BUFFALO - Jim McCotter had a vision. Seven years ago, the Big Horn Ski Area, about 40 miles west of Buffalo, offered little more than a rope tow and a small, warming hut. Then McCotter entered the picture. He was considering buying the small ski resort and decided he needed to see it for himself. He was sold almost instantly.

"I came up in the spring, and the area was just so beautiful, so breathtaking," McCotter said.

A successful entrepreneur and a former competitive ski racer, McCotter, 59, used his blend of business savvy and skiing experience. He recognized the mountain's potential for expansion and envisioned developing a great resort.

McCotter grew up skiing in Colorado and was the youngest member of the National Ski Patrol the year Vail opened. In addition, he has owned a number of companies ranging from newspaper and radio to real estate.

During the first year of McCotter's ownership, a new base lodge was constructed, a dozen new trails were cut, and new lifts were added. McCotter is particularly pleased with the skiers' base lodge, which offers a restaurant, bar, rental shop, large fireplace and a movie screen.

More recently, the resort added powerful snow-making machines and two terrain parks. Also, a new "super pipe," basically a giant half-pipe, should be finished by next season. McCotter said he strives to make the mountain snowboarder-friendly.

That makes Marcus Saputo, 9, of Thermopolis happy. He started skiing two years ago but this year switched to snowboarding. He explained that he thought he could "go faster" on a snowboard. His mother added that he liked snowboarding video games.

Saputo got the opportunity to live the video game and show off his newly acquired skills at last weekend's third annual Big Horn Open "big air" competition.

McCotter said he hopes that with events such as the Big Horn Open, a series of alpine competitions open to skiers and snowboarders of all ages held in early March, the next Picabo Street or Jonny Moseley will be groomed.

"It's my personal dream to have a local kid go to the Olympics," McCotter said.

In addition to the ski lodge, McCotter owns two other nearby resorts as well: Meadowlark Lake Resort, which is perched on the edge of the pristine mountain lake, and Deer Haven Resort, one of the older lodges in the Big Horns. These resorts offer skiers choices now when it comes to dining and lodging in the mountains.

McCotter said he sees the Big Horn Mountain Resorts, as the three lodges are collectively known, as year-round resorts, providing as much to do in the summer as in the winter. In addition to an array of outdoor activities, summer guests can enjoy live music and movies at the ski lodge.

Even with all of the improvements, McCotter's vision is not complete.

"Each season we do new things," he said. Other plans include an ice skating rink, night skiing and cutting mountain bike trails.