Whistler Mountain Bike Park in Canada faces an uncertain future after its owner defaulted on a huge loan repayment and was forced to put its assets up for sale.
Vancouver-based Intrawest ULC has been struggling due to the downturn in the global economy and last month missed payments on a US$1.4 billion loan, The Canadian Press reported.
Its lenders have now posted a public notice saying that an auction will be held on 19 February to sell its assets, which include the Whistler and Blackcomb mountain resorts.
Both venues are set to host events as part of the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympic Games, which begin on 12 February, but organisers said they were confident that the auction would not cause any disruption.
Intrawest's other assets include the Winter Park Resort in Colorado, Panorama Mountain Village in British Columbia, Snowshoe Mountain in West Virginia and Mountain Creek in New Jersey, all of which have summer bike parks.
