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BFP Article on the "Paradox" of Ski Resort Development (JPR)

kingdom-tele

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I'm probably going to regret this, maybe its the post hockey beer I can blame it on:)

I'm not trying to change any minds, its just an opinion.

TB- maybe I shouldn't have read your reply in a condescending tone, it just seemed that way to me. I deleted the post because it was pointless, NIck, Zand, the people who are convinced there is nothing to do here will never be convinced otherwise. I was wrong about the local tradesmen influence and in retrospect just deleted the whole reply. My point and what I have been trying to articulate, poorly it seems, was maybe there should still be places that remains dark, cold, and quiet. where you are hold up with your family in a hotel, condo, B&B, RV, whatever. maybe not everything should be about constant shuffling around from event to event. its how I grew up, its how I am raising my child, its why I chose to live here, knowing more lucrative careers, artificial stimulation were elsewhere, its NNE, its a special place. but its special because it is different, it doesn't cater to people who need pampering.

Am I a jay peak lover? yeah. I guess I am. Its a pretty damn special spot on this planet in my mind. I have hiked, skinned that mountain 30+ times a year for the past 11 years, I have carried my dog when he was a puppy over the big boulders on the LT in the summer, carried an infant in a backpack so she could see what it looked like. every time I come around the Northway skinning up and can see the view over the snow fence into big jay basin and down the GM spine I am thankful. hell, I got married there. so yeah, I love it,it being the mountain. I have been lucky enough to meet and get to know the local skiers there, the employees, its a special place, they are characters. I am sure they are stoked on the security the development is providing, I am stoked for them. FWIW, I think the new hotel (which maybe could have been built even more locally) is great, the rink is great, I don't play golf, but everyone seems to like it too, I'm not dead set against their need to revamp.

I am reluctant. Maybe its just an associative memory from my youth, could be I guess.I honestly believe for me its really not a big deal. My interests have evolved over the past decade, I can easily just skin to ski, I prefer it, personal preference, not casting looks down my nose on anyone. My child though doesn't skin to ski. It only my perspective, my choice. but the scene J has and is becoming is something other than what they have prided themselves in for years. I only see it becoming more complex, more expensive as they try to sustain the infrastructure. this will price us out, price a lot of local people out. maybe I'm wrong, but not yet. Kudos to JPR, they are seeing a dream come true, but its not every person's dream here as it slowly make it more and more unreachable to anyone not getting a helicopter shuttle in (WTF?). Fortunately we have Burke too, but thats another topic

for Riv- the NEK isn't for everyone. you chose to go to Littleton, nothing wrong with that. but why not lyndonville, why not a CSA, why not a lot of things. the mentality that quality goods are found in a chain store couldn't be farther from from my reality, we support our local farms, local stores, the bagging isn't as fancy, but we use our own anyway. I do get books from amazon.com but i am inpatient when it comes to reading and like to mark the margins, so library loaners are infrequent, but I am trying. what else, passion about the woods. its my saving grace. I feel strongly more people should spend time in them, not trying to occupy every moment with the same routine they live in day to day, why drive all the way the canadian border just to surround yourself with the same indoor lighting, same wifi access, same whatever you need to make it through the day. thats what JPR should be selling IMO (just an opinion)

I am lucky. I have found, and find new places every year in the woods up here that make me thankful for living here. I live in a home that I wake up in every day thankful to be in, and god knows I have spent time in all the wrong places, it means a lot, maybe it doesn't mean jack shit to just about everyone else, but it shouldn't be warped into their version of OK so they can be comfortable for the long weekend or two they spend here.

I'm done.

Have a great winter. Be happy to show anyone some cool spots. and bam. thats the longest post I will ever write. promise.
 
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Zand

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Not really saying I don't think there's anything to do...just looking at it with the eyes of a family from jersey or new York or Boston.
 

riverc0il

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Cool, I dig it. kingdom-tele, my apologies on the suspicion you were not a Jay lover. I made a poor assumption based on what I read as a generally anti-development stance. I definitely respect your position and agree there should be places kept major development free.

It is interesting that you don't mind the hotel. The new Hotel Jay is the biggest and most offensive eye sore in the whole development from my perspective. Tram Lodge was well done, Ice Rink is tucked out of the way (though the parking garage is a bit much, but also tucked out of the way), and the Waterpark I've come to terms with as being no different than putting a chairlift on a mountain, ski areas are amusement parks in many ways. But the new Hotel Jay is out of scale with everything else, especially from the parking lot.
 

farlep99

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I feel strongly more people should spend time in them, not trying to occupy every moment with the same routine they live in day to day, why drive all the way the canadian border just to surround yourself with the same indoor lighting, same wifi access, same whatever you need to make it through the day. thats what JPR should be selling IMO (just an opinion)

Couldn't agree more & what I really love about NEK & Jay specifically. Well put KT
 

thetrailboss

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A mea culpa on my part, KT. I did not mean to come across as condescending. We're actually both on similar wavelengths...keep it simple. As much as I love it here in the west, a part of me feels bitter that we "had" to move or were forced out because of cost of living, incomes, etc. So I get fired up over that. Sorry if I :flame: you. I do love it out here....
 

kingdom-tele

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:smile: the leg cramping was keeping me awake.

while I'm here, Riv - the hotel/park/conference center is a particularly overwhelming. Remember though, the development is only HALF completed, and lets be honest, the old hotel was dangerously close to a health risk, carpeting should never be that old!.
 
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UVSHTSTRM

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Could somebody give me just a nice line item of things to come at Jay? Another hotel and some new lifts correct? What else just curious.
 

riverc0il

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while I'm here, Riv - the hotel/park/conference center is a particularly overwhelming. Remember though, the development is only HALF completed, and lets be honest, the old hotel was dangerously close to a health risk, carpeting should never be that old!.
Yea, I am particularly concerned about what is coming to Stateside. Stateside Lodge needs a replacement but it is not going to be the less resorty side once JPR goes through with their plans. No doubt Hotel Jay needed to be replaced. But they doubled its height, it is a total monster from the parking lot.

Could somebody give me just a nice line item of things to come at Jay? Another hotel and some new lifts correct? What else just curious.
Six pack goes up Powerline, Bonnie goes to the Jet, Jet service to Taxi area above the Can Am terrain park, supposedly a new trail around the outside of Timbuk :puke: , new Stateside Lodge, Ampitheatre, some sorta adventure center thingy, and I think another hotel of some sort. Unchangeable? We'll see...
 

Steve@jpr

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Why I never made it in pr.

Hope everyone is good--all things, and lack of things, being equal. A good long thread that I've been watching on and off again and I have near nothing to add-and probably shouldn't take what's passing as bait. Still, there are good points on both sides that I agree with. KT's point is well made suggesting that something is, at least potentially, spoiled as Jay Peak grows. It's difficult to put a finger against but he does a good job in talking about showing kids how to skin, how to turn off the tv (that's more of my axe), disconnect and stay outside. While it's opinion and by virtue of the definition, subjective, even in my seat it's a tough argue and I don't choose to. Agreed with Riv too that the HJ isn't necessarily my fave though, in fairness, building a 176 room Hotel (which we were subscribed to) is a tough row to hoe horizontally; it had to be stacked to some extent. Design is subjective too but we probably missed, a bit, in a way we didn't over at Tram Haus. We'll do (much) better on Stateside. The design process that I've been a part of has been very cool.

The only point that was tough for me to connect with was the, however unintended, perspective that most of the new jobs were low paying whistle blowers, cafeteria workers and indoor hallway sweepers (which, incidentally, the world certainly needs) and thus not only sort of marginalizing those positions and what they really do for the community but, essentially, ignoring the hundreds of full time/salaried/benefited jobs that have been created in only the last several years. In my dept alone, we have added sales people, detailers, web designers, partnership and sponsorship sales people, an event planner and a designer. The sales staff has almost tripled in the past 10 years and the staff to support them has nearly doubled. Accounting Dept. has doubled. Food and Beverage Dept has added a dozen full time jobs in less than a season and a half and the new Hotel has added year round front desk staff, General Manager and supporting staff, plant managers, and every other title you could imagine required to support the asset. Waterpark has added a GM and supporting staff, 70 lifeguards, guest service staff and other pieces required to make it go. Without question you'll find entry level/hourly spots but we've added lots of ftyr jobs and lots of real opportunities for the younger demo to get their foot in the door to see what other possibilities exist across the rest of the resort. Whether this can all be built without mortgaging what's made us special is certainly a matter of debate and I, for one, am not about to make any sort of promise that I don't have complete control delivering against. But I do think that we have a pretty good idea about some of what makes us special and we do a good job of listening to other thoughts on the matter as well. I think that there is some part of what special here truly is unchanging-regardless of what gets built up around it. And I think that, what motivated me to move to the NEK still exists and no amount of indoor amenity-regardless of how much or how little I plan to use it-changes that much. Actually that's not true. Clearly it does change what we see here, what we have to drive around/sit next to/come up against, but-at least for me-I don't pass these options through a presumably negative filter.

As long as we continue to swing, we'll definitely continue to miss but I think we can do a pretty good job of this in the end. And at the end of the day I love coming to work everyday and I love the challenge of trying to stay true to ourselves while we sort of become something else if that makes any sense. I had someone tell me on a chairlift last week that when he's skiing bbbp, he's happy for the guy dropping into La Chute and, as long as he manages to find a parking place, his experience is wholly unaltered. While I'm not looking for a debate (and really only started this to talk about the good jobs we've created) there was something about that conversation that continued to help align things for me.

Anyway, I play in a hockey league Mon and Tues nights here and look forward to meeting you in person someday KT and thanks to everyone else for a good read. Hope for good run into May.

steve
 

Nick

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This became a very interesting thread .... goes beyond skiing as a simple hobby and more into the outdoors as a way of life, for disconnecting from the day to day,and what the means and represents, and how that changes over time.

I've yet to hit Jay Peak, hopefully I will sometime soon. I've been slowly expanding my hit list this year :)

Really thoughtful comments here!
 
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