Fort Collins family 'heartbroken' after contract woes shutter Colorado state park yurts
For 10 long, excruciating months Fort Collins resident Travis Steele's children lived with the promise of a big surprise.
The father can't recall how many times he and his wife's 10- and 9-year-old children begged to know what awaited them after he first told them in February of the surprise. Then came November and the long-awaited unveiling.
It included new backpacks and snowshoes. Steele announced the family was a couple days away from heading to Colorado State Forest State Park to snowshoe and stay in a yurt.
His kids' months of anticipation were rewarded with exuberance knowing they were just two sleeps away from playing in the abundant mountain snow and sleeping in a rustic yurt heated by firewood in the state park 75 miles west of Fort Collins.
And then, just like that, the excitement was swept away.
Weeks before the big trip, Steele kept talking to Never Summer Nordic yurt staff, making sure everything was a go. Several days before he called to make sure the road wasn't closed due to recent big snow. All was good, staff assured.
Then, just shortly after announcing the trip to his family, voice messages and emails to the company went unanswered.
A day before the family was to leave, Steele remembers getting bad news from Never Summer Nordic staff. The road was closed due to snow. There was a problem with the concessionaire's contract with state parks. And the gut-wrenching conclusion: the family couldn't stay in the yurt.
Steele said he didn't give much thought to the $149 annual membership he had paid in addition to the $200 to $300 for the yurt stay, not to mention taking time off from his bike repair business.
"The biggest cost was the kids; they were just heartbroken," said Steele, who had been visiting the yurts for a decade. "If I would have found out much earlier their contract wasn’t in place, I would have just stopped mentioning it to the kids. How do you try and spin it to your kids that you can't go because of a contract?"
Steele was far from alone in losing out on a much-anticipated family outing and money. Many more shared on social media their disappointment in losing a tradition, perplexed at the sudden closure of the popular state park yurts and concerned about getting membership and reservation money refunded.
Multiple phone calls and messages left via email from the Coloradoan to Never Summer Nordic were not answered or returned.
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State parks reveals when, why Never Summer Nordic contract terminated
The contract issue between Never Summer Nordic and state parks began in August. That's when Colorado Parks and Wildlife, which oversees state parks, first notified via certified mail to Never Summer Nordic owner Greg Graves and associate Bron Austin Deal that the company was not in compliance with its contract.
The agency sent a series of notices it sent to the business to the Coloradoan last week:
Aug. 22: State Forest State Park interim manager Tony Johnson notified Graves he had breached the concessionaire contract by failing to pay the $1,500 annual concession fee, monthly percentage fees and sending monthly reports. The letter stated the agency would use the $5,000 performance deposit to pay the debt.
Sept. 1: Graves was asked to provide required insurance forms as part of the contract and informed providing the documents required his immediate attention.
Sept. 23: With no response regarding the first two letters, a letter was sent notifying Graves of the following:
His concession contract was terminated due to failing to provide payment or insurance documents in addition to not properly maintaining the system's yurts and cabins.
The company must notify customers with existing reservations that it no longer had a valid contract with state parks, reservations had been canceled and to refund all existing reservation payments if requested by the customer.
The company was directed to remove all content on social media, websites and other communication forms referring to its services with state parks.
Dec. 6: The company was notified that it must remove all of its property from State Forest State Park by June 30, 2023.
Never Summer Nordic owns the system's eight yurts, cabin and hut.
As of Jan. 9, the Never Summer Nordic website was still accepting reservations and its Facebook and Twitter accounts did not mention it was no longer taking reservations, or mention it was closed. However, you could not book reservations from the website, despite the site showing availability.
"The information on NSN’s website is false and misleading," Colorado Parks and Wildlife wrote in an email to the Coloradoan. "Neither NSN nor its affiliates have the right to accept new reservations to stay at the park or honor prior reservations at State Forest State Park. The yurts are locked and unavailable for occupancy."
The Colorado State Forest State Park website includes on its home page a prominent notice of the closure and link to a letter Never Summer Nordic was to send to those with reservations but failed to.
It state park's website says it is not taking reservations for early 2023 but those with questions regarding reserving later in 2023 can call the park office at 970-723-8366.
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Questions remain if Never Summer Nordic customers can get their money back
Steele said being a small business owner himself, he was willing to work things out with Graves and believed his family vacation would end up happening despite warning signs.
That ended when he received no responses from his follow-up calls and emails and then saw the many negative comments on the company's Facebook page. He said he is now trying to recoup money he paid Graves through PayPal.
"What kills me about this is he had an amazing business,'' Steele said. "You would have to book two to three years in advance if wanting to stay there in winter.''
Bethany Callaway, of Colorado Springs, had a yurt trip booked this year but now wonders what will happen to the $455 she paid for reservations.
"I had been able to book even after they had lost their contract and they still took my money and never reached out to me," she said. "... My bank temporarily refunded my money but (Bron) has 60 days to argue it, which I don't think he will."
Despite Colorado Parks and Wildlife's Sept. 23 letter stating Never Summer Nordic was to notify customers of the termination of its contract, Colorado Parks and Wildlife said the company failed to do so. The agency said it does not have the company's customer contact information and that Never Summer Nordic has refused to provide it, which is required by the contract. Thus, the agency has been unable to notify customers directly of the closure.
In the letter to customers posted on the Colorado Parks and Wildlife website, the agency wrote refund requests should be sent to Never Summer Nordic, Inc., 247 Jackson County Road 41 Walden, CO 80480, online at www.neversummernordic.com/contact, calling 970-723-4070 or 970-690-5866, or emailing bron@neversummernordic.com, yurts@neversummernordic.com or gaag01@msn.com
The numbers listed immediately went to messages stating the party "is not able to receive calls at this time" and your "called party is temporarily unavailable" as of Jan. 9.
The agency said those paying with a credit card or traveler’s check may be able to obtain a refund through their bank. Another option is filing a consumer protection complaint with the Colorado Attorney General’s Office at stopfraudcolorado.gov/about-consumer-protection/report-fraud.html.
In an email response to Coloradoan questions, Colorado Parks and Wildlife said Never Summer Nordic was required to pay 9.5% of its gross revenue as part of the contract. Due to delinquency of its reporting, it is unknown how much the company owes, the agency wrote.
Colorado Parks and Wildlife said it has not initiated litigation over the situation and that there has been communication between the agency and the company.
This article originally appeared on Fort Collins Coloradoan: Never Summer Nordic yurts in Colorado state park closed
