Big Burke announcement

[thetrailboss]

Sent from my iPhone using AlpineZone

 

[SIKSKIER]

Nice report TB.As far as Stenger goes,I feel it was certainly Q that hatched this plan and Stenger played along.If I had to put a % on the blame pie I would say 80% Q and 20 Stenger.FWIW.I think Stenger probably is good at his current job and the SEC needed somebody for that role and they got him to sing at the same time.Actually happens a lot where people get immunity for emptying their brains and spilling the beans.I have mixed feelings about him.

 

[fbrissette]

I have mixed feelings about him.

I don't.

 

[thetrailboss]

Nice report TB.As far as Stenger goes,I feel it was certainly Q that hatched this plan and Stenger played along.If I had to put a % on the blame pie I would say 80% Q and 20 Stenger.FWIW.I think Stenger probably is good at his current job and the SEC needed somebody for that role and they got him to sing at the same time.Actually happens a lot where people get immunity for emptying their brains and spilling the beans.I have mixed feelings about him.

His reputation is shot. It's sad. A lot of folks don't see him as credible at all. I know a lot of local businesses who did business with him over the decades that will privately say that he was always known for never paying Jay's bills and always was late and had excuses. They didn't see him favorably, but then again it was a ski area and it was MSS.

 

[VTKilarney]

The mountain: wow. Every interaction with employees was VERY positive....like it always was.

That has been a HUGE difference this year. It's really nice to see.

The pub looked VERY classy and had a great view.

IMHO, this is one of the few areas where they had a huge swing and a miss. The bar is quite large, and sits smack dab in the middle of the view with no windows behind it. If they put the bar on the other side of the room, you would have had a gigantic picture window overlooking Willoughby Gap. It would have been one of the nicest views in the whole area. Now you get peaks of the gap, but not a panoramic view.

The pool is small and nice. Only open "when it was above 20 degrees" or so apparently.

This is the one other area that they goofed on. The pool is too small for the hotel. And if you are going to have it open in the winter, you need to have it reliably open in the winter. But the biggest problem is that, knowing that the pool was going to be open in the winter, they left a LOOOONG outside route from the hotel to get into and out of the pool. It's a complete architectural fail.

I was very disappointed to hear that despite the overall positive season, and a good but slow start for the Hotel, that at least one or two local hotel owners had complained that they felt that the Hotel was "undercutting" their business and that the Mountain was unfairly stealing business.

How odd. These people held themselves out to be "Friends of Burke Mountain." The reality is that the ski area needed the hotel. What's killing the off-site lodging establishments is that tickets are included in hotel packages. When a family of four can stay and ski for $199 per night, the off-site lodging establishments just can't compete. This REALLY hurt people in March when the crowds started to thin out. During peak holiday times, when the same hotel package was pushing $500, the off-site lodging held its own.

In my mind someone who stays at the Hotel is NOT a customer that would want an intimate B&B experience and vice-a-versa.

If occupancy is down there was clearly some overlap.

Also surprising to me and others were multiple reports that Bill Stenger STILL routinely comes to the mountain, shows people around, has "high level meetings" in his "consultant role", drives a company vehicle, and has a presence.

That's definitely ruffled some feathers, from what I hear. But looking at the big picture, what matters the most is that the mountain is doing well.

 

[thetrailboss]

How odd. These people held themselves out to be "Friends of Burke Mountain." The reality is that the ski area needed the hotel. What's killing the off-site lodging establishments is that tickets are included in hotel packages. When a family of four can stay and ski for $199 per night, the off-site lodging establishments just can't compete. This REALLY hurt people in March when the crowds started to thin out. During peak holiday times, when the same hotel package was pushing $500, the off-site lodging held its own.

This is not an FOBM position, although I understand that one person who raised the issue is directly involved with FOBM. That is problematic.

 

[thetrailboss]

Part II of the Cal Rec special on the EB-5 incident:

http://www.caledonianrecord.com/new...cle_ef0155ef-0573-547d-87b8-0db406f27c8d.html

 

[BenedictGomez]

The receiver is getting very good reviews and he gets a lot of points for genuinely working with the locals and being responsive.

What sort of strange & innovative Six Sigma sorcery is this?

 

[DoublePlanker]

Bump.

...

So all in all much better than I expected. Great to see my mountain holding its own.

Excellent writeup and analysis.

So this seems like one of the best possible seasons. Any idea if the mountain is profitable and/or sustainable for the future? Was enough business generated? How were skier visits?

 

[thetrailboss]

Excellent writeup and analysis.

So this seems like one of the best possible seasons. Any idea if the mountain is profitable and/or sustainable for the future? Was enough business generated? How were skier visits?

I only heard in general terms that locals felt/heard that the mountain had a "good" season; the Hotel was slow. I don't know if we will get any more specifics than this.

Jay apparently has turned a $2 mill profit so far according to VT Digger.

 

[VTKilarney]

Excellent writeup and analysis.

So this seems like one of the best possible seasons. Any idea if the mountain is profitable and/or sustainable for the future? Was enough business generated? How were skier visits?

The receiver was very happy to talk about Jay's profit, but has been silent regarding Burke. Draw your own conclusions.

 

[MEtoVTSkier]

I only heard in general terms that locals felt/heard that the mountain had a "good" season; the Hotel was slow. I don't know if we will get any more specifics than this.

Jay apparently has turned a $2 mill profit so far according to VT Digger.

I doubt anyone expected a 100% turnaround, but they are on the right track.

 

[VTKilarney]

I posted this in the Jay thread, but word on the street is that Burke lost money this year, but the loss was not as bad as they were braced for.

 

[BenedictGomez]

Has Burke ever had positive net operating seasons?

 

[VTKilarney]

Has Burke ever had positive net operating seasons?

Not that I am aware of. But they also never had a hotel at the base.

 

[Smellytele]

Not that I am aware of. But they also never had a hotel at the base.

...that will be in the red every year as well.
You needed to finish the sentence

 

[SIKSKIER]

I would refer to this statement from Goldberg as sort of indicating where I thought Stenger's involvement lay."“I’ve seen a lot of documents behind the scenes that are not public … Quiros intentionally kept Stenger out of the finances and out of discussing certain facts that would have uncovered what was going on,” said Goldberg. “To some extent, he was duped. That doesn’t mean he didn’t do anything wrong. He was naive, negligent and in some cases even reckless, but there is a big difference between doing something you shouldn’t be doing and being a little reckless versus something that is much more sinister.”

 

[BenedictGomez]

So we're back to the, "Bill Stenger is a complete and total moron" hypothesis?

I'm sorry, but nobody is that stupid.

I'm not a lawyer, but choosing to intentionally look the other way because you are directly benefiting financially from someone else's crime cant be legal.

 

[VTKilarney]

Bill is cooperating. The receiver said what he said with that in mind. Don't read more into it.

 

[BenedictGomez]

Bill is cooperating.

Well isn't that nice.