"We feel like the sport has taken a turn and forgotten about us. We're skiers first," says Schectman. "Some ski resorts come into a town, don't embrace the community, and drive out the locals and soul. We don't want to be like that."

Schectman, 41, and five partners are within a month of announcing their development of a North American ski area, which they plan to transform into a "ski-energy center" and operate on minimalist terms and with a mix of old-school, community-focused strategies as well as innovative, modern energy solutions.

Courtesy of Jamie SchectmanJamie Schectman hiking in the Andes.

He and his co-founders tried in vain to buy the Shames Mountain Co-op in British Columbia last year, but it didn't pan out. Schectman is no longer involved, but last week, the Friends of Shames, a skier-run committee formed last year and made up of local residents, received $30,000 in grant money to keep the ski area in business.

Schectman has since turned his attention to other potential locations. He declined to disclose specific locales, because the business transaction isn't complete yet, but their website suggests they are looking at projects in Alaska, Montana, Washington and British Columbia. Their resort eventually will be cooperatively owned, at $500 a share, and will be run as an LLC. "We're going to make a profit," he says, "but MRA will be values-based, not profit-driven. Kind of like Ben & Jerry's."

Among his list of strategies, he says, the ski area should be making more energy than it consumes by using solar, wind, hydro or thermal. He'd like to build an environmental and climate change educational center. And he'd like the resort to collaborate with the local community and team up with nonprofits.

They're not hippies, and this is not a commune -- although it's not far off, either. "We don't intend to change the whole industry," says Schectman, who recently moved back to Lake Tahoe after five years in Argentina, where he grew olive trees, grapes and plums on a 65-acre farm, among other ventures. "I think there's plenty of families with money who want the big, corporate resort experience. We're just looking to fill a niche."

The resort won't be unlike the club ski fields in New Zealand, which are community run and known for their no-frills approach to skiing. "Our priority will be to have a copious and safe snowpack, large amounts of expert-level terrain with a wilderness experience, and easy access," Schectman says. "We think if we do this once [run a ski area with MRA's unique ideals] and show it to be a refreshing, viable model, we'll be able to duplicate it throughout the world."