The "Sugarbush Thread"

benski · Aug 26, 2016

tumbler said:
I am also getting a bit tired of all these pass deals that are significantly increasing skier numbers. It's Win's right to do what he wants and to try and make as much money as he can is the short window of winter but can the guest amenity spaces be increased proportionaly with the higher skier visits? Gate House is already too small for lunch and to get apres drinks. Increase size or renovate Valley House and/or really explore the lodge at the top of Gate House lift.

Win said last year they are going to build a lodge at the top of gate house within a few years. It's really a shame though that management has done very little to address the fact that the valley house is mostly empty on most weekends do the the food being lesser versions of gate house food.

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cdskier · Aug 26, 2016

tumbler said:
I am also getting a bit tired of all these pass deals that are significantly increasing skier numbers. It's Win's right to do what he wants and to try and make as much money as he can is the short window of winter but can the guest amenity spaces be increased proportionaly with the higher skier visits? Gate House is already too small for lunch and to get apres drinks. Increase size or renovate Valley House and/or really explore the lodge at the top of Gate House lift.

I just tend to avoid lodges in general. I'd rather go over to Sugarbush Village for lunch at either Mutha Stuffers or Pizza Soul anyway.

Also, do we think the Early 30s pass is going to actually increase skier numbers significantly? I'm more inclined to think it will just help retain existing skiers.

steamboat1 · Aug 26, 2016

benski said:
It's really a shame though that management has done very little to address the fact that the valley house is mostly empty on most weekends do the the food being lesser versions of gate house food.

Now that's saying something since I've never found the cafeteria food at Gate House to be particularly appetizing.

teleo · Aug 26, 2016

This year Dino of mother stuffers intends to operate the reks in the old pine tree pub location for lunch too.

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benski · Aug 26, 2016

steamboat1 said:
Now that's saying something since I've never found the cafeteria food at Gate House to be particularly appetizing.

The main difference between the quality of food in the two lodges is turnover and the options are more limited. The food in the Valley House tends to sit out for much longer before being purchased. I think the quality would be the same if the cafeteria was more busy.

cdskier · Aug 26, 2016

teleo said:
This year Dino of mother stuffers intends to operate the reks in the old pine tree pub location for lunch too.

The Reks will hopefully be another choice that would be vastly superior to the base lodges. Better food, better prices, and you support a local small business.

Back to on-mountain food, in a recent e-mail from Win to "Sugarbush Community Members" he did mention they plan to continue to improve food service this winter with more "made-to-order options and service upgrades". They are also transforming the Glen House from a "mini cafeteria to a mid-mountain restaurant with local craft beers, healthy sandwiches, tasty tacos, and grain bowls."

Jully · Aug 26, 2016

steamboat1 said:
Now that's saying something since I've never found the cafeteria food at Gate House to be particularly appetizing.

benski said:
The main difference between the quality of food in the two lodges is turnover and the options are more limited. The food in the Valley House tends to sit out for much longer before being purchased. I think the quality would be the same if the cafeteria was more busy.

I find most lodge food pretty much the same (and generally unappetizing) with a few exceptions. The biggest difference between most places is the turnover rate. The more people eating the fresher and better the food.

steamboat1 · Aug 26, 2016

Jully said:
I find most lodge food pretty much the same (and generally unappetizing) with a few exceptions.

Yes there are a few exceptions. Spruce Lodge at Stowe & the Peak Lodge at Killington come to mind.

WWF-VT · Aug 26, 2016

Instead of complaining about crowds and food options - pack a lunch and ski at Mt Ellen

steamboat1 · Aug 26, 2016

WWF-VT said:
Instead of complaining about crowds and food options - pack a lunch and ski at Mt Ellen

Lol, I'm there quite a few Thursdays for the $30 deal. I don't pack lunch however. At that price I feel obligated to spend a little at the mountain. The food in the upstairs pub is not bad.

cdskier · Aug 26, 2016

If I do eat on-mountain, it would be at CR Pub, Wunderbar, etc. The food at those places is pretty good. Cafeteria food is cafeteria food and there would have to be no other options open for me to go eat in one of the cafeterias in the lodges.

bigbog · Aug 26, 2016

Jully said:
Exactly what I had in mind. In a similar vein there are state resident type passes for a few Maine and NH resorts.

There is one day/week = Wednesdays with Boyne(SL), where state residents only have had to pay ~$40 for many years. Great pricing but one midweek day/week isn't anything like a Pass.

LasersInTheTaiga · Aug 26, 2016

So I just got a call from Sugarbush. It seems like they are literally going down the list of qualifying passholders, calling them, and offering to switch the pass to the early 30's pass and refund the difference. Super impressed by them (yet again).

cdskier · Aug 26, 2016

LasersInTheTaiga said:
So I just got a call from Sugarbush. It seems like they are literally going down the list of qualifying passholders, calling them, and offering to switch the pass to the early 30's pass and refund the difference. Super impressed by them (yet again).

Well that's awesome to hear. If I saw this post a few minutes ago I wouldn't have shot Sugarbush an e-mail a few minutes ago asking if they had a plan and would have waited instead.

dlague · Aug 26, 2016

cdskier said:
If I do eat on-mountain, it would be at CR Pub, Wunderbar, etc. The food at those places is pretty good. Cafeteria food is cafeteria food and there would have to be no other options open for me to go eat in one of the cafeterias in the lodges.

CR Pub does have good food for sure but has a tendency to get real busy so we go over to Timbers which also has good food. Wunderbar, meh!

WWF-VT · Aug 26, 2016

LasersInTheTaiga said:
So I just got a call from Sugarbush. It seems like they are literally going down the list of qualifying passholders, calling them, and offering to switch the pass to the early 30's pass and refund the difference. Super impressed by them (yet again).

My guess is that Sugarbush will see a marginal , if any, overall increase in revenue by offering this pass option when you factor in the refunds they are offering to people that purchased other eligible pass options the spring. It is good for customer satisfaction to offer the refund.

cdskier · Aug 26, 2016

WWF-VT said:
My guess is that Sugarbush will see a marginal , if any, overall increase in revenue by offering this pass option when you factor in the refunds they are offering to people that purchased other eligible pass options the spring. It is good for customer satisfaction to offer the refund.

I tend to agree. Although without knowing how many people in this age range already had passes it is hard to say how many new passes they need to sell to make up for it. If they only had a few dozen in this age range, then they could probably easily drive enough new pass sales to make up the refund amounts. If they had hundreds in this range already, then that is a lot of ground to recover on the other hand. I still have to think this is in direct response to Stowe's new Young Adult pass having an age range up to the mid 30s. They must've been worried they would lose market-share in this age group. Either that or they saw a significant drop off in pass sales once people aged out of the Four 20s pass and are trying to hold onto those people longer.

MEtoVTSkier · Aug 26, 2016

One thing is for certain, that their customer service reputation seems to be very good, and getting even better, and that word of it is really getting around.

steamboat1 · Aug 26, 2016

MEtoVTSkier said:
One thing is for certain, that their customer service reputation seems to be very good, and getting even better, and that word of it is really getting around.

Yeah OK.

bdfreetuna · Aug 26, 2016

Killington has better customer service consistently in my experience.

Jay is the worst but that could change.

Sugarbush is hit or miss.

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