Huntah sold to Peak Resorts

yeggous · Dec 1, 2015

Smellytele said:
Are we using their stock symbol (SKIS) as their name?

yes

andrec10 · Dec 1, 2015

catskillman said:
Hunter was debt free, and that is why the capital $ were limited in many ways, not that the family was hording. In fact, they were not paid a lot and of the owners children only David really worked, and he worked very hard and lone....

He skis like a freight train coming through, will miss him... he has character and is a nice guy. The other sons are around.... and Orvilles sons are active in town. I would not know Orvilles daughter is she was sitting next to me wearing a name tag.

I do have to say David was hands on. Others...not so much.

gmcunni · Dec 1, 2015

is there any chance the family stays on in some mgt capacity or does Peak typically bring in their own to run/do everything?

drjeff · Dec 1, 2015

gmcunni said:
is there any chance the family stays on in some mgt capacity or does Peak typically bring in their own to run/do everything?

Who knows. In the Past Peak has both brought new people in post acquisition sometimes and kept the same people in places other times.

Will probably depend on a host of things from is there any language in the purchase agreement about keeping people on in the same roll, how the Peak management folks feel about the folks at Hunter in various positions, and lastly does Peak have any people, likely within their current organization, who they feel are ready for a "promotion" and can handle any new roll they'd be asked to do? Peak has been "grooming" a few younger people within their organization the past few years for larger management and operations rolls. Is this the time and/or right place for one/some of them to be asked to step up?? Probably only time and Tim Boyd know that answer right now....

Jully · Dec 1, 2015

JimG. said:
Now it seems like no coincidence I went with the NYS 3 in 1. Will be interested to see how the place changes this year and to see how the other resorts there react. I have a strong feeling I will not like the big corporate Hunter that will be created. And I'm sure the food will now suck. And that the season will be shortened even more.

This may be what drives me from NYS to Killington. A better mountain, closer to other favorite VT areas and the commitment to a long season.

Peaks doesn't do 'corporate' much at all in my opinion with dealings with their NH mountains. Haven't been to Snow since their takeover however.

But Wildcat doesn't feel like a big corporate mountain at all. Employees are all friendly and pretty familiar either.

Hunter has an aggressive snowmaking reputation as well (though less so in the last few years it would seem) and I wouldn't be surprised if Peaks tries to use that to their advantage and build more reputation and branding off it.

BenedictGomez · Dec 1, 2015

gmcunni said:
is there any chance the family stays on in some mgt capacity or does Peak typically bring in their own to run/do everything?

In most acquisitions (in any industry), some key personal will stay for some agreed upon time (6 months, 1 year) to help in the transition, often as part of the structure of the deal. I would be shocked if this is not the case with Hunter.

In any event, it was stressed that almost nothing is going to change this ski season, as the cusp of the season is upon us, and they want to "learn" Hunter before they better know where they wish to implement changes.

catskillman · Dec 1, 2015

BenedictGomez said:
In most acquisitions (in any industry), some key personal will stay for some agreed upon time (6 months, 1 year) to help in the transition, often as part of the structure of the deal. I would be shocked if this is not the case with Hunter.

In any event, it was stressed that almost nothing is going to change this ski season, as the cusp of the season is upon us, and they want to "learn" Hunter before they better know where they wish to implement changes.

the "local" rumors are sad..... many are worried, there is not much work in the area if they lose their jobs. However, as the new owners will find out it is hard to get folks to work in the area at seasonal work as they lose government benefits.... Mainly management are worried.... HR, the ski school director that never skis anymore (too overworked, but a great person), the cooks (who do a great job - the food is a good as it possibly can be there, marketing... etc.... Time will tell..........

catskillman · Dec 1, 2015

And I should mention that they could not possibly raise the prices at the bar any more. They are totally out of control now!!!!!!!!

Newpylong · Dec 1, 2015

Jully said:
Peaks doesn't do 'corporate' much at all in my opinion with dealings with their NH mountains. Haven't been to Snow since their takeover however.

But Wildcat doesn't feel like a big corporate mountain at all. Employees are all friendly and pretty familiar either.

Hunter has an aggressive snowmaking reputation as well (though less so in the last few years it would seem) and I wouldn't be surprised if Peaks tries to use that to their advantage and build more reputation and branding off it.

Peak's areas as far as I can tell operate about as independently from each other as you can get, outside of sharing of snow technology, etc. It is hard pressed to tell they are part of a larger group.

Their attention to alleviating existing shortcomings vs reinventing the wheel works well imho.

JimG. · Dec 1, 2015

Good feedback to what I threw out there thanks all.

If they keep the food quality and prices and renovate the lodge completely that would be a huge upgrade. They would be smart to keep an "open early/close later" mentality. Having Wildcat, my favorite NH hill, as a sister mountain is a plus. Wonder if they will offer discounts to Hunter pass holders who visit.

If they were to decide to drop a few million to build the infrastructure needed to blow snow on Annapurna on the Westside it would make my season pass purchase decision much more difficult next year.

Newpylong · Dec 1, 2015

Not to go off track but what additional infrastructure is needed to make snow there? Pipes are there and used to be used all the time. Water and air capacity seem to be there. I thought it was a question of priority...

Harvey · Dec 1, 2015

BenedictGomez said:
I havent been to Hunter in years, so I cant comment on the food, but that's what SKIS said, whether that means adding a fancy restaurant or a nicer bar or the food itself, I dont know.

Whiteface's cafeteria food used to be decent about 3 years ago, but they changed the vendor I'm guessing as it dropped in quality while simultaneously increasing in price (a terrible combo). The Cloudspin Lounge food is okay though, and I never eat at the foofy downstairs bar.

Gore's cafeteria food is pretty sad; that area actually looks government run. But the Gore bar food is pretty good (the wait times and service however are brutal).

Gore and Whiteface food is handled by the same vendor, Centerplate, and has been for many years.

JimG. · Dec 1, 2015

Newpylong said:
Not to go off track but what additional infrastructure is needed to make snow there? Pipes are there and used to be used all the time. Water and air capacity seem to be there. I thought it was a question of priority...

I thought so too and assumed it was a matter of priorities, but I have been told that several million dollars in capital is required to refit and maintain the system just to get water over there now and that it isn't going to happen. But that was before the sale.

andrec10 · Dec 1, 2015

JimG. said:
I thought so too and assumed it was a matter of priorities, but I have been told that several million dollars in capital is required to refit and maintain the system just to get water over there now and that it isn't going to happen. But that was before the sale.

David actually said last year they just were not going to get to it. Came down to cost and priorities.

Funky_Catskills · Dec 1, 2015

andrec10 said:
I do have to say David was hands on. Others...not so much.

There's other members of the family that work there..

andrec10 · Dec 1, 2015

Funky_Catskills said:
There's other members of the family that work there..

I know, just not as visible. Sarah was always very helpful in the office.

yeggous · Dec 1, 2015

JimG. said:
Good feedback to what I threw out there thanks all.

If they keep the food quality and prices and renovate the lodge completely that would be a huge upgrade. They would be smart to keep an "open early/close later" mentality. Having Wildcat, my favorite NH hill, as a sister mountain is a plus. Wonder if they will offer discounts to Hunter pass holders who visit.

If they were to decide to drop a few million to build the infrastructure needed to blow snow on Annapurna on the Westside it would make my season pass purchase decision much more difficult next year.

If you have a pass to any SKIS area, you get a free discount card to all their other areas. These typically come loaded with a free ticket too. I assume this would apply to Hunter after the closing.

Sent from my iPhone using AlpineZone mobile app

Creakyknees · Dec 1, 2015

26 Great Years

After 26 years of having a season pass at Hunter I personally like Hunter the way it is and I would not change a thing; THIS SUCKS.

I'm concerned about the skiing. We don't need more trails cut, we need to be concerned what the new management is going to do with snowmaking and grooming. The years of experience that the employees at Hunter has with maintaining the skiing surface conditions is something that needs to be handed down over time. I hope the new management recognizes how important the head snowmakersand groomers are to the Hunter skiing experience.

All we need is a season pass to ski Hunter this should keep the price down. We don't need a reciprocating pass for other ski areas.

It's unfortunate but snowmaking will be decided on the $$$$$ and not the temps.
Get the ice-skates ready we are going skating.

How is Mount Snow with snowmaking, conservative? liberal? what day did Mount Snow close the last two seasons?

The one good thing is maybe we will have less grooming and more bumps we could only hope.

What is going to happen to all the people with lifetime season passes?

Later,
Mr. I'm ready for another 26 years at Hunter

yeggous · Dec 1, 2015

Creakyknees said:
After 26 years of having a season pass at Hunter I personally like Hunter the way it is and I would not change a thing; THIS SUCKS.

I'm concerned about the skiing. We don't need more trails cut, we need to be concerned what the new management is going to do with snowmaking and grooming. The years of experience that the employees at Hunter has with maintaining the skiing surface conditions is something that needs to be handed down over time. I hope the new management recognizes how important the head snowmakersand groomers are to the Hunter skiing experience.

All we need is a season pass to ski Hunter this should keep the price down. We don't need a reciprocating pass for other ski areas.

It's unfortunate but snowmaking will be decided on the $$$$$ and not the temps.
Get the ice-skates ready we are going skating.

How is Mount Snow with snowmaking, conservative? liberal? what day did Mount Snow close the last two seasons?

The one good thing is maybe we will have less grooming and more bumps we could only hope.

What is going to happen to all the people with lifetime season passes?

Later,
Mr. I'm ready for another 26 years at Hunter

I can answer the lifetime season pass question. There is already a thread on this:
http://forums.alpinezone.com/showthread.php/86146-Wildcat-Lifetime-Season-Pass-Controversy

Sent from my iPhone using AlpineZone mobile app

BenedictGomez · Dec 2, 2015

Newpylong said:
Not to go off track but what additional infrastructure is needed to make snow there? Pipes are there and used to be used all the time. Water and air capacity seem to be there. I thought it was a question of priority...

SKIS said several times that snowmaking is a strength of Hunter and that it's pretty much good to go as is, so snowmaking is definitely not going to be an initial area of major investment where they think they need to upgrade.

Personally, if I were forced to guess, I'm thinking you'll see completely renovated food and bevy areas, retail and shops, and placement of additional ancillary revenue opportunities, things of that nature. Obviously not this season though.

Harvey said:
Gore and Whiteface food is handled by the same vendor, Centerplate, and has been for many years.

Well the change from 3 seasons ago to 2 seasons ago was pretty drastic. It went from decent and somewhat (YOMV) reasonable, to crappy and unreasonably expensive. So much so crappy and expensive that I did something I hadn't done at any ski area in years, I actually brought my own lunch several times. Frankly, expensive I can deal with; expensive and low-grade dog food I cannot.

Huntah sold to Peak Resorts

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