Burke's launches new Web Site

[Masskier]

Check it out. It's pretty impressive.

http://www.skiburke.com/

 

[speden]

Looks like it has capacity problems or bugs. I wanted to see if they had a new trail map, and after taking forever, it spit this out:

[Warning] mysql_connect() [function.mysql-connect]: Too many connections
GET /the-mountain/lifts-and-trails/trail-map/

Line 57 in /home/seanmacc/public_html/skiburke_ss/sapphire/core/model/MySQLDatabase.php

 

[Smellytele]

I got to the trail map but for lifts only the beginning and end of the lift lines were mark - no lift line itself.

 

[Nick]

I like it a lot, form a layout perspective. I didn't really go too much into the content yet but it looks very nice visually

 

[DJAK]

"the corporate coffee bar mentality that's plaguing Vermont snow sports" - wow.

I totally get and appreciate the brand differentiation they are going for (and applaud them for it), but am surprised by the word choice going on there.

Plaguing and Vermont being the two words most interesting to me. Referring to your competition as anything like the plague and also specifying Vermont rather than the industry as a whole being most surprising.

I would think a "the corporate coffee bar mentality that's appearing at many large resorts" (or any iteration of that) would suffice and would also keep things civil in the good ol Green Mountain State.

That feels like something written by an agency that's not Vermonters or part of the group efforts of Ski Vermont.

Since it's copy - it's an easy change if they elect.

 

[Nick]

"the corporate coffee bar mentality that's plaguing Vermont snow sports" - wow.

I totally get and appreciate the brand differentiation they are going for (and applaud them for it), but am surprised by the word choice going on there.

Plaguing and Vermont being the two words most interesting to me. Referring to your competition as anything like the plague and also specifying Vermont rather than the industry as a whole being most surprising.

I would think a "the corporate coffee bar mentality that's appearing at many large resorts" (or any iteration of that) would suffice and would also keep things civil in the good ol Green Mountain State.

That feels like something written by an agency that's not Vermonters or part of the group efforts of Ski Vermont.

Since it's copy - it's an easy change if they elect.

Good catch, I totally missed that. Surprises me a bit as well. Typically seems to be a fair level of mutual respect among competitors, i.e. a rising tide lifts all boats.

 

[UVSHTSTRM]

"the corporate coffee bar mentality that's plaguing Vermont snow sports" - wow.

I totally get and appreciate the brand differentiation they are going for (and applaud them for it), but am surprised by the word choice going on there.

Plaguing and Vermont being the two words most interesting to me. Referring to your competition as anything like the plague and also specifying Vermont rather than the industry as a whole being most surprising.

I would think a "the corporate coffee bar mentality that's appearing at many large resorts" (or any iteration of that) would suffice and would also keep things civil in the good ol Green Mountain State.

That feels like something written by an agency that's not Vermonters or part of the group efforts of Ski Vermont.

Since it's copy - it's an easy change if they elect.

While I get what they are trying to convey, I bet they would love to be like these places they rag on....ie profitable/sustainable.

 

[from_the_NEK]

I got to the trail map but for lifts only the beginning and end of the lift lines were mark - no lift line itself.

I was getting the same thing. Try the PDF page for the trail map (although there are no trail names ).

http://skiburke.com/assets/Uploads/TrailMap/TrailMap.pdf

Right now that trail map looks like a disaster. Trying to shoehorn the new lift, liftline trail(s), and Power line trail(s) into the old map was not successful. They really need to redo the whole thing.

P.S. East Bowl is now a black diamond which means maybe they will groom it less!

 

[from_the_NEK]

Talk about throuwing down the gauntlet

Maybe it’s because we’re a bit further up? Maybe it’s because Burke is a monadnock–a lone mountain, not part of a range–and we embrace individuality? Maybe we just love the true experience and selfishly cling to it?

Whatever our reason, we refuse to widen the trails on our 260 acres to accommodate lesser skiers. We will not cut into our 100+ acres of beautiful glades just to raise our trail number. We’ll offer terrain that challenges all levels. But we’ll never call a blue run black so people can feel they’ve skied something they actually haven’t. This is Vermont–you should earn it. If you can’t ski or ride it, we’ll teach you. You’ll learn to appreciate the natural contours of the mountain. You’ll learn to see your line, not the trees it weaves through.

And you’ll learn, or maybe remember, what made Vermont skiing so great in

the first place.

Overall this is a HUGE step up from the old website.

 

[riverc0il]

It is a step up but still a lot left on the table. Navigation could use some work. I'd start with drop down menus on the top nav. Not sure I like how they broke out the content. I give it a solid B. The main page gets an A-. I like how all the key bits are there including conditions, phone numbers, booking, news, weather, social networking links. The True North thing takes up too much space and as previously noted is a tad too pretentious even if it is true.

 

[awf170]

I was getting the same thing. Try the PDF page for the trail map (although there are no trail names ).

http://skiburke.com/assets/Uploads/TrailMap/TrailMap.pdf

Right now that trail map looks like a disaster. Trying to shoehorn the new lift, liftline trail(s), and Power line trail(s) into the old map was not successful. They really need to redo the whole thing.

P.S. East Bowl is now a black diamond which means maybe they will groom it less!

Is that new lower mountain blue the MTB trail Jester? If so that will be a wicked fun little kid terrain park.

 

[Cannonball]

As far as websites in general go...it's pretty terrible (bad layout, TONS of bugs, weak on content, etc)

As far as Burke's website goes....it's a pretty impressive step up.

I'm bummed that they seem to have dropped the old logo. It was probably my favorite of any mountain.


As for the gauntlet throwing language mentioned in other posts: I find it really interesting. I'm sort of new to skiing Burke. I like it a lot and will definitely continue going there. It seems to me that Burke's greatest problem in terms of ever really breaking out....is its location. It's too far east to draw the bulk of the VT/NY/CT/westMA/etc crowd. Accessibility wise it's more appealing to the NH/eastMA crowd. But for them you have to drive past a bunch of areas to get there. As a result they need to offer something unique. They tried the high-end, exclusive, self-contained thing and the real estate market didn't cooperate. Now the eco-friendly, anti-establishment, vibey-thing is their offering. I like it and I hope it works for them by drawing enough of the $$ they need to stay afloat without changing much.

(I could be off-base on all of that since I'm new to following Burke. Just seems that way to me)

 

[kingdom-tele]

Is that new lower mountain blue the MTB trail Jester? If so that will be a wicked fun little kid terrain park.

yes, I believe thats the plan.

guess you could nitpick anything to death, which word you use, what message you send, what color scheme they chose. they have upcoming events on the first page and a snow report, looks good.

Its a resort trying to lure people in to make money so they can open again the next year. they gotta go with some ideology

maybe they can call themselves the leading slack/back country ski experience in Caledonia County :smile:

 

[riverc0il]

It's too far east to draw the bulk of the VT/NY/CT/westMA/etc crowd.

For those coming up 91 to 89, it is actually faster or the same time to get to Burke than most of NoVT. It just "seems" further.

 

[from_the_NEK]

For those coming up 91 to 89, it is actually faster or the same time to get to Burke than most of NoVT. It just "seems" further.

No, no no! Burke is tooooooo far away! :razz::grin:

And it looks like the problems with the interactive trailmap have been resolved.

 

[thetrailboss]

I like it. Agree that the trail map needs to be redone due to changes. And I don't see Powerline in the trail name list. One mistake is that the Willoughby Quad opened in 1988, not 1982. As to layout, it works for me. you can't make everyone happy.

 

[Zand]

No, no no! Burke is tooooooo far away! :razz::grin:

And it looks like the problems with the interactive trailmap have been resolved.

It only takes me about 10 mins longer to get to Lyndonville from Worcester as it does to get to Killington (add another 10 mins for Burke). Plus you don't have to deal with a bunch of 25's and cops all over the place like in Chester, Ludlow, Plymouth, Bridgewater, etc. It's about a half hour further to the northern greens (SB, Stowe) than to the NEK. Might be further north, but being able to blast straight up 91 saves a lot of time.

 

[DJAK]

As to layout, it works for me. you can't make everyone happy.

Darn right. Def a navigational, visual and content improvement over the prior. Anyone found a "site built by" link anywhere?

 

[Smellytele]

No, no no! Burke is tooooooo far away! :razz::grin:

And it looks like the problems with the interactive trailmap have been resolved.

Interactive trailmap still seems messed up. no lift lines no glades marked as glades just marked Expert.

 

[from_the_NEK]

Interactive trailmap still seems messed up. no lift lines no glades marked as glades just marked Expert.

Hmmm, It might be the browser or Flash versions we are running. Last night, while at home where I have an little older IE browser and an older Flash version, the lift lines (and the trail lines) displayed just fine. Today here at work, they are still not showing up.
The "Glades" button just highlights general areas on the map that have glades. Pretty much the areas highlighted in black in this picture from a different page on the website:

And I don't see Powerline in the trail name list.

It is there, just listed as "Upper Powerline" and "Lower Powerline"

Upper Powerline appears to only go from the East Bowl traverse to Wilderness.
Lower Powerline goes from just below Throbulator to the East Bowl runout.

My theory is there was no room on the current map to sqeeze the rest of the "Middle" powerline in there.