Oregon Public Broadcasting

The ritzy Tamarack Resort in central Idaho will close its doors on Wednesday. Four years ago, the ski area and golf course about two hours north of Boise became a popular investment for people who wanted second homes.

Now the resort is deep in debt and turning off its chair lifts before the end of the ski season. Correspondent Doug Nadvornick reports.

Tamarack’s days may be numbered, but you can still hear a sales pitch for the resort on its website.

Web Audio: “I know a place in Idaho, the kind of place you dreamt about when all you had were dreams....”

Now the dreams of a year-round paradise in central Idaho’s Payette River Mountains are floating away with the credit crisis.

The company that opened the resort four years ago couldn’t sell enough condos to make a profit. Last year it stopped construction on an urban village that remains half-built.

Now Tamarack has defaulted on a quarter-of-a-billion dollar loan and the lender is asking a judge for permission to foreclose.

Tamarack’s problems are compounded by people who aren’t paying their mortgages.

On its website, the resort lists more than a hundred of its own property owners who are at least three months past due on their payments.