Belleayre to be part of ORDA?

[x10003q]

Selling out to ORDA won't make the terrain any more interesting...

I agree.

That is why I do not ski Belleayre very often. It is difficult to pass up the $10 tickets that Belleayre sometimes offers. I would think ORDA would eliminate those type of discounts at Belleayre.

 

[ta&idaho]

Selling out to ORDA won't make the terrain any more interesting...

True, but the option to ski Gore and Whiteface on a single season pass would make day trips to Belleayre tolerable.

I'd like to see combo passes for each Catskills mountain:

GO-GO GOVERNMENT GLADES
Belleayre-Gore-Whiteface

BULLDOZED, BUMPED UP, and BLACKED OUT
Hunter-Killington

HEATED LEATHER SEATS TO CORDUROY CRUISERS
Windham-Stratton

ALL SKIS ARE ROCK SKIS
Plattekill-Magic-MRG

 

[highpeaksdrifter]

I'm guessing you'd see an increase in skier visits, but most of that increase would come from season passholders who would presumably be relatively responsible stakeholders. You might also see a small increase in price for a combination pass (although ORDA might decide also to offer single-resort passes at a lower price).

I hate agreeing with people on forums and this is the second time for you on this thread. :lol: I see alot of down staters buying a combo pass for day trips to Bell and weekend and vacations to WF or Gore.

I can also see how it could hurt the other Catskills ski areas. Someone who might perfer one of the other areas if pass options remained the same might be enticed to go with a Bell/Gore/WF pass. They would still have a Catskill day option with destination options all on the same pass.

We’ve had several threads about Bell and ORDA over the years and I remember in one of them Jim G. (mod and big Hunter guy) said he would have to think about it if such a pass where offered even though he preferred Hunter’s terrain by far.

 

[RootDKJ]

True, but the option to ski Gore and Whiteface on a single season pass would make day trips to Belleayre tolerable.

I'd like to see combo passes for each Catskills mountain:

GO-GO GOVERNMENT GLADES
Belleayre-Gore-Whiteface

BULLDOZED, BUMPED UP, and BLACKED OUT
Hunter-Killington

HEATED LEATHER SEATS TO CORDUROY CRUISERS
Windham-Stratton

ALL SKIS ARE ROCK SKIS
Plattekill-Magic-MRG

*like*

 

[deadheadskier]

I can also see how it could hurt the other Catskills ski areas. Someone who might perfer one of the other areas if pass options remained the same might be enticed to go with a Bell/Gore/WF pass. They would still have a Catskill day option with destination options all on the same pass.

We’ve had several threads about Bell and ORDA over the years and I remember in one of them Jim G. (mod and big Hunter guy) said he would have to think about it if such a pass where offered even though he preferred Hunter’s terrain by far.

I bet there are Boston area skiers who choose Boyne passes for similar reasons. They might prefer Cannon over Loon, but Loon gives an easy day trip option + excellent destination options in Sunday River and Sugarloaf with that Boyne pass.

 

[campgottagopee]

Makes sense to me.

Let ORDA run the ski hills and DEC make sure I get my doe tags.

 

[catskills]

Prices last year for 1 day weekend lift ticket:
$55 - Belleayre
$66 - Gore
$77 - Whiteface

Belleayre being part of ORDA would probably mean higher prices at Belleayre. Higher prices at Belleayre would probably result in higher prices at Hunter, Windham and Plattekill. This would equate to less skier/rider visits in the Catskills, which may result in less sales tax and hotel taxes collected off the mountains :blink: This could result in less teachers and higher property taxes in the Catskills.

 

[x10003q]

Prices last year for 1 day weekend lift ticket:
$55 - Belleayre
$66 - Gore
$77 - Whiteface

Belleayre being part of ORDA would probably mean higher prices at Belleayre. Higher prices at Belleayre would probably result in higher prices at Hunter, Windham and Plattekill. This would equate to less skier/rider visits in the Catskills, which may result in less sales tax and hotel taxes collected off the mountains :blink: This could result in less teachers and higher property taxes in the Catskills.

This is why I mentioned in my original post that Hunter, Windham, and Plattekill will be happy.

Here are the 2010-2011 1 day prices from the 3 web sites:

$54 Belleayre holiday/weekend
$45 Belleayre midweek
$66 Gore midweek
$73 Gore non holiday weekend
$77 Gore Holiday
$77 WF non holiday
$82 WF holiday

 

[catskillman]

This consolidation will have an impact on support positions at Bell. Their marketing department will certainily be impacted as that can easily be absorbed. ORDA will have more power now to squezze printers, newspapers & mags, radio etc. for better rates.

Will still need the same amount of lifties, bartenders and ticket sellers however.

 

[thinnmann]

Add my vote to being totally against this. Prices will probably go up before the snow comes down.

 

[deadheadskier]

Curious why prices would go up if one state agency ran it instead of another?

 

[RootDKJ]

Curious why prices would go up if one state agency ran it instead of another?

Government efficiency. :blink:

 

[catskills]

Curious why prices would go up if one state agency ran it instead of another?

Lift tickets go up in the Catskills than more folks will go to Lake Placid to ski Whiteface.

 

[deadheadskier]

Lift tickets go up in the Catskills than more folks will go to Lake Placid to ski Whiteface.

That wasn't my question. Just wondering why one agency would charge a different price than another.

 

[x10003q]

That wasn't my question. Just wondering why one agency would charge a different price than another.

He did answer the question. ORDA is all about Lake Placid. If prices go up at Belleayre (and the Catskills) the mid Hudson sliders might be enticed to head north to WF and Lake Placid.

 

[tjf67]

Prices last year for 1 day weekend lift ticket:
$55 - Belleayre
$66 - Gore
$77 - Whiteface

Belleayre being part of ORDA would probably mean higher prices at Belleayre. Higher prices at Belleayre would probably result in higher prices at Hunter, Windham and Plattekill. This would equate to less skier/rider visits in the Catskills, which may result in less sales tax and hotel taxes collected off the mountains :blink: This could result in less teachers and higher property taxes in the Catskills.

Well this is quite a sky is falling scenario. I am sure there is some sort of power play going on in Albany trying to get this done. Orda is in the ski and tourism business. Orda employees are on a whole differant pay scale. Seems like it is a good idea to me.

 

[AdironRider]

Im all for ORDA taking over Bell. Seems logical and clearly the DOE sucks at running the place.

That pricing structure is right in line with how I perceive the three mountains value. Whiteface at the top, Gore in the middle, and Bell at the bottom. Im pretty sure thats howd theyd rank in public opinion as well across all aspects, from terrain to actual costs to ski there.

Combo pass is a wild card, Im not that confident it wont have some effect, but I do think the overall effect of this takeover is going to be relatively small in terms of skier visits overall to NY ski resorts and their respective "piece of the pie".

 

[tjf67]

Im all for ORDA taking over Bell. Seems logical and clearly the DOE sucks at running the place.

That pricing structure is right in line with how I perceive the three mountains value. Whiteface at the top, Gore in the middle, and Bell at the bottom. Im pretty sure thats howd theyd rank in public opinion as well across all aspects, from terrain to actual costs to ski there.

Combo pass is a wild card, Im not that confident it wont have some effect, but I do think the overall effect of this takeover is going to be relatively small in terms of skier visits overall to NY ski resorts and their respective "piece of the pie".

and a savings for the tax payers. Hard times hard decisions.

 

[ski_resort_observer]

When I was in growing up in Bolton Landing I thought our Gore pass was good at all state ski hills. early 60's to 69 when I moved to Vermont. We did ski Whiteface a few times but Bell was too far south. I guess that changed.

 

[Harvey]

Laszlo (Plattekill) won't be happy until Belle is privatized, which obviously won't happen.

Personally a three way ORDA pass wouldn't affect my Catskill skiing decisions at all, and I'll be a Gore/WF passholder until the end of time. When I day trip the Cats, I'll ski the hill that makes the most sense based on a variety of factors. So much in our life is invested in skiing, that ticket price on any given day isn't a deciding factor. Not that 50 or 70 bucks isn't real money, but my 30 or 35 days a year are priceless.

FWIW if Bell is really giving away large amounts of free tickets, and ORDA stops it - that's a good thing IMO. Gov't shouldn't undercut private enterprise.