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Save the Whale

urungus

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 1, 2016
Messages
2,252
Points
113
Location
Western Mass


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drjeff

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 18, 2006
Messages
19,476
Points
113
Location
Brooklyn, CT
My wife GROSSLY overpaid for a lift ticket at the Whale a few weeks ago during our college aged daughters ski race, plus had a few drinks in their bar over the course of the day! My family did its part out to help a small, locals vibe, really cool and funky layout ski area!

You in with me? 😁😁
 
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Keelhauled

Active member
Joined
Dec 13, 2015
Messages
220
Points
43
Does anyone have a link to the current "strategic vision"? The one on their website is for 22-25 and is light on strategy.

They have just got to treat that lift as an existential threat to the whole endeavor. The board should have, years ago now, hired someone with experience in nonprofit fundraising whose sole job would be to direct a capital campaign to raise the money to replace it. This fucking about with begging money for after the fact fixes and punting the problem down the road is ridiculous and just makes the whole place less credible every year when it comes to trying to convince high net worth donors to give money to the current management.
 

flakeydog

Active member
Joined
Feb 7, 2014
Messages
223
Points
28
Location
Vermont
I say help these guys out. I have spent a lot of time there over the last 4 years watching ski races and we bought a ticket every time without fail. I am happy to give these guys my $50. They have stepped up many times when others would not (cough...Dartmouth...cough cough). So they allocate their limited snowmaking resources on the trail where they race (you can ski on 6 inches of snow but you can't set gates in that). Whaleback's mission is to connect people to snow. Their relentless dedication to kids programs, race programs, learn to ski, community involvement and scholarships/aid creates new skiers passionate about the sport. Yes, this place will likely wallow in "non-profit mediocrity forever" and the management there will always be "complicated". If you go there, set appropriate expectations and observe what goes on there. Take a step back and think less about what they provide to you and more about what they do for the community and the sport.
 

doublediamond

Active member
Joined
Dec 22, 2013
Messages
571
Points
43
So what's the problem with the snowmaking? Do they need more water? Air? Doesn't leak like a sieve? Too low elevation? Or are they just unwilling to go for it when they need to?
 

Newpylong

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 20, 2005
Messages
5,346
Points
113
Location
Upper Valley, NH
They have no one there currently who knows how to make snow, and since the system is undersized to being with it makes it that much worse. If I was still there all snowmaking terrain would have been open by the second week of January and wouldn't have needed to run more hours than they did. It's all about how efficiently you use the system.

They only had 1.5 routes off the summit and part of the T-Bar open, in probably the season with the most prime snowmaking hours ever in January.
 
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