The ALTERRA SUCKS Thread

[1dog]

That was absolutely my impression when I skied Zermatt in 2017. New gondolas, new bubble chairs, new trams to replace old ones, etc. I skied at a locals place called Flumserberg. They had a NEW eight-person bubble chair--about two years before Big Sky. This was in addition to new detach six and quad chairs. They had two gondolas. And this is a local town ski area. I think it's important to note that most of these ski areas are usually a form of public-private partnerships, so public transportation dollars are accessible for construction. Hell, the SBB system map used to INCLUDE trams, funiculars, etc. Even those at ski areas.

The only place I have skied that comes even close to these Swiss areas is Big Sky. And that is because Stephen Kircher has made it publicly known (the latest on Winchester's podcast) that he intends to up the lift game as a way to draw business. Since Ramcharger-8, Kircher has installed D-lines at Sunday River, Brighton, Big Sky, and even his areas in Michigan. The Crest 6 at Brighton is a gamechanger IMHO. They could have gone cheap but they did not.

And while Alterra has done some lift improvements, their focus has been on acquisition of areas and marketshare. Perhaps because of the number of lifts they have, they are only installing current or older technology and not cutting edge stuff. Additionally, they are doing some unnecessary lift installs that are I think wasteful at Steamboat and Deer Valley. The latest HSQ at Deer Valley starts at nowhere and ends at nowhere and is literally a 2-minute ride.

Do European resorts (public/private/combo) have the same environmental roadblocks as the US? It does appear that a larger economic impact is felt thruout all those European ski resorts than the US. A larger population closer- and maybe ( I dunno larger than the 5-6% of US pop. that ski/ride) a higher % of Europeans that take advantage of such great connected resorts.

It is amazing the amount of $$ that public spends to make that happen. 40-50% tax rate compared to 25% US ( of GDP) can make it work.

 

[thetrailboss]

Do European resorts (public/private/combo) have the same environmental roadblocks as the US? It does appear that a larger economic impact is felt thruout all those European ski resorts than the US. A larger population closer- and maybe ( I dunno larger than the 5-6% of US pop. that ski/ride) a higher % of Europeans that take advantage of such great connected resorts.

It is amazing the amount of $$ that public spends to make that happen. 40-50% tax rate compared to 25% US ( of GDP) can make it work.

Good question. I don't know the answer.

 

[thetrailboss]

Still, I'm glad they both agree ski resort paid parking is just an excuse for a big cash grab rather than truly being a crowd solution (or environmental, which is even more insufferable).

Local environmental NGO's are still waiting, three years later, for the $$$$ from Alterra/Solitude from the parking fees. The dirty truth: Alterra/Solitude uses the $$$ to pay for bus fares incurred by IKON passholders. It was a lie.

 

[jimmywilson69]

Altera are now sharing duty as my corporate ski resort owner/partner overloads with Vail.

I guess I can rightfully complain in this thread now, right?

 

[4aprice]

Well Alterra was not sucking for me this past weekend. It's spring at Winter Park and Colorado was being Colorado.

They called it Beach weekend but the weather wasn't very beachy to start. 8-10 inches fell overnight Friday into Saturday morning. The amount of snow caught us a little by surprise. Wasn't the driest snow but it wasn't as wet as I thought it would be either. Great fun in the woods off Sunnyside and High Lonesome which is low angle but we had it all to ourselves and it was just fresh after fresh, after fresh. There were some issues with Panoramic (staffing I believe) but it eventually opened, but it was windy up there and the woods were the real playgrounds of the day.



Skied till the legs got tired, then took in some live music over on the village side. Pretty good band, but cold for a beach party.




Sunday was a completely different day. Clear sky's, with a cold start.

With the new snow, great cord in the morning and it warmed nicely for bumps in the mid day


As for the parking discussion. Winter Park so far has a combination of paid and free lots. The Mary Jane side is still all free and we were able to get into our favorite lot both days. Officially known as the Utah Junction Parking lot, we know it as the Challenger Lot because the Challenger Chair is at one end of it. Great place to celebrate 420 and we had a great time meeting some really great folks. There are also all sorts of "fine furry friends" who wander around and come over to check you out.


We affectionately call this "Winter Bark". Like I said Sunday was a completely different day and while they had the pond skim and a good crowd over at the village the parking lot party was kicking into gear when we left.

Nice weekend to close the Winter Park side of the resort. The base is still so healthy but the resort is saying Mary Jane (Super Gauge and Sunnyside) will remain open as weather and conditions allow, probably mid May. Very excited that this will be my home mountain in a couple of seasons. It's so large and there is so much to explore and there are still plans for expansion. As a couple we met in the parking lot from Steamboat Springs told us, "the vibe is great here". Bottom line Alterra's got my money for a while.

 

[jimk]

Interview with Alterra CEO