New York Attorney General Letitia James has won her case against Intermountain Management, the owner of two Syracuse-area ski resorts, after a judge ruled the company illegally eliminated competition by purchasing and shutting down its main rival, Toggenburg Mountain. The ruling found that Intermountain’s actions violated state antitrust laws, harming skiers by reducing choices, raising prices, and overcrowding slopes.
“Syracuse skiing families and workers long benefited from fierce competition among their local ski mountains, but this experience went downhill fast after Intermountain bought Toggenburg,” James said. “Intermountain paid a premium price to destroy competition because its owners knew they could raise prices and profit more with a monopoly.”
Intermountain, which owns Labrador and Song Mountains, acquired Toggenburg in 2021 and immediately shut it down. The company then imposed a deed restriction barring any future owner from operating the property as a ski resort. Additionally, the company entered into a non-competition agreement with Toggenburg’s sellers, preventing them from opening a competing ski business within a 30-mile radius for five years and prohibiting them from hiring Intermountain employees.
The Attorney General’s lawsuit, filed in 2022, alleged that Intermountain’s owners, Peter Harris and Richard Sykes, had been plotting the takeover for years, repeatedly courting Toggenburg’s owner through social events and even staging a “faux buy” through a third party. The court determined that Intermountain’s purchase of Toggenburg was designed to create a monopoly and drive up profits at the expense of consumers. The ruling also found that the company’s “no-poach” agreement was illegal and served no legitimate business purpose.
Judge Robert E. Antonacci II granted the Attorney General’s motion for summary judgment, declaring that Intermountain’s market allocation scheme violated state law. Further proceedings will determine the penalties and remedies for the company’s anticompetitive behavior.
This case is part of Attorney General James’ broader efforts to crack down on corporate monopolies and protect consumer rights in New York State.
FingerLakes1.com is the region’s leading all-digital news publication. The company was founded in 1998 and has been keeping residents informed for more than two decades. Have a lead? Send it to [email protected].