With a “Hoo Ya!” and a “Wahoo!,” you can “Waltz” your way down the runs of Tamarack Resort.
“A lot of resorts bill themselves as four seasons, but there isn’t a whole lot to do during the spring and summers,” Tamarack Resort Managing Partner Gabriel Navarro said. “With Tamarack, it really is.”
Promoting itself as America’s only ski, golf, and lake resort, Tamarack has undergone a renaissance since Navarro, his brother Marcel Navarro, and brother-in-law Martin Pico took full control in 2021 under their company, MMG Equity Partners.
That’s included things like the private Club at Tamarack, ski-in/ski-out condominiums, seven spots for food and drinks, and a hearty schedule of programming and events.
But while Tamarack is thriving now, its story can’t be told without visiting its checkered past.
TAMARACK, BEGIN AGAIN
Navarro’s initial Tamarack experience included standing outside what Valley County locals had dubbed ‘Tyvek Village.’ Wrapped in the ubiquitous gray padding material, the shells of Tamarack’s Village Plaza remained just as they had before the resort went bankrupt in 2008.
“It was eerie almost when we walked through that Village the first time,” he said. “Although it had been sealed off for 10 years, it looked as if the construction workers had walked off the job just yesterday. Hammers, screwdrivers, the plans on the tables. So, the first visit was an interesting one.”
But that interest was key. The Florida-based MMG had become something of a player in the ski resort space after acquiring a portfolio of commercial properties (Whistler Blackcomb in British Columbia, Mammoth in California, Copper in Colorado, Snowshoe Mountain Resort in West Virginia, and Stratton Mountain Resort in Vermont). When the Tamarack opportunity came around, MMG partnered with other firms and created Tamarack Resort Holdings to acquire the resort.
And Tamarack, once shrouded in failure and polyethylene, started shaking off the dust.
COMPLETING THE VISION
“The first few years were challenging in that prospective purchasers of real estate were skeptical, having been a failed ski resort,” Navarro said. “Many wondered, ‘Was this new owner going to do what they say they are going to do?’”
Pieces of the resort were scattered across multiple entities, from the Seattle-based joint venture Banner/Sabey, which owned the Village, the homeowners who had control of mountain operations, and the hedge fund that controlled the water and sewers.
“Eighteen months later, we had worked through all of the pieces to be able to put Humpty Dumpty back together,” Navarro said. “My second trip out there, the family went out with me. It was neat, just walking them through the Village and laying out the vision, and then for them to go back two years later and see it complete. But again, we had the confidence, with the right partners and with the original general contractor on board, to finish what was the original master plan.”
That included things like reinstalling the Wildwood Lift in 2019, which had been repossessed and removed in 2012.
“We are now focused on delivering a new meaningful amenity each year which further elevates the resort,” Navarro said. “Six years later, having invested over $200 million in the resort, that skepticism is no longer there. Tamarack 2.0 is thriving.”
RUNNING A RESORT
“It's easier for my family to vacation there than it is for me, for sure,” Navarro said, with a laugh. “But as a resort owner, we are fortunate to have a good team on the ground, including Scott Turlington (the resort president) and Kara Finlay (chief operating and financial officer) who we could not do this without.”
Idaho has offered Navarro a new perspective on recreation as well.
“I was born and raised in Miami,” he said. “Miami's an amazing place, but it can be very pretentious at times. It was refreshing to connect with the homeowners and the families out in Tamarack who were just looking for a place with a laidback vibe and…to just make great memories with their families. It was enchanting, to be honest.”
Family is a guiding principle for Navarro.
“My wife, Claudia, and I could not be more proud of the three amazing young men (ages 22, 20, and 17) that we’ve raised – any business accomplishment pales in comparison to that achievement,” he said. “All my family is here in South Florida. My brother, my sister, my parents, the 10 kids between us. We all live within 10 minutes of each other – we are a very close family.”
The original family business, started by Navarro’s grandfather, was a chain of drugstores bearing the family’s last name. With the pivot to commercial and resort properties, the next generation has figured out how to hit their work life-balance.
“I spend a week a month (at Tamarack) for work,” Navarro said. “And then we vacation out there as a family in the summers and winters, with a few father-son, friends, and spring break trips in between. Six years ago, the resort business was certainly outside of our wheelhouse, but my brother, brother-in-law, and I have figured out how to best divide up the responsibilities amongst us. I personally am most involved in the real estate and marketing side of the business.”
Navarro also spends a lot of time talking with team members, homeowners, and club members.
“It's always helpful to hear from people on the ground, and people who live there, as to where there may be opportunities to improve,” Navarro said. “For a large and complex project like Tamarack, being able to have sole ownership and control, and be able to make decisions based on what is best for the long term, is important. My family and I look forward to owning Tamarack for generations.”
PLAYTIME
While Navarro does plenty of work to keep Tamarack up and running, he also takes the time to utilize what he and the rest of the Tamarack community have built.
“I was recently at Tamarack with my wife, two of our boys, and 10 of their friends on a golf trip,” he said. “They recount that it was the most active week of their lives: playing a round of golf in the morning, downhill biking in the afternoon, a twilight round of golf later in the day, and then wakeboarding and wake surfing until the sun set at 9 p.m., which is amazing. My wife’s favorite thing is to hop on an e-bike and bike around the resort for hours at a time. She enjoys the pickleball clinics and open play with the club, the yoga, and the fitness classes. You don't get bored at Tamarack, that's for sure. It's pretty neat in that sense.
“Tamarack is their happy place – there is nowhere they’d rather be. They’re all avid skiers, and the skiing at Tamarack is awesome, but there is so much to do in the summers that I’d say they almost prefer it more.”
‘WE’RE IN THE THIRD INNING’
“A lot of people from the Treasure Valley come out and they're blown away by how much we've done since their last visit out, or how different Tamarack is today from what they remember 10 years ago when it was Tyvek Village,” Navarro said.
Since restarting the resort, achievements have included a golf course and mid-mountain lodge in 2024, construction starting on a 100-slip marina on Lake Cascade in August, plans for a hotel and clubhouse over the next few years, and new real estate and communities coming online each year.
“Folks say, ‘Oh, I should have bought five years ago. I missed the boat.’ But the reality is, I think we're in the third inning. Every year, we'll continue to deliver a transformational addition to the resort. We've accomplished a lot in the last five years, but I'm equally excited as to what we'll do in the next 10.”