AZ Challenge 2009: Chris Nyberg, Killington/Pico

[mister moose]

Worked for Stowe, Intrawest and a smaller family owned area in Maryland. I still have numerous former friends and co-workers in the ski business. F&B is rarely a healthy profit center, especially in comparison to ski area ops and/or lodging.

Maybe it's healthy at Killington, but as a general rule, you are wrong.

This is true of not just ski resorts, but of beach resorts, arenas, etc. 14 years of working in F&B operations and 2 years supplying these entities as my experience. If 80% of restaurants close within 5 years in year round communities, what makes you think it's easier to make a buck in a seasonal business?

As for Arenas, right now, the Boston Garden / Fleet Center whatever you want to call it is part of 20% of F&B operations in the entirety of the Delaware North Companies that is turning a profit.

It's easy to say captive audience, but that's far from correct.

I'm sure there are other areas large and small that have difficulty with F&B. But this is a Killington thread.

Captive audience means there is no alternative (ie some other independent vendor of that hamburger or beer), and it is entirely correct.

Never said it was easy for those on the battlefield dealing with all the challenges.

 

[thetrailboss]

Why is Killington's food so.....?

Who made that video? Anyone here?

 

[JerseyJoey]

Who made that video? Anyone here?

This is a relatively old video (A couple of years anyway.)

You can see the guys reflection in the second set of doors as he's entering the lodge at the very beginning of the video. Doesn't look like anyone I know.

 

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

This is a relatively old video (A couple of years anyway.)

You can see the guys reflection in the second set of doors as he's entering the lodge at the very beginning of the video. Doesn't look like anyone I know.

He's probably not from Jersey due to the accent..plus Jersey-ittes are used to paying high prices for things..

 

[skiadikt]

He's probably not from Jersey due to the accent..plus Jersey-ittes are used to paying high prices for things..

sounds like someone from overseas. he even takes a shot at the museum of nat history in nyc.

 

[Highway Star]

Why is Killington's food so.....?

ROFLMAO...................

All Comments (25 total) Options Post a new comment

Loading...murjax (1 year ago) Show Hide +1 Marked as spam Reply | Spam 3 dollars just for a water. Gosh. I've seen water cost up to 2 bucks but nothing near 3. Just wait till we see the 4 dollar bottle of water lol.
NHRHS2010 (1 year ago) Show Hide Marked as spam Reply Agree. WAY too expensive. $7 for a soup!?! Too expensive. The same size bowl of soup only costs $1 at my school.
bradhorn14 (1 year ago) Show Hide +1 Marked as spam Reply | Spam well.....schools are cheaper. killington wants your money
NHRHS2010 (1 year ago) Show Hide Marked as spam Reply Listen to the video. It's not just Killington that charges you that much. Go to Six Flags Great Adventure and see how one lemonade costs.
bradhorn14 (1 year ago) Show Hide 0 Marked as spam Reply | Spam like i said.....they want your money
NHRHS2010 (1 year ago) Show Hide Marked as spam Reply Someone says that places like that are greedy.
bradhorn14 (1 year ago) Show Hide +1 Marked as spam Reply | Spam look....killington is in a 6.9 million dollar deficit...they cant exactly be giing away free food....all im saying is that if you cant afford it, you shouldnt be doing it. If you cant afford killington, dont ski there.
NHRHS2010 (1 year ago) Show Hide Marked as spam Reply Of course, my family had enough money to go to Killington, and my mom gave me $100 the day before we left home because she knew that the food will be this expensive.
hustlenflow123 (1 year ago) Show Hide -3 Marked as spam Reply | Spam amos no one gives a fuck about the food prices at killington and by the way the museum of natural history is not even close to vermont u stupid fuck
NHRHS2010 (1 year ago) Show Hide Marked as spam Reply Please rank this comment down. Thanks.
OnlyJasonere (1 year ago) Show Hide -1 Marked as spam Reply | Spam I uprated
bradhorn14 (1 year ago) Show Hide 0 Marked as spam Reply | Spam if you dont like the price, go somewhere else....
bradhorn14 (1 year ago) Show Hide +1 Marked as spam Reply | Spam oh and btw...its not IN killington its At killington just a thought from an english teacher and music education
SpiderWebCorp (11 months ago) Show Hide +1 Marked as spam Reply | Spam it cost a lot of money to run the resort. look up how much it cost to make snow
NHRHS2010 (11 months ago) Show Hide Marked as spam Reply It's better to have slightly higher ticket prices rather than charging innocent people a lot of money for food and drink.
SpiderWebCorp (11 months ago) Show Hide -3 Marked as spam Reply | Spam you dont know anything about the business.
NHRHS2010 (11 months ago) Show Hide Marked as spam Reply Yes I do, and stop saying bad things about me. Since you are clogging up my YouTube inbox (the comments section), I have blocked you. So there.
SpiderWebCorp (11 months ago) Show Hide -3 Marked as spam Reply | Spam the prices are the same in everybase lodge dipshit.
NHRHS2010 (11 months ago) Show Hide Marked as spam Reply I know that. I've been to every single base lodges as well as K1 peak restaurant as well. And don't call me dipshit, I don't appreciate it.
NHRHS2010 (11 months ago) Show Hide Marked as spam Reply NOTE: Due to the fact that I am receiving nothing but criticizing comments on this video, future comments on this video will need to be approved before ever showing up.
N4r4bd3reht (11 months ago) Show Hide +2 Marked as spam Reply | Spam $7 DOLLARS FOR SOUP!!!!!!!!!! It's cheaper in a lot of the most expensive resaurants I've been in!

Yeah, ski resort, museum, movie theater, and sports stadium prices are all ridiculous, but these are some of the worst I've seen.

Invesco field prices were a ripoff too...they charged $4.75 for a hot dog.
NHRHS2010 (11 months ago) Show Hide Marked as spam Reply Yes, Denver's Invesco Field is also a ripoff. I also have a video on YouTube showing the prices of food and drink at Invesco Field as well.
darkseclusion (9 months ago) Show Hide +2 Marked as spam Reply | Spam holy shit $1.50 for a bag of chips at a VENDING MACHINE? What a ripoff!
NHRHS2010 (9 months ago) Show Hide Marked as spam Reply STRONGLY agree with you. Such special places rip you off. I could get the same bag of chips at the half the price or less in regular vending machines (like at school)
ajaksbackpac (8 months ago) Show Hide +2 Marked as spam Reply | Spam 2.75?? for a soda?? woah
NHRHS2010 (8 months ago) Show Hide Marked as spam Reply Yes, It is way too expensive. But of course, it's not as expensive as a BOTTLED WATER at SIX FLAGS GREAT ADVENTURE, where it costs $3.25

Ridiclous
jedwards09elmira (5 months ago) Show Hide -2 Marked as spam Reply | Spam Just a weird thing to make a video about
NHRHS2010 (5 months ago) Show Hide Marked as spam Reply I made this video for a reason. To show how EXPENSIVE the food/drink prices are in Killington. If this is your opinion, then fine, but KEEP NEGATIVE OPINIONS TO YOURSELF instead of criticizing a video.
privatemay (5 months ago) Show Hide -3 Marked as spam Reply | Spam did you go to killington to save some money? idiot
NHRHS2010 (5 months ago) Show Hide Marked as spam Reply No, I didn't go to Killington to save money. My family went there for fun, you idiot.
Rutskater (2 weeks ago) Show Hide -3 Marked as spam Reply | Spam haha ur soo right, this guy wants to save money so much why is he hanging out in cafeteria n not skiing n using his ski pass so he can get every penny out of it hes so cheap.
NHRHS2010 (2 weeks ago) Show Hide Marked as spam Reply That's it! I am blocking you. Both Rutskater and privatemay are wrong. I did NOT go to Killington to save money. I am not a cheap person, you loser butts. I took this video to show how expensive the refreshment prices are!! And I DID go skiing, most of the time, you stupidhead, so get out of my face!
Rutskater (2 weeks ago) Show Hide -3 Marked as spam Reply | Spam You old cheapskate then brown bag it it too much for ya. What a total loser.
NHRHS2010 (2 weeks ago) Show Hide Marked as spam Reply Well excuse me!?! The economy is terrible right now, and even when I took this video in December 2007, it was terrible then too! The prices are TOO EXPENSIVE in the Killington food court compared with the regular prices! And your retarded comment deserves to be down rated, as it is INCREDIBLY RUDE TO CALL ME AN OLD CHEAPSKATE AND A TOTAL LOSER!! THINK BEFORE YOU SPEAK!!!!
Rutskater (2 weeks ago) Show Hide -3 Marked as spam Reply | Spam Listen you old fool, I have a season pass at Killington and am on Jr Snowboard team you loser buttt. We should put sign up NO CHEAP NOOB'S ALLOWED, haha. so ski off a cliff you cheapskate loser butt.
NHRHS2010 (2 weeks ago) Show Hide Marked as spam Reply How about you STFU, you old fool!! I don't care if you have a season's pass and you are on the JR Snowboard team!! There is NO REASON TO POST RETARDED COMMENTS ON MY VIDEOS!! ANYONE HAS THE RIGHT TO SKI IN KILLINGTON, AND STOP CALLING ME A CHEAPSKATE LOSER BUTT!! YOU ARE THE CHEAPSKATE LOSER BUTT!!! AND IT IS VERY RUDE TO TELL INNOCENT SKIERS TO SKI OFF A CLIFF!!! POST ANOTHER RETARDED COMMENT AND I WILL BLOCK YOU!!!!!
bobbutts2 (2 weeks ago) Show Hide +1 Marked as spam Reply | Spam ski area food sucks and is expensive. there's a walmart in rutland
NHRHS2010 (2 weeks ago) Show Hide Marked as spam Reply Agreed. Plus, ski area food is also unhealthy. Doesn't make sense that the refreshments are expensive. Rutland is like ten miles west of Killington. To people who doesn't feel like taking a little trip to Rutland and back, there is also a grocery store at downtown Killington called the Killington Marketplace. Also, don't listen to this idiot named Rutskater because he responded to this video by posting a retarded comment and calling me a cheapskate loser butt.
videoboarder (2 weeks ago) Show Hide -3 Marked as spam Reply | Spam What are you some Arab? You sound like it cheapo. Go ski back in the desert where you belong you old tightwad.
NHRHS2010 (1 week ago) Show Hide Marked as spam Reply Well excuse me!?! Could you tell by my voice that I am ASIAN!?! I am NOT an Arab. Even though Arab countries are part of Asia, I am not from there. I am South Korean. Your retarded comment deserves to be down rated. Nobody can go skiing in the desert and I don't even belong there, you old tightwad!! I have the right to ski anywhere I want! So how about you STFU and get out of my face, you idiot who has no life and spends 24 hours a day posting retarded comments on innocent people's videos!!!!!!!
dustino23co (1 week ago) Show Hide +1 Marked as spam Reply | Spam Wow, 7 dollars for a soup! -- that's stealing. You could buy at least four soups with that money at A&P. That is ridiculous.

And there is a difference between being cheap and not wasting money. I think everyone needs to chill, it's just an informative video.
NHRHS2010 (1 week ago) Show Hide Marked as spam Reply Agreed. Such places are greedy. Besides being able to buy at least 4 soups at A&P, my school cafeteria (at Northern Highlands Regional High School) only charges $1 for a bowl of soup of the same size so you can get 7 bowls of soup at school.

And thanks for your comment about the difference between being cheap and not wasting money. I am not a cheap person, I just don't like to waste money. It's just that the idiotic users posted retarded comments on this video.
ramblewoodgirl (1 week ago) Show Hide 0 Marked as spam Reply | Spam Is this guy retarded or something? He sounds it. Anybody doing math knows it costs about $10 an hour to ski, so this special ed special spends half an hr complaining about prices when he just wasted $5 of ski time! haha, speak about L O S E R!
ramblewoodgirl (1 week ago) Show Hide -1 Marked as spam Reply | Spam Is this guy in special ed? Seriously.
ramblewoodgirl (2 days ago) Show Hide +1 Marked as spam Reply | Spam Wow over 1000 views on this.
NHRHS2010 (1 day ago) Show Hide Marked as spam Reply Yep, but I have one video titled "The Weirdest feeling ever" which has more than 10,000. There are many videos on YouTube that has even more than one million.

 

[Geoff]

ROFLMAO...................

Your post is retarded. I am going to put it in a PowerPoint deck and make a YouTube video of it.

 

[bobbutts]

Back in the day Killington used to have crackers, jalapenos, and cheddar cheese all on the free condiment line. Free Feast!

 

[deadheadskier]

He's probably not from Jersey due to the accent..plus Jersey-ittes are used to paying high prices for things..

I don't know about that. You can spend a bunch of money eating in Manhattan, but it can also be one of the cheapest places you'll ever eat.....far cheaper than Boston.

Cheap eats in Newark as well

 

[RootDKJ]

Cheap eats in Newark as well

I used to love coming back from parties at NJIT and getting Chinese food and other assorted take-out at places with bullet-proof windows and counters!

Very cheap though.

 

[SkiBud]

I don't understand why Az Challenge is 17 pages long, and frankly mean and nasty, yet SR Stephen Kircher is closed after only 3 pages of fairly pleasant questions. Can you please explain.

Also, when should we expect to get answers.

For the record I skied Killington twice this year and had a nice time. I would love to see the Pico interchange.

 

[Bubbartzky]

when/why was this closed?

According to Tom Horrocks, they gave it back to the state in return for being able to open the new portion of Bittersweet this past winter.

 

[mondeo]

I don't understand why Az Challenge is 17 pages long, and frankly mean and nasty, yet SR Stephen Kircher is closed after only 3 pages of fairly pleasant questions. Can you please explain.

Also, when should we expect to get answers.

For the record I skied Killington twice this year and had a nice time. I would love to see the Pico interchange.

Welcome to the board. And a disclaimer here, I've only been skiing at Killington for a few years.

Killington threads tend to get a lot of people really stirred up. Through the 90s, it was a force to be reckoned with. First to open and last to close into the East with seasons going well over 200 days, the best bump scene in the East, ect. As Geoff (who is much more of an expert than I am) puts it, Killington used to be all about superlatives, and at this point doesn't really have anything that you can point a finger at as being the best in the East.

Essentially, there are a lot of people that are very disgruntled with the direction Killington has taken over the last 5-10 years due to how good it used to be. The terrain and snowfall are still very good, but closing in 2008 with tons of snow coverage, stopping BYOB at the Bear Mountain mogul comp (therefore killing the biggest party in the east,) cutting staff to the point of it being noticable for those who've been longtime customers, etc. have caused quite a bit of resentment.

 

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

I don't understand why Az Challenge is 17 pages long, and frankly mean and nasty, yet SR Stephen Kircher is closed after only 3 pages of fairly pleasant questions. Can you please explain.

Also, when should we expect to get answers.

For the record I skied Killington twice this year and had a nice time. I would love to see the Pico interchange.

because people love to hate on Killington...Welcome to this site!!!!!!

 

[icedtea]

According to Tom Horrocks, they gave it back to the state in return for being able to open the new portion of Bittersweet this past winter.

I doubt this. Why would the state want this small patch of land back in a swap?

 

[JerseyJoey]

Welcome to the board. And a disclaimer here, I've only been skiing at Killington for a few years.

Killington threads tend to get a lot of people really stirred up. Through the 90s, it was a force to be reckoned with. First to open and last to close into the East with seasons going well over 200 days, the best bump scene in the East, ect. As Geoff (who is much more of an expert than I am) puts it, Killington used to be all about superlatives, and at this point doesn't really have anything that you can point a finger at as being the best in the East.

Essentially, there are a lot of people that are very disgruntled with the direction Killington has taken over the last 5-10 years due to how good it used to be. The terrain and snowfall are still very good, but closing in 2008 with tons of snow coverage, stopping BYOB at the Bear Mountain mogul comp (therefore killing the biggest party in the east,) cutting staff to the point of it being noticable for those who've been longtime customers, etc. have caused quite a bit of resentment.

Not the last 5 to 10 years. The last 2 to 4 years, mostly the last 2. Powdr has destroyed what Killington was and Nyberg is too arrogant to change his ways and admit that he's made huge mistakes. We could not have gotten worse new owners. Nyberg won't be happy until every access road business is gone and Killington is just like any other eastern resort. He's basically an idiot when it comes to Killington, yet he has a plan and will stick to it until there is nothing left of this once great and proud part of Vermont. Someone should tell him that this ain't Park Shitty. The east is different than the west. How he doesn't see that is unbelievable.

 

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

Not the last 5 to 10 years. The last 2 to 4 years, mostly the last 2. Powdr has destroyed what Killington was and Nyberg is too arrogant to change his ways and admit that he's made huge mistakes. We could not have gotten worse new owners. Nyberg won't be happy until every access road business is gone and Killington is just like any other eastern resort. He's basically an idiot when it comes to Killington, yet he has a plan and will stick to it until there is nothing left of this once great and proud part of Vermont. Someone should tell him that this ain't Park Shitty. The east is different than the west. How he doesn't see that is unbelievable.

Please JerseyJoey tell us how you really feel..

 

[Bubbartzky]

Not the last 5 to 10 years. The last 2 to 4 years, mostly the last 2. Powdr has destroyed what Killington was and Nyberg is too arrogant to change his ways and admit that he's made huge mistakes. We could not have gotten worse new owners. Nyberg won't be happy until every access road business is gone and Killington is just like any other eastern resort. He's basically an idiot when it comes to Killington, yet he has a plan and will stick to it until there is nothing left of this once great and proud part of Vermont. Someone should tell him that this ain't Park Shitty. The east is different than the west. How he doesn't see that is unbelievable.

Don't be so sure it's Nyberg, or at least Nyberg alone. He takes direction from John Cumming in Utah.

FYI, Cumming was east this past year and met privately with some folks in town; the small committee that had been formed out of the VCRD process that ended a year ago March, to work with the resort to improve communication and improve the relationship. Cumming privately admitted they'd made a lot of mistakes. Nyberg has also publicly admitted they should've started to listen to people sooner. Neither, however, will ever stand up in public and admit WHAT those mistakes were and admit they were ignorant of Killington and the east coming in, and that's where the arrogance comes into play. They'd gain themselves a lot of respect and support by standing up in public, admitting their mistakes, and saying how they're going about correcting them. Instead, they simply say things like they're tweaking their business plan and making adjustments, even as they obviously reverse course on many of their initial (and disastrous) decisions.

 

[JerseyJoey]

Don't be so sure it's Nyberg, or at least Nyberg alone. He takes direction from John Cumming in Utah.

FYI, Cumming was east this past year and met privately with some folks in town; the small committee that had been formed out of the VCRD process that ended a year ago March, to work with the resort to improve communication and improve the relationship. Cumming privately admitted they'd made a lot of mistakes. Nyberg has also publicly admitted they should've started to listen to people sooner. Neither, however, will ever stand up in public and admit WHAT those mistakes were and admit they were ignorant of Killington and the east coming in, and that's where the arrogance comes into play. They'd gain themselves a lot of respect and support by standing up in public, admitting their mistakes, and saying how they're going about correcting them. Instead, they simply say things like they're tweaking their business plan and making adjustments, even as they obviously reverse course on many of their initial (and disastrous) decisions.

Agree completely, but you basically said the same thing I did, just in a nicer way.

 

[Bubbartzky]

Agree completely, but you basically said the same thing I did, just in a nicer way.

Actually, I'd like Greg to include a question to Chris about why, having been here two years already, Chris and Killington's new ownership still engenders so much dislike and distrust among so many of its historic customer base. I'd like Greg to ask Chris, if they had it to do all over again, what would they have done differently? I'd also like to know why they're spending money on a marketing consultant in Utah (I believe) to help them develop a brand identity for Killington when, in fact, they've had a successful brand identity for 50 years and why they haven't done anything since they arrived here to support that brand and seemingly tried to tear down the remains of the Killington brand they purchased?