Big Burke announcement

[River19]

At this point, the details of who owns what % of the blame are really a footnote in this thing; the hotel opening and pinning the future expansion and investment on the hotel revenues were an epic fail. The shitty warm ski season just exposed all the rocks in the bay on this whole thing.

I find it very interesting how the tone from both the State and Davis has changed over the past 2 weeks. I think both parties seem to be tired of being blamed in public by the Teflon Q Clan. Again, true leaders take accountability, their first move is not to blame others. This goes along with the clueless thought process of "I don't have a team that is loyal to me". As I stated the other day; loyalty is earned and there is no place where that is more evident than in the NEK.

Another sign of poor leadership is the multiple uncoordinated and contradictory documented public story lines from Q, Stenger and Jr. If there was a strong leadership group worthy of investing in, there would be one narrative and it would be consistent from person to person and from week to week.

Again, very sad.

Best case scenario, invest in a good bike season. Come up with a real solid plan for F&B and a firm plan on opening that hotel and then work on building a real team starting with changes at the top right on down. Ary should have been sent packing last year when he supposedly was removing himself from operations..........one of the first of many lies and fantasy speak from the Q clan.

 

[VTKilarney]

I haven't lost hope that the hotel will open, although I agree that a delay of just shy of a year is an epic fail. Especially since they delay was not construction related.

The "I haven't had a team that's loyal to me" line was especially aggravating. Quiros is the one who brought these people in. In the case of the general manager, he's hired several of them. So what Quiros really means is, "I have no clue how to hire people that I can lead and trust." That's not a good thing. Of course this assumes that his leadership is capable in the first place.

This whole thing is really bumming me out. My frustration has always been in the context of believing that some major housekeeping was needed. I never really thought about the mountain failing. Now that thought has crept into my mind, which makes everything seem that much more sad. There are still ways out of this mess, but until I see some actual progress in that regard I am going to be worried.

 

[oldtimer]

I actually think what you are seeing here w/r/t the hotel is Stenger versus Jr.

From Stenger's standpoint, his name is all over the EB-5 part of this, and he is a partner in the hotel ownership group. Suppose the ownership group comes up with the $- Bill certainly is saying they are very, very close if they have not already done it. They pay off Peak (with or without the money the state may or may not be holding- most rational players would turn over the CO if the only part missing was the small part that state is fussing over). My guess is that once the CO is turned over, then the operating company owes the $55k/ month to the ownership group. Clearly, that is best for Bill and the hotel owners.

What I think will happen is then, Ary says, oh no, your delay forced me to cancel all these weddings and reservations, I don't want the hotel until November, then the fight is on.

If past performance is any guide to the future, I foresee some version of this scenario.

 

[thetrailboss]

The latest: http://www.wcax.com/story/31560435/q-burke-mountain-project-could-experience-more-delays

 

[VTKilarney]

Sounds like Stenger and Quiros are not seeing eye to eye.

 

[halfpintvt]

So basically he's sowing the seeds so that he can blame the failure of the ski area on the lack of a shiny, new hotel rather than his piss poor management style. I foresee a steep drop in season pass sales.

 

[thetrailboss]

Sounds like Stenger and Quiros are not seeing eye to eye.

I'd like to throw this out to our good friend, Ary:



"I thought by now you'd realize there ain't no way to hide your lying eyes."

 

[thetrailboss]

So basically he's sowing the seeds so that he can blame the failure of the ski area on the lack of a shiny, new hotel rather than his piss poor management style.

Exactly.

 

[River19]

When the shit hits the fan, fake leaders blame others and make excuses......real leaders take accountability and come up with a plan to move forward.

 

[oldtimer]

At the risk of piling on- same bs, different day. He is a lying, transparent worm.

 

[Smellytele]

At the risk of piling on- same bs, different day. He is a lying, transparent worm.

 

[faQ]

At the risk of piling on- same bs, different day. He is a lying, transparent worm.

No, no , no. I think what we are witnessing is a grinch/ Scrooge -like change of heart. Q really DOES care about the community.


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[halfpintvt]

Some interesting reading in the "cloud".

DFR Jay Peak EB 5 Correspondence 12 1 14 to 4 12 15 (2)

accd-on-anc-bio-redacted-78-pages-6may15.pdf

 

[from_the_NEK]

At least they are making the distinction between the two...

http://qburke.com/assets/Uploads/at...rt-will-open-for-Summer-Winter-Operations.pdf

I think Oldtimer nailed it again:

I actually think what you are seeing here w/r/t the hotel is Stenger versus Jr.

From Stenger's standpoint, his name is all over the EB-5 part of this, and he is a partner in the hotel ownership group. Suppose the ownership group comes up with the $- Bill certainly is saying they are very, very close if they have not already done it. They pay off Peak (with or without the money the state may or may not be holding- most rational players would turn over the CO if the only part missing was the small part that state is fussing over). My guess is that once the CO is turned over, then the operating company owes the $55k/ month to the ownership group. Clearly, that is best for Bill and the hotel owners.

What I think will happen is then, Ary says, oh no, your delay forced me to cancel all these weddings and reservations, I don't want the hotel until November, then the fight is on.

If past performance is any guide to the future, I foresee some version of this scenario.

I think the blood is in the water now, which shark is going to come out on top?

 

[SLoMo]

How interesting....trying to save face and keep folks coming in?

http://qburke.com/assets/Uploads/at...rt-will-open-for-Summer-Winter-Operations.pdf

More interesting....QBurke posted a comment in their reviews section of FB stating they care about "employee retention"-yeah, so much that they laid off 180 of them!

 

[benski]

How interesting....trying to save face and keep folks coming in?

http://qburke.com/assets/Uploads/at...rt-will-open-for-Summer-Winter-Operations.pdf

More interesting....QBurke posted a comment in their reviews section of FB stating they care about "employee retention"-yeah, so much that they laid off 180 of them!

Doesn't sound like they had much of a choice.


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[steamboat1]

Stupid from the get go. Who the F puts $50mil into a hotel at a place like Burke. Peak bought Hunter hotel & all for considerably less. Hunter even has snowmaking.

 

[thetrailboss]

How interesting....trying to save face and keep folks coming in?

http://qburke.com/assets/Uploads/at...rt-will-open-for-Summer-Winter-Operations.pdf

More interesting....QBurke posted a comment in their reviews section of FB stating they care about "employee retention"-yeah, so much that they laid off 180 of them!

I think we need a fourth person to issue a different press release stating something completely different. What a clusterfuck.


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[halfpintvt]

New Review on Q Burke Facebook Page.
The reviewers name is Michael Sher:

After > 10 years as a passholder, I did not buy a pass for my family or me because I wanted to wait until Thanksgiving to see if management would keep its promises about making snow making. At our passholders' meeting last year, they said that Qburke would use equipment from Sochi Olympics to produce an abundance of resilient snow in the Upper Mountain. Don't blame Mother Nature. Not only did you screw up the hotel, but you lied, yes lied, to your most important stakeholders about snow making. I drove the distance to ski at other VT mountains and the conditions weren't great, but the snow making efforts were phenomenal and the skiing was damn good for a winter with virtually no natural snow. This season was a big fail for Management and for those who love Burke and want to see it grow and prosper. Please bring in the pros and get your act together. Start by asking Bill Stenger to set things straight and if the Quiros family is too proud to tell Jr. that he's messing up with more than a play thing (Burke is about NEK jobs, nature, and families at the very least), I will and hereby do. Please give us all the facts, not marketing speak, about your plans for the summer and for improving snow making and management. Otherwise, I suggest that passholders boycott purchases until we hear real facts from real ski professionals about how the mountain is going to turn things around. Shame on you!

Comments



Q Burke Mountain Resort Mr. Sher, We do appreciate feedback to better improve our product and service. We are saddened to hear that you did not enjoy our conditions this year. We are proud to say that our Upper Mountain did and is currently operating with an abundance of snow. Unfortunately, it is up to us to decide where on our mountain we blow snow and maintain snow to keep our visitors happy. This doesn't always mean we will have every trail and glade available. Rest assured that we realize we can't make everyone happy all of the time (no matter how hard we try). You are correct in saying that 'Burke is about NEK jobs, nature, and families'. These are the exact reasons that we all work so diligently to keep Q Burke Mountain Resort successful. Everyone reserves the right to voice their opinion; it is our hope that your opinion changes as you observe our growth and contributions to the Northeast Kingdom

 

[VTKilarney]

I was up in Orleans County today, and was able to spend a couple of hours skiing at Jay Peak. I was really impressed with a couple of things. First, what a well oiled machine it is from a customer service perspective. Second, how vibrant the place is with all of the people staying in the hotels. It was abundantly clear to me that getting the hotel open at Burke will make a HUGE difference.

So hopefully the hotel situation will get worked out. I'll be the first to cheer when those doors officially open to the public.