So, you’ve got the Bugatti, the G6, and you like to slide down snow. Then Jim Aronstein, the owner Cimarron Mountain Club CO, has the place for you.
This place is so exclusive, they won’t even let you look at their website without approval…
In 2005, Aronstein, a retired lawyer bought 2000-acres of former logging company land in the San Juan Mountains of southwest Colorado between the towns of Gunnison & Montrose. Initially, it was a getaway for his family to escape to and ski together. They cut their own runs, sled lapped, and skied the incredible powder in their private paradise.
warning, the above video will make you very very jealous…
After skiing it for years, Aronstein decided to share the powder paradise he’d created. In 2012, the plan for a private ski resort was born.
The Ultra exclusive ski resort, with just 12 lots available, would cater to the dreams of the most well heeled skiers from around the world. When Jim Aronstein, and his crew of Colorado ski industry giants first put these lots up for sale, the idea was that when you bought, you had to build, and the way you built had to fit in to a plan.
According to the Denver Post, the club is now no longer requiring you to build a house on the plot you buy. With the lots valued at between $2.7 and $3.85 million, and a yearly fee of between $50,000 and $90,000, and a clientele who already had houses all over the world, it seems another build was too much.
With lot sizes ranging from 35 to 204 acres, it’s not like you would have seen anyone else’s house anyway. With the lack of need to build, the lot sizes are now all 35 acres. Still pretty large.
This place isn’t about the size of your house anyway. What it is about is private access to some incredible skiing. With a skiable area the size of Aspen, private snowcats, and up to 350 inches of San Juan mountains best powder a season, this is a pretty special place, according to the numbers. The fact that you share this with just 35 other people makes it unbelievable. If you can afford it, this may just be the best way to ski.
Besides Jim Aronstein some other very heavy hitters are involved in this project:
- John Norton – former 2nd in command at Aspen Skiing Co & former head of Crested Butte Mountain Resort, CO
- Johnnie Stevens – former Telluride ski resort head
- Andy Daily – former Vail Resorts executive & owns Powderhorn ski resort, CO
- Bill Kane – former planner for Aspen Skiing Co
The story goes that these guys all poo pooed the idea of a private ski resort until Jim Aronstein personally showed them the Cimarron Mountain Club. Once they saw it, they all jumped on board.
Yeah, someone built a place like this in Montana. It is always floundering on the precipice of fiscal collapse. Turns out there are very few billionaires who want to live like the Unabomber. In fact they like to social with other people. Who knew?
You spelled Andy Daly’s name wrong.