A new hostel coming to Vermont?

[deadheadskier]

I have heard there is a very nice hostel in Jackson Hole and its managed by the resort. Skied with rivercoil 1st day of the year and he went out last year and I forget the details, but it sounded great for air, lodging & lift tickets. If JH can support a hostel, I'm sure Stowe can.

 

[BenedictGomez]

Haha! Are you getting offended? You must be if you are bothering to point out an irrelevant grammar typo I made.

No, not at all. It's just that the could/couldn't thing drives me nuts because it makes your statement mean precisely the opposite of what you're intending. I find it's frequently misused everywhere, but especially in New England for some reason. On the positive side of the ledger, New England folk are the only people in America who properly pronounce the word, "aunt".

EDIT: Two additional odd bits of New England parlance which I discovered after living up there.

1) Acrossed - I'm going shopping acrossed the lake in Plattsburgh.
2) The rampant superfluous 's' - I'm going shopping at Barnes and Nobles and then Hannifords.

 

[Breakout12]

Couldn't.

Thanks. It needs to be pointed out every time.

Just like "could" is the exactly wrong word to use, so is "irrelevant". It couldn't be more relevant. It's like saying "white" when you mean "black"

 

[Huck_It_Baby]

No, not at all. It's just that the could/couldn't thing drives me nuts because it makes your statement mean precisely the opposite of what you're intending. I find it's frequently misused everywhere, but especially in New England for some reason. On the positive side of the ledger, New England folk are the only people in America who properly pronounce the word, "aunt".

UNLESS I meant that I could actually care less than I do now =)

 

[Huck_It_Baby]

1) Acrossed - I'm going shopping acrossed the lake in Plattsburgh.

This bothers me too but a ski forum is hardly the place to worry about such things.

 

[VTKilarney]

No, not at all. It's just that the could/couldn't thing drives me nuts because it makes your statement mean precisely the opposite of what you're intending. I find it's frequently misused everywhere, but especially in New England for some reason.

The English language is full of idioms. This is has become one of them. (See: http://www.slate.com/blogs/lexicon_...irrational_or_ungrammatical_as_you_might.html )

This is why I don't get wound up about the expression, even if it is logically flawed.

I do, however, cringe when I here the word "coupon" mispronounced. And by mispronounced, I mean pronouncing the first syllable as you would pronounce the word "cue" when playing pool. You don't eat "sewp", you eat soup. The dictionary lists both pronunciations, so the problem is clearly on my end. But what the heck.

 

[Domeskier]

EDIT: Two additional odd bits of New England parlance which I discovered after living up there.

....

2) The rampant superfluous 's' - I'm going shopping at Barnes and Nobles and then Hannifords.

I always thought these people were adding an _'s_ rather than inexplicably changing the name.

 

[steamboat1]

Of which, not many are on weekends IIRC?

See that's where your wrong again. 3 out of the 5 scheduled 3 consecutive day club appreciation days are for Fri-Sun including the one coming up this weekend. Only Jan. & Feb. days are scheduled mid-week.

edit: Personally I'd prefer if they were all scheduled mid-week. I rarely ski weekends.

 

[thetrailboss]

Interesting. A few years ago I commented on the "State Ski Dorm" that is at the base of the mountain but I can't recall why it is not operating or what is going on with it. Can someone refresh my memory?

Generally I am surprised as to how common hostels are in Europe (and accepted) as opposed to here in the States. I'm not sure why that is. A nice, clean place that is affordable would be great at resorts I would think and would help bring in a broader market to the resort than they already get.

 

[VTKilarney]

Interesting. A few years ago I commented on the "State Ski Dorm" that is at the base of the mountain but I can't recall why it is not operating or what is going on with it. Can someone refresh my memory?

Generally I am surprised as to how common hostels are in Europe (and accepted) as opposed to here in the States. I'm not sure why that is. A nice, clean place that is affordable would be great at resorts I would think and would help bring in a broader market to the resort than they already get.

As for the state ski dorm, I suspect that it lost money. The staff, as state employees, no doubt earned much more than others in the hospitality industry. That's tough to make work when you are marketing to the cheapest segment of the market.

I think a middle-ground makes the most sense. A modern, clean building that features small, simple, but functional rooms for singles, doubles, and quadruples. A double room could have a bunk bed and a small bathroom, and not a whole lot more. It could be something like 150 square feet. (Think size-wise along the lines of rooms offered on European ferries.) This would attract people who want cheap lodging, but don't want to sleep in a room with complete strangers. I would go so far as to ban alcohol and have a strict noise policy in the sleeping area. There would be two separate common areas: one allowing alcohol consumption and one geared toward families.

Ideally, I would locate this between Cannon and Loon or possibly in the North Conway region. If it was in Vermont, I would lean toward the Mad River Valley or the Killington region.

 

[deadheadskier]

Dorm closed in November of 2000. It needed renovations and the state didn't want to cover the cost.

After more than 50 years of housing skiers on the cheap, the Vermont State Ski Dorm quietly closed at the beginning of November. Built in 1933, mostly of materials found on-site, the Dorm originally housed the Civilian Conservation Corps workers who cut Vermont's first trails. Later it became one of ski country's best deals. For about $20 per night, guests got a bunk in the charismatic building, socialized with other guests in front of the big brick fireplace, ate home-cooked meals and awoke just steps from the slopes of Stowe. But renovations required to bring the building up to code would have cost some $460,000, which the state couldn't justify spending.

 

[BenedictGomez]

The English language is full of idioms. This is has become one of them.

The thing is, in this case it's not a proper idiom, it's simply incorrect. It's not a commonly used colloquial expression, it's just people saying something wrong and not taking a moment to think about what they said.

I always thought these people were adding an _'s_ rather than inexplicably changing the name.

Do you mean they attempt to make it possessive? That's curious if true, but either way, that would be wrong too.

See that's where your wrong again. 3 out of the 5 scheduled 3 consecutive day club appreciation days are for Fri-Sun

If I understand you correctly, 6/15 days are on the weekend? If so, I rest my case. Heck, even 15 days in a ~150 day season sure isn't much to stand on to make the "affordable" argument.

As for the state ski dorm, I suspect that it lost money. The staff, as state employees, no doubt earned much more than others in the hospitality industry. That's tough to make work when you are marketing to the cheapest segment of the market.

I always assumed it did given what they were charging, but I never knew the details. It was run very low-budget as you'd expect, but even so it must have been tough. It's a shame it failed, it seemed like a neat little place.

 

[VTKilarney]

The thing is, in this case it's not a proper idiom, it's simply incorrect.

Somebody needs to read the definition of "idiom". Here's a link: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/idiom?s=t

 

[BenedictGomez]

Somebody needs to read the definition of "idiom". Here's a link: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/idiom?s=t

I guess #4 could work, but by that low bar virtually anything could be called an idiom. But that's unreasonable IMHO. It certainly doesn't conform to any of the definitions, 1, 2, 3, or 5, in your link. And don't forget the intent. When people use idioms, they are aware of the meaning of what they are saying and understand that meaning, even if the idiom is nonsensical (e.g. that's the way the cookie crumbles). But when people say, "I could care less", they are genuinely unaware that what they're saying is precisely the opposite of what they mean.

Language does admittedly evolve, so if you can get enough people to call a television set an aardvark, I suppose we'd have to change/alter the definitions of those words, but for now, the vast majority of people propely say, "I couldn't care less". Sadly, apparently it's only incorrectly used (predictably) in America (link below).

http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-ico1.htm

 

[Domeskier]

Do you mean they attempt to make it possessive? That's curious if true, but either way, that would be wrong too.

Yep, while simultaneously dropping the object of the sentence, e.g., "I'm going to Barnes and Noble's [store] on B'way" or "I just came from BG's [house]." I agree it's grammatically incorrect [to drop the object], but it's probably idiomatically acceptable.

 

[Edd]

It appears that they left the murder room off the floor plan.

Don't even know what that means, but laugh I did.

 

[Bumpsis]

It is? If you can afford to ski at Stowe, you're not apt to choose a hostel. Hell, I'm one of the cheapest skiers on this entire board, and even I wouldn't stay at a hostel. The hostel budget would do better to ski someplace with BOGOs, cheap college rates, or ample voucher opportunities IMO.

This was exactly my thought. Skiing Stowe is just way too expensive and BG made the point well. So, perhaps having a cheap stay helps with the overall cost (for some) - I can see that point too.

On a tangent: all those various methods of saving on lift tickets amount to a lot of hoop jumping and it's not for everyone. It resembles hunting for coupons and the savings terms are very conditional. I'm not saying that you can't produce real savings. It sounds like quite a few people are doing it, but for someone who has very limited time or opportunity to ski, getting these savings can be tricky.

So when a mountain pegs its walkup rate at hundred + $s, that just turns me off, regardless of cheap accommodations. For those who don't mind sleeping in a room with three other guys snoring, a ski hostel might be a fine option.

 

[Hawkshot99]

I will hapily share a dorm style room with my buddies. I will not share that room with strangers though.
I stayed at Grandpa Grunts a few years ago very much so against my will. It was not nearly as bad as I thiught it would be. I would stay again, but not by myself on a weekend where I have to share a room with others.

 

[BenedictGomez]

Don't even know what that means, but laugh I did.

I think he was referring to the sometimes "sketchy" reputation of hostels and the safety concerns that might come with having no say as to whom you share your stay with.

 

[Edd]

I will hapily share a dorm style room with my buddies. I will not share that room with strangers though.

Yeah, it's worth dropping $100 somewhere to avoid the weirdness. In my 20s, no problem. In my 40s, not so much.