So EpicSki has basically been bought by Vail Resorts ...

[wa-loaf]

http://www.epicski.com/t/116473/mountain-news-corporation-welcomes-epicski-com

Nick who are you selling out to? ;-)

 

[thetrailboss]

Wow. I bet that you can't question them on anything in their room....

 

[Nick]

Interesting. I actually didn't know that mountain news was owned by Vail. We her our snow reports on our resorts page from them using their API. I wonder if that will change since we are now somewhat more of a direct competitor.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

 

[Nick]

Would be interested in hearing from treckchik or philpug on it. Gut instinct says it won't change their community too much.

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[Edd]

Would be interested in hearing from treckchik or philpug on it. Gut instinct says it won't change their community too much.

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Next purchase for Vail, Saddleback!

I don't think much will change either. It's not like ski mountains don't have their own forums already.

 

[marcski]

Not a fan of epic ski....Vail can have them...seems like a match made in heaven.

 

[wa-loaf]

Not a fan of epic ski....Vail can have them...seems like a match made in heaven.

I venture over there if I'm looking for technical info or reviews. It's a great resource, but don't participate much in the discussion boards.

 

[Nick]

I've been there a few times as well. When I was looking for a ski jacket recently I spent quite a bit of time on Epic researching opinions.

 

[o3jeff]

http://www.epicski.com/t/116473/mountain-news-corporation-welcomes-epicski-com

Nick who are you selling out to? ;-)

I heard Nick is going to buy Vail just to get the Epicski forum.

 

[Stache]

NOPE, won;t change that bunch of Gapic-Snobs.

Somebody else already said it, Made for each other.

 

[Nick]

I heard Nick is going to buy Vail just to get the Epicski forum.

:lol:

 

[crank]

I am a semi regular over there. I doubt it will change much...for me it is all about the forums and connecting with other serious skiers. Lots of instructors there who can get too technical for the likes of me but they are still good people and good skiers.

 

[St. Bear]

Last year when I was really bored, I trolled some of the uppity Western skiers. Other than that, there's not much for me to contribute over there.

 

[dropKickMurphy]

I am a semi regular over there.I doubt it will change much...

Except now they'll probably start charging for parking...

 

[snowmonster]

So, will AZ be bought by Boyne or POWDR?

Discuss.

 

[darent]

I am a member of epic,a source of very useful information, it is great when you ski a new area and can connect with a fellow epic skier and get the insiders tour, never found anyone who wasn't helpful, the people i know are good people who love to ski !!

 

[snowmonster]

^ Actually, same can be said for TGR. Despite the tough-guy personas some posters put up, there are some pretty good skiers there who are great people to meet on the hill -- or in a bar.

 

[riverc0il]

Epic Ski sold out long ago when they converted the site from a true forum site (using vBulletin, same software as currently run on AZ) to the current platform which is much more focused on consumerism and revenue. I don't begrudge forum owners their opportunity to make some coin for all their time. But too much and it gets into the Facebook issue... are users there to be part of the community? Or is the "community" just there so the site can manipulate that community into a commodity to make money. Obviously it isn't a black and white question. But too much one way or the other and it is no longer a shade of grey.

 

[ski_resort_observer]

Vail Resorts is the only ski resort company left in the stock market, ticker MTN. When your owned by a bunch of shareholders management have alot of pressure to grow and increase profits every quarter. Remember it's not just Vail. VR runs four ski resorts in Colorado (Vail Ski Resort, Beaver Creek Resort, Keystone Resort, and Breckenridge Ski Resort), three in Lake Tahoe (Kirkwood Mountain Resort, Northstar California, and Heavenly Mountain Resort), one in Minnesota (Afton Alps), one in Michigan (Mount Brighton), and a summer resort in Wyoming, Grand Teton Lodge Co which owns and operates several large lodging/recreation properties in Jackson Hole. They also built a hotel at the base of JHMR in Teton Villege which I thought that was pretty aggressive. They also own luxury resort hotels throughout the United States. The company is headquartered in Broomfield, Colorado.

The cost of acquiring EpicSki was chump change for a company as big as VR. I think ES will provide a new marketing channel with an established core skier/rider base. I am sure they want to expand it. If it turns out as a big positive, I am sure other ski resort companies, CNL being the biggest, with multiple summer/winter resorts might be looking to duplicate that success and Alpinezone would be IMHO another viable longstanding online ski/rider community that would be considered.

How EpicSki will change in the next year or 2, if it changes at all, will be interesting. I was a paid ES supporter for a couple of years maybe 10 years ago. Not my cup of tea. Haven't checked it in awhile.

Bottom line, VR acquiring ES will bump up the value of AZ. In the short term I imagine that AZs value will go up. increases crediblity as a marketing option in Nick's pursuit of advertising revenue.

 

[marcski]

I was a paid ES supporter for a couple of years maybe 10 years ago. Not my cup of tea. Haven't checked it in awhile.

What is a paid ES supporter? Does this mean you just donated or do they have paid memberships?

I venture over there if I'm looking for technical info or reviews. It's a great resource, but don't participate much in the discussion boards.

I'm having deja vu...I think we had this conversation in aanother thread a few years ago.