Wolf Creek, a 2,600-acre real-estate development with a championship golf course on the northeast side of Eden, has reached an agreement to buy Nordic Valley, an oft-struggling ski resort with two lifts that rises up the backside of the Wasatch Mountains on Eden's west side.

"We're doing due diligence to find out everything we need to know about the property before we actually close," said Wolf Creek marketing and sales representative Barbara McConvill.

"I don't want to get excited about anything until it's done. But I would like to see it happen, especially with Wolf Creek," added Ted Salerno, Nordic Valley's manager and one of nearly 30 stockholders who have owned the resort since the mid-1970s. "They're right here, local people. They plan to keep the resort like it is, improve a few things."

The pending acquisition, terms of which were not disclosed, is consistent with Wolf Creek's efforts to become an all-seasons resort.

Summers have been taken care of with the resort's existing 18-hole golf course - site of several state championship tournaments. Wolf Creek has various hiking and equestrian trails within its boundaries and plans another 18-hole golf course.

Adding Nordic Valley, with downhill skiing terrain well-suited to beginners and the potential for cross country skiing, will help take care of its need for a winter-recreation component.

"There's lots of opportunity there, if you do it the right way," McConvill said. "It's a great place to learn to ski."

Salerno is proud of Nordic Valley and what it has to offer, noting that it twice played host to ABC's old "Wide World of Sports" program.

The resort has two double chairs that access 960 vertical feet of skiing over 85 acres. Although its low elevation - 5,500 at the base, the lowest in Utah - hurts its ability to obtain and retain snow, Nordic Valley has lighting for night skiing and a snow-making system.

"We have the best beginner hill in the state and really good night skiing," he said. "And we're in the process of getting a terrain park going."

Facilities include a base building that houses the ticket office, ski school, a rental shop and the ski patrol office. A nearby barn includes a restaurant and first-aid station. The resort has about 30 employees, sometimes more if good skiing weather creates a demand for more part-time instructors.

Salerno was a ski patrolman in the early 1970s when the resort was controlled by Art Christiansen, who was responsible for much of the early real-estate development around Eden. When Christiansen retired and wanted to dispose of his holdings, Salerno helped put together a group of buyers.

"I wanted to see it stay a ski resort, so I talked to him about what it would take to save the area, how much money it would take," he said. "We got maps and figured out how much land there was, what bills had to be paid, formed a corporation and raised enough money to satisfy him.