No More Fun in Fun Valley

While updating the pages of the Grays on Trays resort listing, I noticed that Fun Valley Iowa is now defunct as a ski area. (The web site says that the place will continue as a motocross area in the summer.)

The site mentions that a triple chair has been moved to Seven Oaks Recreation. The “About Us” page for Seven Oaks tells the story of how hard it can be to run a mom-and-pop area. Edwin and Kay Bryan opened Fun Valley in 1970. Rick, one of seven children, took over after his father died two years later, and the other children helped run the place. The family opened Seven Oaks in 1997. A few warm winters and the opportunities of Seven Oaks apparently made the family decide to dispose of Fun Valley.

The Fun Valley site points to a liquidation sale. I don’t know how old that information is–the page is not dated–but it is rather interesting to troll through the photos of stuff for sale. There’s a lot more to running a ski area than collecting money and renting gear. So the site offers snow-making equipment, groomers, a couple of bulldozers, various pieces of lift equipment, and rental gear for sale.