New Killington rumor.....

GrilledSteezeSandwich said:

I just want to ski..8.5 hours of driving is better than 8.5 hours surfing the net..and better than flying to Colorado for a WROD..I'm try to ski every chance I get..that's how I logged 119 days two season ago..

750 vert is fine with me..I can ski it 30-40 times..

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T2 is pretty good WROD terrain, can get some steezy speed, and if they get Upper Sunday Punch, Sunday Punch, and Lower Sunday Punch (don't get me started) open for Sunday like they want, that'll be 1,394' of vert per run. SR is fun... Go, hit the Matterhorn for some apres fun, and hit Gringo Harry's for dinner if it's open (get the cocoa rubbed sirloin).

-w

Thanks for the suggestions...DubYa..I would still much rather drive to K-mart than Sunday River..I am a frantic mo-fo..I always am when ski season begins...

SR is just way too far for us. Killington would be perfect

SR is just too far of a drive for a WROD...

Since everybody knows the snow they are making now will probably melt off by the end of next week there are only two reasons for making snow. They are either opening this weekend which they apparently are not or testing the system.

Opening just for passholders would make the passholders feel special but from a revenue standpoint it's a total loser as there would be no day lift ticket sales. F&B sales wouldn't even pay for the electricity to run the lifts.

With the market not growing in the past 20 years the resorts that keep debt to a minimum will be the resorts that can get thru the bad seasons of the near future and survive. IMHO it's the smart resorts who will not be making snow now when they know it will be gone next week.

The reason why a place like MRG can survive a bad snow year without snowmaking is that they have absolutely no debt. Sure shareholders are required to spend a certain amount of money each season but it's not enough to carry debt during a season with little natural snowfall.

The places that are opening this weekend are rejecting the conservative revenue approach and I think both SR and Mt Snow are hoping for more than just season passholders if they are open. Assuming they have very limited terrain open it will probably be crowded but the PR positives are something they feel is important to them.

Resorts like Stowe, MRG and the Bush who will not be open this weekend, does it hurt them PRwise? IMHO it does not.

ski_resort_observer said:

Resorts like Stowe, MRG and the Bush who will not be open this weekend, does it hurt them PRwise? IMHO it does not.

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I agree

I also wonder how much less both those areas spend on snowmaking throughout the course of the year than their neighbors to the south, east and west? Not going for it early, getting 100+ more inches than most of New England, being colder and somewhat higher elevation has to equal a significant cost savings over the competition if it is managed right. What they gain in that, they probably lose right back in being a bit father away from the metro areas and having lesser visits than the bigs in southern VT.

Highway Star said:

.....I heard from a very good source that Killington will open for skiing this weekend, top to bottom on the K-1. Look for an announcement tomorrow or early Friday. (weather and snow conditions permitting) They will trumpet their improvements to the snowmaking system as allowing them to open much faster than normal with a premium skiing product.

After last year, they don't want to be embarassed by and lose skier visits to Mt. Snow and Sunday River. The intention to open early has been kept under wraps because they don't want to "tip their hand" to the competiton.

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Hey JerseyJoey....who's your daddy????