Killington Season Pass Price to be announced Monday June 18th?

[loafer89]

I do not think that there is any problem with my attitude, it's just an observation based on what limited facts have come from the new managemant at Killington. You don't buy a business that is falling apart with it's reputation in tatters, and then raise the price of what you sold in the past, while potentially offering the same crappy service. It comes across the wrong way, it say's F you, we don't need your business anway.

I do not expect Powdr/SP land to do much for Killington other than what it might have to do to build a village.

As for Saddleback, the place has the potential to become very large, as they own quite a bit of land, locals would probably know this situation better than me. I like the remotness of the place as well as at Sugarloaf, and would gladly drive the extra 200 miles to avoid skiing on top of other people. Saddleback is also a dying breed of family owned ski areas that do not have a CEO or a fortune 500 company to answer to at the end of the year, they offer good service because it is the right thing to do.

 

[JimG.]

I do not think that there is any problem with my attitude, it's just an observation based on what limited facts have come from the new managemant at Killington. You don't buy a business that is falling apart with it's reputation in tatters, and then raise the price of what you sold in the past, while potentially offering the same crappy service. It comes across the wrong way, it say's F you, we don't need your business anway.

I do not expect Powdr/SP land to do much for Killington other than what it might have to do to build a village.

As for Saddleback, the place has the potential to become very large, as they own quite a bit of land, locals would probably know this situation better than me. I like the remotness of the place as well as at Sugarloaf, and would gladly drive the extra 200 miles to avoid skiing on top of other people. Saddleback is also a dying breed of family owned ski areas that do not have a CEO or a fortune 500 company to answer to at the end of the year, they offer good service because it is the right thing to do.

Well, if you feel that way about ski areas owned by large corps, you should have been driving past Killington to MRG from the start.

And I think that POWDR/SP's decisions regarding pass prices and lifetime passes are pretty much saying what you just wrote...they don't want the cheap/free passholders anymore. Pretty much came right out and said it.

 

[andyzee]

Jim, I'm going to make it simple. Whatever you're smoking, I want some! :lol:

 

[loafer89]

Well, if you feel that way about ski areas owned by large corps, you should have been driving past Killington to MRG from the start.

And I think that POWDR/SP's decisions regarding pass prices and lifetime passes are pretty much saying what you just wrote...they don't want the cheap/free passholders anymore. Pretty much came right out and said it.

Actually, we drove way past them all and started skiing Saddleback. I would ski MRG, but it seems a bit more difficult for my son than I think he would be comfortable. I am all for a price increase at Killington, but give me some eye candy to justify it, be it increased snowmaking/fan guns on Superstar, a renovated base lodge, new kids programs, anything to peak my interest, it need not involve millions of dollars. Some sort of press release to this effect would be a great marketing tool on their part. SKII did this yearly, both in stock reports, and newsletters to their customers.

Look at Mount Snow, the owners have just taken possesion of the mountain and are upgrading the snowmaking the first year out. That shows an interest in servicing your customers.

Again, I ski Killington early and late and I would gladly pay 2-3 times more for a lift ticket to ski the shoulder seasons. Since Powdr decapitated the season at Mount Bachelor, I doubt they are looking to have a long season anyway.

I agree that the All For One pass was a disaster for ASC and I helped to further them along by buying one, but I also spent a ton of money at their resorts this year on food/lodging and lessons.

 

[loafer89]

At least we got Boyne to post on the Sunday River message board with a nice introductory letter, and they do not even own the place yet. I am not aware if Powdr/SP has released anything like this?????

First, I want to thank this gentleman for putting such time and effort into creating what is a very accurate summary of Boyne's 60 year history. He reminded me of several things that I had forgotten myself, including my golf game There may be a few tweaks to get it perfect and there also are a few hundred other chapters to our journey as a family run company but we at Boyne are also very excited about this next chapter that is unfolding. The opportunity to being involved in the ski business in New England is one we have discussed and been interested in for several decades. The time was never right until now.

As I said in my public statements, are very excited about working with the teams at Sunday River and Sugarloaf to have a very positive impact over the coming decades on those two resorts. New England is a special place and we respect what has been done and what it represents. We wish to be a very positive part of the long & rich history of New England skiing and resorting.

Since there is much to do to get this transaction to the finish line and there is much to be discussed with the respective resort teams, I hope that all the very loyal and eager customers of Sunday and Sugarloaf can be patient regarding receiving any definitive information about passes or future plans.

However, information regarding season pass options should be available at the or near the post closing timeframes. Future plans announcements are going to take more time (months or longer) as we need to really digest the opportunities and enter into a pretty lengthy process of masterplaning and evaluation. We do have many exciting preliminary ideas that will need to be further flush out before we would go public with them.

Again, thank you for the comments and our team at Boyne is looking forward to helping make your Sunday River and Sugarloaf reach their full potential.

Regards,

SK

 

[snoseek]

bye bye killington, we've had a pretty good run...

 

[andyzee]

bye bye killington, we've had a pretty good run...

Well put!

 

[Newpylong]

That's good stuff. We got letters from Peaks (Mount Snow) and pass prices right after the sale, and they posted on the All4one message boards (ironic bit there eh). Time will tell I guess...

 

[nycskier]

anyone that lives in NY and buys a pass to any place other than whiteface/gore does not care about value . Both mountains are closer, whiteface is better and now they are cheaper. I loved ASC. They were cheap as sheat. I certainly had no care if they went bankrupt. I would by a season pass for my one weak at sugarloaf a year. Would go to K early and late. The terrain never turned me on. How many times can you ski a bump run and stay interested
BTW Whiteface is doing a huge expansion.

Actually, Killington and Whiteface are both about a 4hr 45 minute drive for me. The advantage to Killington is Amtrak goes to Rutland so if I don't feel like driving I can train it up. Last 3 years the ASC A41 Bronze was WAY cheaper than anything offered at Whiteface or Gore. Plus I got to travel around and try out other resorts. Skied Sunday River and Attiash on the pass too.


The Whiteface Gore pass is a really good deal and I am tempted to do it (especially if the Killington pass prices are crazy). I just think it is a shame NYS did not add Bellyere to the pass too.

 

[roark]

My $.02. K's niche has always been the ski hard, party hard crowd. Stratton, Stowe, Okemo have established their own niches. I think it's a mistake to try to grab the "snobbier" market share. K won't be getting my money next season.

 

[tjf67]

Actually, Killington and Whiteface are both about a 4hr 45 minute drive for me. The advantage to Killington is Amtrak goes to Rutland so if I don't feel like driving I can train it up. Last 3 years the ASC A41 Bronze was WAY cheaper than anything offered at Whiteface or Gore. Plus I got to travel around and try out other resorts. Skied Sunday River and Attiash on the pass too.


The Whiteface Gore pass is a really good deal and I am tempted to do it (especially if the Killington pass prices are crazy). I just think it is a shame NYS did not add Bellyere to the pass too.

Bellyere gets enough traffic from the downstate, they would be shooting themselves in the foot. I think they should offer NYS resident passes. We make up the difference on bad years.


All the slamming of Killington is kinda funny. How quickly the savages turn.

 

[twinplanx]

nycskier your use of public transport. is admirable but what do you do once your in Rutland unless your meeting up w/ people ? is there shuttle from the T.S. to hotels near the lifts?
I too have wondered why Bellyere was left off that pass

 

[Bubbartzky]

After all the angst over higher pass prices, I think people may be pleasantly surprised on Monday that they're not going up to ungodly levels many are anticipating. They still have to be competitive in the VT/NH/NY season pass marketplace. Anyway, we'll all find out soon enough.

 

[gpetrics]

nycskier your use of public transport. is admirable but what do you do once your in Rutland unless your meeting up w/ people ? is there shuttle from the T.S. to hotels near the lifts?
I too have wondered why Bellyere was left off that pass

you can take "The Bus" to the access road from the train station in rutvegas... no, seriously, it is actually called "The Bus" and costs 2$

i think on friday nights in winter they have a special bus waiting when the train comes in.

 

[gpetrics]

i might as well chime in as well in case anyone cares to know since i've been skiing at Kton & Pico since 1984, and have skied 100+ days there each season since 1995 (went to KMS, and have never left the area):

I don't care NEARLY as much about the early season skiing as the late season glacier on Superstar. Spring bumps in the warm sun are way more fun than icy scraped off manmade with 1000s of people on 2 trails screaming around rogue showstopping rocks.

I wish they would just scrap trying to open if the weather isn't with them in early november, and just start the season whenever you get a gauranteed block of cold air, and then start the guns in late january/early feb on superstar when the mtn is in good shape, and don't stop for weeks.

The main problem I guess is that if you are a ski company such as ASC, POWDR, whoever, and are going to go for long seasons, you just can't do only one and not the other. if you are going to be the beast of the east, and earn skiers all season on a reputation, you need to be open in october/november AND may/june.

Also, the early season skiing is more profitable I imagine because people have been pent up all summer, and they all want to ski. But at the same time it's GOT to be a more volatile investment to blow early season snow as you are almost guaranteed to lose a lot of that snow you put on the hill in early november to a warm up in mid november and/or december (if not ALL of it).

I guess I'm just pissed off at skiers everywhere for not heading Glenn Plake:

"ski when there's snow, not when there AINT"

 

[Geoff]

How silly of me to think that only skier's like us look for improvements. In reality, Joe Blow and Jane Doe rather ride a rusty, grease dripping triple than a High Speed Quad. I also hear they like skiing on grass too. Not. If they think that jacking season pass prices up and painting a lift is going to draw enough people to get their margins up, this company is not going to last long. This is not Utah, there isn't 400 inches of snow here to draw people.

I am/was loyal because Killington used to be a skier's mountain. First to open, last to close, solid snow inbetween. While it is early to tell, the new owners seem content on turning the place into a Stratton (higher margins on fewer skiers). This is fine, but I will not be spending my money there, as I have stated.

The thing people are missing here is that Killington is only jacking up season pass prices, not day ticket prices. Jane Doe and Joe Blow have always bought Killington's expensive walk-up day ticket. Until the recent insanity of discount passes, Killington had always priced the pass to break even at 21 days. They sold thousands of passes at that price. If you can't pay the freight for the pass, welcome to Joe Blow-dom.

If the new owners don't revert to the old Killington policy of first to open, last to close, and blow snow until the snowmaking ponds are sucked dry, they're not going to attract either the Joe Blow walkup crowd or the premium season pass people. I'll give it a year or two. If their product sucks, I'll sell and move on to another mountain. Pass prices are lost in the noise for me compared to property taxes, condo fees, and automobile expense. I can get a Thanksgiving to late-April with marginal midwinter snowmaking product anywhere.

 

[threecy]

I am all for a price increase at Killington, but give me some eye candy to justify it, be it increased snowmaking/fan guns on Superstar, a renovated base lodge, new kids programs, anything to peak my interest, it need not involve millions of dollars.

Fan guns on Superstar would be millions of dollars! I question the effectiveness of fan guns at a ski area the size of Killington that's already built on air/water technology.

I don't think Killington needs to do a thing to justify an increase (of course we're all speculating still, for all we know they could end up charging $10 or $5,000 for a season pass) - the rate has been held unreasonably low for years, coming out of the pocket of shareholders and lenders. You could make an argument that it was skiing welfare, in fact.

I hope they charge market value for their passes - they certainly have already spent enough money.

I can't stand skiing Killington, but with the end of Walmartism there, I may be inclined to return.

 

[pepperdawg]

I don't care NEARLY as much about the early season skiing as the late season glacier on Superstar. Spring bumps in the warm sun are way more fun than icy scraped off manmade with 1000s of people on 2 trails screaming around rogue showstopping rocks.

I wish they would just scrap trying to open if the weather isn't with them in early november, and just start the season whenever you get a gauranteed block of cold air, and then start the guns in late january/early feb on superstar when the mtn is in good shape, and don't stop for weeks."

Most intelligent rant in this thread....

 

[millerm277]

Most intelligent rant in this thread....

Agreed, the late season is far more important than the early, for marketing, conditions, and cost. Staying open late costs much less than early.

 

[Bubbartzky]

Agreed, the late season is far more important than the early, for marketing, conditions, and cost. Staying open late costs much less than early.

Not sure you have that right.

Early season is for kicking off the winter mindset and it's profitable if they don't have to start with top to bottom skiing. If they find a way to put in an upper mountain lift for early season, they'll earn a reasonable return on that investment and begin to draw people back to the mountain.

Late season costs are hidden by the fact that what we all look at is the variable cost of operating a couple of lifts and keeping a base lodge open and operating. We don't see the cost of blowing the pile on Superstar and/or elsewhere. That has to be added into the equation. In addition, without proper marketing of late season skiing (i.e. promotion, discounting tickets to passholders from other mountains, etc.) the late season skier is generally local and/or your existing season passholder. Properly marketed, however, I agree that this would also be a moneymaker or, at worst, break even but with the added value for branding and marketing. Late season skiing with that pile of snow on Superstar is their visible commitment to snowmaking!