A Rare Nugget: An Affordable Ski Town!

I've borne witness to the taming of the wild west over the past three decades as hundreds of thousands of new residents migrated to resort communities in Colorado, Utah, Idaho, Montana and Wyoming. Fortunately, most of the big adventures available in the region I've partaken in from summiting big peaks, wilderness raft trips, biking the slick rock, heli-skiing Canada, snowmobiling Yellowstone before restrictions, fishing all the big hatches on the big rivers, and now reflecting upon what is next.
Its been interesting to watch community's like Aspen, Sun Valley, Park City, Summit County Colorado, Jackson Hole, Big Sky, and Whitefish, each in succession, move out of the price range of the vast majority, all of who may have been able to afford life there if they had only bought 1, 2, 5, or 10 years earlier. It's the same story and it progressed up the spine of the Rockies starting with Aspen in the 1970's as a giant wave of exclusivity moved from south to north up the Rockies.
Of course this phenomenon has always led to the great big question of, "Where is the next up and coming place that we can still afford?" Thousands have asked the question but only a small portion, the lucky few; have ever come up with the correct answer.
Fortunately I have had a pretty good track record in arriving in areas that get "too cool for school" just ahead of the major onslaught. For instance, I discovered Bend, Oregon in the late 1980's before its explosion. I arrived in Sun Valley a year ahead of 1989 when prices nearly doubled; fortunately I bought before they did. I also bought real estate in Bozeman, Montana in the early 1990's. So when I set out to find the "next place" for the Spires at Red Lodge development team most of the criteria were firmly established.
After 17 years of residing in what had now come to be known as "Bozangeles" I decided to set out to find that special community that was still reasonably priced but hadn't been blown out of the water yet through hyper-discovery. I've had a pretty good track record so I thought I could perhaps do this a few more times but the opportunities are getting more and more scarce.
When we began this quest the goal was to find a location that would be attractive to retiring baby boomers. We included criteria such as proximity to high quality health care, proximity to a good airport, proximity to an Interstate Highway, the cost of land, the cost of a home, the variety of recreation and, more importantly, how much competition there is for that recreation. Other criteria included the amount of time you had to spend in a car to reach the various types of recreation. Other factors included the towns authenticity, the availability of good schools, the number of good restaurants, and two criteria that define most western resort towns: 1.) It had to have a ski area, and 2.) it needed an 18 hole golf course.
After the better part of one year had passed we had identified a few pretty darn good options but Red Lodge was our clear winner and the City of Billings played a big part in its victory.
Red Lodge home to the U.S. Nationals Ski Joring (where a horse pulls a skier), the July 4th rodeo (mom and apple pie), home to the Harley Rodeo, the Festival of Nations, and the famed Beartooth Pass was going to be our new home. A place where folks still wave at each other from their car; its a retro throw back to the days of Ozzie and Harriet or Leave It To Beaver.
Red Lodge is 59 miles from Billings, Montana (pop. 105,000) and Billings has the best medical care in a five State region along with Montana's only international airport. Every big box store known to man resides in Billings and a great many national acts pass through the town.
Red Lodge real estate is the least expensive of all of the resorts in the entire Rocky Mountain range where there is both a ski resort and an 18 hole golf course.
Significant capital improvements are occurring in Red Lodge right in the midst of a major national recession. A new $25 million hospital bordering the beautiful new Spires at Red Lodge development has broken ground, a new $9 million high school is nearly complete, Red Lodge Ales micro-brewery is just finishing up a new facility that quadruples the size of their previous facility, a new entry corridor is planned through the Department of Transportation, and Red Lodge Mountain Ski Area was acquired 18 months ago by San Francisco based JMA and they have spent millions on snowmaking and lift upgrades this past year.
Judging by the crowds that are coming to Red Lodge Mountain this season, which are the largest in five years, in spite of the fact that most ski resorts are down this year in traffic, and you can see a bright future developing for Red Lodge real estate.
In the midst of a major economic downturn Red Lodge finds itself having its biggest capital improvement spending since 100 years ago. A new gourmet and wine store, a new high school, a new hospital, a new brew pub, new ski area owners and The Spires at Red Lodge development top the list of recent improvements. Resort owners spent several million upgrading lifts and snowmaking in the summer of 2008 and, as a direct result, the ski area is experiencing its best year in the last 5 years at a time when most resorts nationally are having traffic decline.
Red Lodge is also one of the best kept secrets in the country for snowmobiling and ATV riding. Cooke City, Montana to the south is a Mecca for snowmobiles and powder skiers alike.
. Solid Class 4 and Class 5 kayaking and rafting waters are all around the area which is likely some of the best whitewater anywhere in the United States. Late May until mid-July is big water season in the greater Red Lodge area.
The kayaking around Red Lodge is the best in the lower 48 States with Rock Creek running a solid Class 5 all of May, June and into July and the famed Big Timber Creek not too far away. There is also the Shoshone in Cody, Wyoming below the dam. The Stillwater is a nice cruiser for the intermediate kayaker and white water rafters.
If you are looking for a good real estate investment with all of the right catalysts and all of the "right stuff" then check out Red Lodge, Montana and The Spires at Red Lodge.

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