Ascutney Said to be in Financial Turmoil

[thetrailboss]

According to WCAX it appears that the former owners are (or were) having financial problems and were not paying the electric or water bills. Not good.

http://www.wcax.com/global/story.asp?s=12940507

Also, the Valley News had a blurb saying that it appeared that the former owners may be out of the place "in a messy transition."

http://www.vnews.com/08062010/08062010.htm

NEWS: Ascutney Mountain Residents Win Reprieve for an Unpaid Bill





West Windsor -- More than 200 residences at Ascutney Mountain Resort were nearly left without water and sewer services yesterday after the former owner, who officials say has stepped aside in a messy transition, did not pay a large overdue electric bill.

Anyone hear anything else?

 

[millerm277]

No idea, but I know it has a reputation as being pretty much the only area that has installed a HSQ for a main lift and rarely ever uses it, and it's reportedly lacking in snowmaking in areas that need it.

 

[deadheadskier]

don't know much about the financial / ownership situation, but will say:


that mountain is such a shame. It doesn't get tons of natural snow, but it's a hulking beast of a mountain. The expansion possibilities are HUGE. With how close it is to 91 it could easily be the most accessible big mountain in New England. You've got the CT right there that you could draw water for snowmaking, plenty of services and labor with Claremont and Springfield so close.

If they didn't have such strict development restrictions, physically, Ascutney has the capability of being as big of a major ski area as Okemo, Stratton, Mt. Snow, really anywhere in Southern VT.

I think it will always struggle as a mid-sized mountain where it is located. Why go there when you can go Killington, Okemo, Sunapee, etc with not much further of a drive? Ascutney's problem is it's a victim of being too small and too close to some other major areas.

 

[billski]

It's the kind of thing everyone will keep quiet.

Agree with deadhead. We used to go there in the early 90s when our kids were young. It was a great deal, convenient, central, and we could just drop off/pickup kids from trailside rooms. With that, they've always struggled due to snow and lack of capital, and bad investments (a 6 pack, really?)

Rather than trying to think big, maybe they should take a tip from Berkshire East and target locals as their market.

I get a sense that Tenny is having similar issues.
It wouldn't suprise me given that the economy is still slumped and consumers are watching their purse strings and more and more are on the edge. The high end of the economic strata will survive - well capitalized resorts, and those with high end customers. It's always those who were scraping before the recession that go first. Magic stands a better chance then most, though another couple mill wouldn't hurt...

 

[halfpintvt]

Ascutney Mountain Resort is owned by an LLC called Snowdance LLC-this LLC is controlled by Steven and Susan Plausteiner. Snowdance LLC has secured debt with Textron Financial Corp, PRIF Ascutney, LLC and MFW Associates LLC. MFW Associates is a holding company. The principal agent is Dan Purjes. Purjes is Chairman & CEO of Rockwood Group LLC. He was also the majority owner of Josepthal & Co, which I believe was going to back an IPO of Snowdance stock. There appears to be alot of debt. A LLC has been registered with the VT Secretary of State as of July 23, 2010. The LLC is called Ascutney Mountain Resort Liquidation Trust, LLC. This does not bode well for Ascutney!

 

[Glenn]

That's a shame. Hopefully, they can get things sorted out by the time the cold weather arrives.

 

[billski]

Uh oh

 

[billski]

They need a fan club like magic
I'll betthough very few azers have been to ascutney in the past three years.
I have not

 

[bousquet19]

Sad news.

No encouragement from the Ascutney website: no events are listed on the summer schedule, and season ticket pricing information for 2010-11 is still listed as "coming soon".

Woody

 

[Tin Woodsman]

When I read that the HSQ didn't run very often due to lack of snowmaking up top, and that additional trails hadn't been cut off North Peak as planned, the writing was pretty much on the wall. Couldn't agree more w/r/t the possibilities of that place but the restrictions in place likely preclude it carving out the market space that it's physical qualities would enable.

 

[riverc0il]

They need a fan club like magic
I'll betthough very few azers have been to ascutney in the past three years.
I have not

I have never ever been but have wanted to give it a try for sometime now. Their rumored operational issues (HSQ not turning and lack of snow making) combined with low natural snow fall for its geographic location and fairly high prices for the product offered have always kept me away. Hopefully new management can pick that place up and turn it into something. It is surprising that it does not have more draw and attention given its location and the massive amount of traffic buzzing right past it on I-91 north.

These are troubling times for mid-sized New England areas. First the Tenney rumor and now the Ascutney rumor and of course Magic would be done for it not for its extremely hardcore following and good buzz. Balsams up for sale but that does not mean too much as ownership can change hands without effecting area operations. It is surprising to see Magic in a better position than Ascutney and Tenney!

 

[playoutside]

Sad news indeed. It's seems to be a mountain with so much potential.

I skied there last year for the first time in about 10 years. I have to say the day left me perplexed. It was in late Jan when there was a lot of snow most everywhere in Vermont. It was the day after I skied at Pico with some of the finest conditions I'd seen there. I'll admit my expectations were high for good conditions, but they were just plain bad. Very firm all around with lots of ice that came out of nowhere, and top was really treacherous. It was so different than the day before at Pico, you would have thought these mountains were hundreds of miles apart. I was pleasantly surprised by the variety of the terrain, but couldn't enjoy the day with so much ice. I know they have a rep for not blowing snow, but they were blowing snow that day on the lower mountain. The chairs are slow, but they are slow other places, so I can't hold that against them. The lodge is a bit sad, but has a nice fireplace. There were very few people there that Sunday. We skied 2 hrs and called it quits since it just wasn't much fun.

I kept thinking they were in some bad weather vortex to be stuck with such unpleasant conditions when other places seemed to have great snow. Seemed to me they were trying hard, but not getting enough customers to make it work.

 

[thetrailboss]

For almost three years I lived about 20 miles away and never skied there and never heard anything about the place. If anything, all I heard were bad things about the rotating door of employees and management. Apparently the owners were kind of obnoxious and did not treat folks well. I have heard many say that it had many problems. This is the first time I heard that the HSQ (not six pack...that's Ragged) would not turn on a regular basis. It's too bad because they have a lot of things going for it.

 

[millerm277]

@Trailboss - From what friends have told me that own in the area (and ski there), they run whatever the fixed grip lift is that's next to the HSQ more often, because apparently from where the quad lets out down to the top of the other lift, usually has bad snowmaking/conditions and is windy.

Again, this is all secondhand though.

 

[deadheadskier]

looking at the trail map, it would appear that only 3 trails for a short length are not accessible when the HSQ is closed.

It's mroe the principle than anything though. People want to ski from the summit when they pay a walk up rate and they want the 'signature' lift to be open. For most mountains, that's a High Speed lift to the summit.

 

[thetrailboss]

Millerm: thanks. I agree with DHS that usually places close their fixed grips during slow periods and run their high speed quads. Seems odd to do the opposite.

Is it possible that Ascutney could become the first NELSAP area with an HSQ?

 

[threecy]

I agree with DHS that usually places close their fixed grips during slow periods and run their high speed quads. Seems odd to do the opposite.

It probably costs them 2-3X as much an hour to run the HSQ as it does the FGT. If the place is a ghost town (which I've observed during the week there either skiing or stopping by), it's tough to spend thousands of dollars a week of cash you don't have to run a lift that serves virtually no additional terrain for a dozen or two of your closest friends.

 

[thetrailboss]

It probably costs them 2-3X as much an hour to run the HSQ as it does the FGT. If the place is a ghost town (which I've observed during the week there either skiing or stopping by), it's tough to spend thousands of dollars a week of cash you don't have to run a lift that serves virtually no additional terrain for a dozen or two of your closest friends.

Very true. I was just thinking from a customer perspective, i.e. why ski at a place that closes its fastest lift down?

 

[deadheadskier]

Perhaps they're not getting much mid-week love because their 2009-2010 Season Pass prices was $839!!! :blink:

Also, the weekend walk up rate was $62. Midweek - $60. If they're not running their main lift midweek, my expectation as a consumer would be that the lift ticket price be reduced considerably. $50 max for what that mountain has to offer via fixed grip lifts only.

 

[threecy]

I was just thinking from a customer perspective, i.e. why ski at a place that closes its fastest lift down?

It's certainly a long ride on that triple when you see an idle HSQ next to you.