First?

[thebigo]

K in surprisingly decent shape today, crowd formed midday but nothing terrible.

 

[ThatGuy]

K in surprisingly decent shape today, crowd formed midday but nothing terrible.

View attachment 52156

Looks like decent coverage hopefully it holds up through the warming next week.

 

[skiur]

Temps won't be getting out of the 40's at that elevation so not much worry there. Down on lower supe it will be a bit warmer so that's a concern.

 

[Former Sunday Rivah Rat]

They did AmEx once as the early season trail, I believe you up and download the South Ridge Express. They also looked and tried doing Aurora, with up and download the Chondi and skiing in on Paradigm, Northern Lights in Aurora and back out via Lights Out to Chondi. They added the extension to Paradigms snowmaking line to the base of Aurora, but they didn't add guns on lower Northern Lights and came up short on the low section. Downloading large crowds on the Chondi is problematic as well, given only the cabins can download. Should have seen the huge download line Fall Festival weekend, formed because they were sending full cabins AND chairs up. Pretty funny seeing some women trying to hike down in what amounted to stilleto boots.

Oz/Jordan just wouldn't work because there is no direct lift access over there to either. The only real parking is at the Hotel, which would mean you would have to blow Lolla. Good luck getting that open quick. Eureka would be a fantastic trail to open early though would need a big upgrade to the snowmaking line as they are no where near spaced tight enough for a quick build. Just no way to get there.

Newpy, I agree with your sentiment. But I have seen issues with folks not wanting to wait 45+ minutes to download. Hiking/skiing down has both been ugly and can only imagine personal injury attorneys salivating over midstation use. The other issue with the long waits is there are no restroom facilities on hill up there. At least at Killington, you can walk the staircase without a big wait to get to the heads. Always thought they could have put some porta-potties up on the flat entry into MM for early season to alieviate that concern.

Has SR thought of clearing a bigger parking lot and put in a small base lodge at Jordan? It would help extend the season.

 

[machski]

Has SR thought of clearing a bigger parking lot and put in a small base lodge at Jordan? It would help extend the season.

Nothing that I have heard of. Anything is possible now that the Western Reserve is on the map, but that is tagged in the long range vision (2030 and beyond) and I wouldn't expect anything base-wise at Jordan prior to that expansion westward commencing.

 

[2Planker]

Has SR thought of clearing a bigger parking lot and put in a small base lodge at Jordan? It would help extend the season.

Yes, the original LBO Plan in '93 had a whole "village" area planned for Jordan.
Not only a base lodge, but many more condo's, retail shops, and add'l lifts/terrain were all in the picture.
The plan was always to build the hotel first. But, there was supposed to be a lot more to follow...

 

[deadheadskier]

I find that quite sad that the new GM does not like the midstation. It sucks when there is a whole weekend of midstation, but especially for soft afternoon openings midweek, I'd so much rather get stuck at the midstation than not ski...

When he was GM of Wildcat, he could have easily opened earlier off the Bobcat chair vs top to bottom on Lynx. Same goes for late season turns; could have beefed up one trail there. But with both ends of the season the aim was always Lynx which would take at least triple the amount of snow over say lower Catapult.
Two of very few curious decisions he made at Cat. Great GM overall though.

I just don't think he feels the need to compete as hard with K and that factors into his decision on Locke. A week later start to the season at SR isn't going to lose him pass holders to K in any meaningful number.

 

[thebigo]

A week later start to the season at SR isn't going to lose him pass holders to K in any meaningful number.

It is looking closer to two weeks. I bought boyne passes as a supplement for early season and a mid-season change of pace. Next year our secondary pass will likely be ikon because of these two weeks, can always add k spring pass if necessary.

 

[deadheadskier]

It is looking closer to two weeks. I bought boyne passes as a supplement for early season and a mid-season change of pace. Next year our secondary pass will likely be ikon because of these two weeks, can always add k spring pass if necessary.

And if you switch over this you will be in a very slight minority of skiers. Your decision will be barely felt by Boyne. Heck, they'll still get some revenue from you via Ikon.

The early / late season market is just a tiny fraction of the market.

99.99% of people buy their Boyne passes because of how much they like the primary season product. Same goes with K, though admittedly they do have more shoulder season diehards than anywhere and it's part of their brand.

I'm not sure I'd be all that pissed about the no downloading thing at SR. I've waited in that line before on Locke and skied wet grass to a mud walk. It does suck. I'm also not interested in the stairs at K either.

It's just one of those about 1 in 5 years where late October and early November has been unseasonably warm.

 

[Newpylong]

They wouldn't have been able to do the Cup last year COVID aside. Pretty similar start to this year but without the cold snap we just had.

Thankfully they were able to really pour it on Great Northern. Two way walkway traffic is a royal PITA. Based on the amount of business they are seeing this is a godsend they got it done. I am still amazed how quickly they did it.

 

[thebigo]

And if you switch over this you will be in a very slight minority of skiers. Your decision will be barely felt by Boyne. Heck, they'll still get some revenue from you via Ikon.

The early / late season market is just a tiny fraction of the market.

99.99% of people buy their Boyne passes because of how much they like the primary season product. Same goes with K, though admittedly they do have more shoulder season diehards than anywhere and it's part of their brand.

I'm not sure I'd be all that pissed about the no downloading thing at SR. I've waited in that line before on Locke and skied wet grass to a mud walk. It does suck. I'm also not interested in the stairs at K either.

It's just one of those about 1 in 5 years where late October and early November has been unseasonably warm.

Clearly my family's passes alone will have absolutely zero financial impact on boyne.

Only point is that the 0.01% of passholders, using your numbers, that care about early season understand there is a certain degree of hassle involved. People willing to pay close to $200, including lunch/tickets/gas, to hike the stairs at K would happily hike down from the locke midstation. I had planned four nights at the grand this weekend, they have the snow all they need to do is run the lift and let me walk down the mountain.

 

[Smellytele]

Much rather walk the stairs at K than mud and grass at SR.

 

[Smellytele]

Clearly my family's passes alone will have absolutely zero financial impact on boyne.

Only point is that the 0.01% of passholders, using your numbers, that care about early season understand there is a certain degree of hassle involved. People willing to pay close to $200, including lunch/tickets/gas, to hike the stairs at K would happily hike down from the locke midstation. I had planned four nights at the grand this weekend, they have the snow all they need to do is run the lift and let me walk down the mountain.

Somebody didn’t plan well…

 

[machski]

When he was GM of Wildcat, he could have easily opened earlier off the Bobcat chair vs top to bottom on Lynx. Same goes for late season turns; could have beefed up one trail there. But with both ends of the season the aim was always Lynx which would take at least triple the amount of snow over say lower Catapult.
Two of very few curious decisions he made at Cat. Great GM overall though.

I just don't think he feels the need to compete as hard with K and that factors into his decision on Locke. A week later start to the season at SR isn't going to lose him pass holders to K in any meaningful number.

The problem for SR peeps will be if Loon opens at the same time or even earlier than the River. They do push the season a bit and in the past Loon has even opened with download on Gondi and skiing off East Basin.

And no, SR does not have the snow to open this coming weekend. The majority of T2 is decent but they did not get enough blown at the crossover to the midstation from what I have heard.

 

[thebigo]

Somebody didn’t plan well…

Not entirely sure what you are referring to but yes, my plan to optimize late season last year and early season this year via boyne passes did not work out well.

 

[machski]

They wouldn't have been able to do the Cup last year COVID aside. Pretty similar start to this year but without the cold snap we just had.

Thankfully they were able to really pour it on Great Northern. Two way walkway traffic is a royal PITA. Based on the amount of business they are seeing this is a godsend they got it done. I am still amazed how quickly they did it.

One thing Killington will do much more of now than SR early is to utilize different guns for different temperature situations to maximize production. SR is pretty much SV10's with just a smattering of SR7 ground guns now, mostly just on narrow sections.

 

[deadheadskier]

The problem for SR peeps will be if Loon opens at the same time or even earlier than the River. They do push the season a bit and in the past Loon has even opened with download on Gondi and skiing off East Basin.

And no, SR does not have the snow to open this coming weekend. The majority of T2 is decent but they did not get enough blown at the crossover to the midstation from what I have heard.

The Loon setup makes vastly more sense than what SR has for lifts / trails to work with for uploading and downloading. Also makes more sense from a location perspective. There's probably a slight elevation advantage to Upper Locke trails vs East Basin. Sunday River is also obviously a bit further north. That said, I still think Loon makes the most sense for early season for Boyne.

 

[skiur]

we skied upper Downdraft and Cascade the week before Thanksgiving last season it was amazing! yes the Beast can cover trails in very little time and I believe they would of had the Cup. anyone ever View attachment 52172ski the light, see the wizard?

The light is the worst kept secret at K.

 

[Smellytele]

Not entirely sure what you are referring to but yes, my plan to optimize late season last year and early season this year via boyne passes did not work out well.

Nor booking the hotel for this weekend

 

[mister moose]

The light is the worst kept secret at K.

Maybe so, but most casual skiers have never heard of it.