BESSEMER -- Blackjack Ski Resort will not open for the upcoming ski season, it was confirmed Thursday.

"Blackjack management has decided to suspend operations for the coming ski season," said Blackjack owner Dick Steiger. "Recent efforts to sell the Blackjack Ski Resort have not been successful and are now terminated."

He said new marketing plans to find a buyer are under way. He said Blackjack owners want to sell the business in its entirety.

In September, Indianhead Mountain announced plans to purchase both Blackjack and Big Powderhorn Mountain Ski Resort.

Shortly after, Bruce Noren, Mary Segalin and Donna Greener, as Agates LLC, filed a lawsuit against Big Powderhorn Mountain Ski Corp., claiming breach of contract.

On Tuesday, Indianhead general manager Barry Bolich announced that plans to merge the three ski facilities had been terminated because of the lawsuit.

On Wednesday, Bolich told the Daily Globe that he's "extremely disappointed." Bolich said the merger "would have been the best thing for the area. We put a lot of money and time into it. We believed and thought it would happen."

He said the merger would have resulted in combining a lot of costs -- including management and marketing. Bolich said the offer to purchase Blackjack is also off the table.

"It's everything or nothing," he said.

Noren was unavailable for comment. According to the lawsuit, in the summer of 2007, Noren, Segalin and Greener hired a real estate consultant to determine an appropriate purchase price for the ski resort.

In April, the consulting company presented its findings to owners and the Big Powderhorn board of directors, along with a purchase agreement that offered $2 million for the resort.

A counteroffer of $3 million was presented on May 30.

Noren, Segalin and Greener rejected that offer on June 3. In a June 16 response, Big Powderhorn lowered its asking price to $2.2 million.

"All material terms in the purchase agreement were agreed upon, and subsequently the parties continued to finalize the few remaining minor details that were to be included in the final purchase agreement, with the mutual goal of closing the deal as soon as feasibly possible," the lawsuit says.

Just prior to the official notice issued by Indianhead Mountain that the deal between Indianhead and Powderhorn was off, Noren on Monday told the Daily Globe he was unaware of any changes in Big Powderhorn's plans to sell its facility to Indianhead Mountain.

He said the removal of a motion hearing on the lawsuit filed against Big Powderhorn from Wednesday's court calendar could mean his group's "opportunity to purchase the hill is on track."