Peak Resorts: The New ASC?

[ss20]

Mount Snow removing "Ski Baba" chairlift (beginner lift at the base of Carinthia) and putting in a carpet. They said it took two days to remove it. Part of the Carinthia master plan was to remove this lift and put in a covered magic carpet. I don't know if this is the carpet lift that will ultimately be there (these things can be moved in under a day with a decent maintenance crew) but it is a start. Good to see money flowing nonetheless, hopefully EB-5 money and not Peak's money.

Link to Carinthia overview plan: https://anrweb.vt.gov/PubDocs/ANR/Planning/2W1281-1/Plans/Exhibit%20008%20-%20Carinthia%20Site%20Plan%20Rendering.pdf

If they were to start condo construction, Heavy Metal has to be moved up the hill a bit. Interesting to see if that gets done this offseason.

Guess the chairlift trivia question "What is the only lift in Vermont not to have a safety bar?" has now bit the dust :lol:

 

[drjeff]

Mount Snow removing "Ski Baba" chairlift (beginner lift at the base of Carinthia) and putting in a carpet. They said it took two days to remove it. Part of the Carinthia master plan was to remove this lift and put in a covered magic carpet. I don't know if this is the carpet lift that will ultimately be there (these things can be moved in under a day with a decent maintenance crew) but it is a start. Good to see money flowing nonetheless, hopefully EB-5 money and not Peak's money.

Link to Carinthia overview plan: https://anrweb.vt.gov/PubDocs/ANR/P...hibit 008 - Carinthia Site Plan Rendering.pdf

If they were to start condo construction, Heavy Metal has to be moved up the hill a bit. Interesting to see if that gets done this offseason.

Guess the chairlift trivia question "What is the only lift in Vermont not to have a safety bar?" has now bit the dust :lol:

That was going to end for this coming season regardless, as even if Ski Baba stayed this summer, per the Mountain Manager, the State of VT Tramway Board was going to finally require them to put safety bars on it before it could operate this coming season.

 

[dlague]

That was going to end for this coming season regardless, as even if Ski Baba stayed this summer, per the Mountain Manager, the State of VT Tramway Board was going to finally require them to put safety bars on it before it could operate this coming season.

I never thought any thing about safety bars and just expect them to be there. Until...... I skied in CO and found many ski areas without them. In fact, none at Loveland. Kind of funny that this chair did not have safety bars since VT seems strict about it.

 

[drjeff]

I never thought any thing about safety bars and just expect them to be there. Until...... I skied in CO and found many ski areas without them. In fact, none at Loveland. Kind of funny that this chair did not have safety bars since VT seems strict about it.

In reality, Ski Baba as a chair was almost more like a t-bar in that even when there wasn't any snow on the ground under the lift you were at moost maybe 5 feet off the ground, and if there was snow under the lift, one often at times couldn't have their poles hanging down without them dragging against the snow for the entire maybe 250 yard ride up.

When my youngest, who before he got the racing bug when he was 8, was thinking he was into the park scene from about age 6 to 8, he'd often lap that lift with his instruction group as they were learning new skills on small features, and my wife and I never once had any concerns about him getting hurt if he would of fallen off that lift! It was just that low to the ground and slow, so that even a couple of 6 or 7 year old boys sharing a chair couldn't do much harm to themselves!

I will miss the once or twice a year that I'd ride it for nostalgia sake though. I can see the benefits of a magic carpet, but it's just not as fun!

 

[yeggous]

No discussion of their latest results?

http://www.nasdaq.com/press-release...ourthquarter-and-fullyear-2016-20160714-00235


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[doublediamond]

Honestly only a 3.3M loss sounds pretty damn good for this past winter.

 

[BenedictGomez]

Honestly only a 3.3M loss sounds pretty damn good for this past winter.

They lost $1.9M the year before that, and lost $1.5M the year before that year.

 

[catskillman]

there was a $167,000 (I may be off a few thousand on that figure - memory is going...) for a Hunter Mountain Season Pass Litigation Issue on the P&L.

Any idea what that was related to?

 

[mbedle]

I must be in the dark on this, but I had no idea that Peaks didn't own the VT, NY, PA and OH resorts.

 

[sull1102]

I must be in the dark on this, but I had no idea that Peaks didn't own the VT, NY, PA and OH resorts.

Peaks owns all their mountains except for Big Boulder/Jack Frost down in PA I'm pretty sure.

 

[mbedle]

It appears that they only own the resorts in NH. Unless I am reading this wrong, the others appear to be owned by EPR Properties (similar to CNL REIT). For Hunter, it looks like they purchased the resort and mortgaged it immediately to Peaks. It appears that in some cases, they do that and ultimately convert it over to a long-term lease.

Correction - they did purchase Hunter but was financed by EPR properties. So maybe they do own the other ones. but have mortgages with EPR.

 

[steamboat1]

http://eprkc.com/portfolio-overview/metropolitan-ski-parks-list

 

[steamboat1]

Peak Resorts Annual Report Reveals Dire Financial Situation
http://www.newenglandskiindustry.com/viewstory.php?storyid=457

 

[deadheadskier]

If they go down, this might be just the opportunity for Vail Resorts to enter the Northeast Market. Surprised it wasn't Vail that picked up Hunter. That would sell a lot of Epic passes I'd guess.

 

[mbedle]

I wonder if these numbers take into account the 13 million they lent to the EB-5 project. I believe that once the escrow account is opened, they will be paid back the 13 million. That should put them in a significantly better position for next year.

 

[steamboat1]

I wonder if these numbers take into account the 13 million they lent to the EB-5 project. I believe that once the escrow account is opened, they will be paid back the 13 million. That should put them in a significantly better position for next year.

This statement in the article would pretty much offset that & then some.

"$15.5 million of the Hunter Mountain debt is not included in the long term debt figure."

Don't forget the majority of their debt is balloon loans at high interest. The debt will have to be paid sometime in the future. For now they're only paying interest on that debt & are still having a hard time.

 

[mbedle]

This statement in the article would pretty much offset that & then some.

"$15.5 million of the Hunter Mountain debt is not included in the long term debt figure."

Don't forget the majority of their debt is balloon loans at high interest. The debt will have to be paid sometime in the future. For now they're only paying interest on that debt & are still having a hard time.

True - but in the short term, they will be sitting better with capital available for next season.

 

[machski]

Unfortunately Peaks now finds themselves in a very similar situation to that which ASC was in. They added another resort with an interest only loan not even counted in their long term debt at the start of an abysmal season. I have not nor do I have a good picture of this company moving forward. Member too, they are Midwest and eastern only, so no western weather bailout like most other large ski resort companies. This winter will be a good litmus test. Of they dial back snowmaking operations across their resorts we'll know for sure how dire their fiscal picture is.

 

[snoseek]

If they go down, this might be just the opportunity for Vail Resorts to enter the Northeast Market. Surprised it wasn't Vail that picked up Hunter. That would sell a lot of Epic passes I'd guess.

Ive been thinking the same thing all along. I do know they're pretty committed finacially to park city right now though so who knows. Im not really sure how i feel about this. They tend to run things real tight unless that resort is bringing lots of money. Sure do wish wildcat had stayed privately owned.

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[deadheadskier]

From what I've heard the Franchi family didn't have many resources in the bank to keep it going. Would be nice to see someone who has other business interests and not a great need to turn a major profit buy the place and finish off the investment in snowmaking it still could use. Peaks investment has been great, but there's still a lot of trails that need new equipment to bring it to the advertised 90%. Upper Wildcat and Gondiline guaranteed even during a bad year would be great.