelope Butte Ski Area” type=”sigallery”]
[All photos courtesy of the Antelope Butte Foundation]
Antelope Butte Mountain Stats
Annual Snowfall – 200″
Vertical Drop – 1001′
Skiable Terrain – 250 acres
Lifts – 3
Trails – 19
About The Antelope Butte Foundation
The Antelope Butte Foundation is a grassroots effort to reopen the Antelope Butte Mountain Recreation Area located in the Bighorn Mountains of northern Wyoming–as a year-round mountain recreation center!. We are endeavoring to restore the area to open in 2017.  View our 2015 Annual Report.
Find the entire Casper Star Tribune article here:Â Antelope Butte Foundation gets permit to start work