an email from killington to pass holders ...

[skiadikt]

just figured we needed more k threads ....

All of us here at Killington Resort want to thank you for your continued support and patronage. We consider you, our season pass holders, our most valued guests and our strongest supporters, even though some business decisions regarding operations are not the most popular.

Last spring for instance, due to unfavorable weather conditions, we were not able to honor our stated goal of remaining open through the first weekend of May. This was an extremely difficult business decision to make, and a tough way to end the season.

Now a new season is upon us and we would like to extend a special offer to all our 2009-10 and Spring 2010 pass holders and reaffirm our commitment to you - our most valued guests! We will provide all 2009-10 season pass and 2010 Spring pass holders a complimentary lift ticket valid opening day of the 2010-11 season through Sunday, Dec. 19, with the exception of Nov. 26-27.

For those of you who have renewed your season pass for the 2010-11 season (Thank You!), your complimentary ticket will automatically be loaded onto your season pass. If you have not renewed your season pass for the coming season, you may pick up your complimentary ticket by presenting a valid ID at the Snowshed Sales Center and the K-1 Guest Service Desk.

Again, we thank you for your continued support and hope to see you on the slopes again soon. In the meantime, THINK SNOW!

Sincerely,

Chris Nyberg
President and General Manager
Killington/Pico Ski resort Partners, LLC

a nice gesture and at least an acknowledgement that the decision wasn't popular. guess "we" were heard.

as for the "unfavorable weather conditions", when is nearly a foot of snow the previous week considered "unfavorable".

 

[thetrailboss]

Agreed. A nice gesture and an attempt to directly respond to criticism that they got at the end of last season. I'm sure some will not feel that it is enough, but they get kudos for trying and also for doing it in a way that was directed only to those who had passes rather than trying to make a media splash out of it.

 

[gmcunni]

i give K props for this email to their passholders, 3 out of 4 stars. change 1 word and i think they'd have hit a home run -

they didnt' cancel due to conditions, it was due to the FORECAST which turned out to be incorrect.

Last spring for instance, due to unfavorable weather forecast, we were not able to honor our stated goal of remaining open through the first weekend of May.

disclaimer - i am not a K passholder and in general am a negative person, glass half empty kind of guy. most stuff i read like this i tend to look for ulterior motives and misinformation.

 

[SkiDork]

the only way I could possibly think of taking advantage if this would be to sell it. I guess thats a benefit for me.

 

[Black Phantom]

It's too bad that K can not fix their email system to get the word out to those that do not pay attention to these boards.

A decent gesture for sure. Appears that they heard loud and clear that they dropped the ball with that terrible decision last spring.

I am hearing of more and more people that have downgraded from full to blackout passes this season. Poor decisions have real consequences.

 

[neil]

It would have gone a lot further if they'd actually phrased it more in a "we dropped the ball" way. This still reads to me "it wasn't our fault".

The Beast does not apologize.

 

[mondeo]

It would have gone a lot further if they'd actually phrased it more in a "we dropped the ball" way. This still reads to me "it wasn't our fault".

The Beast does not apologize.

I read it in more of a "Yeah we screwed up, and we're not actually going to admit it, but here's something in an attempt to make it up" sort of way.

Admitting fault might open them up to legal ramifications in any breach of contract issues that could arise.

It would have been nice had they not limited it to early season.

 

[Harvey]

Excuse my density... what does loaded onto your pass mean? Are they going to give you a credit? Does it mean you can bring a friend for a day?

If you haven't renewed yet the idea is to get you there to renew?

 

[gmcunni]

Admitting fault might open them up to legal ramifications in any breach of contract issues that could arise.

i seem to recall someone on this board, K regular + passholder, was going to sue in small claims court for cost of skiing Jay the last weekends of the season, i wonder if that went forward.

 

[mondeo]

i seem to recall someone on this board, K regular + passholder, was going to sue in small claims court for cost of skiing Jay the last weekends of the season, i wonder if that went forward.

I'm not sure. He hasn't posted in this thread yet.

 

[millerm277]

Excuse my density... what does loaded onto your pass mean? Are they going to give you a credit? Does it mean you can bring a friend for a day?

I believe that's the idea.

 

[2knees]

anybody remember Mad Libs???

All of us here at Killington Resort want to thank you for your continued support and patronage. We consider you, our season pass holders, our most valued guests and our strongest supporters, even though some business decisions regarding operations defy any known logic and seem to have the sole purpose of sticking it to the few who actually still ski here.

Last spring for instance, due to undeniable stupidity and sheer greed, we were not able to honor our stated goal of remaining open through the first weekend of May. This was a cold hearted business decision to make, but one we gleefully went forward with.

Now a new season is upon us and we would like to extend a deceitful offer to all our 2009-10 and Spring 2010 pass holders and reaffirm our desire to give you the shaft repeatedly. We will, however, entice you to bring us new victims by providing all 2009-10 season pass and 2010 Spring pass holders a complimentary lift ticket valid opening day of the 2010-11 season through Sunday, Dec. 19, with the exception of Nov. 26-27.

For those of you who have renewed your season pass for the 2010-11 season (Thank You!), your complimentary ticket that you have no use for will automatically be loaded onto your season pass. If you have not renewed your season pass for the coming season, you can expect a house call from Tony Knuckles any day now.

Again, we expect your continued support.

 

[riverc0il]

Last spring for instance, due to unfavorable weather conditions, we were not able to honor our stated goal of remaining open through the first weekend of May. This was an extremely difficult business decision to make, and a tough way to end the season.

I am not a pass holder. If I was, I would probably be irate about the above statement because it is a complete fabrication. Four days after Killington closed due to "unfavorable weather conditions" THIS happened. I know Killington did not get as much but the fact is they closed Superstar with wall to wall coverage four days before a snow storm. And they have the nerve to say they closed due to "unfavorable weather conditions". Get bent, Killington. You can't even be sincere when you are trying to apologize and throw your pass holders a bone.

Nuff' talk, put your money where your mouth is or shut the lleh up. And I mean that in a blow some snow sense and stay open as long as possible sense, not offer a few free lift tickets to folks that already have passes sense.

 

[2knees]

I know mods can read deleted posts. could one of you guys reinstate or copy my post back in this thread.

I agree 100% with River. I just didn't have the balls to leave mine up.

 

[Geoff]

I am not a pass holder. If I was, I would probably be irate about the above statement because it is a complete fabrication. Four days after Killington closed due to "unfavorable weather conditions" THIS happened. I know Killington did not get as much but the fact is they closed Superstar with wall to wall coverage four days before a snow storm. And they have the nerve to say they closed due to "unfavorable weather conditions". Get bent, Killington. You can't even be sincere when you are trying to apologize and throw your pass holders a bone.

Nuff' talk, put your money where your mouth is or shut the lleh up. And I mean that in a blow some snow sense and stay open as long as possible sense, not offer a few free lift tickets to folks that already have passes sense.

That's where I was in May. Since I own property there and I'm stuck, I decided not to escalate it. I believe I could have taken them to small claims court and gotten them to pay for my Jay Peak trip and refund me the week of skiing they reneged on. They sold the pass claiming "May". They easily could have been open in May and shut due to an erroneous long range weather forecast. At $0.50/mile, Killington to Jay Peak is about $150.00. Small claims law in Vermont is pretty clear. I am pretty sure I would have won.

Of course, the last thing I want is to get persona non grata at Killington. They're entirely within their right to refuse to let me ski there.

 

[Rogman]

You guys interpret this as if POWDR/Killington is a monolithic organization where everyone is on the same page. Sometimes that is the case, but not always.

The order to close a week early in May came from Park City. Too many sources have said the same thing; although Nyberg himself has apparently denied it. That's his job, to take the heat when his boss screws up. No way that decision came out of Killington, Vt. No doubt, Nyberg disagreed with the descision, and fought hard against it.

Interesting fact number two: Cumming is in town. Both Killington and Park City got an earful over the early closing. It was an all time epic public relations disaster. To the extent that it is possible, Cumming had to be embarrassed by what a mess he made of things to save a few grand. Doubtless there were conversations about how to "fix" this debacle. With him in town, I'm sure the subject came up again, and this is how they chose to deal with it. But again, Nyberg has his hands tied, he's not in a position to openly criticize his employer. So this is what you're going to get.

I'd have a ton more respect for Cumming if he'd man up and not leave Nyberg twisting in the wind. It is indecent; it is wrong. What a rotten thing for an employer to do. But when you have all the "coconuts" (his term), you get to make the rules.

 

[riverc0il]

You guys interpret this as if POWDR/Killington is a monolithic organization where everyone is on the same page. Sometimes that is the case, but not always.

The order to close a week early in May came from Park City. Too many sources have said the same thing; although Nyberg himself has apparently denied it. That's his job, to take the heat when his boss screws up. No way that decision came out of Killington, Vt. No doubt, Nyberg disagreed with the descision, and fought hard against it.

Interesting fact number two: Cumming is in town. Both Killington and Park City got an earful over the early closing. It was an all time epic public relations disaster. To the extent that it is possible, Cumming had to be embarrassed by what a mess he made of things to save a few grand. Doubtless there were conversations about how to "fix" this debacle. With him in town, I'm sure the subject came up again, and this is how they chose to deal with it. But again, Nyberg has his hands tied, he's not in a position to openly criticize his employer. So this is what you're going to get.

I'd have a ton more respect for Cumming if he'd man up and not leave Nyberg twisting in the wind. It is indecent; it is wrong. What a rotten thing for an employer to do. But when you have all the "coconuts" (his term), you get to make the rules.

It is never a subordinate's job to take the heat when their boss screws up. That is the sign of an unhealthy organization. In my group within the business, the buck stops with me. It does not get passed up or down. And upper management admits when things are difficult due to their decisions. At least that is how it should work in a healthy organization.

That said, I still have not seen anything conclusive that this was a Home Office decision. No doubt it was, but that is not a known fact at this point. And REGARDLESS, the above statement is coming from the head of Killington and who has decided to once again blame the early closing on a weather event. The better approach to this communication would have simply to admitted that the organization screwed up, made an unpopular call, or didn't play their hand right or whatever. Placing blame on the weather is nothing but a fabrication, almost a complete flat out LIE. At the least, it is intellectually dishonest, misleading, and non-forthcoming.

What you say may be true, that Nyberg is nothing but a puppet. And I am not attacking the man himself but rather the organization. And if Nyberg is indeed a puppet being epically micromanaged and having words put in his mouth about being dishonest while trying to apologize, well, I can not have much respect for Nyberg because he apparently does not have much respect for himself. BUT, as I mentioned before, that is all 100% conjecture as there are no facts on the table saying that is the case. But either way, the weather line continues to be a load of bull crap and is disingenuous at the least, a lie at the worst.