Vail, CO (Tuesday, January 28, 2003) - Booth Creek Ski Holdings, Inc. ("Booth Creek" or the "Company") announced today results for the fourth fiscal quarter and year ended Nov. 1, 2002.

Fourth Quarter Ended November 1, 2002

Booth Creek's fourth quarter is an off-peak period during which the Company completes the majority of its summer maintenance and capital programs. Booth Creek also offers summer activities at some of its resorts, including golf, mountain biking, lodging, conference facilities, food and beverage operations and certain other recreational amenities.

Resort operations revenues were $4,085,000 for the quarter ended Nov. 1, 2002, compared with $5,271,000 in the corresponding period of 2001. The reduction in resort operations revenues was primarily due to reduced group, conference and other summer business at Northstar, Waterville Valley and Loon Mountain.

Cost of sales and selling, general and administrative expense applicable to the resort segment totaled $11,197,000 for the quarter ended Nov. 1, 2002, an increase of $229,000, or 2.1 percent, from the 2001 period, due principally to normal inflationary factors.

Resort operations incurred an EBITDA loss (as defined below) of $7,112,000 for the quarter ended Nov. 1, 2002, compared with an EBITDA loss of $5,697,000 for the 2001 period. Operating loss for the resort segment for the 2002 period was $11,589,000 compared to an operating loss of $12,013,000 for the 2001 period. The improvement in operating loss was primarily due to reduced depreciation and amortization expense in 2002.

There were no real estate sales during the fourth quarter of 2002 or 2001. Timber operations contributed revenues of $230,000 and $86,000 for the 2002 and 2001 periods, respectively.

Cost of sales, depletion and selling, general and administrative expense for the real estate and other segment totaled $829,000 for the quarter ended Nov. 1, 2002, as compared to $277,000 for the 2001 period. The increase was mainly the result of increased harvesting costs and depletion associated with increased timber harvesting activities at Northstar and higher general and administrative costs.

Real estate and other operations incurred an EBITDA loss (excluding the noncash cost of real estate sales) (as defined below) of $502,000 during the quarter ended Nov. 1, 2002, compared with an EBITDA loss of $147,000 generated in the 2001 period. Operating loss for the real estate and other segment was $599,000 for the 2002 period, as compared to $191,000 in the 2001 period.

Interest expense was $3,636,000 for the quarter ended Nov. 1, 2002, as compared to $4,407,000 for the 2001 period. The decline in interest expense for the 2002 period was primarily due to lower average interest rates and reduced borrowings.

The Company's loss from continuing operations totaled $16,184,000 for the quarter ended Nov. 1, 2002, an improvement of $671,000 from the Company's loss from continuing operations in the corresponding period of 2001, as a result of the factors discussed above.

Total EBITDA loss (excluding the noncash cost of real estate sales) (as defined below) was $7,614,000 for the quarter ended Nov. 1, 2002, as compared to an EBITDA loss of $5,844,000 for the 2001 period.

The Company incurred a loss on discontinued operations of $1,446,000 during the quarter ended Nov. 1, 2002, relating primarily to the former operations of Bear Mountain, Inc. ("Bear Mountain"), which was sold on October 10, 2002. The comparable loss during the 2001 period was $1,789,000.

The Company's net loss for the quarter ended Nov. 1, 2002, was $17,630,000, compared with a net loss of $18,644,000 for 2001.


Year Ended November 1, 2002

Revenues from resort operations for the year ended Nov. 1, 2002, were $108,827,000, versus $107,090,000 (including $1,754,000 of revenues earned under paid skier visit insurance arrangements) in the 2001 period. Total skier visits were 2,154,000 for the 2002 period, a decline of 13,000 visits or slightly less than one percent from the 2001 period.

Cost of sales and selling, general and administrative expense for the resort operations segment was $84,537,000 for the year ended Nov. 1, 2002, an increase of $2,648,000, or 3.2 percent, from the 2001 period.

Resort operations contributed EBITDA (as defined below) of $24,290,000 for the year ended Nov. 1, 2002, as compared to $25,201,000 for the 2001 period, a decrease of $911,000 or 3.6 percent. Operating income for the resort segment for the 2002 period was $7,398,000, compared to $3,148,000 for the 2001 period. The improvement in operating income was primarily due to reduced depreciation and amortization expense in the 2002 period.

Real estate sales for the year ended Nov. 1, 2002, were $11,300,000, which were due to the sale of 25 single family lots within the Unit 7 subdivision at Northstar. There were no sales of real estate in 2001. Timber operations contributed revenues of $405,000 in the 2002 period compared to revenues of $276,000 for the 2001 period.

Cost of sales and selling, general and administrative expense for the real estate and other segment totaled $4,134,000 (including noncash cost of real estate sales of $2,478,000) for the year ended Nov. 1, 2002, as compared to $1,040,000 for the 2001 period.

Real estate and other operations generated EBITDA (excluding the noncash cost of real estate sales) (as defined below) of $10,049,000 for the 2002 period as compared to an EBITDA loss of $764,000 for the 2001 period. Operating income for the real estate and other segment was $7,369,000 for the 2002 period, as compared to an operating loss of $892,000 in the 2001 period.

Total EBITDA (excluding noncash cost of real estate sales) (as defined below) for the 2002 period was $34,339,000, an increase of $9,902,000, or 40.5 percent, from the EBITDA of $24,437,000 for the 2001 period.

Interest expense was $15,281,000 for the year ended Nov. 1, 2002, compared to $16,822,000 for the 2001 period. The decline was primarily due to lower average interest rates and reduced borrowings in the 2002 period.

The Company recognized gains on the early retirement of debt of $2,761,000 and $1,723,000 for the 2002 and 2001 periods, respectively, relating to the repurchase of its 12.5% senior notes due 2007 (the "Senior Notes").

The Company's income from continuing operations for the year ended Nov. 1, 2002, was $1,016,000, an increase of $14,672,000 from the loss from continuing operations of $13,656,000 for the 2001 period, as a result of the factors discussed above.

On October 10, 2002, the Company consummated the sale of all of the capital stock of Bear Mountain to Snow Summit Ski Corporation for a purchase price of $12,000,000 in cash, subject to certain adjustments for working capital, assumed debt and allocations of off-season operating losses and capital expenditures. As a result of the disposition, the Company has reflected the operating results of Bear Mountain as discontinued operations in its consolidated statement of operations for all periods presented. Based on the terms of the transaction, the Company recognized a loss of $3,235,000 during the year ended Nov. 1, 2002. Bear Mountain generated income from operations of $549,000 for the 2002 period as compared to a loss of $138,000 for the 2001 period.

The Company's net loss for the year ended Nov. 1, 2002, was $1,870,000, compared with a net loss of $13,794,000 for 2001. Net loss for the 2002 period reflects a charge of $200,000 for the change in accounting principle for goodwill.

Recent Trends and Outlook

The Company's ski operations are highly sensitive to weather conditions and the overall strength of the national economy and the regional economies in which the Company operates. Recent trends affecting the Company's early season results for the 2002/03 ski season include the following:

• The opening dates for the Company's resorts for the 2002/03 ski season were as follows:
  
  Northstar.................................... Nov. 22, 2002
  Sierra....................................... Dec. 16, 2002
  Waterville Valley............................ Nov. 22, 2002
  Mt. Cranmore................................. Nov. 29, 2002
  Loon Mountain................................ Nov. 15, 2002
  The Summit................................... Dec. 27, 2002
  
  
• The Lake Tahoe region experienced relatively dry conditions and a lack of natural snowfall through mid-Dec. 2002. During the period of Dec. 14th to the 21st, the region received a number of powerful storms resulting in over six feet of snowfall at Northstar and Sierra. While the storms provided excellent skiing conditions for the Christmas holiday season, the storms caused prolonged power outages prior to Christmas, difficult road conditions and other factors which negatively affected skier visitation for the Company's Lake Tahoe resorts on a number of days during mid-Dec. 2002.
• During the early part of the 2002/03 ski season, the northeastern United States experienced generally colder temperatures and increased snowfall as compared to the record warm winter of 2001/02. As a result, the Company's New Hampshire resorts have experienced generally good operating conditions for the early part of the 2002/03 ski season.
• From the opening of the 2002/03 ski season through late Jan. 2003, the Pacific Northwest has experienced unseasonably warm temperatures and below-average snowfall. The Company's Summit resort commenced partial operations on Dec. 27, 2002, as compared to a Nov. 30, 2001 opening for the 2001/02 ski season. Further, conditions at the Summit were generally favorable throughout the 2001/02 ski season. The difficult early season conditions at the Summit during the 2002/03 ski season have negatively affected early season skier visitation to a significant extent as compared to the 2001/02 season.
• A meaningful portion of the Company's customer base is comprised of committed season pass holders. Through mid-Jan. 2003, the Company's 2002/03 season pass sales were approximately 27% higher than the total level of season passes sold for the 2001/02 ski season. A portion of the increase is attributable to the introduction of new pass products which could reduce sales of other lift ticket products.
• The impact of the relatively weak United States economy on the Company's business is not presently determinable. Although, historically, economic downturns have not had a material adverse effect on the ski industry in general, there can be no assurance that the current economic downturn will not have a material adverse effect on the Company's results of operations.