Industry News
Earlier, in 2023, the Windham Mountain Club, New York, located two hours north of New York City in the Catskill Mountains, proudly introduced its new name and presented exciting plans for the 2023/2024 ski season and beyond. Formerly known as Windham Mountain, the resort unveiled its first master plan update, outlining a substantial investment of more than $70 million in enhancements over the next several years to the mountain’s amenities and services.
Part of the reconceptualization was the creation of a private members’ club offering that will be part of Windham Mountain Club. As part of the members’ club experience, upgrades to the golf course, led by award-winning golf course architect Tom Fazio, and renovations to the clubhouse are set to begin in the fall of 2024.
In addition to year-round programming for the entire family, new amenities for members and lodging guests will include:
- Enhanced lifts, snowmaking, and high-end restaurants
- A luxury spa, gym, and fitness club
- An adventure hub offering retail and outdoor activities such as fly-fishing, horseback riding, shooting, and biking
- A Hudson River outpost
- On-site pools and racquet sports facilities
- An amphitheater for summer concert series
Memberships are available now, and appear to be targeting New York’s elite, at a startling price of $200,000, with an additional $9,000 in annual dues.
Locals in the area aren’t too happy about the developments. Back in September, residents circulated a petition calling upon town leaders to stop the mountain’s makeover. They argued that the costly new membership system would seal the town’s fate as a haven for select, wealthy out-of-town families.
Local business owners are wondering if their shops, restaurants, and other businesses will suffer as prices potentially rise to unattractively high prices for their normal clientele who keep their livelihoods afloat. They worry that the type of person who spends $200,000 on a membership isn’t the type to frequent the local downtown.
It’s not as though costs at Windham have been low prior to the rebrand. Before the new ownership took over, membership to the lodge had risen to $125,000. A season pass was nearly $1,000 and if you wanted a locker rental it was another $1,000. Last season, a single-day weekend lift ticket was about $175. This season, on peak days, access is limited to a two-day minimum pass, which may cost as much as $450.
Currently, the resort is open to the public, but it appears that ultimately the goal of the business model is to limit public access as recent years have seen lift lines become painfully long. Whether this is good or bad for the community is still to be determined. Until now, the upstate ski area has been considered a relatively affordable weekend ski option for those in the tri-state area. That may soon change.
It’s a brilliant business move. They get a bunch of semi-rich rubes (the real rich ski out west) that are desperate for all-things exclusive to buy into a business model that will be dead in 10-20 years tops. They will be left holding the bag when skiing in the catskills is no longer possible due to global warming. Ownership is totally selling at the right time; if they had waited any longer they wouldn’t have been able to sell these marks on the dream: The impending doom would have been too undeniable.
$200k for a scrappy little Eastern hill?! 🙂 Ask ’em how this end of December rain is going?
Exactly this is why there are so many billionaires and multi millionaires and resorts that cater to them.
Elysium is just a dystopian sci fi movie, it portends the future.
I assume you’re going to be 1st inline to fork over your blood, sweat, and tears to folks in the political party who knows how best to spend other people’s money. You first, it’s only right.
A garbage ice mountain that wants to limit regular people. I’ll go elsewhere. In the meantime people need to understand that we need to go back to FDR’s 91% tax rate YESTERDAY, if they know what’s good for the average citizen / worker.