Big Sky, MT - It's been only two years since Lehman Brothers Commercial Bank infused Montana's Moonlight Basin ski resort and real estate development with a $100 million shot in the arm, but earlier this month the New York investment bank filed court papers seeking to foreclose on the property in Big Sky.


The filing in Madison County court asks that the ski resort be sold to allow Lehman Brothers to recoup $78 million in principal and $8.3 million in interest. The bank also seeks permission of the court to bid on the property itself.

Foreclosure proceedings have been initiated against Montana's Moonlight Basin ski resort. (image: Moonlight Basin)

Moonlight Basin principals insist that its lifts ascending the north side of Lone Peak, a mountain the ski resort shares with adjacent Big Sky Resort, will be spinning this winter despite the foreclosure proceedings.

Moonlight Basin officials anticipated the court filing, indicating in a letter to homeowners this summer that Lehman Brothers had indicate its intention to foreclose on the property. Cash flow has been restricted since financial difficulties at Lehman Brothers put a crimp on the resort's liquidity in 2008. The foreclosure proceeding was filed after talks to renegotiate the loan repayment terms failed earlier this summer.