Jennifer Egbert, RE/MAX Alliance
CIMARRON – Nestled between Telluride and Crested Butte, there are 2,000 acres of paradise for sale to Colorado’s most elite buyers. If you’re in the market for a private ski resort/all-year recreational haven of your own, keep reading. There are home sites spread out among those thousands of acres, and one of these sites could be yours. We brought Jim Aronstein, the development’s founder, and Kim Koehn, equity partner, to tell us about what is now known as the Cimarron Mountain Club (CMC).
Describe the area. How much of the land is open space and how do you arrive?
Cimarron Mountain Club has 12 home sites on approximately 2,000 private acres. One of our primary goals is to maintain the wilderness character of the property. Additionally, the Club has exclusive road access to thousands of acres of surrounding public and National Forest land. The Cimarron Valley is pristine and undeveloped. The Uncompahgre Wilderness, with several peaks over 14,000 feet, is at one end of the valley and the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park is at the other.
CMC is 32 road miles from the Montrose/Telluride Regional Airport. Members can be picked up at the airport for the 40-minute drive to the Club. Alternatively, a charter helicopter service can fly members directly to the Club in under 10 minutes.
What are some of the characteristics of the Cimarron Mountain Club that will appeal to luxury ski enthusiasts?
CMC has a private ski area larger than Aspen Mountain for 12 members and, on average, we receive over 300 inches of snow each year. That means that it is almost always possible to find untracked powder on the mountain, even weeks after a storm. We ski off of 2.5 miles of the Cimarron Ridge and all start zones are well above 11,000 feet. Members and their guests have exclusive access to this un-crowded powder playground, which provides an experience unlike any other in
the world.
What other activities will there be besides skiing?
In the winter, members enjoy Nordic skiing and snowshoeing on miles of groomed trails, and ice-skating on the pond adjacent to the main lodge. We also have access to over 200 miles of exceptional ski terrain in the high San Juans, with helicopter pick-up and drop-off directly at the Club.
In the summer, the Club offers fishing, kayaking, canoeing and paddle boarding on our own 20-acre mountain lake. We also fish 14 other ponds scattered throughout the property and the Cimarron River. We have exceptional private hiking trails, including ridge line hikes with 100 mile views in all directions. Our mountain bike trails were designed by legendary mountain biker Dave Wiens, who will be available for tutorials. Horseback riding, archery and sporting clays are also on offer. We even have an 800 vertical foot volcanic plug, similar to Devils Tower, which provides world class rock climbing. Finally, there are horse pack trips into the adjacent Uncompahgre Wilderness and float trips though the Black Canyon. In the fall, CMC provides exceptional elk and mule deer hunting on our private land.
Cimarron Mountain Club is nestled between Telluride and Crested Butte.
It sounds like you hope for this to be a multi-generational endeavor.How do you plan to promote that vision?
It is virtually impossible to find private property in Colorado that offers CMC’s combination of beauty, water, dramatic views, wildlife and great skiing. The Club’s ultra-low density and diverse recreational offerings are also unprecedented in the ski world. We are confident that there will never be another project like CMC and, with only 12 members, that makes it the ultimate legacy property.
Each owner will have their own ski-in, ski-out ranch within the property and the ranches average over 100 acres each. This allows each owner to create and enjoy their own private world that should become a special, prized family retreat. We have a brief interview process to ensure that all members fit well within the community.
List prices of the home sites range from $2.7 to 3.85 Million. What explains this variance?
All sites enjoy incredible views, underground power, mountain spring water and unrivaled privacy, and all but one are ski-in, ski-out. However, some of the ranches are larger than others (the largest is over 200 acres), have private ponds and wildly dramatic settings. Some are closer to the main lodge and some offer more of a remote feel. We’re offering a 20% discount to the next four purchasers, which brings the price of the premium ranches in line with the less expensive ranches.
How can interested parties learn more?
Cimarron Mountain Club has to be seen (and skied) to be fully appreciated. We encourage interested individuals to review our website and check out the videos. Please contact General Manager Johnnie Stevens to arrange a visit. Johnnie’s e-mail is [email protected] and his cell phone is 970.729.0709.
Jennifer Egbert is a licensed residential agent that specializes in the Boulder, Colorado market. She is an expert in Boulder Luxury neighborhoods, area home builders and current market conditions.
