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Saddleback

deadheadskier

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The only shortcoming of SB is low vertical for the terrain they have.I'm sure nobody here skis below the lodge so leaves about 1550 ft of vert.

True, but a lot of times at Sugarloaf or Sunday River you're skiing in the 1000-1500 vert range unless you're skiing off the Super Quad. I don't think vertical is that big of a deal at SB.

I say this as someone who prefers big vertical skiing off fast lifts. Hence why Wildcat is my favorite NH area and Stowe my favorite VT area.
 

jimk

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True, but a lot of times at Sugarloaf or Sunday River you're skiing in the 1000-1500 vert range unless you're skiing off the Super Quad. I don't think vertical is that big of a deal at SB.

I say this as someone who prefers big vertical skiing off fast lifts. Hence why Wildcat is my favorite NH area and Stowe my favorite VT area.

This thread needs some pics :):)

Lots of Vertical off fast lift at Wildcat:
800x600px-LL-7f793456_Copy+of+NH2010+103.jpg


There's something about Saddleback:
100701
 

xwhaler

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True, but a lot of times at Sugarloaf or Sunday River you're skiing in the 1000-1500 vert range unless you're skiing off the Super Quad. I don't think vertical is that big of a deal at SB.

I say this as someone who prefers big vertical skiing off fast lifts. Hence why Wildcat is my favorite NH area and Stowe my favorite VT area.

Absolutely. Lap the Kennebago all day and I guarantee you won't leave saying I wish I had more vertical.
Heck even when lapping the Cupsuptic at 800ish vert you can still get some awesome varied terrain
 
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dlague

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It would seem to me that the opportunities for growth would really be only in stealing market share from SR and SL. Grabbing more market share even from Boston would be challenging given the drive.

What do people think are the reasons why the Berry's weren't able to steal more customers from SR and SL to make the place profitable with what they built already? Is it the lack of a high speed quad for the Rangeley alone? Would a new owner need to add all that massive terrain we've seen proposed or does the increased expense associated with the added terrain make the resort even more difficult to sustain?

SL and SR did and do a boat load more marketing. Lodging is another issue but we have always been able to find a condo for rent everything we went. There plenty of building lots that probably will never get developed which could have led to more lodging.
 
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Has anything happened other than the passage of time to spark this discussion?

Really like the hill, but just hard to see the revenue making it work.
 

thetrailboss

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Don't think so. As closed hills in New England go, this is probably the most tragic case yet.

The fact that they missed a ski season is huge. That really shakes confidence for folks. If they go for two it will really be hard for them to win back credibility. Something is really wrong here.
 

deadheadskier

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I wonder how strongly they are marketing the sale of the resort nationally. Could the hold up be simply that they are not on the radar of prospective buyers due to the relative obscurity of the place?
 

tipsdown

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I wonder how strongly they are marketing the sale of the resort nationally. Could the hold up be simply that they are not on the radar of prospective buyers due to the relative obscurity of the place?

Very good question...
 

Mapnut

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What do you think if a prospective new owner built on-site, instead of a hotel, a plain old motel with 100 rooms that could rent for $90 a night? That would help the beds situation but leave money for lifts.
 

sull1102

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The only lift that needs replacement is rangeley. Would a hsq be good for here or could they get away with a fgq with carpet

I would think if you really have your eye on SL skiers coming over, you'd want a high speed quad at least to help get their attention.

Could it be an issue of a buyers market? Coming in the next year or two a premier New England player is going to be on the market for next to nothing at Jay. Then there's Burke for the guy that wants to spend $10-million or less. Waterville is also supposedly on the market in New Hampshire. There's some good mountains up for grabs that are fully functioning year round, built out resorts.
 

deadheadskier

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I think the lift choice depends on how and to whom they want to market the mountain.

The Rangeley is about the same length/vert as Skyline, so a similar non-highspeed lift would be fine. It would also help keep the price of lift tickets down due to cheaper acquisition and maintenance costs compared with a HSQ.

I would think focusing on offering a better value than Sugarloaf at a smaller, but equally great mountain with less crowds would be the best direction to go with the place until more real estate is developed and the captive audience is grown.
 

tipsdown

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Agreed...Maybe a signature lift would be more appropriate a bit further down the road...However, there was discussion of lengthening the replacement lift...The lift would terminate out near America and there would be a build out of additional intermediate terrain in that area. If that were to happen a High speed lift should be the only option as it would lengthen the trip to 1,600-1700k vert.
 

xwhaler

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At one point I had heard he Berrys were looking to sell the mtn and condos but not much beyond the ski area footprint.
This would dramatically limit the potential I would think as any owner would likely want to maximize the possibility of using all the land.
The land is what has the real value one would think---the mtn is a liability and loses $ generally speaking.

At one point I read the Berrys owned upwards of 8k acres there.
 
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