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Making A (Private) Mountain Out Of A Haystack

By J.D. O'Connor
October 30, 2006

Another mountain is getting fitted with slope-hugging villas, spa, posh hotel, and heli-pad for rotor-borne ski commuters. And this one, the first gated community in the area, is being built in a state with a history for sniffing at pretense - Vermont.

Yep... Vermont. With the ink barely dry on the deal, a group of area investors are busily turning the former Haystack Ski Area into a gated, pampered, big-ticket membership resort a la Montana's Yellowstone Club to be known going forward as... the Haystack Club.

Work started recently on a $450 million makeover of the mountain and Club President David Dillon, former head of the Vermont Ski Areas Association, said a golf course will be open by spring and members will be skiing in time for the 2007/08 season.

A members-only resort may seem counter to Vermont's reputation for unpretentious living, but Dillon said there is a real demand for private resorts.

"It's the first of its kind but it's something there is a demand for, particularly when we're only three-and-a-half hours from Manhattan, two-and-a-half from Boston," he said. "There are a number of these in the planning stages around the country, (see Oct. 2, Industry Report) ours is the first one that's actually under construction in the Northeast."

Interested? Dillon said dues at the members only enclave will be considerably less than the $250,000 it takes to get into the Yellowstone Club, and that Haystack's 900 members will be treated to a clubhouse base lodge complete with a five-star restaurant; a 7,000-square foot spa; ski valet and business center; a 35,000-square-foot children's lodge (former base lodge); equestrian center and as well as the existing 18-hole golf course.

All real estate will be slope-side, of course.

American Skiing Company sold Haystack Ski Area to Tyringham Ridge, a group of local investors, last year for $5 million. ASC continues to own the adjacent Mount Snow Resort.

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Comments

	J.D.C.: Do you have an e-mail address for Haystack?
	Posted by: Dan Grabel/ESWA | October 31, 2006 02:12 PM

	Howdy, Dan. Here's a first step in making contact with them,info@haystackclub.com. They also have a Web site up at www.haystackclub.com. Best, J.D.
	Posted by: JD Industry Report | October 31, 2006 02:27 PM