High Priced Lift Tickets

[snoseek]

Wildcat and Attitash are doing a pretty good job at running this year IMO. They blew on places they dont always blow. Middle and Lower Catapult were getting blasted yesterday...Its been a minute since I've seen any snowmaking on Lower Catapult then again I've been in/out over the years. I rode the Bobcat yesterday because I cant remember the last time I rode that chair. Attitash has been running their chairs and making snow whenever they can. Communication is better overall. Its not anything at all like the past couple years and skiers that seem happy from what I can see.

Also the bar is open.

 

[thetrailboss]

Jackson and Aspen used to be kind of exclusive. But the rich had moved on, to Telluride for example. I wonder how long will it take for those two be label by that phrase?

Not anytime soon. Both are still outrageously expensive. Both also put the brakes on when IKON began to overrun their resorts. The ironic part is that Aspen (the Ski Corp/Crowns) owns a large chunk of Alterra.

 

[Smellytele]

Wildcat and Attitash are doing a pretty good job at running this year IMO. They blew on places they dont always blow. Middle and Lower Catapult were getting blasted yesterday...Its been a minute since I've seen any snowmaking on Lower Catapult then again I've been in/out over the years. I rode the Bobcat yesterday because I cant remember the last time I rode that chair. Attitash has been running their chairs and making snow whenever they can. Communication is better overall. Its not anything at all like the past couple years and skiers that seem happy from what I can see.

Also the bar is open.

What time is the bar open until?
Took them until the middle of January to open lynx.

 

[Kingslug20]

I used to drive up to Alta..park my car..hang out at GMD..on a powder day..or days..
Not any more..total shit show...
Those days are over...

 

[thetrailboss]

I used to drive up to Alta..park my car..hang out at GMD..on a powder day..or days..
Not any more..total shit show...
Those days are over...

That they are.

 

[snoseek]

What time is the bar open until?
Took them until the middle of January to open lynx.

Yeah lynx took forever...was the last major run, their plan was weird but they did decent overall with the weather.

I don't really spend time in the bar so no idea. I bring my own usually if I want a beer but it's open daily

 

[joshua segal]

...

“Nobody that’s anybody goes there anymore. Only the crowd of riff raff continue to go there, and making a mockery of what used to be a nice place“

Sure, it sounds incredibly elitist. And it is. But that’s what the phrase REALLY meant. Like it or not, many of this board‘s posters are the “elite” in skiing.

...

I guess you are the one(s) who decided who is "a someone".

Very sad that the only way to adapt to a paradigm shift is to bitch about it. And while this thread is allegedly about high-priced lift tickets, the haters turned it into an extension of the "Vail Sucks" thread.

...

Second time you brought up Happy Stockholders. You think I give a shit about them / that?

You may not care about the stock price, but stock prices are a barometer of the health of a corporation. At least for now, MTN appears to be a healthy corporation. This implies that most people who ski Epic continue to be satisfied with the product they are receiving, and those who are not move on. If enough people move on, Vail will either update its paradigm or go the way of ASC.

 

[deadheadskier]

Sure. Walmart is healthy too

 

[cdskier]

You may not care about the stock price, but stock prices are a barometer of the health of a corporation. At least for now, MTN appears to be a healthy corporation. This implies that most people who ski Epic continue to be satisfied with the product they are receiving, and those who are not move on. If enough people move on, Vail will either update its paradigm or go the way of ASC.

Stock prices being up does not necessarily indicate that the company is healthy. It merely indicates they are good at convincing investors that the stock is worth a certain price. If their major shareholders are people not intimately familiar with skiing, then they can potentially be fooled with some creative spin on results. I'm pretty sure that BG has pointed this out before, but Vail is so often making acquisitions that it is difficult to see what their true growth and profit/revenue/etc numbers are. Cut corners in one spot to increase your net profit in the short term and investors eat it up. Play up your increase in "season pass" sales by counting pre-sold day passes in your "season pass" numbers and minimize the fact that your core season pass products actually declined. Hell there are people on this very forum that ski and yet don't see that as an issue, so why would investors be concerned about that? They just see that season pass revenue in general was up. Whether or not that is good for the long term health and viability of the company doesn't matter for now to many investors.

I also disagree that people continuing to ski at Vail properties mean that most are "satisfied". You can be dissatisfied and still choose to ski at a certain resort. Why? It could be location as one example. If you're a property owner at Mt Snow or Okemo, are you suddenly going to drive to another ski area every day even if you aren't truly satisfied? Doubtful. In some areas there aren't even other choices and Vail has a virtual mini-monopoly on the local market. People will often choose to sacrifice quality for convenience. Or quality for price. This isn't unique to skiing either. It happens in many industries. That doesn't mean people should not be able to voice concerns though.

 

[JimG.]

Holy crap there is a ton of mental wood burning up in here.

No wonder it keeps warming up.

 

[abc]

I guess you are the one(s) who decided who is "a someone".

Of course I am!

I define who is “someone, like me”

There’re mountains I don‘t go to for various reasons. Too crowded is one of those reasons. I leave those mountain to those who don’t care about crowding.

We’re herd animals. I’m making no apology for that. There’re places I’m not welcomed. There’re places I don’t care to go to. Many of the new Vail acquisition in the northeast belongs to the latter, regardless of the price.

 

[drjeff]

I used to drive up to Alta..park my car..hang out at GMD..on a powder day..or days..
Not any more..total shit show...
Those days are over...

If one is really honest, they could track back to the 2002 Olympics as when much of the world started to "discover" what an incredible skiing/riding destination (and in many cases - Trailboss included - a place to move to and live) the greater SLC region is, which is when the ground work for the crowds that have built over the years, even before the mega passes of today (and no doubt the mega passes have accelerated that crowding over the last few years for sure) began.

The greater SLC area, and not just on hill volume, has changed and grown immensely since I 1st when there in 2001

 

[AdironRider]

Stock prices being up does not necessarily indicate that the company is healthy. It merely indicates they are good at convincing investors that the stock is worth a certain price. If their major shareholders are people not intimately familiar with skiing, then they can potentially be fooled with some creative spin on results. I'm pretty sure that BG has pointed this out before, but Vail is so often making acquisitions that it is difficult to see what their true growth and profit/revenue/etc numbers are. Cut corners in one spot to increase your net profit in the short term and investors eat it up. Play up your increase in "season pass" sales by counting pre-sold day passes in your "season pass" numbers and minimize the fact that your core season pass products actually declined. Hell there are people on this very forum that ski and yet don't see that as an issue, so why would investors be concerned about that? They just see that season pass revenue in general was up. Whether or not that is good for the long term health and viability of the company doesn't matter for now to many investors.

I also disagree that people continuing to ski at Vail properties mean that most are "satisfied". You can be dissatisfied and still choose to ski at a certain resort. Why? It could be location as one example. If you're a property owner at Mt Snow or Okemo, are you suddenly going to drive to another ski area every day even if you aren't truly satisfied? Doubtful. In some areas there aren't even other choices and Vail has a virtual mini-monopoly on the local market. People will often choose to sacrifice quality for convenience. Or quality for price. This isn't unique to skiing either. It happens in many industries. That doesn't mean people should not be able to voice concerns though.

The mental gymnastics people are making in this thread out of blind hatred for Vail knows no bounds.

Sure pal, you and DHS are smarter than the market.

 

[joshua segal]

Sure. Walmart is healthy too

I made that analogy too. Perhaps, the syllogism: "Walmart is to retail what Vail is to skiing" works.

Many people whom I know who despise Walmart/Vail, still "shop there"/"Ski there" anyhow. One of the reasons: They are both profitable and low priced (at least at the season pass level in the case of Vail).

 

[Mainer]

If you were a faithful wildcat skier, there is definitely a reason to hate vail. I gave them a pass the first pandemic year. The second year was worse. Last year no summit access until mid January. Huge crowds and not running lifts. Bar vibe was killed. Stupid vaccine mandate to warm up. Closing the upper bathroom because of covid. Being told you can’t bring water on the lift. Losing a ton of younger employees because of the vax mandate. The list goes on and on. Certainly not blind hatred.

 

[jimmywilson69]

Seems like some of you care to bitch and argue about this way more than is healthy. Its strange for sure... (Not directed at you Mainer)

 

[abc]

Seems like some of you care to bitch and argue about this way more than is healthy. Its strange for sure... (Not directed at you Mainer)

It’s because of the lousy weather. When the skiing sucks, skiers bitch.

Bad weather also exposes how badly some mountain handles the challenging weather. So some mountains get more complaints than others.

You think that’s “strange”? you haven’t been around much.

 

[Smellytele]

Seems like some of you care to bitch and argue about this way more than is healthy. Its strange for sure... (Not directed at you Mainer)

Seems like some of you care to defend and argue this way more than is healthy. It’s strange for sure…

 

[jaytrem]

Being told you can’t bring water on the lift.

Can't bring water on lift? What's the story on that one?

 

[jimmywilson69]

First time I'm hear of water, I've seen folks with open beers get them taken away. not sure why folks are loading with any open containers but whatever.