A Little Faux Pas at Solitude's "Community Meeting" Last Week

[thetrailboss]

Not a great way to win friends and influence the people in your backyard.....

Solitude Inadvertently Describes Locals As Threats During Town Hall

Update 6/30: Amber Broadaway, who is the President & COO of Solitude, published a letter today, apologizing to the local community for the mistake.

unofficialnetworks.com

Oops.

 

[jimmywilson69]

I would say locals who ski all the time and spend no money at ski areas are legitimate threats to the bottom line. Not saying you should announce that in public, but any ski area bean counter would agree to that.

Also A SWOT exercise is not something you share with the public, without having your marketing folks give it a good look over first

 

[snoseek]

Not a great way to win friends and influence the people in your backyard.....

Solitude Inadvertently Describes Locals As Threats During Town Hall

Update 6/30: Amber Broadaway, who is the President & COO of Solitude, published a letter today, apologizing to the local community for the mistake.

unofficialnetworks.com

Oops.

Man, this place used to be the goto to get away from the hustle and bustle. It was always a sure thing. Now they are the hustle and bustle.

 

[2Planker]

Our whole 55+ ski club prides itself in in hosting a huge spread for BFast & Lunch, and makes sure Vail doesn't get 1 cent from any of us.

We're also happy to give free coffee & Munchkins if it'll keep you from paying for one from Vail.

Attitash keeps trying to kick us out but can't find a reason that was technically not allowed.
WC doesn't care, as their food service is terrible anyway. Never see anyone buying anything other than stone cold fries.

 

[thetrailboss]

Our whole 55+ ski club prides itself in in hosting a huge spread for BFast & Lunch, and makes sure Vail doesn't get 1 cent from any of us.

We're also happy to give free coffee & Munchkins if it'll keep you from paying for one from Vail.

Attitash keeps trying to kick us out but can't find a reason that was technically not allowed.
WC doesn't care, as their food service is terrible anyway. Never see anyone buying anything other than stone cold fries.

This is Alterra, not Vail.

 

[2Planker]

This is Alterra, not Vail

This is Alterra, not Vail.

?? Really.... It's the principal...

Yet to find a skier/rider of 50+ years who says they love Vail, Alterra, Boyne.....
Compared to hundreds of us who lividly hate all of them.

Selling PBR's in the lot was pretty common in the Live Free or Die state this past spring.
Especially when Ptargmigan's in getting $12 for a Bud Light, and the WC bar isn't even open M-F.

Seriously thinking about trying to operate a Food Truck parked at WC or Bear Peak.

 

[jimk]

One of the threats was "removal of roadside parking". Threats, the article explained, are defined as things that have the potential to cause damage to the ski resort if they aren’t addressed.
Does that mean Solitude wants to eliminate all roadside parking?

 

[thetrailboss]

Does that mean Solitude wants to eliminate all roadside parking?

I believe it is the opposite--UDOT/SLC County/Town of Brighton telling Solitude that nobody can park on the side of SR190 is a threat to Solitude's business. A fair number of people refuse to pay for parking and park on the side of SR190. Take that away and a fair number of folks will rethink buying IKON or skiing at Solitude.

I am not at all surprised that this little SWOT exercise identified "locals" as a threat to their business. Alterra has been pretty dismissive of concerns raised by locals such as crowding, traffic, etc. Any local opposition to plans, expansion, etc. DO pose a potential financial impact for the ski area (such as overcoming hurdles to gain approval from a regulatory entity). They do not want anyone killing their golden goose which is IKON and a big part of the new business model for Epic/IKON is overselling capacity on the belief that a lot of folks will not use their passes. The big mistake was leaking that out to the public and creating a PR misstep.

 

[AdironRider]

I’ve been one of the problem locals my entire adult life, and they aren’t wrong.

Individually, every local is fine (select exceptions excluded), but as a group locals are a major problem.

Why? Because on an individual level, one might have an issue with grooming, or patrol, or parking, or fill in the blank. On a collective level, all those individual opinions get jumbled together and everything is now a problem for the collective body as a whole. That is impossible to manage.

I see it here a lot as well, but locals have an absurd level of entitlement, which could probably describe skiers as a whole. An example is Deadhead taking Vail to task in the Vail sucks thread for not closing down an entire trail for him and a select few other patrons to have a private race course to themselves. That is an crazy selfish gripe but so it goes. With the major pass products everyone now thinks they are a local somewhere because they have a pass and deserve special treatment.

But yes, regardless of the validity of it, it was a bonehead move putting an internal doc like a SWOT analysis out in public.

 

[4aprice]

One of the threats was "removal of roadside parking". Threats, the article explained, are defined as things that have the potential to cause damage to the ski resort if they aren’t addressed.
Does that mean Solitude wants to eliminate all roadside parking?

Would imagine the parking on 190 is about to get worse with Brighton going reservation (and pay?). Some of those people park a good distance away. Got to be a pretty miserable walk in ski gear.

 

[thetrailboss]

Would imagine the parking on 190 is about to get worse with Brighton going reservation (and pay?). Some of those people park a good distance away. Got to be a pretty miserable walk in ski gear.

We shall see. Reservations are free for Brighton Passholders. Like Alta.

 

[BenedictGomez]

Say what you want, but this is some funny S!

 

[jimk]

Would imagine the parking on 190 is about to get worse with Brighton going reservation (and pay?). Some of those people park a good distance away. Got to be a pretty miserable walk in ski gear.

While Snowbird is my primary ski area, I also skied 17 different days at Solitude this season. With all the traffic and road closures in Little Cottonwood Canyon the option to go skiing at Solitude on any given day was very useful. I only paid to park at Solitude once in those 17 days and that was as a courtesy to a friend who wanted to promptly ski for three hours and then had to start a ten hour drive to Taos. The other days I either parked for free on 190 and walked to Moonbeam Lodge or carpooled with someone who had free parking. One time I rode the bus up to Soli and hitched a ride back down the canyon.

I'll be looking next winter to park free again quite a bit at Soli and my main strategy will be to get up there early on quiet weekdays. It's also possible some days to go up there at 1230PM and get an open spot on 190 when early risers leave, but that's risky. I also enjoy it in April and May when crowds are down most days.

 

[thetrailboss]

Say what you want, but this is some funny S!

I do have to wonder if the responsible marketing department employee is now looking for a job or has been demoted to cleaning toilets for this mistake.

 

[kbroderick]

I do have to wonder if the responsible marketing department employee is now looking for a job or has been demoted to cleaning toilets for this mistake.

Probably just looking sheepish and thinking eighteen times before talking candidly.

A Letter to Locals

I remain committed to sharing with you the things we do well, those that we don’t do well, where we fall short, and offering a level of insight.

blog.solitudemountain.com

 

[thetrailboss]

Probably just looking sheepish and thinking eighteen times before talking candidly.

A Letter to Locals

I remain committed to sharing with you the things we do well, those that we don’t do well, where we fall short, and offering a level of insight.

blog.solitudemountain.com

Another day. Another story. These guys are ridiculous.

I would like to acknowledge that I screwed up. On June 22, during our annual public Town Hall, I shared a presentation that included a slide from a resort SWOT analysis (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) in which we placed “locals” in the threat category.

This slide was shared via social media, outside of the full context of the Town Hall presentation, and was perceived as an insult, or a jab at our local audience. It was never my intent to imply that the presence and/or proclivity of locals threatens our business, and I apologize deeply for my offense.

I already explained why they would put locals into the category of "threat" to their business--locals that might protest/oppose any business plans. She could have just been straight up and said that but she did not. Instead, all of us in Utah are just idiots because we did not understand the context of what she was saying. Riiiight. Just be honest instead of using corporate spin. I have little doubt that this "response" came from Alterra HQ.

And sorry Amber. You are no Win.

I truly hope more of you will attend and engage with me in next year’s Town Hall, where we can discuss your concerns in real-time.

Yeah, because we all know the best time to have a "town hall" with skiers and riders is in the middle of June. Give me a fucking break.

I find it’s a much better forum for meaningful conversation than social media.

The truth is that they remove any negative posts on social media (FB at least) rather than try to respond. They ignore that feedback because it is easy. I wonder how many nasty messages she is going to get now--particularly from those who do not approve of the overselling of her mountain.

 

[kbroderick]

Did you watch the zoom call by any chance? I'm very curious to see the slide in context, but unless I find myself stuck at my desk waiting for something else to finish, probably not curious enough to watch it.

The one report I did see on Instagram from an actual attendee (ozskier) didn't mention that slide in particular and was generally positive about the event. Given that he's proven willing to call out ski area BS in the past, I'm guessing he figured the slide was a faux pas but not that discussion worthy.

 

[thetrailboss]

Did you watch the zoom call by any chance? I'm very curious to see the slide in context, but unless I find myself stuck at my desk waiting for something else to finish, probably not curious enough to watch it.

The one report I did see on Instagram from an actual attendee (ozskier) didn't mention that slide in particular and was generally positive about the event. Given that he's proven willing to call out ski area BS in the past, I'm guessing he figured the slide was a faux pas but not that discussion worthy.

I have not watched it yet. I honestly don't plan to do so because of time and I'd rather focus on more positive things. Honestly, I do have some empathy for Amber. She worked under Win and when he sold Sugarbush she moved to Solitude. Clearly she aspires to run a resort as well as he did and she is eager to climb the corporate ladder. But frankly she is essentially the manager of the ski resort equivalent of a crowded McDonald's franchise. My comments still remain as to (1) tell the truth (corporate probably did not want her to do so and wanted to just get past this snafu); and (2) holding a skier/rider town hall in Mid-June is dumb if not disingenuous because NOBODY is thinking of skiing or riding. Doing it in October, like Sugarbush does, makes more sense.

 

[jimk]

I have a buddy who works at Soli and another who is a homeowner in their village. They both like Amber Broadaway, President/COO of Solitude. She's embraced the high volume role Solitude has taken as the only unlimited Alterra resort in Utah. I know many old timers lament this shift from Solitude to Multitude, but quite a few folks appreciate her efforts to accommodate-manage the Ikon masses.

 

[thetrailboss]

I have a buddy who works at Soli and another who is a homeowner in their village. They both like Amber Broadaway, President/COO of Solitude. She's embraced the high volume role Solitude has taken as the only unlimited Alterra resort in Utah. I know many old timers lament this shift from Solitude to Multitude, but quite a few folks appreciate her efforts to accommodate-manage the Ikon masses.

Multitude. Love it.