Jcb890
Active member
Mount Snow was not very busy on Sunday. I know Sundays are typically less busy, but I don't recall it ever being that slow on any Sundays last season.
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How bad have skier visits and business been this year?
- Thread starter slatham
- Start date
drjeff
Well-known member
This past Sunday was one of the quieter Sunday's I've skied this Mount Snow this season. It was quite nice given that Saturday was pretty crowded, and crowded in a historical sense for a March Saturday, not just a "this season" sense
Jcb890
Active member
That's interesting. We were up there the previous Sunday also - the 28th - and this past Sunday was certainly less busy. It was fine with us, our work crew had a great time. I personally had a blast trying to keep up with a few of my co-workers who are FAST skiers. I hit a bunch of records for this season on Sunday - top speed, vertical ft, # of runs, miles traveled, etc.
I wonder why Saturday was so crowded. I almost never go to Snow on Saturdays.
drjeff
Well-known member
My hunch is the Saturday demand was a combo of nice weather, plenty of pent of demand from this season, the promise of fresh snowmaking, and possibly some folks checking the mountain out after the Peak did the pass price release the day before. I did ride the Bluebird Saturday 3 or 4 times where people my wife and I were riding it with mentioned that it was either their 1st time at Mount Snow or their first time back in many, many years..... Their amazement of the bubble is always a bit of a giveaway that they haven't been to Mount Snow in at least 5 seasons now
SkiingInABlueDream
Active member
If the forecast stays sunny and warm at least for this Saturday I think this weekend will be busy, especially if ppl have tickets to burn. (I have a Sugarbush quad pack I haven't touched yet.)
Jcb890
Active member
My hunch is the Saturday demand was a combo of nice weather, plenty of pent of demand from this season, the promise of fresh snowmaking, and possibly some folks checking the mountain out after the Peak did the pass price release the day before. I did ride the Bluebird Saturday 3 or 4 times where people my wife and I were riding it with mentioned that it was either their 1st time at Mount Snow or their first time back in many, many years..... Their amazement of the bubble is always a bit of a giveaway that they haven't been to Mount Snow in at least 5 seasons now
Ah, that makes sense. I'm surprised (but happy) that Sunday was so sparse with crowds then. I didn't think anything of it until at lunch time we walked into the Sundance lodge and there were actually empty seats at tables. Our work group was able to get an entire table together... which is normally not feasible. By the time afternoon rolled around, it was less and less busy. My wife is still pretty slow, so I have to wait for her at times and I recall waiting for her on Long John at one point and there not being anyone who came by me for a solid minute or so. That never happens on Long John.
The Bluebird is definitely a nice lift. However, the lines tend to get ridiculous and if it isn't too cold or windy, I'd just rather take the Grand Summit quad. Sunday certainly was nice enough. It was a bit windy at times, but nothing zipping up the jacket wouldn't take care of.
One thing I did notice on both Grand Summit and Bluebird - the "runouts" when getting on the lifts are not long enough or are not the correct pitch. If I take the Grand Summit and don't physically use the posts to slow myself down going onto the moving carpet, it'll push me too far. As an experiment I let myself slide onto the moving carpet when the gates opened (like you're supposed to) and then just stood on my snowboard, letting the carpet push me up to the chair. I wound up about 2-3" from falling off the end of the runout and the chair just picked me up before going off. Perhaps they should make that runout come upwards a bit to help slow down momentum coming off of the little moving carpet section.
For the Bluebird, the issue just seems that the space where the chair picks you up isn't long enough. Sometimes the chair picking me up almost feels like its going to push me off of the chair and by that point, you're at the end of the loading platform.
These are really minor gripes, just things I noticed and thought were a bit odd.
machski
Well-known member
Up what ante? They already announced pass pricing, they went up slightly. Highly doubt they will pull it back now.
joshua segal
Well-known member
Note: Those prices for Peak Resorts go up significantly on April 30.
gmcunni
Active member
i assume you can order online to lock the price but pick up at the beginning of next season?
You just need to get your $99 down before the deadline and agree to the five installments to the same CC thereafter to cover the balance. When you pick up the pass is of no concern.
Also, you considering this pass G? Seems like it would be a good bet for you with Hunter and Snow both being within day trip range.
machski
Well-known member
If you mean Gold New England unlimited, yes.
slatham
Well-known member
Mad River Glenn reports budgeting to operate 100 days but only operating for 45 this past season. Also, an interesting quote about last year (14/15), especially with regard to being open late into spring:
“No x-mas, no MLK Weekend, brutal cold, more snow south, Boston folks couldn’t get out of the city, then we went very long into the spring which always eats through cash’’ the reply continued. “Bottom line is it was a great snow year but no record setter financially.’’
“No x-mas, no MLK Weekend, brutal cold, more snow south, Boston folks couldn’t get out of the city, then we went very long into the spring which always eats through cash’’ the reply continued. “Bottom line is it was a great snow year but no record setter financially.’’
steamboat1
New member
http://www.newenglandskiindustry.com/viewstory.php?storyid=432
[FONT=Georgia, Arial] Following its worst season in decades, Gunstock is requesting a $950,000 bridge loan from Belknap County in order to fund off season expenses.
The 2015-16 season, which ran from December 4 to March 27, reportedly resulted in just 115,000 skier visits, sharply lower than the ski area's normal 150,000 to 200,000 range.
"Gunstock Mountain, May 6, 2016
According to the Laconia Daily Sun, the ski area often obtains these loans from Belknap County, however this request is at least 33% higher than previous requests. The ski area's management plans to repay the loan by the end of the next ski season.
Gunstock is owned and operated by New Hampshire's Belknap County, and pays the county some $175,000 per year in an agreement stemming from taxpayer funds being used to pay down debt.
According to the fiscal year 2013 Melanson Heath audit, Gunstock had $6.25 million of long term debt, which was expected to be reduced to $5 million by 2015.
A new $2.6 million bond was added to the debt load last year in order to fund a new mountain coaster. Construction started in early February and is currently running ahead of schedule, with all concrete work now complete. Located just north of the former Mt. Rowe single chairlift, the coaster climbs uphill toward the historic ski jumps before descending 2,660 feet back to the base area. The attraction may open for the Fourth of July holiday.
[/FONT]
| Gunstock Requesting Million Dollar Loan from County |
| Belknap County owned ski area needs short term loan to get through off season. |
| Sunday, May 8, 2016, NewEnglandSkiIndustry.com |
The 2015-16 season, which ran from December 4 to March 27, reportedly resulted in just 115,000 skier visits, sharply lower than the ski area's normal 150,000 to 200,000 range.
"Gunstock Mountain, May 6, 2016
According to the Laconia Daily Sun, the ski area often obtains these loans from Belknap County, however this request is at least 33% higher than previous requests. The ski area's management plans to repay the loan by the end of the next ski season.
Gunstock is owned and operated by New Hampshire's Belknap County, and pays the county some $175,000 per year in an agreement stemming from taxpayer funds being used to pay down debt.
According to the fiscal year 2013 Melanson Heath audit, Gunstock had $6.25 million of long term debt, which was expected to be reduced to $5 million by 2015.
A new $2.6 million bond was added to the debt load last year in order to fund a new mountain coaster. Construction started in early February and is currently running ahead of schedule, with all concrete work now complete. Located just north of the former Mt. Rowe single chairlift, the coaster climbs uphill toward the historic ski jumps before descending 2,660 feet back to the base area. The attraction may open for the Fourth of July holiday.
[/FONT]
That's telling. I remember discussing the profitability of Gunstock with the former Director of Marketing and he said there had only been a handful of times over their history where they had to ask for money from the county. That's why lease discussions don't come up with Gunstock like they do with Cannon. The mountain is usually a nice financial asset to the county.
Edd
Well-known member
The amount requested by Gunstock was approved unanimously this week.
Bostonian
Well-known member
Glad to hear that the County stepping in to help out. I can tell you first hand that it was brutal for gunstock this year, just a really bad year as a whole. It didn't help that they closed down mid week during December, when it was abnormally warm last year too. Hoping to snag a pass before the rates go up in November - even at $557 it's a pretty good pass to have. Hopefully this coming year will be better for them and all the other ski areas.
BenedictGomez
Well-known member
Ski areas should purchase weather derivative contracts in order to protect themselves and limit the downside from poor winters.
If I worked in the finance department of a ski area, this is definitely something I would explore.
If I worked in the finance department of a ski area, this is definitely something I would explore.
steamboat1
New member
A recent Stowe Today article depicts just how much the
bad snow conditions affected everything from tourist dollars to skier visits:
After a strong November, Stowe’s rooms, meals and alcohol taxes
nosedived in December and January. December was down in meals (9.2 percent),
rooms (16.9 percent) and alcohol sales (1.5 percent). January was down 1.9
percent in meals, 11.9 percent in rooms, and 5.2 percent in alcohol.
bad snow conditions affected everything from tourist dollars to skier visits:
After a strong November, Stowe’s rooms, meals and alcohol taxes
nosedived in December and January. December was down in meals (9.2 percent),
rooms (16.9 percent) and alcohol sales (1.5 percent). January was down 1.9
percent in meals, 11.9 percent in rooms, and 5.2 percent in alcohol.
- At Stowe Mountain Resort, skier visits were down 18-20 percent
this winter. - President's Day week had a lot of rain and that Sunday (which
usually marks the busiest day of the season), temperatures were dangerously
cold at 30 degrees below zero. - Sales at stores in downtown Stowe were down anywhere from 5 to
20 percent. - Locals kept eating out, however, so restauranteurs said that
sales were only around 10 percent.
Overall, the ski town survived.
Stowe Mountain Resort's investment in snowmaking kept the ski area open through
April 24, which is impressive given the weather. Michael Colbourn, vice
president of marketing sales and communication at Stowe Mountain Resort, told
the Stowe Today, "Historically, this was the
worst natural-snowfall year ever, at least as far as the records that we have
here at the resort, and going by the stake at the top of the mountain."
Fingers crossed for a better season next year.
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