The Average Skier is the Enemy!

[Rushski]

A lot of the early closings are definitely due to the "average skier" thinking the season is over once there are two days over freezing in early March.

Sure many areas will close WAY before the snow is even close to gone this year.

Know I'm just reiterating what others have said but it really annoys me when people say it's going to be lousy and then I go out and prove them sadly mistaken.

[ctenidae]

On the flip side, it's the average skier that keeps the mountains open during the winter by buying day tickets, lodge food, and hotel rooms. Without them, we'd have to pay $70 to ski a day, and $9 for a burger at lunch.

Wait a second...

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

Originally Posted by ctenidae

I probably should have added mud running to that. If I have to spend more time rinsing mud out of my bindings than I did skiing, I'm not happy.

Mud is part of spring skiing..Unless you ski for 3 minutes..you're not going to spend more time rinsing mud out of your bindings than skiing..I feel like skeet spots and core shots on the bottom of my skis is a badge of honor..

Several years back Stowe had a 50 yard patch of bare ground in the middle of Liftline and I just skied right through it...the key is skiing it on a flat ski..

I'm hoping for at least 10 days of skiing in April and hopefully a day or two in May..without having to get on a plane..

But I don't have kids who play T-ball or a nagging wife or a lawn that needs to be cut..

[tekweezle]

another odd observation-i prefer skiing on sundays because they are less crowded. usually people either cut out early or don;t consider it because they need a day to recover. for the average skier, it;s saturday or no day. there are limited amounts of saturdays too. so as a result, by 2:00 on sundays, most mountains seem to be empty. better for the likes of people like me but i does seem like a waste....

i can;t believe that it;s only the 3rd week of march and we are talking about the season winding down.....

[drewfidelic]

The ski season seems skewed too early. People start getting excited about skiing in November when conditions (outside of some nice early storms) are going to be borderline to mediocre at best, yet when April comes around, the days are long, the temperatures are warm, and there's lots of good skiing to be had, everyone's moved on. I realize that not everyone is going to ski into May, but AlpineZone should start the movement-- ski season in the Northeast doesn't end until the end of April.

I can't fault the ski areas for closing when it becomes financially dumb to stay open. But if we can make a difference-- write to your local paper, bring friends, buy day passes, and make closing weekends big business for the resorts, then the season will continue.

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

Instead of complaining..we should feel fortunate that there are a handful of ski areas in the northeast that cater to spring skiing enthusiasts..

[severine]

Originally Posted by GrilledSteezeSandwich

Instead of complaining..we should feel fortunate that there are a handful of ski areas in the northeast that cater to spring skiing enthusiasts..

Blah blah blah, yakkidy schmackidy. If we're going to go that route, should we be also fortunate that we live in a country and clime where skiing is possible, that we have food to eat and air to breath?

Just give me the snow and nobody gets hurt.

I'm ticked off, too, about the season coming to a close so early around here. Remember earlier in the season when you guys polled which was better, getting an early season or late? I stand by my vote - I'd rather have a solid late season. And I wish more felt that way, otherwise we wouldn't have this problem of early closings.

[ckofer]

Originally Posted by GrilledSteezeSandwich

Instead of complaining..we should feel fortunate that there are a handful of ski areas in the northeast that cater to spring skiing enthusiasts..

I'll go along with that. The fact that some are announcing early (by most of our standards) closings makes it more viable for neighboring mountains. Steep discounts to season pass holders of closed mountains might be a good idea to generate traffic and vibe.

[jaywbigred]

Originally Posted by riverc0il

You had me until the gas prices issue. That extra 10-15 cents a gallon certainly adds up to.... a buck or two more when most people are spending over $200 for a weekend. Even for a one person day trip, that is a drop in the bucket.

I very much disagree.

Originally Posted by ski_resort_observer

The cost of gas and insurance has skyrocketed in the last few years, many resorts make money on the weekends/holidays but give it back during the week. IMHO if the trend continues I suspect some resorts might close during the week to survive.

Very good point.

Originally Posted by bobbutts

need a small army of staff and a large amount of expensive energy + the energy to stockpile snow.

Another very good point.

Originally Posted by happyjack

i think the economy is gonna play havoc with many expensive recreation activities. golf has already seen a notable decline since it's peak 4-5 years ago. i'm already seeing lots of ads from the $80-$100 daily fees courses offering discounted seasonal memberships.

Exactly!

Nerd time?
Issue: Skier visits being "down" in mid-to-late March, resulting in early closings in late March and early April.

Possible causes proposed:
1) The mental state of non-fanatic skiers, whose minds turn towards non-skiing activities as the temp. slowly rises. Examples given: golf, tennis, biking, yard work, boating.
2) The forced state upon fanatic skiers whose life situation prevents them from skiing late in the season even when they want to. Examples given: kids who play spring sports, spouses whose patience for skiing fanaticism wains, people who are limited by geography, people who rely on local mountains for lift served.
3) The Economic issues facing ski resorts. Examples: Ski resorts are expensive to operate, "give back" money made during winter/weekends during the spring/weekdays, have high energy costs, have high liability costs (insurance), and suffer from a departing/expensive workforce during the spring.
4) Economic hardships faced by individual skiers. Examples: the price of gas, the price of on-mountain food, the price of a day ticket, the price of lodging.

Analysis: I think that issue is one that begs a macro perspective. When we talk about skier visits being "down" and resorts closing "early," we are talking in relative perspectives to prior years, and to other resorts (presumably). This means that to understand what is going on, we have to look at past years' successes, the benchmarks to which this year is not living up, i.e. the given presumption that ski resorts made money at some point (the 80s and 90s, periods of relative economic prosperity, i guess?). I think overall in this thread, Causes #3 and #4, above, have been vastly under-cited. Our economy, comparitive to the last 30+ years (arguably) is a mess. Absolute gas prices (i.e., those adjusted for inflation) are at record highs, and though this might make a tank of gas only a "few bucks more expensive" than in the past, this is viewpoint wearing blinders. Our economy, especially mountain economies in isolated areas, often away from ports and trains, rely highly on truck traffic for many goods and products. Rising energy prices faced by manufacturers, distributors and providers of services (including ski resorts) are often passed on to the consumer (both non-skier and skier). This makes everything more expensive, and so the natural tendency is for the public to cut leisure spending so that they can pay for the things that really matter; If youre in danger of defaulting on your mortgage (and we are in a housing crisis, remember), your April ski trip is not going to occur this year. Though obviously it is fair to blame a service provider for price gauging, or a fickle, frightened consumer for overreaction (non-spending, non-investing, run-on-banks type behaviour), I think blaming mountains (for passing on costs, like all service providers in all industries have done) and blaming individuals facing personal economic hardships (for not coming out late in the season) are both immature.

Possible solutions:
1) Earn your turns. Simple enough.
2) "Stop complaining." We had a great snow year. This thread is, afterall, at least partially, a complaint that crowds are too small. This means more mountain for us (at least for the time being, until close)!
3) Support local economies near ski resorts by buying local products. Basically, spend money.
4) Pray for economic stability and prosperity in the future. When the economy is prospering, the (ever-elusive) "Average-skier" has more free time and more disposable income, in theory. Combine that with a decent snow year, and I am sure you would see a return to later-spring skiing in the northeast.

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

THis afternoon at Blue was packed..lots of people snuck out of work early and kids had off school for Good Friday...there was a 5 minute liftline for the 6-pack..and they freaking close tomorrow..with a solid base and all the runs open..a damn shame..so Sunday I'm skiing Camelback for free..