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Bad Rumor Today at Alta (Sale of Interest in Snowbird to Cumming)

thetrailboss

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My second ride on Collins was with an employee at Snowbird. We were talking about Alta and Snowbird. He commented that Dick Bass is getting on in age and that his family does not want to run the resort.

"The latest rumor flying around is that John Cumming [POWDR] wants to buy Snowbird."

 

drjeff

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I heard that too, but the right of first refusal on the offer that the Bass family made ended May 1st and Cumming didn't get back to them until the 2nd ;)
 

thetrailboss

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I heard that too, but the right of first refusal on the offer that the Bass family made ended May 1st and Cumming didn't get back to them until the 2nd ;)

Yeah, exactly. Minor detail ;)

Cummings, or his Dad, owns a house across the road from Snowbird. I think it is Ted Johnson's old house (on my Snowbird Landmark Map it shows up as "Ted's House). That's at least a connection or reason to suspect why this may be more than rumor.

DHS hit it on the head...they take over, increase prices, shorten the season saying, "hey we've got to be sustainable, blah, blah, blah."

I've been at Snowbird for three seasons. They have a good deal for passholders. Not everything is perfect, but there is no perfect resort. But they are clearly skier focused and I like that. Two new HSQ's after two meh ski seasons, always the last in Utah to close, and overall the focus being skiing makes me happy.
 

thetrailboss

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You should be happy ANYBODY wants to buy a ski area.

True. But I'd heard that Dick Bass had set up a trust to run the place and POWDR has a lot of problems right now with PCMR. So I'm not so sure if this has any truth to it.
 

snoseek

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Oh jesus, I sorta planned on working there at one of the hotels next winter. That would be a big factor in my decision. Please no POWDR and please no Vail.
 

Brad J

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If the do buy it please move the K Gm there, he gets what the core skiers want, Snowbird must be a money maker with its long season and good infer structure, great terrain, and little need for snowmaking. I go there for a week and I like it the way it is.
 

Brad J

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You should be happy ANYBODY wants to buy a ski area.
You certainly do not want just anyone to buy a mountain, Look what Peak Resort did with Wildcat this year. Competence matters!!!!!
 

drjeff

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You certainly do not want just anyone to buy a mountain, Look what Peak Resort did with Wildcat this year. Competence matters!!!!!

Totally not playing Peak Cheerleader here (seriously!!) but if Wildcat HADN'T had that series of unfortunate mechanical issues with the snowmaking system and had a "normal" Wildcat snowmaking season, but being able to take advantage of the upgrade attempts Peak made, would you have the same skepticism?

It's not like Peak didn't make the effort to START trying to improve Wildcat. They just ran into a series of totally unforseen events that handcuffed them before they could really even get off the ground.

If your issue is how they chose to operate the Wildcat/Attitash combo, then that's a whole different thing
 

yeggous

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Totally not playing Peak Cheerleader here (seriously!!) but if Wildcat HADN'T had that series of unfortunate mechanical issues with the snowmaking system and had a "normal" Wildcat snowmaking season, but being able to take advantage of the upgrade attempts Peak made, would you have the same skepticism?

It's not like Peak didn't make the effort to START trying to improve Wildcat. They just ran into a series of totally unforseen events that handcuffed them before they could really even get off the ground.

If your issue is how they chose to operate the Wildcat/Attitash combo, then that's a whole different thing

My big issues is that they cut corners and get their priorities mixed up. They chose to rebuild rather than replace the pumps, and one failed on its very first day of (re)use. Then they chose to buy compressors and try the new low energy guns before addressing the pipes. As a result of the increased pressure and aging pipes they had repeated blowouts all over the place this year. They tried the skip the infrastructure upgrades and go straight for the reward.



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Brad J

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Totally not playing Peak Cheerleader here (seriously!!) but if Wildcat HADN'T had that series of unfortunate mechanical issues with the snowmaking system and had a "normal" Wildcat snowmaking season, but being able to take advantage of the upgrade attempts Peak made, would you have the same skepticism?

It's not like Peak didn't make the effort to START trying to improve Wildcat. They just ran into a series of totally unforseen events that handcuffed them before they could really even get off the ground.

If your issue is how they chose to operate the Wildcat/Attitash combo, then that's a whole different thing

My big issues is that they cut corners and get their priorities mixed up. They chose to rebuild rather than replace the pumps, and one failed on its very first day of (re)use. Then they chose to buy compressors and try the new low energy guns before addressing the pipes. As a result of the increased pressure and aging pipes they had repeated blowouts all over the place this year. They tried the skip the infrastructure upgrades and go straight for the reward.



Sent from my iPad using AlpineZone mobile app

I know you have had a good experience at Mt. Snow and you know the GM at Wildcat , but we have seen the incompetence at both Wildcat and Attitash, I understand Mt Snow and Crotchet have gotten good reviews, But they have NOT delivered to us the product we expect and have been PROMISED by the management of the resorts in the MWV
 

steamboat1

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Ooops, sorry wrong thread.

Not at all. The OP started this thread by stating he heard POWDR (Cummings) wanted to buy Snowbird. It has evolved into a debate about Peak Resorts. The incompetence shown by POWDR in regards to the PCMR lease belongs in this thread. What Wildcat, Attitash, Mount Snow or other Peak Resorts has to do with this thread is debatable. Obviously I saw your post before you edited it. It was pretty much spot on.
 

Highway Star

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My second ride on Collins was with an employee at Snowbird. We were talking about Alta and Snowbird. He commented that Dick Bass is getting on in age and that his family does not want to run the resort.

"The latest rumor flying around is that John Cumming [POWDR] wants to buy Snowbird."


 

Brad J

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sorry to get off track, but the wrong buyer of an icon like Snowbird and for that matter Wildcat can have grave results. I would hope the vision that the founders of Snowbird had would be respected and nurtured. what works with one area will not work in another, thats the point I was trying to make.
 

marcski

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Not at all. The OP started this thread by stating he heard POWDR (Cummings) wanted to buy Snowbird. It has evolved into a debate about Peak Resorts. The incompetence shown by POWDR in regards to the PCMR lease belongs in this thread. What Wildcat, Attitash, Mount Snow or other Peak Resorts has to do with this thread is debatable. Obviously I saw your post before you edited it. It was pretty much spot on.

I thought I saw Powdr...but then all that Peak stuff came up and through me for a loop. Anyway, for people other than Steamboat who didn't see my post, I wrote something like the following in response to Dr. Jeff's post: That my big concern is that Powder forgot to send a certified letter on time that would have kept them in what was perhaps the sweetest lease deal in all of skiing. To me, that is telling when a company screws up with regard to its' biggest asset.
 
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thetrailboss

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Back to my original point, other than the fact that a Cummings has a house across the road to Snowbird is the only real connection that I see. POWDR does not have the money to BUY any resort right now. AFAIK they only have enough to lease their operations and even then they are struggling. So I doubt that they are going to buy Snowbird.
 
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