Mad River Glen dissed by SKI mag

[ski_resort_observer]

The unfortunate truth is that anyone involved in ski resort marketing knows "the skiing" has not been the top reason people come to ski resorts for many years. Last I checked it was #3 with dining and shopping holding the top spots. Guess it depends on ones perspective.

 

[mergs]

I don't know about that "list" but when you list Holiday Valley as #5 I am suspect immediately. C'mon we all know Hunta is the da best! Hey, maybe it will divert some folks from my favorite mountains.

Honestly, to get serious for a sec... the problem with that list, with folks like "us" here, is the way they rank. Here's a quote:

"Resorts are ranked in 17 categories: Region, Snow, Grooming, Terrain, Challenge, Value, Lifts, Service, Weather, Access, On-Mountain Food, Lodging, Dining, Apres Ski, Off-Hill Activities, Family Programs, Scenery and Terrain Parks by SKI subscribers who have skied the resorts for the past two seasons, skiing an average of 23 days a year"

I don't know how they weight these categories but my weigthing would be: Snow, Terrain, Challenge at 25% each and then divide the last 25% across the remaining categories. Given that system only about 3 rate in my top 10, making 6 or 7 resorts on my list not listed there.

By the way! I'm a snowboarder, and I still would rate MRG over 7 of the resorts on Skimags list!

 

[thetrailboss]

and I love the fact that smuggs didn't make the list....


shhhh....be berry berry quiet....I'm huntin freshies....

The top 10 resorts in the East according to SKI Magazine's readers are:

1. Tremblant, Que.
2. Smugglers Notch, Vt.
3. Killington, Vt.
4. Sugarloaf, Maine
5. Holiday Valley, N.Y.
6. Whiteface Mountain, N.Y.
7. Stowe, Vt.
8. Okemo, Vt.
9. Sugarbush, Vt.
10. Stratton, Vt.

Who in their right mind would rank Holiday Valley above Stowe and the Bush. I know, it'd a nice little area that has pumped in 3-4 million dollars for resort upgrades but lets be real here. The survey is more about conveniences and amenities than the skiing.

Again, the resorts with the higher volume of SKI Magazine readers get the bias. In this case, Holiday Valley. :roll:

 

[mergs]

and I love the fact that smuggs didn't make the list....


shhhh....be berry berry quiet....I'm huntin freshies....

The top 10 resorts in the East according to SKI Magazine's readers are:

1. Tremblant, Que.
2. Smugglers Notch, Vt.
3. Killington, Vt.
4. Sugarloaf, Maine
5. Holiday Valley, N.Y.
6. Whiteface Mountain, N.Y.
7. Stowe, Vt.
8. Okemo, Vt.
9. Sugarbush, Vt.
10. Stratton, Vt.

Who in their right mind would rank Holiday Valley above Stowe and the Bush. I know, it'd a nice little area that has pumped in 3-4 million dollars for resort upgrades but lets be real here. The survey is more about conveniences and amenities than the skiing.

Again, the resorts with the higher volume of SKI Magazine readers get the bias. In this case, Holiday Valley. :roll:

c'mon now... Holiday Valley has 750 vertical! and the food is simply delectible

just wait, I predict Mtn Creek NJ, with its 1000 vert (if you measure from the lower lot! ) and its mega millions being pumped in by Intrawest, will rank next year... number 7 or so.

p.s. hey trailboss... i was mtb'ing at the KT's in aug and the trees at Burke look pretty dang sweet! i think an escursion to BM will be in order this winter.

 

[eatskisleep]

and I love the fact that smuggs didn't make the list....


shhhh....be berry berry quiet....I'm huntin freshies....

The top 10 resorts in the East according to SKI Magazine's readers are:

1. Tremblant, Que.
2. Smugglers Notch, Vt.
3. Killington, Vt.
4. Sugarloaf, Maine
5. Holiday Valley, N.Y.
6. Whiteface Mountain, N.Y.
7. Stowe, Vt.
8. Okemo, Vt.
9. Sugarbush, Vt.
10. Stratton, Vt.

Am I missing something... No JAY PEAK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[thetrailboss]

p.s. hey trailboss... i was mtb'ing at the KT's in aug and the trees at Burke look pretty dang sweet! i think an escursion to BM will be in order this winter.

Absolutely! Especially if I am working there...PM me for more info about Burke. Sweet trees, but keep it quiet :wink:

 

[highpeaksdrifter]

Just about all the comments here seem to have the same to 2 themes; truth and outrage. You all know the deal as to categories, how they’re weighted, etc. and you’re right that serious skiers pay it no mind.

I don’t get way everyone seems so bent about it when it’s the same thing every year.

So why is it Ski’s biggest selling issue of each year? Cause the average person who calls himself a skier only goes 5 – 10 times a year, brings the wife and kids along, hits the lodge about 9:30; you’ve all seen the drill.

People who post here are pretty hard-core, but Mr. And Mrs. Once in Awhile make up a hugh segment of skier visits and are catered to by all aspects of the business.

So why the outrage?

 

[riverc0il]

Since it's a readers' poll, I have to wonder about the clientele.

nuff' said. ski magazine didn't dis MRG, the gappers who read it did. i don't resort to using a broad generalizing degrading term like gappers very often mind you, but any one that doesn't have MRG in the top ten for eastern skiing either hasn't been there or can't ski it.

 

[highpeaksdrifter]

nuff' said. ski magazine didn't dis Ski Mag, the gappers who read it did. .

I read it and I assure you I'm not a gapper.

any one that doesn't have MRG in the top ten for eastern skiing either hasn't been there or can't ski it

Exactly, so what's the problem?

 

[riverc0il]

and that's why i usually steer clear of using a broad generalizing degrading terms. :lol: no offense meant HPD or any one else that would put MRG into their own personal top ten.

i never said there was a problem though... did i miss something?

 

[highpeaksdrifter]

i never said there was a problem though... did i miss something?

I just don't get why people get mad about why deserving mountains are not in the top 10 when they know how the survey is weighted.

Perfect example is Whiteface. It is a great mountain, steep, vert, natural terrain, rugged and never crowded. Lodge's are nice, but nothing fancy. IMO a real skier's/rider's mountain.

It would not be #6 in Ski Mag. if it wasn't for Lake Placid, bars, eats, family activities, it is great for apres ski.

From what you've posted Cannon is a near clone, but it doesn't have the cache of LP.

Ski mag. isn't rating just what you ski, it's the whole experience. AZers are all about the skiing, so why get mad about Ski's top 10 when you know what the deal is?

 

[madskier6]

Ski mag. isn't rating just what you ski, it's the whole experience. AZers are all about the skiing, so why get mad about Ski's top 10 when you know what the deal is?

I completely agree. The hard core skier in me ignores the "other factors" besides snow, terrain and challenge and knows where to go for that. I could care less where my favorite places rank every year in the Ski Mag survey.

For those days when I have to take the wife and children skiing, some of those "other factors" are good to know if we want to try some place new.

Someone made the point about the marketing depts. at ski resorts. If the Ski Mag ratings help bring some more customers to places that don't have high traffic, I think that can be a good thing to ensure those places' continued survival (although I don't want massive crowds coming to my favorite places). My only point is the reality that most ski areas are not hugely profitable and so if some more skier visits by readers of Ski Mag (but not too many) mean that some ski areas survive and thrive, we all benefit to a point. But everything in moderation.

 

[riverc0il]

okay, maybe my response was taken a bit personal because you quoted me, but i fail to see where i got mad about the top 10. i see it for what it is, which was pretty much the point of my original post, that it is a poll picked by people who generally don't ski stuff like mad river out of choice or whatever.

it's still a silly pre-season jonesing tradition on every ski forum that i know of to pick on ski magazine's readership for picking ski areas that simply do not fit the criteria of "best" while omitting others that almost certainly surpass the one's they have selected. ski mag would be better on point would catagories like "best valet parking" and "best day car" and "place to feel the poshist" and "where to spend the most money and feel like you got a deal" etc. it's all in good fun :lol:

in the end, there are ski areas for everybody. and i really enjoy that fact just as there are skiers that have all sorts of preferences. ski mag reflects a very specific type of reader that prefers a very specific type of ski experience (in general we are talking here, obviously there are some exceptions that read the magazine and take part in the polls who are clearly not in the majority).

 

[highpeaksdrifter]

okay, maybe my response was taken a bit personal because you quoted me, but i fail to see where i got mad about the top 10.

OK, this isn't coming off right. I didn't take it personel and it was just a general comment. I have to leave for work, but we're fine as far as I'm conserned.

 

[frozencorn]

All it means is that the MRG ad budget wasn't entirely poured into SKI this season.

 

[kickstand]

c'mon now... Holiday Valley has 750 vertical! and the food is simply delectible

just wait, I predict Mtn Creek NJ, with its 1000 vert (if you measure from the lower lot! ) and its mega millions being pumped in by Intrawest, will rank next year... number 7 or so.

p.s. hey trailboss... i was mtb'ing at the KT's in aug and the trees at Burke look pretty dang sweet! i think an escursion to BM will be in order this winter.

wait a sec - Holiday Valley has less than 1000 feet vert and it outranked Stowe, Sugarbush and Whiteface in this poll? What a farce. I figured these things were a bit off, but now I'm convinced it's a farce.

I just looked up their trail map and while it looks like a nice little place (reminds me of Wachusett), I can't see this place being ranked with the bigger places in New England/New York.

 

[JimG.]

Just about all the comments here seem to have the same to 2 themes; truth and outrage. You all know the deal as to categories, how they’re weighted, etc. and you’re right that serious skiers pay it no mind.

I don’t get way everyone seems so bent about it when it’s the same thing every year.

So why is it Ski’s biggest selling issue of each year? Cause the average person who calls himself a skier only goes 5 – 10 times a year, brings the wife and kids along, hits the lodge about 9:30; you’ve all seen the drill.

People who post here are pretty hard-core, but Mr. And Mrs. Once in Awhile make up a hugh segment of skier visits and are catered to by all aspects of the business.

So why the outrage?

I think it's because folks are attached to their favorite hill and feel dissed when that hill doesn't make the list. I must be selfish...I'm glad Hunter is rarely mentioned and that places like MRG and Jay get little play.

The resort issue is about as important to me as the gear issue. I would never buy equipment without trying it first.

 

[ski_resort_observer]

All it means is that the MRG ad budget wasn't entirely poured into SKI this season.

MRG doesn't need an ad budget. It has almost mythical status in the eastern ski world, which was nicely advanced last winter by that great article about the place. Can't buy ads like that.

I hear Eric pays MRG to be their Marketing Director..... :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[blacknblue]

I don't think anybody's outraged or even all that upset about it. Mostly, it's just a little humorous b/c it's so ridiculous (kinda like a lot of pop culture Awards shows). I just thought it strange that MRG didn't make the top 10 in any category, like they weren't even on the ballot. At least for challenging terrain you'd think they would top Sunday River and Wildcat!

 

[thetrailboss]

The Burlington Free Press notes in this article that Vermont took the most slots in "best of the east" tite making it best ski state in the East...

Your thoughts?