Offer made to buy Burke

[Naturalsnow]

Offer made to buy Burke Mountain ski resort; auction may follow - VTDigger

Michael Goldberg, the court-appointed receiver in charge of overseeing Burke Mountain ski resort, submitted a recent court filing, stating that he hopes a sale of the Northeast Kingdom property would take place later this year.

vtdigger.org

 

[snoseek]

wonder who put in that first bid?

 

[thetrailboss]

Though I am in the NEK the next two weeks, and spending a lot of time at the Mountain, it is not me.

 

[Edd]

I want to know if Burke has had a profitable season in the last 5 years. I’d think not. You’d assume whoever made this offer has had a look at their books? It’d need to be someone willing to lose $ for a few seasons. The general public and casual skiers do not know Burke exists.

 

[drjeff]

I wouldn't be suprised at all if when the bidder is disclosed, if they have ties to Burke Mountain Academy as either an alum or a parent of a BMA athlete current or past.

The business connections that exist within that Alumni network are impressive and the sense of pride and loyalty that many of their alums and family members of alums have to BMA is substantial.

Time will tell

 

[deadheadskier]

Always amazes me that Burke isn't more popular. Only an hour further drive from metro Boston than Lincoln. 30 minutes further than Bretton Woods. Arguably better terrain and snow than both.

 

[snoseek]

Always amazes me that Burke isn't more popular. Only an hour further drive from metro Boston than Lincoln. 30 minutes further than Bretton Woods. Arguably better terrain and snow than both.

There's just too many areas to drive past for Boston but I agree. Bretton woods set up well for suburban families and casual skiers and I'll argue gets slightly more snow.

I think Burke being tied to a jay for a pass made for a super compelling buy.

 

[deadheadskier]

BW does get a little bit more snow, but the terrain at Burke is so much more compelling for all but the novice skier.

But you know what? I'm guilty of stopping at Cannon 9/10 rather than continuing on to Burke. I probably would continue on though if Cannon was more crowded.

My hope is that Butke eventually become a full Indy partner.

I'm mostly thinking of the hordes of people who ski Loon every single weekend and put up with the insane crowds. An hour further and you get 75" more snow, less rain, same consistent vertical and far superior tree skiing. Yet, Burke remains completely off the radar for these folks.

Maybe if they had better snowmaking and a more consistent product during low tide years?

 

[snoseek]

Agree on loon I'm not sure why people put themselves through that every weekend and I like loon on a random midweek day.

The location as a standalone area is tough. At this point it's a good sell to people that are tired of the crowds. Even cannon seems busy in comparison.

I plan on skiing there a bit next season with the indy discount.

 

[jimmywilson69]

I mean an hour becomes a 2 hour round trip further, so that is why people stop at Loon.

Also inconsistent ownership and the appearance that there isn't a lot of snowmaking or grooming. I'm sure this turns off a lot of the "normal" skiing crowd.

 

[deadheadskier]

I mean an hour becomes a 2 hour round trip further, so that is why people stop at Loon.

Also inconsistent ownership and the appearance that there isn't a lot of snowmaking or grooming. I'm sure this turns off a lot of the "normal" skiing crowd.

Sure, but have you ever skied Loon on a Saturday? I'd almost rather not ski at all, it's such a disaster. So, setting aside an extra two hours to actually have an enjoyable day doesn't seem like a difficult decision. Only reason I stop at Cannon is because it's still fairly uncrowded and Burke only offers an Indy discount vs two tickets.

If Cannon had Loon crowds and Burke was full Indy, I'd make the extra effort almost every time.

 

[snoseek]

I always thought Burke would be a good fit for the white mtn superpass despite its vt location.

 

[KustyTheKlown]

i have skied loon many weekend days and have hardly ever experience the horror y'all describe. I'm not good with names there, but the chair on north that accesses the true summit (not the gondola) hardly ever has a line for me, especially riding singles

 

[4aprice]

i have skied loon many weekend days and have hardly ever experience the horror y'all describe. I'm not good with names there, but the chair on north that accesses the true summit (not the gondola) hardly ever has a line for me, especially riding singles

Was there for a good snow the 1st weekend of March this year and the lines were not bad at all,, even the gondola. New 7 brothers quad is a great improvement and The East Basin chair is usually pretty empty. Find the facilities there to be grade A and well maintained, Lincoln a nice "ski town" with good lodging. Bottom line is I'm a Loon fan.

 

[AdironRider]

I've been to Burke a grand total of 5 times. 5 out of 5 times their main high speed quad went down for some issue or another.

They also cater way to much to racers, who are consistently assholes to all other patrons. That isn't unique to Burke (ski racers being dbags), and I understand that keeps them afloat, but it severely limits the appeal to other customers and ties up resources at a mountain of that size. The other notably ski race mountains (Cannon, Loaf, Whiteface) are much better at managing these interactions.

Burke and Jay being tied together actually really doesn't make a lot of sense in today's modern ski industry, both for Indy affiliation and ownership. I think it does make sense for whoever lost out on Jay to try and gain a piece of the NEK market share.

 

[thetrailboss]

I want to know if Burke has had a profitable season in the last 5 years. I’d think not. You’d assume whoever made this offer has had a look at their books? It’d need to be someone willing to lose $ for a few seasons. The general public and casual skiers do not know Burke exists.

Interesting tidbit: apparently, the bidder only wants the ski area and not the Hotel.

 

[thetrailboss]

I wouldn't be suprised at all if when the bidder is disclosed, if they have ties to Burke Mountain Academy as either an alum or a parent of a BMA athlete current or past.

The business connections that exist within that Alumni network are impressive and the sense of pride and loyalty that many of their alums and family members of alums have to BMA is substantial.

Time will tell

My thoughts as well. Either a BMA connection to preserve the mountain for BMA or perhaps Pacific Resorts who wants to pick it up on the cheap. Most likely it is the former. I had been hearing rumblings (and seeing in VTD) that someone connected to BMA was interested.

 

[thetrailboss]

Always amazes me that Burke isn't more popular. Only an hour further drive from metro Boston than Lincoln. 30 minutes further than Bretton Woods. Arguably better terrain and snow than both.

Except when it is a bad season and Burke only has like 13-15 runs open compared to 60+ at BW.

 

[thetrailboss]

Maybe if they had better snowmaking and a more consistent product during low tide years?

Bingo. The snowmaking has GREATLY improved and they have TONS of equipment, but it seems that they do not operate it that often.

 

[thetrailboss]

I've been to Burke a grand total of 5 times. 5 out of 5 times their main high speed quad went down for some issue or another.

They also cater way to much to racers, who are consistently assholes to all other patrons. That isn't unique to Burke (ski racers being dbags), and I understand that keeps them afloat, but it severely limits the appeal to other customers and ties up resources at a mountain of that size. The other notably ski race mountains (Cannon, Loaf, Whiteface) are much better at managing these interactions.

I completely agree. And I fear that if the new owner is affiliated with BMA that these issues will only get worse.