After failing in 2024 to convince the Elko Planning Commission to approve a public ski area, a California businessman and Elko County ranch owner has been OK'd to build a private facility on his sprawling ranch that extends into the Ruby Mountains. 

The commission approved construction of a lodge with a handful of guest rooms and five chairlifts.

The approval comes about a year and a half after the Elko County Planning Commission denied a request by Peter Christodoulo, a partner at a Bay Area technology investment firm, to rezone several thousand acres he owns to develop a public ski facility. 

At the time, Christodoulo said he was OK with that decision because he would seek to build a private facility.

"Our family loves this generational property as well as the surrounding area and this conditional use permit would give us better access to our very rugged and beautiful mountain terrain," he wrote in the conditional use application.

Over roughly 3½ hours, dozens of residents at Thursday night's meeting took sides on the issue, with nearly four dozen more comments submitted in writing. Most people told commissioners they were against the project.

"The same view that inspires photographers and artists, that fills living room windows and that never fails to take our breath away as we top over the Lamoille Summit, truly belongs to all of us," Carol Evans wrote to the commission. "Purchase of property with an existing Open Space designation should not include an expectation that a Conditional Use Permit will be granted, especially if the use carries a risk of adverse and permanent impacts to the environment and to local communities."

The seven-member planning commission ultimately voted 5-2 to approve Christodoulo's request with a laundry list of conditions, including no night skiing and the removal of the chairlifts if they don't operate for five years. 

Commissioners Richard Genseal and Dena Hartley were opposed, with Genseal saying the new request was just putting a "different color lipstick on the same pig." 

A 10-day appeal period runs through March 30. If it is appealed, it will go before the county's board of commissioners. 

"In this situation, nobody really wins," Chairman Mark Wetmore said. 

'An awful lot of friends'

In 2024, Christodoulo purchased nearly 3,000 acres that stretch from behind the bedroom community of Spring Creek up to the crest of the Rubies, known as the "Swiss Alps of Nevada."

Ruby Mountain Ranch had a listing price of $3.49 million. It extends up to more than 9,400 feet with north-facing terrain and butts against Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest land.

The ranch purchase included two lots — a lower 900-acre parcel and an upper, 2,296-acre parcel. The planning commission approved rezoning the smaller, lower-elevation parcel near Spring Creek, while voting down his original plan for a commercial ski resort, 4-1, with two commissioners absent.

Christodoulo previously told The Nevada Independent he was looking to build a resort with an old-school Jackson Hole vibe. He estimated about 1,200 to 1,500 acres of his property are suitable for skiing — about the size of Mt. Rose Ski Tahoe, just west of Reno. He also said his property has roughly as much skiable, vertical drop as the Sierra's iconic Palisades Tahoe.

That plan had prompted online petitioners in favor and against the project to gather hundreds of signatures and brought "tensions in the community … to the fore," according to Christodoulo's most recent application.

When the commission denied his original request, Christodoulo said he could still ski on the property by using a snowcat or installing a private lift.

The updated plan is a "much more modest request," according to the applicant, who did not appear in person and was represented by Mike and Mitch Shanks of Elko-based Modern Land and Development Construction LLC. 

They asked for permission to build a private lodge with up to five rooms for rent that could also provide meals. The facility would be used primarily by friends and family, according to the applicant, and visitors would not be allowed to stay for more than 28 consecutive days. The applicant also mentioned mountain biking as a recreational use.

"You must have an awful lot of friends," Hartley said. 

Read more: A ski resort in the Ruby Mountains? No thanks, Elko County says

Read more: Could Elko's Ruby Mountains be home to Nevada's next ski resort?

The proposed plan would allow them to "recreate on and better access the land in summer and winter" and would be "quite low impact and environmentally conscious compared with other potential uses for the site." 

The Shanks said the scale of the project is smaller now that it is intended for private use. 

The first chair lift will start at 7,100 feet, where skiers can dismount and board two other lifts if they choose — one that would take them to the ridge or another that would take them to another drainage area, where two additional lifts would offer access to the slopes. 

The chairlifts are slated to seat three skiers per chair, with no current plans for a gondola. 

The lodge will be situated about 2.5 miles from the nearest residential property in Spring Creek. 

The community will benefit from an increased tax base and seasonal jobs, Mike Shanks said.

"This is a good fit for the zoning that's out there, it's consistent with the zoning," he said. 

And, "if the community came to him, he would consider" making it public,  Shanks said.

The Rubies are a popular summer recreation area known for its camping and fishing, and the Ruby Crest Trail is a popular backpacking area, but winter access is limited. Roads close because of snow and there is no formal ski infrastructure, despite the range featuring 10 peaks above 10,000. In an average year, the range receives about 300 inches of snow.

Access is largely limited to companies that offer guided helicopter trips for skiers and snowmobiles.

Ruby Mountain Heli, the oldest family-owned heli-skiing business in the United States, offers helicopter access to the Rubies, with packages costing several thousand dollars.

Multiple efforts have been made in the past to develop a resort, but none have come to fruition, leaving the Rubies largely inaccessible to most skiers.

In 1989, a portion of the range was federally protected when the more than 92,000-acre Ruby Mountains Wilderness was designated. The range has also been the focus of Nevada lawmakers who have introduced legislation to expand protections and prohibit oil and gas development in the range.