Spotlight: Yellowstone Club, Montana
January 1, 2004
Ski fanatics obsess about snow, and Sam Sammis is no exception. The real
estate developer, who logs 60 days a year on the slopes of Jackson Hole, Vail
and Sun Valley, prefers his fresh, knee-deep and untracked. “The only problem,”
says Sammis, “is that when these places get a foot of new snow overnight, it’s
gone by 10 the next morning.”; function voidFunc() { } voidFunc();)
Problem solved. Sammis just purchased a lot at
the Yellowstone Club, the world’s only private ski resort. Here he can
choose from two mountains serviced by eight lifts, 40-plus trails, 2,700
vertical feet and 2,200 skiable acres. Already impressive, that is just the
beginning for the Yellowstone Club. Its developer, timber baron Tim
Blixseth, has plans for five more lifts, Sno-Cat skiing to remote terrain and a
110,000-square-foot lodge that will house condos, hotel-style rooms,
restaurants, a lounge and library, shopping, offices and conference
facilities. (Click image to enlarge)
While resorts with fewer skiable acres such as Deer Valley and
Beaver Creek are designed to handle uphill capacities of more than 25,000
skiers, Sammis will be hard-pressed to count more than 100 skiers on the hill at
Yellowstone all day long. The lean capacity also assures Sammis a table
après-ski at the mountain’s Buffalo Bar & Grill, where he can relax and
reflect on a stellar ski day.; function voidFunc() { } voidFunc();)
In addition to delivering private powder, the
resort boasts miles of maintained trails for snowshoeing and cross-country
skiing. When the snow melts, members use these trails for hiking, mountain
biking and horseback riding. Anglers can cast their lines on streams that feed
into the southwest fork of Montana’s renowned Gallatin River. And, true to the
club’s spirit, an 18-hole, par-72 championship course to be designed by club member and resident Tom Weiskopf will require no tee
time. (Click image to enlarge)
Envisioned as a close-knit family retreat, the Yellowstone Club
encompasses a vast 13,400 acres of Montana wilderness with 864 residences.
Blixseth, who originally planned to use the property for a private family
compound, has surrounded himself with experts to ensure his dream club is
carried out perfectly. Ski film guru Warren Miller is the club’s director of
skiing; Jon Reveal, the former general manager of Aspen Skiing Co., serves as
mountain manager; Bruce Bales, a 28-year veteran of the U.S. Secret Service, is
in charge of security.
advertisement
