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The "Sugarbush Thread"

HowieT2

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Yup...although oddly enough we actually decided to take 4 to 100 this time. VTrans webcam showed Rt 4 in Mendon clear meanwhile the radar showed possibly more precip further north so thought at the time we were going through that Mendon pass would be the better option to cross to the eastern side of the greens. No idea how Brandon gap actually was at the time, but Rt 4 and 100 all the way up to SB were in great shape when we drove through.

Great shape. I kept waiting to see the roadway snow covered and it didn’t happen even though it was snowing pretty hard from Manchester up.
btw-if you turn at the McDonald’s 4 towards the hospital then turn again at the hospital, you skip about 6 traffic lights.
 

HowieT2

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Wednesday through Friday look like ideal corn harvest days. I’m ready for spring after this weekend.
 

cdskier

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Great shape. I kept waiting to see the roadway snow covered and it didn’t happen even though it was snowing pretty hard from Manchester up.
btw-if you turn at the McDonald’s 4 towards the hospital then turn again at the hospital, you skip about 6 traffic lights.

LOL. I was literally just looking at google maps a few minutes ago and figured that out as I remembered someone saying something about the "hospital shortcut" at some point.
 

HowieT2

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LOL. I was literally just looking at google maps a few minutes ago and figured that out as I remembered someone saying something about the "hospital shortcut" at some point.

Theres a McDonald’s at both intersections on 4 and signs for the hospital obviously. You literally can’t miss it. And it saves going through that mess on 4 through Rutland.
 

cdskier

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Theres a McDonald’s at both intersections on 4 and signs for the hospital obviously. You literally can’t miss it. And it saves going through that mess on 4 through Rutland.

Yea, thanks. Good to know if I take that route again for some reason.
 

WinS

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Does the resort provide housing for those kids on the work visas? That’s a great deal. Too bad that visa is only 90 days.

Fwiw-i didn’t think gatehouse lodge was crowded at all on Saturday. Everyone must have been out skiing. A late season storm like that is really a blessing.

We now have housing for approximately 130 employees. We own some but lease several other properties. In the future the plan is to build more of our own that is walking distance to the resort. Employees do pay rent but it is very very affordable. Almost all ski areas are doing this now in order to attract employees.
 

rocks860

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What are we thinking about this weekend? My weather app is saying 59 degrees and wet for Saturday but I’d really like to get up there one more time on the season


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WinS

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Where might this be located?

We have two locations. Expanding the building that we currently have at the Bottom of Lot F and building where the Old Rosita's Restaurant was just downhill from the Sugar Tree Inn that we bought and converted to employee housing.
 

WinS

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What are we thinking about this weekend? My weather app is saying 59 degrees and wet for Saturday but I’d really like to get up there one more time on the season


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There will be some nice soft turns. Too far out to call but it looks like some showers possible on Saturday but not a wash out. There are some signs that there could be some accumulating snow Sunday night as it cools down again.
 

rocks860

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Well I’m gonna roll the dice and buy a ticket tonight. Worse comes to worse I can make some turns then spend some time at Lawson’s !


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HowieT2

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We now have housing for approximately 130 employees. We own some but lease several other properties. In the future the plan is to build more of our own that is walking distance to the resort. Employees do pay rent but it is very very affordable. Almost all ski areas are doing this now in order to attract employees.

130 seems like a lot of housing for only seasonal employees. Are there also full time employees residing there? Has running a shuttle from burlington or rutland been considered. Not an option for the snow makers and lift mechanics who work overnight, but for non essential day workers maybe? it must be really difficult to get these employees considering the cost to attract them.
I'm comparing what I've seen/learned from going out to BC the last several years and staying in Nelson. They've got a fairly large population of young kids from Australia working, not just at whitewater but also in town. It seems like every waitress is a twenty something Australian. There's a shuttle that brings the employees from the city to the mountain (where there's no lodging whatsoever). But they get 2 year work visas and I think its less a seasonal employment situation since the ski operation is much smaller (3 lifts) and mountain biking is huge. anyway attracting 20 somethings to live and work in the valley is a valuable goal.
 

WinS

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130 seems like a lot of housing for only seasonal employees. Are there also full time employees residing there? Has running a shuttle from burlington or rutland been considered. Not an option for the snow makers and lift mechanics who work overnight, but for non essential day workers maybe? it must be really difficult to get these employees considering the cost to attract them.
I'm comparing what I've seen/learned from going out to BC the last several years and staying in Nelson. They've got a fairly large population of young kids from Australia working, not just at whitewater but also in town. It seems like every waitress is a twenty something Australian. There's a shuttle that brings the employees from the city to the mountain (where there's no lodging whatsoever). But they get 2 year work visas and I think its less a seasonal employment situation since the ski operation is much smaller (3 lifts) and mountain biking is huge. anyway attracting 20 somethings to live and work in the valley is a valuable goal.

Yes. We do have vans. Burlington and Montpelier/Barre are the markets for us. Since Australia and Canada are part of The Commonwealth, Australians can get the two year visas which is are available here in the USA. The other visa that some use is the H2-B but it is harder to qualify for and quite a bit more expensive. Some full time use our housing but usually temporarily until they find other housing.

The other thing that has impacted housing is Air B&B. Many seasonal spots have been taken off the market for employees.
 

HowieT2

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Yes. We do have vans. Burlington and Montpelier/Barre are the markets for us. Since Australia and Canada are part of The Commonwealth, Australians can get the two year visas which is are available here in the USA. The other visa that some use is the H2-B but it is harder to qualify for and quite a bit more expensive. Some full time use our housing but usually temporarily until they find other housing.

The other thing that has impacted housing is Air B&B. Many seasonal spots have been taken off the market for employees.

interesting. Thanks.
fwiw-I’ve noticed a dearth in seasonal rental and short term rentals the last few years. Tight market. Saw a report yesterday on the new hudson yards development in nyc. 2 of the 3 exclusively residential towers are rentals only.
 

rtjcbrown

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We have two locations. Expanding the building that we currently have at the Bottom of Lot F and building where the Old Rosita's Restaurant was just downhill from the Sugar Tree Inn that we bought and converted to employee housing.

Win: I did not notice Sugar Tree Inn was no longer open to the public. Sad to hear that as I have nice memories of that place. Curiosity got me looking about area inns for sale, and I noticed that there seems to be quite a lot. I found active listings for Mountain View, Slide Brook, Beaver Pond, Weather Top, Hostel Tevere, Christmas Tree, and there is still the old Egan's Big World Lodge on Rt.100. I know a few others, (Tucker Hill, Golden Lion, Hyde Away, etc..) have changed hands over the past couple of years. This seems like a lot of movement. Do you attribute this to any recent trends such as the growth of AirBnB?
 

WinS

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Win: I did not notice Sugar Tree Inn was no longer open to the public. Sad to hear that as I have nice memories of that place. Curiosity got me looking about area inns for sale, and I noticed that there seems to be quite a lot. I found active listings for Mountain View, Slide Brook, Beaver Pond, Weather Top, Hostel Tevere, Christmas Tree, and there is still the old Egan's Big World Lodge on Rt.100. I know a few others, (Tucker Hill, Golden Lion, Hyde Away, etc..) have changed hands over the past couple of years. This seems like a lot of movement. Do you attribute this to any recent trends such as the growth of AirBnB?

I do not so. I think each has its own story. It is a tough business and you are on 24/7. Hard to say if Air B&B has hurts inns. The Valley has always been short beds at key times, so I think Air B & B has allowed more supply for those times. The big challenge for inns and restaurants is the non-ski season. Losing the horse show was a terrible loss to the Valley and nothing has replaced it. Weddings, however, are big and growing and good for all. I think that Lawson's will draw more into the Valley, and we need to better market what a great place this is in the warmer months and all the fun things to do here. Until we purchased Sugarbush we did not spend much time here in the summer and now know what we missed.
 

rocks860

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I had been skiing sugarbush for about 30 years before I had made it up in the summertime and now I try to come up at some point every summer. It’s gorgeous up there and very relaxing


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HowieT2

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I do not so. I think each has its own story. It is a tough business and you are on 24/7. Hard to say if Air B&B has hurts inns. The Valley has always been short beds at key times, so I think Air B & B has allowed more supply for those times. The big challenge for inns and restaurants is the non-ski season. Losing the horse show was a terrible loss to the Valley and nothing has replaced it. Weddings, however, are big and growing and good for all. I think that Lawson's will draw more into the Valley, and we need to better market what a great place this is in the warmer months and all the fun things to do here. Until we purchased Sugarbush we did not spend much time here in the summer and now know what we missed.

imho-mtn biking expansion at the mtn especially easy flow trails like the ones at blueberry lake.
 

smac75

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imho-mtn biking expansion at the mtn especially easy flow trails like the ones at blueberry lake.

I agree - adding more bike trails at the mountain would be great.

Also, I think a few of those for sale signs at the inns went up once word got out that SB was shopping for employee housing!
 

Killingtime

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I think that Lawson's will draw more into the Valley, and we need to better market what a great place this is in the warmer months and all the fun things to do here. Until we purchased Sugarbush we did not spend much time here in the summer and now know what we missed.

Looking forward to a Lawson's run soon!!
 
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