AlpineZone Challenge 2014 - Chris Farmer of Saddleback

[Nick]

Our first Challenge participant of the year!

Chris Farmer of Saddleback, has agreed to participate in the 2014 AlpineZone Ski Area Challenge!

The AlpineZone Challenge is your chance to offer up questions, suggestions or praise to the people who run the mountains in the northeast. For more information on the challenge itself, please see the stickied post at the top of the forum.

We will pick ten of the questions asked here and submit them for review and response, and post them in the Challenge area when complete!

Caveats: we may edit/change your question for grammar, tone, or something similar. Questions may be merged. If we don't get to all the questions, we will encourage followup from the representatives, but no promises.

Please be respectful as well to those answering questions - please refrain from asking specifics about skier visit numbers, financials, demographic information, etc. as these may be confidential to the mountain.

Saddleback Profile

2004 AlpineZone Challenge Results

 

[Smellytele]

I know this must be asked all the time but - Double replacement?

 

[xwhaler]

1) Do you anticipate the new glade in between Hudson Highway and Red Devil be ready for this coming season?
2) If the double was ever replaced do you have thoughts on keeping the old double/towers and re-using somewhere else on the mtn? (West Bowl, False Peak lift)
3) Is early demand simply not there to justify opening any sooner than the 3rd week of December? I assume SB would rather focus on going late than trying to compete with SL on limited early season demand.

4) How are condo sales going?
5) Is the Berry family adamant about only trying to sell the mountain/lifts and not the surrounding land to potential investors?

 

[dlague]

Has Saddleback ever considered on mountain summer attractions such as lift served or even non-lift served mountain biking, mountain disc golf, etc. for year round activities?

 

[salsgang]

The lodge on weekends can be really busy with finding a place to sit extremely tough. I wonder if there is any way to address seating without having to sink a gazillion dollars into a building addition. Tents? Putting an awning on the deck? Making the deck bigger?

A expansion of the warming hut at the top of the Rangeley, food drink options etc would be popular I think and may relieve a bit of pressure on the lodge. Something like they do at Sugarloaf with Bullwinkle's.

All this takes $$$ and certainly budgets have to be taken into consideration but I think the craziness of the lodge limits weekend day ticket capacity as there is plenty of room on the slopes!

 

[salsgang]

One more - a $10 ticket price increase ($69 Holidays and Saturdays / $59 Sunday / Weekdays) for 2014-15 is a significant uptick. One can no longer say it is significantly cheaper to ski Saddleback. From a marketing perspective, how will you differentiate your product from Sugarloaf when the lift ticket prices are getting closer together?

 

[xwhaler]

Does Saddleback still own and rent the condos down on Rangeley Lake over the summer?

 

[SkiBud]

How do you compete with other ski ares that have season passes that are good at multiple mountains?

 

[Nick]

Hey guys I've been busy finishing up other stuff for the winter but I'm going to shut down this thread and send questions along at the end of this week, so get 'em in if you have anything to ask!

 

[skiMEbike]

Any chance (or at the very least interest) in trying to establish a SKI ME Pass with a minimum of the big three ME Mtns (Saddleback, SRiver, & SLoaf)....Seems like it could be a huge potential for revenue in the season pass holder market. What kind of obstacles/challenges does establishing such a pass present? Would (or Has) Saddleback take any steps to initiate this with the other players....And any possibility this could happen in my lifetime? :-D