i guess she's singing-k closing

[andyzee]

Bottom line, my skiing at Killington cost me 12.50 a day up to this point. I will be getting in at least another 2 days, that will bring the cost down to 11.75 a day. If they close after this weekend, I got my monies worth. Did the all for one shorten the season? Probably, do I care? Yeah, I may bitch and moan, but with that price and the time of year, I really don't have much to complain about.

 

[Vortex]

It is on the main page as an option. AZ 2005. I can't linc. Anyway.

I said I have heard grumblings and rumours of a later season opening and a earlier season closing..... what is true and what is rumor? Response. We plan on sticking to a mid November opening and a Mid May Closing. All dependent on weather.

Seems to me if other areas can make it to May.......

 

[andyzee]

It is on the main page as an option. AZ 2005. I can't linc. Anyway.

I said I have heard grumblings and rumours of a later season opening and a earlier season closing..... what is true and what is rumor? Response. We plan on sticking to a mid November opening and a Mid May Closing. All dependent on weather.

Seems to me if other areas can make it to May.......

If K tried harder, they could have made it to mid May. With regards to other mountains, I'll believe it when I see it. I don't think many will stay open much later then the last weekend in April. Let's face facts, it's been a crappy season with regards to weather.

Oh and here's the link, you call yourself a moderator :roll: http://skiing.alpinezone.com/articles/challenge/2005/response.htm?resort=killington

 

[Vortex]

I can live with this season was just tough.

I would have a concern if the May 1st closing became a common event. The all4one and it effects on early and late season brings up a decent debate. It would be easy to prove wrong if they stayed open late. I had more issues of Attitash charging Holiday rates midweek for the MTN Dew Vert Challenge.

 

[andyzee]

I can live with this season was just tough.

I would have a concern if the May 1st closing became a common event. The all4one and it effects on early and late season brings up a decent debate. It would be easy to prove wrong if they stayed open late. I had more issues of Attitash charging Holiday rates midweek for the MTN Dew Vert Challenge.

I hate to give up my All For One, too good of a deal. However it does seem to have an impact on the late closing. So, here's an idea I can live with, have an expiration date on the all for one, either May 1 or May 15 and let them charge after that. Don't know how much they might make in sales, but if they did enough business, it might give them incentive to stay open, maybe even into June.

 

[Treeskier]

What no snow beach in Mid May

This really saddens me. And yes I pay the $ day ticket to ski multiple days in MAY. It is so much fun to ski the large mushy corn bumps while watching some of the best NE skiers bump along. Maybe it's time for Kmart to pass the baton but Superstar can be so much fun.

 

[andyzee]

This really saddens me. And yes I pay the $ day ticket to ski multiple days in MAY. It is so much fun to ski the large mushy corn bumps while watching some of the best NE skiers bump along. Maybe it's time for Kmart to pass the baton but Superstar can be so much fun.

That's for sure, last year I hiked Super Star for the first time. The conditions were great. This year Outer Limits may be the trail to hike.

 

[loafer89]

The banks that control ASC have no interest in seeing them start/end/operate when it will not be profitable, end of story.

When SKI ran the show, they never ran an unprofitable business, because they concentrated on the skiing aspect of their resorts and did not expand hastily into real estate or try to gobble up every resort they could afford. The SKI philosophy was to operate whenever possible regardless of if it was a good natural snowfall year or not.
With a company up to it's eyeballs in debt there is no reason to waste money to satisfy a few die hard skiers, sorry but that's the way it is now with ASC at the helm.

Skiing in October and June is good publicity that costs alot of money, but most people do not want to ski one trail on either end of the season.

It seemed that ASC wanted nothing more than to end the season as soon as possible at Sugarloaf, which they did by closing down one week before the scheduled closing date, and this was with a mountain that had snowcover remaining on more than 60% of the trails at closing day.

ASC seems more driven for profit than skier/rider enjoyment, case in point my visit to Maine last weekend. Sugarloaf had the bare minimum of lifts and trail grooming, while they neighbor to the west, Saddleback, groomed about 50% of the mountain and had every lift running. This was very frustrating to experience, to have to leave a world class resort and travel to a resort that is even more remote to provide the skier with the services he is willing to pay for, please, ASC dropped the ball.

Rant over

 

[PowderDeprived]

I haven't been to killington recently, so I don't know how good the coverege is, but running the Superstar quad through may, possibly some days for only 3 or 4 people is a waste of money. There has to be some decent coverege, and I will bet that it is more of a money decission, probably to offset the costs of extra snowmaking in a low snow year.

Last season we were hiking at Sugarbush into june and they "officialy closed" 1 week before May due to lack of crouds not snow. Same can probably be said about most NE resorts, with enough elevation and that are far enough north.

We are luckey that we get great spring skiing up here, alot of places further south have to set April 1 as a goal for a good season. Eventualy you have to put away your gear, get out your mountain bike, golf clubs, tennis rackests, hiking boots, what ever and watch everything turn green, and start saving up for next years pass.
Winter will be back, and hopefully next season will bring good snows well into the spring.

 

[SkiDork]

but running the Superstar quad through may, possibly some days for only 3 or 4 people is a waste of money.

they should just run it on weekends in May

 

[Vortex]

Nice point Dork. I don't think anyone would be upset by that. They have enough year round employees to run 1 lift.

 

[skiadikt]

When SKI ran the show, they never ran an unprofitable business, because they concentrated on the skiing aspect of their resorts and did not expand hastily into real estate or try to gobble up every resort they could afford. The SKI philosophy was to operate whenever possible regardless of if it was a good natural snowfall year or not.

spot on loafer. that's why i'm at k ... and year after year when pres smith and the rest of k management got together to plan for the coming season, they apparently thought enough of their philosophy of opening as early as possible (early oct) and targeting the closing for memorial and beyond to continue doing it for 25-30 years. believe me if they were bleeding money because of it they would have stopped long ago. obviously because of asc and their financial woes, they no longer deemed this a viable concept and from what i've 'heard' this season will not be the exception but will become the rule, with may1 being the target closing date.

one final note, the k trialthlon (on memorial weekend) has always been nothing more than a marketting tool to trumpet the power & might of the k snowmaking system and their dedication to skiing and this year they're not even having it.

 

[thetrailboss]

they should just run it on weekends in May

I concur.

 

[SkiDork]

I concur.

That always reminds me of the movie "Crimson Tide"

 

[skibum1321]

We at AZ should get some funds together and buy K-Mart. We couldn't do much worse at running the mountain than ASC. Maybe we can even make it a respectable mountain again.

 

[SkiDork]

We at AZ should get some funds together and buy K-Mart. We couldn't do much worse at running the mountain than ASC. Maybe we can even make it a respectable mountain again.

I concur

 

[andyzee]

they should just run it on weekends in May

I like it. Not only would it be more cost effective, it would also help to make the snow last longer.

 

[loafer89]

spot on loafer. that's why i'm at k ... and year after year when pres smith and the rest of k management got together to plan for the coming season, they apparently thought enough of their philosophy of opening as early as possible (early oct) and targeting the closing for memorial and beyond to continue doing it for 25-30 years. believe me if they were bleeding money because of it they would have stopped long ago. obviously because of asc and their financial woes, they no longer deemed this a viable concept and from what i've 'heard' this season will not be the exception but will become the rule, with may1 being the target closing date.

one final note, the k trialthlon (on memorial weekend) has always been nothing more than a marketting tool to trumpet the power & might of the k snowmaking system and their dedication to skiing and this year they're not even having it.

Skiing at Killington in October and June was an experience that I will never forget, and it is sad to see the place become a mere shadow of it's former glory. I was thinking about skiing Killington this saturday, but seeing a thin/bare Superstar in late April would probably be depressing, let alone that the weather is not forecast to be all that great.

I think that managment at ASC has sad, to hell with the fringe season, it is not profitable for us, and that may be true, but it leaves a bad taste in my mouth. With the exception of Sugarloaf, which I really love, I doubt that I will be skiing at any other ASC resort next year.

 

[Lostone]

What they've done by having the too cheap pass is they've moved some of their income money to the front of the season and took a loss on any that they would have exceeded by those people buying 6 lift tickets.

It is not the loss of income from the end of the season, but throughout the season.

It is similar to the airlines who, losing money, decide to have a contest to see who can get the most of the passengers by offering lower prices.

Let's see, if I'm losing money at $50 per person, then if I only charge $35, I can get more customers. But now you need 10 customers to get the same amount you would have made with 7.

As to whether it was worth it? If they can make more by selling cheap passes and only run the middle of the season, what do they lose?

 

[loafer89]

They lose their loyal base of skiers who come to expect skiing in October and May, possibly even June. They also lose the marketing value that was 40+ years in the making. I know that I started skiing at Killington because I was impressed with the fact that they offered such a long season. Now I might as well spend my money at any other place that has nearly as long a ski season.

From an economic standpoint, for a company drowning in debt it makes perfect sense to shorten the season, but for the skier/rider it sucks.

ASC has hardly made any improvements to their properties that are worth merit, while Stratton, Okemo, Bretton Woods and Intrawest properties, fly past them with improvements. I like to ski a Saddleback or Plattekill, but I also like the "eye candy" that a new lift or trail provides to pull me back again for a few more visits. ASC is stagnant, dead in the water with this regard, what pull do they have to get my money back again next season, a new and improved shorter ski season????