The online auction of Elk Meadows Ski Resort was extended until 6 p.m. today after a bid was submitted an hour before Monday's deadline.

That offer of $1,580,000 -- an increase of $100,000 over the previous high bid -- remains far below the auction's suggested price of $5.1 million for the 1,138-acre resort, 18 miles east of Beaver in southwestern Utah.

Grandiose plans to turn the ski area, closed since 2002, into an exclusive, gated resort worth $3.5 billion did not materialize. The owner, AMDS Holdings, obtained the property in a foreclosure proceeding after its Holladay-based developers, Mount Holly Partners, failed to pay off an $18 million debt, according to auction disclosure documents.

Jeff Lunnen, auction manager for The LFC Group of Companies, said that if a bid is submitted before today's deadline, the auction will be extended again. When it resumes at 11 a.m. Wednesday, shorter deadlines will be implemented until no new bids are forthcoming.