LARAMIE - The Medicine Bow National Forest has not yet received an application for a permit to operate the Snowy Range Ski Area near Centennial this season, District Ranger Larry Sandoval said this week.

The current owners of the ski area, Rick and Terri Colling of Laramie, have put the operation up for sale and will not be operating the ski area for its 50th season this year. First National Bank of Laramie has been negotiating with potential buyers.

"I know there is an interested buyer," Sandoval said, "but we are not reviewing any proposals at this point."

He declined to reveal the name of the potential buyer and said he did not know where the buyer was based.

The Forest Service process would involve separate reviews of technical capability and financial status and would take about 30 days. Sandoval said he was not aware of any major impediments to issuance of a permit.

"Our hope would be that we would run on an operating plan similar to what the current owners operated under last year," he said.

Considering that October has now passed, Sandoval said, the ski area probably could not secure a permit and be up and running by its traditional opening date of late-November or early December.