Going Public
After 78 years as a private resort,
Otsego Club is going public
By Jess Campbell
It’s no secret that the mountain resort industry is a competitive
one. To stay relevant within the market and continue
to bring winter sport enthusiasts to your hill, tough
decisions sometimes need to be made. However, those
decisions can lead to a new lease on life for the business and
new opportunities for skiers, snowboarders and the staff
who serve them.
Appreciating the past
That seems to be the case for the Otsego Club and Resort
in Gaylord, Mich. Mike Bedells is the general manager and,
RESORT PROFILE
while he’s only held that title since May 2017, he knows the
prestigious history of the club quite well.
“The resort was originally founded in 1939 by a group of automotive
executives out of Detroit who were ski enthusiasts.
They found this piece of property in Gaylord and they opened
the Otsego Ski Club and it’s been a private club up until this
year. Originally, it was just a small lodge with a hotel. We’ve
expanded over the years, of course. We have 20,000 square
feet of convention space now; we have five ski lifts, 29 runs, a
400-foot vertical, and approximately 150 skiable acres. It’s a
regular ski resort now,” he said.
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