Lodges that don't allow outside food

[MommaBear]

Here is the issue, some folks simply can not afford slope side food, it's bloody expensive. And bring the whole family? Wow! You'll pay as much for the eats and drinks as those lift tickets. Skiing is a pretty expensive sport to begin with. Just add up everything attached to your body when skiing, multiply that by the whole family, then pay resort prices for food on top of this? It took some considerable savings and bargain hunting to outfit the family and get lift tickets. If we were going skiing, it was definitely a brown bag day....

^^ This ^^

We did what we could to keep a family of 5 out on the mountain most weekends (along with some of the kids' friends). Brown bagging it was one easy way to save. And we already weren't eating out at home. But the memories and just being able to spend time with my kids was well worth the scrimping and saving. Maybe the mountains (and town, since we cooked in as well - thou we did support the local grocery store!) didn't make a ton of money off of us. But it has 5 skiers for life. That has to be worth something.

 

[MommaBear]

And in all fairness Glen, the Sundance lodge is available to bring food in to and unless things have changed, the main base lodge tolerates it. It was mentioned that the Main Base is also no outside food, but I don't ever recall seeing a sign.

I just don't understand why they created the community they did in Carinthia over the past few years, and then put in a base lodge that goes against the typical user (younger adult with no money).

 

[BenedictGomez]

That seems pretty danged high!

Especially for what I would be expecting from Magic.

The food at Magic is very expensive. I'll give you another example, as we also had breakfast there:

2 egg, ham & cheese, on muffins + 1 Gatorade = $18 LOL The little breakfast sandwiches were $6.50 each!

 

[Glenn]

And in all fairness Glen, the Sundance lodge is available to bring food in to and unless things have changed, the main base lodge tolerates it. It was mentioned that the Main Base is also no outside food, but I don't ever recall seeing a sign.

I just don't understand why they created the community they did in Carinthia over the past few years, and then put in a base lodge that goes against the typical user (younger adult with no money).

Well put. It seems like it goes against the grain of the target market for park skiers and riders.

 

[NYDB]

And in all fairness Glen, the Sundance lodge is available to bring food in to and unless things have changed, the main base lodge tolerates it. It was mentioned that the Main Base is also no outside food, but I don't ever recall seeing a sign.

I just don't understand why they created the community they did in Carinthia over the past few years, and then put in a base lodge that goes against the typical user (younger adult with no money).

Maybe they are banking on younger park rats with resort charging on their seasons pass. Also, people under 30 are not bringing bag lunches or crockpots.

Young people spend alot of money on food and bev. Moreso than their income would dictate.

Sent from my SM-G960U using AlpineZone mobile app

 

[Not Sure]

Entertaining in a sad way . Not saying F&B revenue will make or break a mountain but sure it adds up .

 

[FBGM]

This May I'll make you a banner with this printed on it and you have to hold it above your head at the bottom of the Superstar lift at Killington, pointed towards the campers/tents/grills on the access road. Those dirty hippies are gonna stick some ski poles and grill tongs up holes you didn't even know you had!

That’s called tailgating....

Jerry with his family of 6 and 4 bags of food from Costco posting up in the lodge is cheap

Tele skier with dreads eating pb&j and Roman noodles is hippy dirt bag

 

[Whitey]

I'm like a lot who post here and do a combination of buy and bring. With 4 ppl in my family & usually a couple of tag along friends of my boys - food at ski mountains gets expensive fast. Someone mentioned the "total budget for the ski season" concept and that's where I am at. The more I spend on food, hotels, gear, etc the less I have to buy lift tix. So I gotta find some savings where I can & use the savings for lift tix.

I had to compromise because my spoiled rotten kids (JK, they are OK - just aren't big sandwich ppl) don't like a basic sandwich out of a cooler. So I let them buy lunch for themselves but I bring a cooler with drinks and they get their drinks from that. I bring my own lunch. So the boys get a couple of burgers/chic/whatever but everything else we bring. The other thing I do is throw a couple of cans of beer in the cooler. Most times I don't have time or the desire to do a full blown apres-ski bar thing. 2 beers at the end of the day while I get changed/out of my boots does the trick and saves a lot of $.

I don't do crock pots or anything like that. A turkey sandwich and some soup in a smaller thermos. Something like the mini-thermos pictured here is great to have something hot to eat that you can bring yourself:

 

[KustyTheKlown]

i havent brought my own food on hill yet this season except for day1 at K knowing that i'd have to climb to the peak lodge if i wanted to buy, but that's mainly because i've just been eating a good breakfast and then feasting on junk/fast food after wrapping for the day. i also usually have 4-6 beers stashed on me.

on my western trips i am religious about bringing snacks and food. the arrival day ritual is to hit the grocery store for sliced turkey, cheese, maybe some avocado, two loaves of bread, peanut butter, jelly, and various snackables like chocolate and goldfish. i refuse to pay for ski-lodge lunch 7 days in a row, thats crazy.

 

[skiMEbike]

I think ski lodges are firstly a retreat from the cold; i.e., a place to get your gear sorted at the start of a day and a safe refuge when you get cold and/or hungry any time during your visit.

To me this is the most important thing....You have to have space for people to just sit down & get away from the cold and not be forced to "buy food". That said I think it is perfectly "ok" for these mid mountain "restaurants" to kick people out if they are not a paying customer, as long as the Mountain has a place (another location) for skiers to escape the cold. I do think bringing crock pots into a lodge setting up a table cloth with place settings is a bit over the top, and should be banned on the basis of it being a fire hazard.

 

[Abominable]

I LOVE going into the lodge at a Bousquet or a Catamount and seeing all the racer families sprawled out, crockpots and peanut butter crackers, snivelly little kids running around screaming, helmets, boots, scarves all strewn about carelessly. I find it very nostalgic and wholesome and hope to do the same with my family.

Buncha no fun hedge fund managers in here, sheesh.

 

[ss20]

I LOVE going into the lodge at a Bousquet or a Catamount and seeing all the racer families sprawled out, crockpots and peanut butter crackers, snivelly little kids running around screaming, helmets, boots, scarves all strewn about carelessly. I find it very nostalgic and wholesome and hope to do the same with my family.

Buncha no fun hedge fund managers in here, sheesh.

Oh good it's not just me with this sentiment. It brings me back to yesteryear...I started skiing regularly when I was 10 so I've got many middle/high school memories of friends and I taking up entire tables in the lodge.

I like seeing kids have fun in the lodge. Sometimes I walk into these ski lodges (midweek) and it looks like the retirement home bus just dropped off the crowd. And of course there's an 80yo man with his shirt off, putting on base layers. Youthful energy is mostly refreshing to me and not annoying.

 

[MEtoVTSkier]

And in all fairness Glen, the Sundance lodge is available to bring food in to and unless things have changed, the main base lodge tolerates it. It was mentioned that the Main Base is also no outside food, but I don't ever recall seeing a sign.

I just don't understand why they created the community they did in Carinthia over the past few years, and then put in a base lodge that goes against the typical user (younger adult with no money).

Because they want the young adults WITH money!

 

[ss20]

Because they want the young adults WITH money!

I don't think that's the idea. They want to "capture" college students (who in theory will have a good job after school) so when they HAVE money they'll be loyal to the mountain of their younger years. My take is that the mountains are handing out cheap college passes because this is when most people fall out of love with skiing. Time and money become short in supply. Keep college kids on the hill, and in 10 years they'll have a season pass, as will their wife, their first-born will be 4 years old and needing a seasonal lesson program, and their baby will need daycare also provided by the mountain. Those are the people that are money-making machines.

If the mountains wanted young people with money then wouldn't there be more 20-something passes? That'd include all "young people". Add in the "college" requirement of it an you have someone qualified to make a 6 figure salary down the road to spend at your resort.

 

[MEtoVTSkier]

No... the money isn't in the passes, it's the food and beverage. They give them the cheap passes, to have a captive audience, and what you adult doesn't spend all they have at the bar? I know me and my crowd did back in the day...

 

[mbedle]

Oh good it's not just me with this sentiment. It brings me back to yesteryear...I started skiing regularly when I was 10 so I've got many middle/high school memories of friends and I taking up entire tables in the lodge.

I like seeing kids have fun in the lodge. Sometimes I walk into these ski lodges (midweek) and it looks like the retirement home bus just dropped off the crowd. And of course there's an 80yo man with his shirt off, putting on base layers. Youthful energy is mostly refreshing to me and not annoying.

Hey now - that retirement crowd can be a lot of fun..... lol

 

[jm99]

I don't think that's the idea. They want to "capture" college students (who in theory will have a good job after school) so when they HAVE money they'll be loyal to the mountain of their younger years. My take is that the mountains are handing out cheap college passes because this is when most people fall out of love with skiing. Time and money become short in supply. Keep college kids on the hill, and in 10 years they'll have a season pass, as will their wife, their first-born will be 4 years old and needing a seasonal lesson program, and their baby will need daycare also provided by the mountain. Those are the people that are money-making machines.

If the mountains wanted young people with money then wouldn't there be more 20-something passes? That'd include all "young people". Add in the "college" requirement of it an you have someone qualified to make a 6 figure salary down the road to spend at your resort.

Yup, I am exactly that guy they wanted to capture... Got a Double Down as soon as I transferred to UMass and then the Drifter the next three years including this one. Mt. Snow was like an hour from Amherst so it was awesome as I only had class 2 days a week for most of college; my senior year I even made it to all of the 7 resorts on the Peak Pass at the time. I'm out of school back in Eastern Mass and my friends and I all still have Drifter passes even though Snow is like 2.5h away from here, it's just such a good deal. Definitely has enticed me to buy a few more beers at the Bullwheel and Wildcat Pub than I otherwise would have...

 

[AdironRider]

No... the money isn't in the passes, it's the food and beverage. They give them the cheap passes, to have a captive audience, and what you adult doesn't spend all they have at the bar? I know me and my crowd did back in the day...

Vail would disagree with you. F&B pales in comparison to pass/ticket revenue.

 

[deadheadskier]

Vail would disagree with you. F&B pales in comparison to pass/ticket revenue.

And margin.

When I worked for Intrawest (Snowshoe), tickets and passes were about 70% of annual revenue and 90% of the profit. Ski school was a high profit center for their mountains. F&B were lucky to break even many years.

I'm always amused when people assume mountains make a bunch of money off F&B operations. They don't, even with the high prices. It's an extremely difficult balance to make any $$ annually off F&B at ski areas, especially in the East where almost all the business is crammed into two days a week.

Sent from my XT1635-01 using AlpineZone mobile app

 

[HowieT2]

And margin.

When I worked for Intrawest (Snowshoe), tickets and passes were about 70% of annual revenue and 90% of the profit. Ski school was a high profit center for their mountains. F&B were lucky to break even many years.

I'm always amused when people assume mountains make a bunch of money off F&B operations. They don't, even with the high prices. It's an extremely difficult balance to make any $$ annually off F&B at ski areas, especially in the East where almost all the business is crammed into two days a week.

Sent from my XT1635-01 using AlpineZone mobile app

that may be true but it didnt seem that way to me when I paid 8 bucks for a small bowl of mac n cheese.
t