Windham rebranding to "Windham Mountain Club"

[Soujan]

Windham is rebranding as "Windham Mountain Club" and is attempting to be more luxurious. According to the article, they will limit ticket sales and will have more upscale dining. Unsure how this will affect IKon passholders.

I don't really ski at Windham since it's pretty small and crowded. I haven't been there in years.

Windham Rebrands to “Windham Mountain Club”, Will Remain Open to The Public — PeakRankings

The old Windham Mountain is no more…so says the Catskills resort. The move comes paired with upgraded restaurants and limits to ticket sales.

www.peakrankings.com

 

[ski diva]

It'll be interesting to see how this goes, though it sticks in my craw. I mean, I like uncrowded slopes as much as anyone (maybe more), but the exclusivity of it rubs me the wrong way. It may succeed, though, since it's in pretty close proximity to a lot of affluent people in the New York/Connecticut area.

This isn't the first time something like this has been tried in the East. The former Haystack ski area in Vermont became the members-only Hermitage Club, and ended up having all sorts of financial problems. The only difference is that the Heritage Club had a real-estate component. Maybe this will in the future, as well.

 

[Bonnie2617]

This should be interesting. They are getting destroyed on instagram. Their caption is “Say goodbye to Windham mountain”?!?! How is that something positive? Their website isn’t fully functional and quite odd/awkward.

Windham Mountain Club - Home

windhammountainclub.com

I’m from NYC and have the Ikon pass so it is one of my go-to mountains so somewhat concerned about my ski future! There are some other options in the area like Belleayre or Plattekill, but those were my destinations for the busy weekends! Now these mountains will get more crowded. Not a fan.

 

[RachelV]

They're not going fully private, though, they're doing some weird in-between.

According to the website, currently:

Windham Mountain Club - Season Passes

windhammountainclub.com

- Ikon pass still works there, reservations are required
- On peak days, there's a 2-day minimum (they don't say what peak days are)
- Windham season passes and lift tickets are available to the public (not just club members), but at limited quantities

The website has at least been fixed to work on mobile now. There's still not that much real information on it, however. "Say goodbye to Windham Mountain" is weird, though, yes!

It will be interesting to see how this goes, I guess? I'd be cranky about it if it were my home mountain, I think.

 

[Bonnie2617]

Website is much better now, but strange seeing such a drastic change from the old to the new! Will report back this season! Hoping there will be some positives.

 

[RachelV]

Good summary of the situation from The Storm Skiing Journal:

What Windham’s Controversial, Cloudy Future Tells Us About the Current State of Lift-Served Skiing

“Windham Mountain Club will always continue to sell season passes and lift tickets, and it won't be exclusive to members" - Windham President Chip Seamans

www.stormskiing.com

As always, you have to be a subscriber to read the full article, but (also as always) the beginning has enough info to be useful.

 

[edelweissmaedl]

I was hoping to go to the Stoeckli Demo Day in December. Now I wonder if they will still offer. I email the Demo Center before the rebranding and still haven'y heard back. It looks like they may be opening for the season on Tuesday so hoping for answers later this week.

 

[MissySki]

Wow.. so what exactly does the 175k membership get you? It seems it would need to have massive perks otherwise why would you do that when they are still selling season passes to the general public? It doesn’t seem enough to me when looking at it but I guess it depends how fully they restrict the public too ..

Windham Mountain Club - Membership

windhammountainclub.com

 

[SnowHot]

They're not going fully private, though, they're doing some weird in-between.

According to the website, currently:

Windham Mountain Club - Season Passes

windhammountainclub.com

- Ikon pass still works there, reservations are required
- On peak days, there's a 2-day minimum (they don't say what peak days are)
- Windham season passes and lift tickets are available to the public (not just club members), but at limited quantities

The website has at least been fixed to work on mobile now. There's still not that much real information on it, however. "Say goodbye to Windham Mountain" is weird, though, yes!

It will be interesting to see how this goes, I guess? I'd be cranky about it if it were my home mountain, I think.

It seems vague to me, but my original thought was that they're trying to become Deer Valley East
Deer Valley has limited ticket sales, has upscale dining options but also has IKON availability. (7 days)
Since I have zero experience with Windham I can't imagine how it will work for them.

 

[Soujan]

The perks of membership do not seem to be worth $175k for someplace like Windham.

 

[coldthrill]

Hi all! Chiming in here after doing some overseas travel and just discovered all these changes on Monday, despite actually having a season ticket for 23/24. The rollout of Windham Mountain Club has been a public relations disaster, by all measures. I wrote to them Monday to inquire whether they will honor my Sun-Fri pass, which I bought in March, because the same pass on their website if you were to buy it today is valid only Mon-Fri. I haven't heard back from them. I have connected with some locals on WMC's Facebook page, where comments have not been turned off. The comments were turned off for their Instagram posts. Besides the general sadness of this transition to "rarefied air" (their words), the season pass change especially is a real slap in the face to local families, who now have no options to ski on their pass with their kids on weekends, when they formally had Sundays. Say what?! In other words, they've turned their back on the very community that has made the resort a success for decades. I have appreciated the mountain's excellent snowmaking and grooming lately, but am now wondering where and how far I'll have to go for a similar, and similarly affordable, mountain. Even though I could make a Mon-Fri pass work, I have a problem supporting such a divisive, elitist model.

 

[teppaz]

The perks of membership do not seem to be worth $175k for someplace like Windham.

Not to diss Windham, which is reasonably fun and has good snow-making, but it's also small with little advanced terrain, and it gets crowded on weekends. The people who can afford a $175k membership can afford flying to Aspen, Deer Valley or St. Moritz, and stay there in much higher luxury.

 

[Soujan]

Windham Mountain’s upscale rebrand draws vitriol

Windham Mountain will open for the coming season as the “Windham Mountain Club,” offering the option of $175,000 lifetime memberships.

www.timesunion.com

Found this article detailing more of the changes and the backlash Windham has received.

 

[coldthrill]

Windham Mountain’s upscale rebrand draws vitriol

Windham Mountain will open for the coming season as the “Windham Mountain Club,” offering the option of $175,000 lifetime memberships.

www.timesunion.com

Found this article detailing more of the changes and the backlash Windham has received.

Nice article. Thanks for sharing