AlpineZone Ski Area Challenge: Mad River Glen

[Greg]

All right folks. This is the first installment of "The AlpineZone Challenge"! This thread prompted this idea. This is your chance to get official answers to your ski-related questions direct from a Northeast ski resort representative! Please post some suggested questions in this thread and I'll select ten to present for official responses. Eric Friedman, Marketing Director for Mad River Glen graciously agreed to be our first guinea pig! :blink:

Please be respectful of Eric and keep it civil. Ask away!

 

[Joshua B]

I think Eric's gonna cruise through this without a scratch. 8)

Here are a few. Maybe I can think of more later.

1. Is Mad River Glen the best ski area in the North East? Please explain why or why not.

2. Do you read web boards like this one, and if so, do you ever want to reply to posts about MRG or other areas? In terms of skier comments, what do you agree with and what do you disagree with? Is there anything you'd like to say to skiers that would educate them and in turn make them more understanding of the challenges of a ski area operation?

3. Does MRG have a soul sister or soul brother mountain in the East? If yes, please explain what qualities the mountain shares with MRG.

4. Have any snowboarders joined the co-operative? If so, have they expressed their wishes for MRG to open up to snowboarding? How likely is it that MRG will ever allow snowboarding?

 

[Greg]

I think Eric's gonna cruise through this without a scratch. 8)

Ha. I figured he would be a good one to start with seeing how popular MRG is with the forum crowds. Great questions!

 

[MtnMagic]

Yes, great questions. I'm looking forward to the answers. This should be a very interesting, a lot of fun, and a good read!

 

[RISkier]

I'm curious about the process through which MRG came to be owned by a coop. Were there particular individuals or groups who were instrumental? Was MRG in bad financial shape before the coop acquired ownership? Etc.?

 

[Joshua B]

Now that I think about it, I'm really psyched to have all this focus on my favorite ski area on AlpineZone. I have some more questions.

Do you have any stories about the logo and the "Ski It If You Can" bumper sticker? What is the furthest location it's been spotted?

What is the most notable declaration of loyalty shown by a MRG skier? Are there any more interesting fanatic stories?

What is MRG especially proud of? What are some of MRG's finest moments in history?

How difficult has it been to maintain the Single chair? How old are the three doubles?

Has MRG considered making the Birdland terrain more accessible? (The birdland chair is often closed)

To what does MRG attribute its loyal skier base?

Due to MRG's awesome vertical and sustained continuous pitch, do you get a lot of visitors just there to look up at the mountain in awe?

 

[salida]

I have a few questions myself.

If you were to choose one, what is mad river glens best quality?

Being a marketing director at one of the most honest mountains in the east, is it had to compete with the dishonest ski areas?

Have you ever thought of adding a midstation or a summit cam, I know I would really enjoy that.

porter

 

[Bumpsis]

MRG is a gem. If it ever had to be sold to more commercial operator it would be lamentable loss of something very unique.

What's the current financial shape of the operation?

Does a bad snow season seriously jeopardize MRG's abilty to operate?

What's the percenatge of skiers that actually pay the "full pop" price of the lift ticket bought at the mountain ($ 45)? (vs.coop members, Mad Tickets or other reduced price promotions)

In have couple of unused Mad Passes from this year. Can I trade them for two Single Chair Ales at the area's pub next season? :beer: :beer:

 

[ChileMass]

Glad to see someone stepped up to the plate....lots of good questions already posed.......looking forward to Eric's responses.....

But - everyone here already agrees that we all have a lot of positive feelings for MRG. How about any other ski marketing pros out there from some of the other areas that have ben getting bashed on here (Wawa, Stratton, Snow, SR)?? Maybe they feel their customer base is that secure....?? Seems like they could use this forum as a positive place to engage a really qualified audience and influence others.....

 

[Greg]

But - everyone here already agrees that we all have a lot of positive feelings for MRG. How about any other ski marketing pros out there from some of the other areas that have ben getting bashed on here (Wawa, Stratton, Snow, SR)?? Maybe they feel their customer base is that secure....?? Seems like they could use this forum as a positive place to engage a really qualified audience and influence others.....

Agreed. Sit tight though, CM. I already have a commitment from another rep (another favored resort) and a verbal from one other. I'm hoping that once there are a few responses posted, others will follow suit...

 

[ChileMass]

Looking forward to hearing from them......

 

[Joshua B]

Another question:

At what point in history do you think MRG's mystique began? When did it transition from successful/struggling (whichever it was) to legend?

 

[Greg]

Okay. These are the questions I shipped over to Eric:

1. Do you read web forums like AlpineZone.com? If so, do you ever want to reply to posts about Mad River Glen or other ski areas?
2. In terms of skier comments you've seen, what do you agree with and what do you disagree with? Is there anything you'd like to say to skiers that would educate them and in turn make them more understanding of the challenges of a ski area operation?
3. Being a marketing director at one of the most honest mountains in the East in terms of snow conditions reporting, is it hard to compete with what some would consider "dishonest" ski areas?
4. Does Mad River Glen have a "sibling" mountain in the East? If yes, please explain what qualities the mountain shares with Mad River Glen.
5. Have any snowboarders joined the cooperative? If so, have they ever expressed their wishes for Mad River Glen to open up to snowboarding and how likely is it that will ever happen?
6. How did Mad River Glen come to be owned by a cooperative? Were there particular individuals or groups who were instrumental in its inception? Was Mad River Glen in a bad financial situation before the cooperative acquired ownership?
7. What is the history behind the logo and the "Ski It If You Can" bumper sticker? What is the furthest location it has been spotted?
8. What is Mad River Glen's best quality? What is Mad River Glen especially proud of? What are some of Mad River Glen's finest moments in history?
9. What is the current financial status of the operation? Does a bad snow season seriously jeopardize Mad River Glen's ability to operate?
10. How difficult has it been to maintain the Single chair? How old are the three doubles?

 

[Greg]

Just an FYI - Eric was very impressed with these questions. He's pretty busy wrapping up the season right now and hopes to get to this in a week or two. I'll keep ya posted...

 

[Joshua B]

I don't want to rain on a parade or be a jerk; I just want to be open and honest. I'm disappointed that most of the questions came from me. Maybe the questions were compiled to quickly for people to think about it and come up with their own, or maybe people here don't have the feelings of awe and reverence for the place like I do. Too bad I think. With that said, I'm looking forward to Eric Friedman's responses.

 

[Greg]

I'm disappointed that most of the questions came from me.

Don't feel this way, Josh. I think many of your questions were excellent ones and you probably echo the feelings of many. I think we covered a nice range of topics and wanted to get a defined list before having to weed through too many suggestions.

 

[Bumpsis]

Hey, how about my beer question??
I'm sure I'm not the only one holding unused Mad Passes!!!

 

[Greg]

Just an FYI - I built the system that will be used to display the results of these "interviews" here:

http://skiing.alpinezone.com/articles/challenge/

Thoughts are welcome.

 

[Joshua B]

Greg, you're a great programmer and a great designer. Isn't that combination supposed to be rare? 8)

 

[Greg]

Greg, you're a great programmer and a great designer. Isn't that combination supposed to be rare? 8)

Great designer? Maybe an okay one....
Great programmer? Ha ha. :lol: I just based that script off the one for the resort profiles that the8re built for me. He's the great programmer 'round here. I just stumble around in the code until things work...