Fear, optimism in wake of Windham changes
Transition to semi-private club garners mixed reactions from businesses, residents
WINDHAM — The transition of a Catskills ski resort to a semi-private club is hot on the lips of business owners and residents in this community of 1,700.
Windham Mountain announced the transition in October, rolling out the news in a social media campaign that angered many traditional skiers. The club costs $175,000 to join plus annual dues, and future amenities, such as an expanded golf course, a “Hudson River Outpost” with kayaking, an indoor pool and a wellness center, will only be available to club members. Non-club members can still ski this winter — though one-day passes will be unavailable on Saturdays and holidays.
A letter sent Windham members laying out the transition states that “the entire resort and the amenities” will be for club members, whereas the “public will have access to the mountain and some dining venues during ski season with a purchased season pass or ticket.”
Many businesses in the mountaintop town are in the hospitality sector, catering to skiers on the mountain and others who visit the region for its natural beauty. More than a dozen hotels dot the town and its immediate
vicinity.
Some business owners said they fear the transition. The resort only plans to sell 450 memberships and is already limiting the number of nonclub members who can ski, potentially impacting their bottom line.
Others said residents are overreacting, with several expressing cautious optimism about the resort’s transition.
Cliff Simmons, the general manager of Tap House Grille, said residents were anxious and had not been well-informed about the transition, mostly getting their information from “the rumor mill and press releases.”
“We’d like to know what’s going on,” he said.
The taproom is “considerably busier” during winter, according to Simmons, when about 70 percent of customers are skiers from Windham.
As part of the transition, Windham is capping the number of daily skiers at 4,000 this year, 500 less than last year. That is a large drop from before the COVID-19 pandemic, when as many as 7,000 people skied the mountain daily before the cap was limited to allow social distancing. Not offering day passes on Saturdays this year could also affect the number of people visiting the ski mountain.
Though Simmons expects some drop-off in his business, he said the taproom has a base of customers who live nearby and he is “cautiously optimistic” about the transition. He added that since the taproom survived the pandemic, he expected it would survive this.
Art Hammel, who has run Cave Mountain Motel just outside the town since 1986, is less hopeful.
“I’m afraid,” he said.
The effects of the transition were already being felt at his business, Hammel said. Reservations for the busy season — from Christmas until President’s Day — are significantly lower than in past years.
Agustin Quintanar, who opened Zicatelas 2 in Windham earlier this year, said other business owners in town told him the skiing season was when money was made in the restaurant business.
“After Christmas is when the real business starts,” he said.
Other business owners said the hospitality economy is already less dependent on skiers.
Antonia, who founded The Windham Spa nearly 20 years
ago, said at one point the majority of the spa’s business occurred during ski season. But now, hikers, leaf-peepers and summer vacationers sometimes bring as many customers in July and August as mid-winter.
Windham Mountain Club has stated it wants to change from a winter resort to a four-season destination, and many of its planned offerings are meant for warm weather.
The Windham Spa has survived several ownership changes at the ski mountain, and Antonia, who only uses her first name professionally, said she has immense respect for one of the new owners, Sandy Vale, whom she knows from writing for hospitality trade publications. She called him “legendary in our industry” and a fantastic employer.
Antonia said she was “cautiously
optimistic” about the transition as well, and that many residents are panicking prematurely. She cited benefits that could come out of the transition, such as a significantly expanded tax base. Windham Mountain plans to construct dozens of single-family homes and townhouses on its property in the coming years as part of the transition, which would greatly expand property tax revenues for the town.
Other positives that could come from the transition include employment. At the peak of the season, the resort employs 190 full-time workers, with many more people working part-time. Those numbers are set to rise “substantially” because of the transition, according to the resort.
Lisa Jaeger, a real estate agent with Coldwell Banker in Windham,
said residents were being overly negative about the transition, and that the change would be a good thing since a “rising tide lifts all boats.”
Still, she added it was “sad” that the ski mountain’s golf course would be exclusively for club members in the future.
John O’Connor, the proprietor of the 50-year-old Jimmy O’Connor’s Windham Mountain Inn, said that different residents’ views on the resort’s transition “vary.” Still, he believes the town will stay strong “no matter what happens.”
“It’s still going to be a thriving town,” O’Connor said. “Even though the mountain might be heading towards a more exclusive resort, the town will continue to bring people in for (other) recreational activities and experiences and I think everyone is still going to be able to carry on.”