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The "Sugarbush Thread"

elfnif1016

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Oct 14, 2010
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just received this
My two cents: this post should have been made at the end of February. They knew about the timeline and more transparency about what was going to happen at the end of the season (not to mention the once in a generation eclipse) would have saved SB management a lot of grief.

That said, it was a nice day at South today. Firm early on, and spring conditions at lower elevations by noon.

I'll step off of the soapbox now.
 

ericfromMA/NH/VT

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Heading up to rip groomers on Mt Ellen one last time, then head over the LP. Any there today? How is it holding up? thanks all!
 

crippity

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My two cents: this post should have been made at the end of February. They knew about the timeline and more transparency about what was going to happen at the end of the season (not to mention the once in a generation eclipse) would have saved SB management a lot of grief.

That said, it was a nice day at South today. Firm early on, and spring conditions at lower elevations by noon.

I'll step off of the soapbox now.
Not much more to add at this point and agree with above. What I would like more clarity on is if in fact it Ellen can be rented who is staffing that and then how disingenuous this is? Also, I have Ikon but what about all the people that bought that other pass that people are up in arms about? Bottom line, and we dont need to beat this dead horse but absolutely mind bending piss poor timing of communication. Its not rocket science....
 

crippity

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Would also add that from now to seasons end if there is a choice between bush and K i will be at K and spending my money. I know Hawk is happy with that.
 

cdskier

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Not much more to add at this point and agree with above. What I would like more clarity on is if in fact it Ellen can be rented who is staffing that and then how disingenuous this is? Also, I have Ikon but what about all the people that bought that other pass that people are up in arms about? Bottom line, and we dont need to beat this dead horse but absolutely mind bending piss poor timing of communication. Its not rocket science....

Yup. Nothing in that blog post surprised me one bit about the complexity involved. Myself and I'm sure many others fully get that part. The ME staffing argument is weak though if you're allowing rentals of the mountain (although I'm sure they will say a rental requires less staff than being open to the public). But like you said, the biggest single issue is not properly communicating ahead of time (and selling those TBD tickets without even mentioning the possibility that a substantial amount of LP terrain would be closed on the dates the 2nd ticket is usable).
 

cdskier

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Would also add that from now to seasons end if there is a choice between bush and K i will be at K and spending my money. I know Hawk is happy with that.

I have to admit...I'm half tempted to consider driving down to K (from my condo at SB) at some point one April weekend depending on terrain available and potential conditions.
 

WinS

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Nov 25, 2017
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It used to be one driver and a couple of patrollers. The big staffing issue is lift operators and F&B on the mountain. I don’t know if this has changed at all.
Not much more to add at this point and agree with above. What I would like more clarity on is if in fact it Ellen can be rented who is staffing that and then how disingenuous this is? Also, I have Ikon but what about all the people that bought that other pass that people are up in arms about? Bottom line, and we dont need to beat this dead horse but absolutely mind bending piss poor timing of communication. Its not rocket science...
 

djd66

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Wait, so me and 99 other people could rent Mt Ellen for $78 each??? If we get a 2’ dump that actually would be very cool. Anyone on here want to join?
 

tumbler

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I think they decided to listen to complaints for one week instead of a few months. Easier for them but not good business. This will as be forgotten next when we are riding a new lift.
 

thetrailboss

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Little poster at Lincoln Peak says Mt Ellen is available for rent in April, 10am-2pm, for $7800 plus a minimum $1000 food/beverage.
And yet in the Blog post today they whined about how "all" of the Mount Ellen staff are gone because they are foreign workers. Something seems not to be true.....
 

slatham

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Corporate spin control, weakly done. This is not your local mountain anymore. We are back to future, or past, pre-Win era, when others, far away, made the decisions. Either that or Hammond is just over his head……
 

cdskier

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Corporate spin control, weakly done. This is not your local mountain anymore. We are back to future, or past, pre-Win era, when others, far away, made the decisions. Either that or Hammond is just over his head……

I've said it before, I highly doubt Alterra has anything to do with this other than cutting the check for the lift. This is local.
 

abc

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The only person in the northeast with no fucking clue about an eclipse happening.
He is drinking from the cup of paying attention to the world around us.
You’re right. Because I’m flying to a much sunnier location for the eclipse. So I remember the eclipse being at 2pm instead of 4.

Yeah, no fucking clue that people in the northeast make such a big fuss about it :ROFLMAO: when in all likelihood most people will see are probably just darkness, without the sun, never mind the eclipse.
 
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thetrailboss

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I've said it before, I highly doubt Alterra has anything to do with this other than cutting the check for the lift. This is local.
Not budget issues. If this season has sucked as much as I think it has I could see Alterra HQ telling them to pull the plug to cut the losses.
 

ducky

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Relying so heavily on cheap foreign labor is a choice.
They actually pay locals in the $20 range, which is competitive. It is the housing issue that you can get around. Most of the affordable rentals have become STRs and there are few longer-term rentals available within an hour's drive. The MRV is not alone; this is a global problem in most resort communities. The J1s are far from cheap in terms of the whole package.
 

cdskier

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Not budget issues. If this season has sucked as much as I think it has I could see Alterra HQ telling them to pull the plug to cut the losses.

Not sure I'm following you. Alterra told them to pull the plug on what exactly? With the exception of closing the terrain related to the HG lift replacement, Sugarbush is following the same operational plan for late season that they've followed for years.

I don't see Alterra telling them specifically to "not" find a way to do a bonus weekend at ME. I've seen zero indication that Alterra micro-manages like that. And no matter what I ultimately think that not properly communicating this or coming up with any sort of contingency plan could actually cost Alterra money. For example if myself or others decide to go to an Ikon partner resort instead of SB at some point in April, now all of a sudden Alterra is going to owe money to Powdr or Boyne, etc for those visits that otherwise would have stayed at SB/Alterra.
 
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