PORTLAND – American Skiing Co., the troubled ski resort operator born in Maine, is moving its corporate headquarters to Utah, far from its New England roots, a newspaper reported.

The company would neither confirm nor deny the report published Friday in the Rocky Mountain News in Denver. But it was becoming increasingly clear that control of the company was shifting westward.

B.J. Fair, chief executive officer, did not immediately return a call to his Park City, Utah, office seeking comment.

The message for Fair’s phone number at the company’s Newry headquarters, meanwhile, instructed callers to call him in Park City. “Please make note of this change for future reference,” the message said.

Eric Preusse, a company spokesman, confirmed that Fair and Chief Financial Officer Mark Miller have purchased homes in Utah. But Preusse said there was no announcement on moving the headquarters.

“Regardless of what announcement would or would not be made, the company is an important part of the Maine business community and we’ll retain a significant portion of our offices in Maine,” Preusse said Friday.

He declined to say how many people worked for American Skiing in Newry, where the company got its start in the 1970s under Les Otten. Otten resigned as chairman and CEO in March 2001 as financial troubles mounted.

Otten remains on the company’s board. He said Friday that, unfortunately, he could not comment.

American Skiing has invested heavily in its Park City resort since buying it in 1997. The Canyons is one of the company’s premier resorts, along with Steamboat in Colorado and Killington in Vermont.

The bulk of the company’s operations and skier visits, however, remain in New England, where Otten bought Maine’s Sunday River with $840,000 that he borrowed from its owner.

Over the next 20 years, Sunday River’s attendance shot up from 40,000 to half a million, and Otten began buying resorts in New England. American Skiing became one of North America’s largest ski resort operators as its holdings grew from the one resort to nine that stretched from New England to California.

But the company has struggled since it went public in November 1997. Its stock plunged so low that it was removed from the New York Stock Exchange in March. It now trades over the counter.

American Skiing still carries high debt loads even after selling Sugarbush in Vermont and Heavenly on the Nevada-California line in an effort to pay off debts.

On Thursday, the company posted net income of $26.4 million for the third-quarter ended April 28. But two real estate subsidiaries have defaulted on loans.

The company’s core real estate subsidiary failed to make required payments on more than $63 million in loans from lenders led by Fleet National Bank. And its hotel development subsidiary is in default with Textron Financial Corp.