Killington will Open Before Sunday River This Season

[deadheadskier]

Yes. And they suck for that. Just like SR sucks for opening and closing as well.

Maybe not you, but there has been plenty of bitching in recent years by K regulars when SR opened and then closed for midweeks and K has sat idle only willing to turn on the guns when they think they can open 7 days a week full time.

I'll take the Sunday River approach any day of the week. It means that they will open as soon as possible. K has not done that in many years. I don't really care that they make the financial decision to close during the midweeks prior to Thanksgiving. I rarely if ever hear their pass holders bitch about it either.

 

[skiersleft]

Maybe not you, but there has been plenty of bitching in recent years by K regulars when SR opened and then closed for midweeks and K has sat idle only willing to turn on the guns when they think they can open 7 days a week full time.

I'll take the Sunday River approach any day of the week. It means that they will open as soon as possible. K has not done that in many years. I don't really care that they make the financial decision to close during the midweeks prior to Thanksgiving. I rarely if ever hear their pass holders bitch about it either.

I agree that it's better to open weekends than not open at all. But you should agree that it's better to open all week than only weekends. Killington will open before SR this year. And when they do, they will open for the season. SR will open later and will then close. You read it here first.

 

[deadheadskier]

I agree that it's better to open weekends than not open at all. But you should agree that it's better to open all week than only weekends. Killington will open before SR this year. And when they do, they will open for the season. SR will open later and will then close. You read it here first.

I think I need to check your IP; I smell Highwaystar. :lol:

And regarding whether I think it's better to open all week instead of just weekends, that depends. I don't think Sunday River would be as aggressive as they are in opening early season if they planned on a 7 day a week schedule. The business simply isn't there because they don't have both the NY and Boston markets to draw from.

I feel even more strongly about such an operations schedule late season.Personally? I think more areas should go to a 3-4 day a week schedule some time in April and extend their season by a few weeks as opposed to operating 7 days and closing up shop with great amounts of snow still on the slopes. As an example, I'd much rather see Killington drop down to a 4 day weekend schedule after April 15th and operate through the middle of May, than run 7 days a week and close up shop May 1st or earlier.

 

[mister moose]

What happens, BTW, if for some weird reason they both open the same day?

Who ever sends the first paying (pass or ticket) skier up the hill first. Time counts. If Killington is grooming it out until 10am and SR opens at 8, SR wins. If they both open at the exact same time, there is no winner.

 

[steamboat1]

I feel even more strongly about such an operations schedule late season.Personally? I think more areas should go to a 3-4 day a week schedule some time in April and extend their season by a few weeks as opposed to operating 7 days and closing up shop with great amounts of snow still on the slopes. As an example, I'd much rather see Killington drop down to a 4 day weekend schedule after April 15th and operate through the middle of May, than run 7 days a week and close up shop May 1st or earlier.

Last year when K closed late April there wasn't much left. Upper/lower Skylark & lower Bittersweet were open but washed out Sat ( they were still alright Fri.). They had to farm snow from the edges of the Superstar headwall to keep a narrow section down the middle going & there was a section lower down that was dicey. I don't think only being open weekends would have made any difference. Yes I've skied Supe when it was worse late season but having people hiking down the headwall & part of the lower steep section in ski boots carrying their ski's is dangerous & not worth the liability to the ski area in my opinion.

 

[Gilligan]

Pretty obvious that you both buy each other a beer. Duh.

Pretty obvious that they are wagering a case, not just a beer. Duh.

 

[riverc0il]

I don't think any one can fault K for closing when they did last year. I agree, walking down the headwall of Superstar in ski boots is pushing too far for being open to the general public. But before last year, K has had a disturbing trend of not making the effort to push as far as possible. The worst was when they called the season an end a week early due to weather (with Skyelark and Superstart still edge to edge) and then they got a foot of snow and still wouldn't open. Here is hoping the new Pres realizes the bad vibes that type of approach causes and looks at early and late season as the loss leader that they are... a minimal trip to the red for a sustainable run in the black.

 

[St. Bear]

Pretty obvious that they are wagering a case, not just a beer. Duh.

Pretty obvious the payouts are reduced in the event of a tie. Duh.

 

[steamboat1]

I can also remember skiing K the 1st week of May & still having Superstar chair, K-1 gondola & the Snowdon quad running with most of the trails off them still open & pretty well covered.

Like I said in an earlier post I couldn't care less who opens 1st but I love my spring skiing. If they still have enough snow to keep it open they should.

 

[ScottySkis]

This thread just keeps going and going and going.

 

[steamboat1]

This thread just keeps going and going and going.

LOL... & it probably will for at least another month.

 

[Gilligan]

Pretty obvious the payouts are reduced in the event of a tie. Duh.

Guess it was not obvious to them since the payouts are now reduced all the way to zero in the event of a tie. No worries, I am sure they appreciated your help on the matter.

 

[deadheadskier]

Last year when K closed late April there wasn't much left. Upper/lower Skylark & lower Bittersweet were open but washed out Sat ( they were still alright Fri.). They had to farm snow from the edges of the Superstar headwall to keep a narrow section down the middle going & there was a section lower down that was dicey. I don't think only being open weekends would have made any difference. Yes I've skied Supe when it was worse late season but having people hiking down the headwall & part of the lower steep section in ski boots carrying their ski's is dangerous & not worth the liability to the ski area in my opinion.

Definitely agree that last year K extended their season pretty much as far as they could. There have been several in recent years though where the decision to close was for financial reasons, not snow. If running a reduced schedule allows a mountain to mitigate some of those financial losses and keep going a bit longer, that's what I'm for. Essentially what Jay Peak has been doing the past several seasons.

 

[SkiFanE]

Maybe not you, but there has been plenty of bitching in recent years by K regulars when SR opened and then closed for midweeks and K has sat idle only willing to turn on the guns when they think they can open 7 days a week full time.

I'll take the Sunday River approach any day of the week. It means that they will open as soon as possible. K has not done that in many years. I don't really care that they make the financial decision to close during the midweeks prior to Thanksgiving. I rarely if ever hear their pass holders bitch about it either.

Maybe more K pass holders are local? How many people are taking a midweek ski vacation in Oct/early Nov? I don't get it. Opening weekend at SR has diehards from all over, Penn, Canada, NY...I feel lucky I don't have to travel 8 hrs to get there for a half trail lol. I'll take SR's approach.

 

[St. Bear]

Guess it was not obvious to them since the payouts are now reduced all the way to zero in the event of a tie. No worries, I am sure they appreciated your help on the matter.

It's a tough job, but somebody's got to do it.

 

[Nick]

Sunday River opens ahead of Killington prompting Highway Star to launch his annual Killington = EPIC FAIL! thread.

:lol:

 

[thetrailboss]

Maybe more K pass holders are local? How many people are taking a midweek ski vacation in Oct/early Nov? I don't get it. Opening weekend at SR has diehards from all over, Penn, Canada, NY...I feel lucky I don't have to travel 8 hrs to get there for a half trail lol. I'll take SR's approach.

There are a lot of second homeowners at Killington who are diehards.

 

[Nick]

PS, everyone wins when beer is involved :beer:

 

[JimG.]

Like I said in an earlier post I couldn't care less who opens 1st but I love my spring skiing. If they still have enough snow to keep it open they should.

While I would like to agee with you, in today's world of ski area finances this statement just doesn't wash anymore. Snow left on the ground is irrelevant to the operator, the numbers of fannies sitting on lifts and at the bar is what drives the decision to stay open or not.

While most of us here would go ski anywhere there was snow left that was open and running, we also need to face the fact that we are a very small subset of the skiing population and believe it or not, we don't matter in these decisions. Most of us paid for a season pass right after our ski area closed and since then, we are not important to the operator. The ski area already has our money, and because we ski 50 days a year they look at us as the skiers who paid too little on average per ski day. And that's it.

The vast majority of skiers have stopped skiing and are playing golf by the end of March.

 

[snowmonster]

We keep moving the goal posts.

The game, boys and girls, is first to open. It's pretty simple. First one who opens wins. It's not first to open -- then stay open the whole season. That would be moving the goal posts. Races and games should be simple. You can't layer it with so many rules and exceptions. IIRC, K was all set to open early in 2010, even the SR regulars had conceded it. Then, SR pumped snow for 18 hours and opened to beat K. And yeah, conceding defeat by sending a case of beer then saying that you lost because you wanted to offer a superior product is hypocrisy. That's losing then criticizing the other team because they won ugly. Heck, I'd rather win ugly than have a moral victory.

Could SR have remain open for the week after opening? I'm sure they could. But, why spin the lifts when there's no one there? That would be pissing away good money.

And another thing, I'm glad that K went as late as they could last year. Could SR have done so too? Based on what we were skiing on that last day, definitely. There was enough snow that there were pipes and jumps all over. We even had naked teeners doing group backflips in the park. And, oh yeah, it was free.

Lastly, why is it that SR skiers don't criticize SR management for opening early then closing midweek? We're a happy group.