Black Mountain, NH OPEN AGAIN more alive than ever

[2Planker]

Black won’t have much open then

Skinner's delight

 

[The Sneak]

Didn't a double chair fall off the rope a few years ago? What kind of shape are those lifts in?

 

[Newpylong]

I would be surprised if anything but the Triple operates this season.

 

[eatskisleep]

Black won’t have much open then

Maybe this season will be different with some capital help from Indy?? Make snow to find a buyer?

 

[rebel1916]

That’s a money issue right there. I am not familiar at all with Black. It’s on my bucket list. But if they’re having issues with snowmaking and grooming that would certainly be a reason.

No one wants steep, natural terrain to be groomed and have snowmaking.

 

[skiur]

No one wants steep, natural terrain to be groomed and have snowmaking.

While I am a big fan of natural ungroomed trails, I do want some steep terrain to have snowmaking and grooming or else it is unusable for a large part of of the winter. This is the east coast and unfortunately snowmaking and grooming are necessary.

 

[Smellytele]

While I am a big fan of natural ungroomed trails, I do want some steep terrain to have snowmaking and grooming or else it is unusable for a large part of of the winter. This is the east coast and unfortunately snowmaking and grooming are necessary.

The steep stuff at black is short and really isn’t groomable for the most part.

 

[skiur]

The steep stuff at black is short and really isn’t groomable for the most part.

No winch cat? I guess that would definitely be an issue for small, low budget places.

 

[Newpylong]

No, Black does not have a winch cat lol. There is nothing steep enough there that has snowmaking anyway. They are going to have their work cut out to even get an operational cat of any type for this season. There are 3 of them in various stages of disassembly in the lots.

 

[deadheadskier]

No winch cat? I guess that would definitely be an issue for small, low budget places.

Lots of ledge, really narrow, some trees. Think very short Castlerock style terrain. There's one intermediate cruiser that gets you down to the mid station that has snowmaking and grooming. That's pretty much it. The rest is all old school New England expert terrain

 

[doublediamond]

Lots of areas lease cats.

 

[Newpylong]

Ridiculously expensive to lease a cat and definitely a last resort, did it for two years. A typical lease is for x amount of hours for x amount lump sum and then when that is exceeded they go onto a ridiculously high hourly rate. I'm sure they'll cobble one of them together.

 

[BodeMiller1]

No one wants steep, natural terrain to be groomed and have snowmaking.

The OZ part of Sunday River. Make a ton of snow pack it down and hope for 120" of natural.

Killington, A good part of the mountain. This would not be a good move for a small area up against it financially.

There's an exception to every rule.

Good luck Black Mountain.

Meow

 

[BodeMiller1]

Ridiculously expensive to lease a cat and definitely a last resort, did it for two years. A typical lease is for x amount of hours for x amount lump sum and then when that is exceeded they go onto a ridiculously high hourly rate. I'm sure they'll cobble one of them together.

When you see a snow compressor farm and they are all rentals you have to think there must be a better way (much like Festivus).

Own your own infratructure? Yes. Cobble together parts for a rat-cat. Yes.

Horses pulling around people on sleds trumps Loons base train.

 

[Newpylong]

The bigger issue at this point is they have no staff, no plan, none of the lifts are inspected etc and so on. At what point is no product better than a shitty product? I am not 100% convinced that there is a benefit to a "bridge" season vs begining the process for a serious opening by a potential new buyer in 2024.

 

[drjeff]

The bigger issue at this point is they have no staff, no plan, none of the lifts are inspected etc and so on. At what point is no product better than a shitty product? I am not 100% convinced that there is a benefit to a "bridge" season vs begining the process for a serious opening by a potential new buyer in 2024.

And the reality is from and employment perspective, if you have someone looking for a job in the ski industry in that region, there are numerous other resorts, likely with more stable employment situations and potentially more hours a week for more weeks of the year, all within say a 30 minute radius of Black as options as well. And with the tight labor market, that could be a significant hurdle for them to negotiate.

I sincerely hope it works out for them. However, I have to imagine that on some level, the bridge that Indy is helping them with, alieveated some stresses, but probably created a bunch of other stresses

 

[Edd]

I’ll certainly plan to visit this year and hope to spend $ on F&B if they open the bar. But I’m also not optimistic about them functioning properly, particularly if the natural snow fails us. Along with the brutal hiring environment in the valley, I suspect the owner has burned some bridges. Hope I’m wrong.

 

[eatskisleep]

The bigger issue at this point is they have no staff, no plan, none of the lifts are inspected etc and so on. At what point is no product better than a shitty product? I am not 100% convinced that there is a benefit to a "bridge" season vs begining the process for a serious opening by a potential new buyer in 2024.

I guess the question is this: is Indy going to help fund this season and provide some improvement capital, snowmaking funding, etc with a possible agreement in an equity stake for a future sale?

 

[SteezyRob]

if the double isn't running, then would you be able to skin up top? snow wouldn't be an issue, i don't really care what the conditions are. i just need to ski those top trails. otherwise i don't think ill go.

 

[Killingtime]

Along with the brutal hiring environment in the valley,

That comment right there. Restaurants in Bartlet and Conway all complaining they cant find workers. Ridiculous lines to just get breakfast. Good luck to Black