Windham Mountain Going Private?

[Milo Maltbie]

I still feel like "The Club' is just a poorly executed gimmick to sell much more expensive lift tickets and move up market.

I think they are looking at NYC clubs that have 6 figure memberships. It can't be about the skiing. Maybe they think Wall Street types will pay that much to fluff each other on the third floor. There's already a fair number of hedge fund managers, commercial real estate developers and Goldman Sachs partners at Windham. Maybe someone wants to meet them.

I don't think that's gonna work. Who would give up Shinnecock Hills for the course on South Street? Or the Seawanaka Corinthian for kayaking in Coxsackie?

The rest of it is just a bet that limiting the number of skiers will improve the experience so much that they can raise prices enough to increase revenue. If that works look for other mountains to do the same.

mm

 

[Benny Profane]

The NYT reports on the club.
A Ski Resort Rebrands as Ultraexclusive, and Some Locals Feel Left Out

A Ski Resort Rebrands as Ultraexclusive, and Some Locals Feel Left Out

The Windham Mountain Club, with $200,000 memberships, is looking to seize on the potential of luring the wealthy from New York City.

www.nytimes.com

 

[DomB]

The NYT reports on the club.
A Ski Resort Rebrands as Ultraexclusive, and Some Locals Feel Left Out

A Ski Resort Rebrands as Ultraexclusive, and Some Locals Feel Left Out

The Windham Mountain Club, with $200,000 memberships, is looking to seize on the potential of luring the wealthy from New York City.

www.nytimes.com

Do we know what they are doing with Ikon people? I selfishly ask because I got Ikon this year and you are supposed to get 7 days at Windham.

 

[gregmarx]

Do we know what they are doing with Ikon people? I selfishly ask because I got Ikon this year and you are supposed to get 7 days at Windham.

They are on Ikon and Ikon Base this year, with reservations required.

Chip Seamans has said they will likely leave Ikon Base next year and probably leave Ikon entirely at some point in future -- this was in the Storm Skiing article a couple months ago.

 

[Milo Maltbie]

Every time I look at this I change my mind about it.

I read that NYTimes article and I was surprised that the club they started 15 years ago costs $125K to join now. Compared to that, $175K for a club with a ski area and a golf course sounds like a bargain.

I also read the proposal for the new club. I looks like they are closing the current club and requiring its members to join the new club by June 2024. After that, (if I read it correctly) you will have to buy a house on the mountain. Also, all the memberships go with the house (even if it's not ton the mountain), and house rentals have to be booked through the mountain booking service. It's like you're paying for the privilege of giving up some of your rental income to the mountain.

OTOH the new owners aren't idiots, and they must have some commitments from current club members so maybe it works out. They must have made some kind of promise to limit lift line waits, which is why they spiked Saturday passes. I'm sure they're gonna dump Ikon to limit crowds as well. It's hard to see how you run a "private" club when there's maybe a coupe of hundred members on the mountain with almost 3000 non-members, which is the limit they are talking about now.

In other news, the Yellowstone Club came back from bankruptcy several years ago, and even the Hermitage Club seems to be succeeding now.

mm

 

[Benny Profane]

Every time I look at this I change my mind about it.

I read that NYTimes article and I was surprised that the club they started 15 years ago costs $125K to join now. Compared to that, $175K for a club with a ski area and a golf course sounds like a bargain.

I also read the proposal for the new club. I looks like they are closing the current club and requiring its members to join the new club by June 2024. After that, (if I read it correctly) you will have to buy a house on the mountain. Also, all the memberships go with the house (even if it's not ton the mountain), and house rentals have to be booked through the mountain booking service. It's like you're paying for the privilege of giving up some of your rental income to the mountain.

OTOH the new owners aren't idiots, and they must have some commitments from current club members so maybe it works out. They must have made some kind of promise to limit lift line waits, which is why they spiked Saturday passes. I'm sure they're gonna dump Ikon to limit crowds as well. It's hard to see how you run a "private" club when there's maybe a coupe of hundred members on the mountain with almost 3000 non-members, which is the limit they are talking about now.

In other news, the Yellowstone Club came back from bankruptcy several years ago, and even the Hermitage Club seems to be succeeding now.

mm

The Yellowstone club is a primo western ski mountain with direct lift access to Big Sky. Hell, if I was rich I'd join that.

This is today's snow report from Windham, a week before Xmas:

"Conditions
7:07 AM Good afternoon guests and friends. The mountain will be closed today, December 18th, due to a forecast of heavy rain. We will be open and operating tomorrow on Tuesday, December 19th with all our trails groomed and ready for you. Tomorrow night we will resume snowmaking across our open terrain to bolster our snowpack, and we will begin making snow on the East Peak with the intention of opening trails there. Hope to see you again soon! -Sebastián"

What trails?? And you just dropped 200 grand to join that club?

I'm not saying this won't succeed. Stupid money is everywhere. Million dollar houses in sucky neighborhoods, six figure pickup trucks parked at the supermarket. Lord knows where the money comes from, but it sure is burning up fast.

 

[x10003q]

In other news, the Yellowstone Club came back from bankruptcy several years ago, and even the Hermitage Club seems to be succeeding now.

mm

The Yellowstone Club went bankrupt because the original developer, Timothy Blixseth and his now ex-wife Edra, were criminals and acted with the criminals at Credit Suisse to obtain an absurd loan against the club and basically pocketed the money. If they had just run the resort it would never have gone into bankruptcy. The Yellowstone Club has been financially stable since it was bought out of bankruptcy.

"Bankruptcy Judge Ralph Kirscher's Tuesday order said Credit Suisse was complicit in the diversion of the 2005 loan for the personal use of club founder Tim Blixseth and his ex-wife, Edra Blixseth.
Failure to repay the loan eventually helped drive the resort to bankruptcy."

Judge slams Credit Suisse for 'greedy antics' in Tim Blixseth Yellowstone Club

A federal bankruptcy judge said he would not reward the "greedy antics" of financial giant Credit Suisse by ordering the repayment of a $229 million loan it arranged for Montana's exclusive Yellowstone Club.

www.oregonlive.com

The Hermitiage Club founder was underfunded for what he wanted to do and eventually started committing financial fraud. The Hermitage Club has also been financial since coming out of bankruptcy.

The new ownership clearly thinks they have enough people to pony up big money for their new venture. Windham has enough boring acreage to eat the number of public tickets they need to sell to keep Windham financially viable and uncrowded. This will keep the swells happy. The real bummer is for the businesses in the Town of Windham, but I am not sure what they can do to change the current path.

 

[Milo Maltbie]

The real bummer is for the businesses in the Town of Windham, but I am not sure what they can do to change the current path.

There's a lot of truth to that. I'm hearing that short term and seasonal rentals are crashing, and home prices are declining. Maybe that's a bust following the pandemic boom.
The mountain already owns the biggest hotel and the golf course. The other businesses will have to chase a wealthier customer but not all of them will succeed.

It's hard for me to think of the Catskills as Hamptons with mountains, but here we are.

mm

 

[Ripitz]

So the guy from Ruby Tuesdays with the “endless garden bar” is going to bring a “gastronomique glow up” to the mountain restaurants? I’m a big fan of Tuscan food too… in Tuscany. The Hudson Valley is the country’s original breadbasket and has its’ own regional cuisine that should be highlighted.

Someone on Reddit with a slope side home said that Windham was approaching property owners with an early bird discount. They were saying, why would we hang out in a gaudy base lodge at the bottom when we have an entire house with everything we need for family and friends on the mountain? Nice try.

 

[Milo Maltbie]

Someone on Reddit with a slope side home said that Windham was approaching property owners with an early bird discount. They were saying, why would we hang out in a gaudy base lodge at the bottom when we have an entire house with everything we need for family and friends on the mountain? Nice try.

They already have a club that costs $125K to join, but I think most of the members own homes off the mountain. Those members are gonna have to make a decision by the spring or be out. They must have been talking to them before all this went public. After that, memberships go with mountain properties.

It's hard for dirtbag skiers to wrap their heads around how billionaires think.

mm