Big Burke announcement

[River19]

While it may make sense to not have the cafeteria at Mid Burke open M-F.......the Monday of one of your largest holiday ski weekends should be treated differently......it makes all the sense in the world to be open 9-4 today serving like a weekend. Lost revenue.

to the poster who thought this thread was negative, and I agree it is negative......it is the negative experience many long time paying customers seem to encounter week after week after week. You couldn't mishandle each situation more consistently wrong if you tried, really you can't.

Every time a situation comes up, whether it is a defining moment in dealing with a beloved local organization, or simple day to day ski operations.....if one door is a steaming pile of poo and one is nirvana.....Jr takes the poo door, every time......and it isn't hard to avoid any of these things....really it isn't.

 

[MEtoVTSkier]

Only 3 hrs late?

 

[MEtoVTSkier]

It's time for Ary to declare victory and go home.

Before the passholders/condo owners put a price on his head! :lol:

 

[oldtimer]

OK, I need to vent- others have said that this forum is too negative?

REALLY?- no food and Bev at Mid-Burke on a Monday federal holiday? Why, why would anyone book a 3 day weekend there if you cannot buy a cup of coffee where you put your boots on?

the communications yesterday around the wind hold yesterday was no better than today.

no Willoughby yesterday- perhaps it was too windy for that as well, but at least using the crew to dust it off would have been a nice gesture while waiting the the MBE. Then if the wind was in the zone too much for MBE but OK for Willoughby they could have had a lift?

Poma broken- why? because the snowmaking staff plastered one of the towers and the sheaves were clogged with frozen glop- then the lift crew ran it w/o understanding that they were about to destroy 3 sheaves. Only 2 spares in stock. So maybe some parts in today or tomorrow?

we do not need to rehash the snowmaking debacle other than to say they are still behind every resort in the east.

Ary publicly declares hating KT and ambivalence (at best) towards Burke Mountain Academy. It seems that the mountain is also making moves to eliminate local high school ski racing at Burke. (so much for being a good citizen locally)

Word on the street is that there is no money for the building of an indoor mtn bike park and that they are looking for investors who might like to help with a more upsacle 2nd season offering- a tennis resort. (no doubt playing to the strength of the region as a mecca for upscale folks)

The best I can do is say that I am sad- if the hotel gets built, it will be an albatross until someone with less hubris, some small understanding of customer service, and perhaps a little bit of vision comes along.

Right now Ary is trying to show that he can "turn the place around" by a) cutting corners on customer service b) cutting expenses on the backs of his staff & c) cutting his marketing budget to a pitiful level. As someone who has built a couple of pretty successful ventures (one in the tourist vacation sector) this does not appear to be headed in a positive direction. While Bill Stenger walked in the Door with Ary's dad, it is very clear why he is now no where to be seen.

cherish every day the lifts run because this smells like it will end badly & the end will be ugly- likely lots of local holding a the bag.

end of rant.

Mid-Burke began running at noon.

Here is a comment on their Facebook page that is pretty sad to read:
Hey Burke, season pass holder for many years, and I'm disappointed in the customer service this weekend. I understand lifts close for weather and power reasons, so I have zero complaint about that. However, the communication is severely lacking. We've been in the mid lodge for about two hours (it's 11:25 now), and not a single Burke employee has explained the lift situation to the dozens of customers waiting here. Everyone is guessing and continually checking this FB page for updates, but none are to be found. Aside for the lack of information and customer service, there was no food or drink service available up here for a couple of hours as well.

And another:
If this were happening at any other mountain it would be considered unacceptable. Burke you are lucky to have such forgiving customers. This customer is not so forgiving. You've held my ski day hostage with minimal communication. Shame on you. Something has to change here.

One last one:
Customer service & information regarding the lift not working at mid-Burke is severely disappointing today. Where is customer relations keeping your patrons happy? Not important to you guys?

Q Burke responded as follows:
Hey Everyone, we appreciate the feedback and concerns relating to the morning. Mid Burke Cafeteria is closed Monday through Friday and only serving on weekends. 9am-4pm. Guest Services and Staff were updated as quickly as possible from our lift operators who were working as quickly as they could to de-ice. Customer service is always top priority. With the influx of calls and eagerness of our patrons to get out there, they were doing the best they could with the information available.

 

[steamboat1]

A delay due to snow?????

Yeah I've been to Utah when lifts were delayed because of snow. That was mostly due to giving ski patrol time to blow up the avalanches though. Don't think Burke had that problem.

 

[VTKilarney]

When I think of tennis I don't think of it as a growing sport.

 

[thetrailboss]

Yeah I've been to Utah when lifts were delayed because of snow. That was mostly due to giving ski patrol time to blow up the avalanches though. Don't think Burke had that problem.

Exactly. Avalanche is different.

Sounds like they had icing and overhanging tree issues.

 

[deadheadskier]

Most of the former indoor tennis clubs I see around New England are being converted to other athletic uses. The local Gym in my town was once an 8 court indoor facility. It now has 4 courts with the rest of the space converted to a traditional fitness club.

I love to play, but no doubt it's not a sport on the rise. It really should be. Extremely affordable compared with Mountain Biking, skiing, golf......for the joe schmo rec player like myself.

 

[thetrailboss]

OK, I need to vent- others have said that this forum is too negative?

REALLY?- no food and Bev at Mid-Burke on a Monday federal holiday? Why, why would anyone book a 3 day weekend there if you cannot buy a cup of coffee where you put your boots on?

the communications yesterday around the wind hold yesterday was no better than today.

no Willoughby yesterday- perhaps it was too windy for that as well, but at least using the crew to dust it off would have been a nice gesture while waiting the the MBE. Then if the wind was in the zone too much for MBE but OK for Willoughby they could have had a lift?

Poma broken- why? because the snowmaking staff plastered one of the towers and the sheaves were clogged with frozen glop- then the lift crew ran it w/o understanding that they were about to destroy 3 sheaves. Only 2 spares in stock. So maybe some parts in today or tomorrow?

we do not need to rehash the snowmaking debacle other than to say they are still behind every resort in the east.

Ary publicly declares hating KT and ambivalence (at best) towards Burke Mountain Academy. It seems that the mountain is also making moves to eliminate local high school ski racing at Burke. (so much for being a good citizen locally)

Word on the street is that there is no money for the building of an indoor mtn bike park and that they are looking for investors who might like to help with a more upsacle 2nd season offering- a tennis resort. (no doubt playing to the strength of the region as a mecca for upscale folks)

The best I can do is say that I am sad- if the hotel gets built, it will be an albatross until someone with less hubris, some small understanding of customer service, and perhaps a little bit of vision comes along.

Right now Ary is trying to show that he can "turn the place around" by a) cutting corners on customer service b) cutting expenses on the backs of his staff & c) cutting his marketing budget to a pitiful level. As someone who has built a couple of pretty successful ventures (one in the tourist vacation sector) this does not appear to be headed in a positive direction. While Bill Stenger walked in the Door with Ary's dad, it is very clear why he is now no where to be seen.

cherish every day the lifts run because this smells like it will end badly & the end will be ugly- likely lots of local holding a the bag.

end of rant.

+ 1.

 

[xwhaler]

I too would be upset if they didn't have the Willoughby as a backup plan.
I've been critical of Magic in the past relying solely on the Red Chair and when that goes down Black is not ready.

 

[thetrailboss]

I still don't understand the windhold issue. Yesterday sounds like the rare occasion when the direction is just right. They almost never had the Willoughby closed.

 

[yeggous]

I still don't understand the windhold issue. Yesterday sounds like the rare occasion when the direction is just right. They almost never had the Willoughby closed.

Most of Cannon was on wind hold yesterday too. It was windy.


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[oldtimer]

I hiked on Sunday. It was that windy. Clearly the MBE could not run in the mid-morning. The top couple of towers stick right up. and the charis were swinging hard. I didn't go down the Willoughby line to the tower near the knoll of Foxes where it gets the most wind so I don't know about that one. The Willoughby is pretty protected on the top couple of towers. You are coirrect that historically it is very rare for that lift to have closed.

Today was ice- last night's event sucked- rain onto steel cable and sheaves that were still well below freezing temps. not sure of all the issues they had on the MBE but it started with ice on both, NOT snow. sadly, they do not understand that reporting that the lifts cannot run due to 6" of snow makes them look just as stupid as they are.

I still don't understand the windhold issue. Yesterday sounds like the rare occasion when the direction is just right. They almost never had the Willoughby closed.

 

[River19]

Just an observation........when we came through the notch past Cannon yesterday it was about 10:45-11am, it was windy as hell, some of the highest over the past several years (we make about 40 round trips per year through there) and the lower lift visible from 93 was cranking, every chair filled. could have been due to the others being closed, but they were skiing and it was busy. Tram was closed however (I saw the sign).

I don't remember Burke ever having this many wind holds and it hasn't been any more windy this year than others from what I can tell.

 

[oldtimer]

The new lift MBE is much more wind sensitive than the Willoughy. The online info about the Poma closed for wind was nonsense. The Poma is broken--- plain and simple. At 4pm Sunday there still sticks hung on the wire. When the lift is all good the sticks are all tucked away in the base station. Poma staff sat around all day Saturday- did not spend the day Sunday hanging out, nor was anyone working on the towers on Sunday.

Just an observation........when we came through the notch past Cannon yesterday it was about 10:45-11am, it was windy as hell, some of the highest over the past several years (we make about 40 round trips per year through there) and the lower lift visible from 93 was cranking, every chair filled. could have been due to the others being closed, but they were skiing and it was busy. Tram was closed however (I saw the sign).

I don't remember Burke ever having this many wind holds and it hasn't been any more windy this year than others from what I can tell.

 

[yeggous]

Killington and Bretton Woods had delayed lift openings today too.


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[VTKilarney]

The key to Burke is that one lift shuts down the whole mountain. If it means having staff show up early to get it running on MLK day, then that's what needs to be done.


.

 

[MEtoVTSkier]

The online info about the Poma closed for wind was nonsense. The Poma is broken--- plain and simple. At 4pm Sunday there still sticks hung on the wire. When the lift is all good the sticks are all tucked away in the base station. Poma staff sat around all day Saturday- did not spend the day Sunday hanging out, nor was anyone working on the towers on Sunday.

So "Team Beaverkill" should actually be called "Team Sheavetrainkill" ?? ;-)

 

[oldtimer]

+1- well done.

So "Team Beaverkill" should actually be called "Team Sheavetrainkill" ?? ;-)

 

[dmw]

Someone needs to organize a protest - "Burke Lives Matter."