27.2.2007

A members-only ski resort in the USA

THEY say that money can’t buy happiness. In the world of skiing, that might not be true. Imagine a world where you don’t have to wait in lift queues, where you have a guaranteed place at your favourite mountain restaurant and you are virtually alone on the slopes. Welcome to the world of members-only mountains.

As you might expect, mem-bers-only mountains are big in the US, the spiritual home of the gated community. While resorts such as Aspen in Colorado and Robert Redford’s Sundance in Utah have cultivated an air of exclusivity, they look positively common when compared with somewhere like the Yellowstone Club.

Yellowstone Club in Mon-tana has 2,000 acres of terrain, just under half of that offered by Vail, with links to the neigh-bouring resorts of Big Sky and Moonlight Basin. The club has its own ski patrol so while members can cross into the two linked areas, the reverse is most definitely not true.

How do you get to be a member? Well, you need to be invited. Buying a property there helps, but it is no guarantee and with apartments starting at about $1.25 million (£633,000) and chalets at $4 million, these are not your everyday second homes.

Then there’s the small matter of membership fees. Joining costs a cool quarter of a million dollars, and there are annual fees of $16,000. That’s probably the most expensive lift ticket you’ll ever buy, but then you’ll only be sharing the slopes with other members, currently numbering a couple of hundred. Given that not all the members will be there all the time, the chance of bumping into many other people is slim.

The Yellowstone Club is not the only place to enjoy private powder. Georgian Peaks in Ontario, Canada, is another private area with five lifts and a one-off membership fee of C$30,000 (£13,000) plus C$1,390 a year. As well as its own slopes, membership lets you ski at several other private ski clubs in the area.

A couple of American resorts have taken the members-only idea on board but without going as far as banning hoi polloi.

Two resorts in California — Northstar-at-Tahoe and Sierra-at-Tahoe — offer the Vertical Plus club. For $119 a year, you are able to buy lift tickets without having to queue and, perhaps best of all, access to member-only lift queues. However, the resorts are at pains to point out that they do not guarantee that the members’ lift lines will be shorter than the public ones.

Exclusive mountain restaurants that open their doors only to members are the new big thing in America. Colorado’s swanky Beaver Creek has a couple — Zach’s Cabin and Beano’s Cabin. Zach’s, which offers American food with a Pacific twist cooked up by chef Tim McCaw, is open to the public for dinner from Tuesday to Saturday, but lunch is strictly for members of the Ritz-Carlton Club. To join, simply splash out a quarter of a million dollars to get a one-twelfth share in an apartment at the Ritz-Carlton’s Bachelor Gulch development.

And by becoming a member of Telluride’s upmarket Ski and Golf Club in Colorado, you’ll be one of the lucky few who are able to sample seared diver scallops with foie gras at Allred’s. The resorts at Jackson Hole and Northstar-at-Tahoe also have exclusive dining.

So how about the ultimate in exclusivity — buying your own resort? Maple Valley in Vermont was last open in the 1999-2000 season, but is now on the market for $1.75 million. The resort has two chairlifts and a T-bar and has 16 marked runs. The owner reckons you would need another half a million to fix the place up, but that’s a small price to pay for someone who wants to ski without ever meeting anyone else.
Exclusive Europe

While Tahoe’s members-only lift queues sound cool, how about your very own lift? The Tschuggen Grand Hotel (www.tschuggen.ch) in Arosa, Switzerland, has this season opened its own private Coaster gondola to take guests to the slopes. You press a button to request a ride and a six-seater heated cabin takes you in comfort to the top. A double room costs about £230 a night. Book through Skitracer (0870 4205782, www.skitracer.com).
Jonathan Downey, the brains behind members’ clubs Milk and Honey, took the members concept to Chamonix a couple of seasons back with his swish Clubhouse www.clubhouse.fr). International members pay 150 euros (about £100) a year or you can become a founder member for ten years for 1,500 euros (with 500 euros cashback to spend in the bar).     The Clubhouse bar, run by Pete Slade, makes the best cocktails in the Alps and is open only to hotel residents and members.

Private resorts are harder to come by. Canillo in Andorra originally opened as members-only but has since been subsumed into the Grand’Valira network with Soldeu and Pas de la Casa. There are rumours of a private resort being built in Bulgaria, close to fast-growing Bansko.