Yellowstone Club Montana

[sevencyclist]

Anyone knows much about Yellowstone Club in Montana? One of my friend has a place there, and we are thinking of going for a ski vacation around Christmas time. Thanks in advance.

[rockdude]

Exclusive. Its not a resort, its a private community. Call Greg LeMond, He won a $40 million law suite against the club two years ago.

[mtflycaster]

Great skiing close by at Big Sky.

[David Kirk]

The Club is a private ski club - think golf club but skiing instead. It is not open to the public but only to residents and their guests.

If you are in the area you can also ski Big Sky and Moonlight. Lots of epic skiing.

Dave

[Birddog]

Call Greg LeMond, He won a $40 million law suite against the club two years ago.
I don't think he's seen a nickel of that judgement. He may never get anything out of it. The last I read about the Yellowstone Club was not good. It appeared as though only lawyers would recover much if anything out of the mess.

[MattTuck]

To, the OP. As I understand it, it would be like getting invited to play at Augusta National or Pebble Beach for golf. Very exclusive.

[alessandro]

But Augusta and Pebble Beach are actually good courses. And Pebble Beach is a public course--it just costs $495 to play.:)

Anyone have an idea of how good the skiing actually is at Yellowstone Club? This story, from 2001, makes it sound great, but a review in Skiing is on par with a review in Bicycling: http://www.skinet.com/ski/2001/09/yellowstone-club

This one, also from 2001, is by Tony Crocker, a ski obsessive of the type not unfamiliar to these pages: http://173.193.223.192/~bestsnow/yclbguid.htm. Scroll down to Terrain Type.

Without having been there, it sounds good for a day or two, especially with fresh snow. Otherwise, I'd go to Big Sky and Moonlight Basin.

I'd also feel creepy but fascinated to stay there--I'd do it as a sociological experiment to see how the other 0.01% lives. And I'd also be too worried about getting chased by the security detail of YC member Dick Cheney after giving him a piece of my mind.

[David Kirk]

Most of the skiing at the club is intermediate at best. They have a bit of expert terrain and a bit of hiking access but for the most part they are blue groomers with PERFECT grooming.

If you want steep stuff you go next door to Big Sky/Moonlight.

Dave



But Augusta and Pebble Beach are actually good courses. And Pebble Beach is a public course--it just costs $495 to play.:)

Anyone have an idea of how good the skiing actually is at Yellowstone Club? This story, from 2001, makes it sound great, but a review in Skiing is on par with a review in Bicycling: http://www.skinet.com/ski/2001/09/yellowstone-club

This one, also from 2001, is by Tony Crocker, a ski obsessive of the type not unfamiliar to these pages: http://173.193.223.192/~bestsnow/yclbguid.htm. Scroll down to Terrain Type.

Without having been there, it sounds good for a day or two, especially with fresh snow. Otherwise, I'd go to Big Sky and Moonlight Basin.

I'd also feel creepy but fascinated to stay there--I'd do it as a sociological experiment to see how the other 0.01% lives. And I'd also be too worried about getting chased by the security detail of YC member Dick Cheney after giving him a piece of my mind.

[Uncle Jam's Army]

The Blixseth couple really took YC down the drain with that $350 million Credit Suisse loan and then with the acrimonious divorce of theirs. Many vendors to YC went unpaid. Not sure where the club stands now, post bankruptcy, but I would imagine it is nowhere near its decadent heyday.

As Dave Kirk mentioned, most of the skiing consists of blue runs.

[merlinmurph]

I was lucky enough to ski there one day a few years ago as a guest. We had a guys trip to Big Sky, and one of the guys knew an owner who let us in for the day.

It's great for a day. Heck, any new place is fine for a day. There is nobody there - nobody. The lift system is actually way more extensive than I would have imagined. The terrain in intermediate-ish, so don't go there expecting to be challenged, go there to enjoy a new place. Also, go there to find powder stashes even a week after the last snow because again, nobody skis there. We were there in Feb of a bad snow year and I had fun finding powder while Big Sky was tracked out. Make sure you have somebody to ski with because you're not going to meet anybody on the lift. ;-) (which is too bad, because I really like skiing alone sometimes and talking with people on the lift)

If nothing else, go there for the lunch. :) OMG, they have an incredible spread.

We showed up in our cars, and people magically appeared and took our skis away. We went the locker room, booted up, walked out towards the lift, and our skis were all lined up outside, ready to step in.

Go there because you have the opportunity and because it's a different experience. Honestly, when our friend told us we had the opportunity to ski there, I was ambivalent because I knew the skiing was fair. My buds were all excited to go there and absolutely loved it.

Bottom line, I'm glad we went.

While you're there, make sure you hit Big Sky, too.

Enjoy your ride,
Murph

[Ken Robb]

Anyone knows much about Yellowstone Club in Montana? One of my friend has a place there, and we are thinking of going for a ski vacation around Christmas time. Thanks in advance.

I think this is a golden opportunity at least in part because it will not be overcrowded like most ski areas around Xmas. If you need more challenging runs they are nearby so why would you miss this opportunity?

[David Kirk]

I think this is a golden opportunity at least in part because it will not be overcrowded like most ski areas around Xmas. If you need more challenging runs they are nearby so why would you miss this opportunity?

This is sort of true -

The Club will be empty - as in deserted looking with few other skiers on the hill.

Big Sky/Moonlight Basin will have their normal Christmas crowd which is to say pretty darn empty. I would expect to find no lift lines at all there unless there is a major dump of fresh snow..........and then there are short lines.

By Colorado or Eastern standards Montana is always really empty. The first time I skied at Big Sky we were on vacation while living in NY and the first day we walked out to the lifts expecting we'd need to get their early to get in line. We waled up and the lifts weren't even turning and there was NO ONE there. At about 8:58 some guy walked up to the lift, flicked it on and we skied. I thought that it wasn't even open is was so empty. I rode the lift later with some locals and they complained that it was crowded because from the lift you could see a skier on most every run. A single skier on a run made it crowded.

It's changed a bit over the years but it's still empty almost every day.

Good fun.

Dave

[Lewis Moon]

But Augusta and Pebble Beach are actually good courses. And Pebble Beach is a public course--it just costs $495 to play.:)

Anyone have an idea of how good the skiing actually is at Yellowstone Club? This story, from 2001, makes it sound great, but a review in Skiing is on par with a review in Bicycling: http://www.skinet.com/ski/2001/09/yellowstone-club

This one, also from 2001, is by Tony Crocker, a ski obsessive of the type not unfamiliar to these pages: http://173.193.223.192/~bestsnow/yclbguid.htm. Scroll down to Terrain Type.

Without having been there, it sounds good for a day or two, especially with fresh snow. Otherwise, I'd go to Big Sky and Moonlight Basin.

I'd also feel creepy but fascinated to stay there--I'd do it as a sociological experiment to see how the other 0.01% lives. And I'd also be too worried about getting chased by the security detail of YC member Dick Cheney after giving him a piece of my mind.

Yellowstone club...isn't that where they built the Death Star?


...you don't tug on Vader's cape.

[jlwdm]

I was at Yellowstone Club for four days in late September for work. The YC is being managed by Discovery Land Company now and the owners are investing a lot of dollars in the club. Good real estate sales also.

They have a lot of terrain and were creating more tree skiing while I was there.

Jeff

[CunegoFan]

I don't think he's seen a nickel of that judgement. He may never get anything out of it. The last I read about the Yellowstone Club was not good. It appeared as though only lawyers would recover much if anything out of the mess.

LeMond was paid about half. Then the club filed for bankruptcy and attempted to claw back what the money.