Hunter Snowmaking?

[JimG.]

I agree with your comment about the mountain not responding and it is what makes me wonder the most.

 

[dmc]

I agree with your comment about the mountain not responding and it is what makes me wonder the most.

It would be a pretty easy thing to do...

They HAVE to know about all the rumors and hearsay..
And with little information coming from over there - people tend to lean on rumors more..

 

[drjeff]

It would be a pretty easy thing to do...

They HAVE to know about all the rumors and hearsay..
And with little information coming from over there - people tend to lean on rumors more..

I think that Killington and Mike Solimano when he took over as GM prior to last season is the perfect example as to how a bit of open and honest communication with the customer base pays off.

I've been fortunate enough at Mount Snow with Kelly Pawlak as GM to have that same experience. She's always been incredibly forthcoming with straight information and that openess and honest is very tangible in her employees too

 

[dmc]

Killington's resurrection has been hot on the mind of many of us here in the Catskills...

I've always been in the "COOL - Family run place - keep it that way" - but the last couple seasons at Killington make me feel like a ski area CAN be run by a corporation..

 

[andrec10]

I agree with everyone that the biggest issue is all of the non-communication. Can't we clone Mike S.? I saw him last season bussing tables! It would be a cold day in hell before you saw Russ bussing tables!


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[dmc]

I agree with everyone that the biggest issue is all of the non-communication. Can't we clone Mike S.? I saw him last season bussing tables! It would be a cold day in hell before you saw Russ bussing tables!

REMEMBER... Orville was in the lodge picking up trays up until a few years before his death... Hard to believe he's gone...

My buddy said that Mike S. was introducing himself to people at the gondi the other morning... very cool... Russ is around - he says hello all the time.

 

[andrec10]

I remember Orville bussing tables and picking up trash! He is soooooo missed along with Izzy!


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[drjeff]

Killington's resurrection has been hot on the mind of many of us here in the Catskills...

I've always been in the "COOL - Family run place - keep it that way" - but the last couple seasons at Killington make me feel like a ski area CAN be run by a corporation..

I think that you also need to consider the current trend in ski area managment where very often a "resort" nowadays is run by a REIT (Real Estate Investment Trust) who then contract with a different firm who specializes in actually running a ski area. That way you've got a situation where the "owners" are handling the Real Estate side of things, which for better or for worse tend to be the reality of a modern larger ski area, and then a group who's sole focus is just on the product being put on the hill for folks to slide down and then keep them "happy" while they're at the resort that day. Even then it often comes down to having the right person, with a proper vision and managerial style to get the employees of that ski area behind that vision, to really make things work.

As much as sometimes I like to "arm chair quarterback" as a ski area GM, having known many of them at various sized ski areas in various parts of the country, I know that it's in no ways an easy job, even if the good one's make it look easy! Big time respect for what it takes to do that job well!

 

[dmc]

Having the correct people in place is huge..

Also having people that understand the history and needs of the regular customers in place is important too..
With some of these "revolving door" positions your start to get the sense that - what was - isn't any more because of the new faces...

 

[drjeff]

Having the correct people in place is huge..

Also having people that understand the history and needs of the regular customers in place is important too..
With some of these "revolving door" positions your start to get the sense that - what was - isn't any more because of the new faces...

Hopefully for you Hunter regulars this will turn into a situation, like happened at Killington where the new owners EVENTUALLY realized after all the changes that they made to how the run the place, that in reality they didn't need to make any major changes at all. Just keep with the longstanding historical trend of make evolutionary improvement to the ski area, instead of revolutionary changes to how the place is run.

As a business owner myself, I will readily admit that there are certain times when a complete top to bottom "rebranding" of your product is needed for the business to survive and thrive. Very often though that is only when the business is on proverbial "life support" without any true identity before the change is made. That doesn't sound like what Hunter was at before the new owners embarked on this current managerial trend

 

[skiadikt]

Hopefully for you Hunter regulars this will turn into a situation, like happened at Killington where the new owners EVENTUALLY realized after all the changes that they made to how the run the place, that in reality they didn't need to make any major changes at all. Just keep with the longstanding historical trend of make evolutionary improvement to the ski area, instead of revolutionary changes to how the place is run.

As a business owner myself, I will readily admit that there are certain times when a complete top to bottom "rebranding" of your product is needed for the business to survive and thrive. Very often though that is only when the business is on proverbial "life support" without any true identity before the change is made. That doesn't sound like what Hunter was at before the new owners embarked on this current managerial trend

killington was moving in negative trajectory. in fact, the previous president's parting shot was to push back the weekend opening time from 8:00 to 8:30. his concept of "growing" the business was to cut everything to the bone including lifts, snowmaking etc - maximizing his bottom line but not really "growing" the business.

first thing mike did when he became the president was announce that he wanted to bring back the beast. reconnect killington to it's past - what made it great. his first major policy decision was to rescind the outgoing president's policy of shortening the ski day. in short he listened ...

 

[4aprice]

Hunter used to have the early/late season crown for the NYC area. We always thought of them as a "Killington South" in the 80's. Not only the skiing, the partying too. It was after that time (spent a lot of time there in 80's) it went through a transformation to a much more family oriented place. I loved the old Hunter but I'm sure not everyone up there is for turning back the clock.

Alex

Lake Hopatcong, NJ

 

[RichT]

Hunter used to have the early/late season crown for the NYC area. We always thought of them as a "Killington South" in the 80's. Not only the skiing, the partying too. It was after that time (spent a lot of time there in 80's) it went through a transformation to a much more family oriented place. I loved the old Hunter but I'm sure not everyone up there is for turning back the clock.

Alex

Lake Hopatcong, NJ

I'm NOT............now that I have an 18 year old daughter:roll:!!!!!

 

[andrec10]

I'm NOT............now that I have an 18 year old daughter:roll:!!!!!

God Help you!

 

[dmc]

I miss the partying...

 

[RichT]

Here's the poop from their website

[h=1]SNOW REPORT[/h] CURRENT BASE TEMP: 23° CURRENT WEATHER: slight chance snow Hello skiers and riders,​ We will be opening for the 2013-2014 season on Friday, November 29th! Snowmaking has been taking place on and off for the past few days, but with a warm-up anticipated, we've decided to wait until after Thanksgiving to bring you the great conditions you've come to expect from us. We'll see you soon! Enjoy your day!

;

 

[millerm277]

From the webcam it looks like HBK's filled in and they're working on Lower Broadway.

 

[dmc]

POURED all night long...
Creek is a couple feet up and and still rising...

Still raining at 8AM - 45 degrees in the valley.

 

[JimG.]

POURED all night long...
Creek is a couple feet up and and still rising...

Still raining at 8AM - 45 degrees in the valley.

So they will have tonight and tomorrow to get HBK open for Friday.

What are the odds?

My backyard stream is raging right now.

 

[andrec10]

So they will have tonight and tomorrow to get HBK open for Friday.

What are the odds?

My backyard stream is raging right now.

Webcam shows the rain letting up and coverage looks good still. With 30 hours of snowmaking, it should be good. Lets hope they let the water drain out of it before they groom!