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The irrepressible Gillett is a good bet to explore all avenues. By acquiring relatively modest sites like New Hampshire's Waterville Valley and Mount Cranmore, and California's Northstar-at-Tahoe and Bear Mountain, Gillett is hoping to create high-volume regional resorts within driving distance of major population centers--attractions for day skiers. "You've got to start somewhere," he says of this strategy.
Gillett personally relishes skiing "steep and deep," which is not a bad metaphor for his investment style. Like his earlier Vail venture, Gillett II rests on a mountain of junk securities, although these cost a mere 12.5% interest, well below the nosebleed rate for his last go-round. And this time he has two big partners: the John Hancock Mutual Life Insurance Co., which owns 50% of the ski operations, and the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, which has 10%. Says Gillett, who has a hard time containing his optimism: "The demographics are with us. Skiing is at the same point it was 25 years ago--at the brink of another great growth period." The only thing he's missing, he concedes, is a signature resort like Vail.
This time around Gillett is taking precautions, separating his various ventures so that a mishap in one can't pull down the others. Running ski resorts has become a family affair, with Gillett drawing on the active participation of his wife Rose and their four sons, ages 22 to 27. Still, he confides his weakness for sometimes moving too fast and buying too much. "I've lived my dreams, but then I blow them up." How comforting that must be to his bond holders.
--Reported by Richard Woodbury/Vail