The "Sugarbush Thread"

Hawk · Mar 9, 2021

Kusty, I can understand your perspective. You don't know these people. FWIW - Jess was another girl that was let go recently. I do know some of the people speaking up and I certainly know the people that have left. A couple in particular that are speaking up have never been outspoken before. That says volumes to me. Look, like I said, I just hope they don't change what this special place is about. I would not expect people that travel here occasionally to have forged relationships and understand.

cdskier · Mar 9, 2021

Hawk said:
Kusty, I can understand your perspective. You don't know these people. FWIW - Jess was another girl that was let go recently. I do know some of the people speaking up and I certainly know the people that have left. A couple in particular that are speaking up have never been outspoken before. That says volumes to me. Look, like I said, I just hope they don't change what this special place is about. I would not expect people that travel here occasionally to have forged relationships and understand.

I'll add a couple things here. My cousin only comes up here a couple times a year typically (he lives in MD so it is a bit of a haul). He heard about Emily on Facebook and already last night told me that Wunderbar is dead to him without Emily. So even some people that come here only occasionally recognize the impact if they were at all into the Apres scene.

Also for people like Kusty that don't know, she's not just a bartender on the mountain during ski season. She's also a bartender at the pub at the golf course the rest of the year. I personally don't golf, but in the past my dad and uncle would sometimes come up in the summer to golf. While they golf, I'd go for a hike. If they finish golf before I'm done hiking, they'd go to the pub for a drink. Emily would always ask if I still out hiking and if I would be joining them later on.

So in conclusion I completely disagree with people that say the reaction is overblown. To us regulars and locals, this is a big slap in the face of the culture here. As for comments like "well at least you weren't bought by Vail", that's irrelevant. Just because there's a worse possibility doesn't mean you should sit back and accept bad things simply because they aren't as bad as they could be.

Powder Whore · Mar 9, 2021

It's interesting to me that people rush to vilify the resort and or Alterra without knowing any of the specifics of this situation. Graze on.

ss20 · Mar 9, 2021

Powder Whore said:
It's interesting to me that people rush to vilify the resort and or Alterra without knowing any of the specifics of this situation. Graze on.

I agree with that. Doubt this person/people were fired "just because" mid-season. There's always a back story.

It's a tough industry with high turnover.... I'm not sure why we're letting a couple isolated events define company culture.

skierinri · Mar 9, 2021

Considering the staffing issues for the industry, it seems hard to believe there isn't another side to the story.

skiur · Mar 9, 2021

What did you guys think was going to happen when alterra bought the mountain? It was not going to remain the same as it was.

djd66 · Mar 9, 2021

skiur said:
What did you guys think was going to happen when alterra bought the mountain? It was not going to remain the same as it was.

1) Unless either party will tell us what actually happened - it is tough to make judgement.
2) As far as Altera goes, I would find it impossible to grade Altera's performance during a pandemic. Lots of people have died and lost jobs/businesses - it would be extremely selfish of me to complain about anything this year. I was able to ski a shit ton and the mountain has been great.

mikec142 · Mar 9, 2021

djd66 said:
1) Unless either party will tell us what actually happened - it is tough to make judgement.
2) As far as Altera goes, I would find it impossible to grade Altera's performance during a pandemic. Lots of people have died and lost jobs/businesses - it would be extremely selfish of me to complain about anything this year. I was able to ski a shit ton and the mountain has been great.

It's funny...you say it would be impossible to grade Alterra's performance during the pandemic, yet you said you skied a ton and the mountain has been great.

I was ready to punt on the season, but took a chance. So far, I've skied a ton, felt very safe while doing it, & haven't noticed any negative changes to mountain operations as it relates to skiing. From my perspective, that's a huge win and Alterra deserves kudo's. We've all seen the complaints regarding Vail operated mountains.

I think we are both giving Alterra high marks for dealing with the cards they were dealt.

Parting thought. Win really sold at the ideal time. SB's value might never be higher than when he sold.

HowieT2 · Mar 9, 2021

skiur said:
What did you guys think was going to happen when alterra bought the mountain? It was not going to remain the same as it was.

you think Alterra had anything to do with firing a bartender of a bar that operates a few afternoons a week in season? I would think they have bigger fish to fry

NYDB · Mar 9, 2021

Hawk said:
Kusty, I can understand your perspective. You don't know these people. FWIW - Jess was another girl that was let go recently. I do know some of the people speaking up and I certainly know the people that have left. A couple in particular that are speaking up have never been outspoken before. That says volumes to me. Look, like I said, I just hope they don't change what this special place is about. I would not expect people that travel here occasionally to have forged relationships and understand.

But whats the issue?

I know we all like to have bartenders know our names and act friendly like (thats what they do since they rely on tips) and treat us special but are they guaranteed employment or something?

Are you long time sugarbush skiers in denial? You got sold out to a giant corp. 15 years of service means fuck all to the new management.

Look on the bright side, you still have probably the best hill(s) in VT to ski. which is nice.

kingslug · Mar 9, 2021

They got rid of Egan without batting an eye..things change when owners change..not always for the best. He was a giant part of the place. Can't put a price on that..yet they did. In the end..we are all expendable in corporate culture.

skiur · Mar 9, 2021

What I'm saying is personal relations won't matter with alterra like they did previously. Employees are a number, not a face. That can be a good and a bad thing.

tumbler · Mar 10, 2021

Yes and no. Alterra has stated that they will let the mountains run themselves in order to keep their individuality. I have more than a feeling this is about the newly promoted sheriff in town.

Hawk · Mar 10, 2021

Everybody has the right to their opinion. But a couple of things. Altera has been pretty much hands off with Sugarbush. Win told me that they did not want to poke into the daily business as Sugarbush was run very efficiently. So the stance that a big company came in and is cleaning house is not the case. I am most certain sure of this as it has been confirmed to me.

I guess it is hard for newcommers and part time people to understand the long time culture here so for the long time people and regulars we will just have to grin and bear it. I was lucky enough to be embraced by the mountain community as a 15 year 50-60 day person. It was not just a bartender or ski instructor that knew my name or got me my drink. They were friends that I hung out with occasionally and shared experiences. Hard to understand when you are here because you got a bargain pass.

Blurski · Mar 10, 2021

Would anyone like to see another expert run groomed other than RC, I don't count waterfall, Lwr Grinder, etc. Puts us at 1 groomed expert run at south.
Practically no one skies Steins or Grinder. I take my obligatory Steins & Grinder no matter what the conditions are but it would be nice to a least have 1 more choice to make steeper groomed turns on.

djd66 · Mar 10, 2021

Steins is pretty awful right now. Not sure if not grooming it makes the snow last longer for the spring?

cdskier · Mar 10, 2021

Most years Steins usually sees a groomer pretty regularly. I was wondering a bit why it hasn't really been groomed much at all this year. Like djd, one thought I had was maybe it was a test of preserving the snow longer on it for spring...

I last skied Stein's 2 Saturdays ago (the day it changed from snow to non-snow as the day went on). That day skier's right was really nice. I haven't touched it since then as it looked way too shiny this past weekend.

kingslug · Mar 10, 2021

Steins deserves better..you know..because its named after Stein. Skied it last year and it was sporty for sure. So I did it twice.
But I never see too many on it.

mikec142 · Mar 10, 2021

Blurski said:
Would anyone like to see another expert run groomed other than RC, I don't count waterfall, Lwr Grinder, etc. Puts us at 1 groomed expert run at south.
Practically no one skies Steins or Grinder. I take my obligatory Steins & Grinder no matter what the conditions are but it would be nice to a least have 1 more choice to make steeper groomed turns on.

I guess the question would be, which expert run would you want to see groomed? While I do see the appeal of another groomed expert, I can't think of one expert trail that is bumped that I'd rather see groomed.

mikec142 · Mar 10, 2021

kingslug said:
Steins deserves better..you know..because its named after Stein. Skied it last year and it was sporty for sure. So I did it twice.
But I never see too many on it.

I'd love to see data on how many people ski Steins before the spring. I rarely see people on it and it rarely looks appealing to me.

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