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Haystack / Hermitage news

thetrailboss

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Having ridden both Barnstomer as well as the Orange Bubble Dopp at The Canyons/Park City Resort, and the Leitner/Poma bubbles at Mount Snow and Okemo, as a taller guy, I like L/P's bubbles better than Dopp's bubbles as the Dopp bubble seem to be closer to both my face and also the top of my helmet than the L/P bubbles to me. Just my personal opinion

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I blame the bubble shape for Hermitage’s troubles. [emoji38]


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sull1102

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Having ridden both Barnstomer as well as the Orange Bubble Dopp at The Canyons/Park City Resort, and the Leitner/Poma bubbles at Mount Snow and Okemo, as a taller guy, I like L/P's bubbles better than Dopp's bubbles as the Dopp bubble seem to be closer to both my face and also the top of my helmet than the L/P bubbles to me. Just my personal opinion

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I did always feel like the Dopp bubble was tighter, I'm a good bit over 6ft and felt the bottom of the bubble was kinda of leaving no room between that and the bench seat causing me to hit my shins. BUT the overall feel, heated seats, and ride quality are a little better on the Barnstormer. Although nothing compares to six pack at Laax with the Porsche Design carriers with heated race seats by BVG.

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sull1102

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It didn't work 20 years ago for ASC, what mAkes you think it would work for peaks today?
Different time, different owners with different strategy, Haystack was in a much different situation than Hermitage is now with all the new infrastructure already in place. The place is about as turnkey as it comes now.

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machski

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Different time, different owners with different strategy, Haystack was in a much different situation than Hermitage is now with all the new infrastructure already in place. The place is about as turnkey as it comes now.

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Yet still could never get through Act 250 to be interconnected today. So I doubt Peaks has any interest at all.

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drjeff

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Yet still could never get through Act 250 to be interconnected today. So I doubt Peaks has any interest at all.

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Bingo!!!

The reality is that Peak could likely spend in legal fees what they did, if not more than the cost to build the West Lake snowmaking project/upgrade plus the new Carinthia Lodge to buy The Hermitage and attempt to go through the permitting process to connect it with Mount Snow, and never be able to do so in today's permitting world in VT!! It's not going to happen!!

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sull1102

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Best bet in my opinion is a new group comes in and buys the real estate, ski area, golf course, and the Inn at a bargain price and debt free in a year or two. If they clean house, hell bring back the Haystack Mountain name if they can find a way, then they have a chance. Snow will continue to grow and likely get more and more popular and lift lines will grow. Haystack would benefit and then really focus in the golf operation. I mean spend more marketing there than on skikng, maybe upgrade the Clubhouse, do anything you can to beat Snow in that department because it is one place they most certainly can do such.

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thetrailboss

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Bingo!!!

The reality is that Peak could likely spend in legal fees what they did, if not more than the cost to build the West Lake snowmaking project/upgrade plus the new Carinthia Lodge to buy The Hermitage and attempt to go through the permitting process to connect it with Mount Snow, and never be able to do so in today's permitting world in VT!! It's not going to happen!!

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Sad. In many ways, an interconnect TOTALLY makes sense.


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machski

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Best bet in my opinion is a new group comes in and buys the real estate, ski area, golf course, and the Inn at a bargain price and debt free in a year or two. If they clean house, hell bring back the Haystack Mountain name if they can find a way, then they have a chance. Snow will continue to grow and likely get more and more popular and lift lines will grow. Haystack would benefit and then really focus in the golf operation. I mean spend more marketing there than on skikng, maybe upgrade the Clubhouse, do anything you can to beat Snow in that department because it is one place they most certainly can do such.

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Never going to happen. Too much is held privately by members. I can just about assure you they are not going to walk away with pennies on the dollar. This will not go back to a open to the public ski area anytime soon.

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cdskier

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Never going to happen. Too much is held privately by members. I can just about assure you they are not going to walk away with pennies on the dollar. This will not go back to a open to the public ski area anytime soon.

Aren't there restrictions in the deed that prevent the resort from being public again as well? Or am I thinking of the wrong mountain?
 

drjeff

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When one looks at the property maps of the land along the ridge line between the Sunbrook region of Mount Snow and the Northern extent of the trails of the Hermitage Club and sees the multiple number of properties that would be involved to make an interconnect happen and the mix of ownership of those properties between private individuals and also the US Forest service, that alone makes for a challenging situation, and that doesn't even get into the likely environmental studies and possible blocking lawsuits that could be filed should they (Peak/Mount Snow) be able to acquire the land, or rights to the land as well as acquire the Hermitage and it's ski area facilities (kind of doubt that Peak/Mount Snow would want to buy a 2nd 18 hole golf course when they already own and run one that's less than 2 miles as the bird fly's away from the Hermitage's golf course).

While on paper it seems like the concept of connecting the 2 makes a ton of sense, the behind the scenes logistics (and expenses) with making the attempt to complete it, make it very unlikely that it ever will happen
 

sull1102

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Aren't there restrictions in the deed that prevent the resort from being public again as well? Or am I thinking of the wrong mountain?
You would have to work around this as it is still in place. The wording of it could become important because I've long wondered if you could somehow sell a $50 membership that includes a lift ticket.

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sull1102

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Never going to happen. Too much is held privately by members. I can just about assure you they are not going to walk away with pennies on the dollar. This will not go back to a open to the public ski area anytime soon.

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Not too much of the ski area itself and the golf course are held by members. They own a whole hell of a lot down around the base area, but not the base itself.

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njdiver85

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Two or three dedicated shuttle buses connecting the two resorts, with very short wait times, would be a lot cheaper and less finicky than a chair lift.
 

njdiver85

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Article in local paper regarding lift maintenance issues at Hermitage noted this interesting bit of information that I was not aware of . . .

"Glynn noted that the newest lift, the Barnstormer, may not be included in the scope of the receiver’s work. The lift was funded by a group of investors in the club. “There’s a question about who has the first security interest in it, and it may not be the bank,” she said. “Berkshire Bank should not be paying to maintain equipment that’s not our collateral.”
 
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