Ragged

[SnowRider]

Whats the deal with them? The TWO open trails are begginer ones. They say they have 98% snowmaking but yet they are reporting they have not made snow in the last week. Are they waiting for sustained cold weather to really open up there snowmaking capabilities or do they just not have the money to make snow?

 

[tcharron]

Whats the deal with them? The TWO open trails are begginer ones. They say they have 98% snowmaking but yet they are reporting they have not made snow in the last week. Are they waiting for sustained cold weather to really open up there snowmaking capabilities or do they just not have the money to make snow?

*boggle* Never been to Ragged, but wanted to check them out this year.. But from the look of their website, and current conditions..

I wonder if:

" This site will be experiencing some changes. We welcome your comments and suggestions."

points to anything going on.

 

[billski]

Ragged is for sale

Ragged is for sale. $16M listed at http://www.hilda-allen.com/NHlisting.htm. They have tried to make a golf course out of it.

Apparently they've have 5 GM's quit in the past five years.
The last person I heard that went there said the place is a mess.

My kids went there for about 5 years from ages 6 to 11, it was perfect intermediate area. It's really a shame.
We may lose another area sooner than we would like.

 

[tcharron]

Ragged is for sale. $16M listed at http://www.hilda-allen.com/NHlisting.htm. They have tried to make a golf course out of it.

Apparently they've have 5 GM's quit in the past five years.
The last person I heard that went there said the place is a mess.

My kids went there for about 5 years from ages 6 to 11, it was perfect intermediate area. It's really a shame.
We may lose another area sooner than we would like.

QQ

Sounds like their keeping it open for the sake of keeping it open.

 

[eatskisleep]

We have had races scheduled there since Early December and they have all been cancelled due to lack of snow... who knows, maybe this weekend.

 

[tcharron]

We have had races scheduled there since Early December and they have all been cancelled due to lack of snow... who knows, maybe this weekend.

Let us know how it looks.

 

[AMAC2233]

If Ragged sells, I wonder what will happen to Blue Hills? Ragged owns Blue Hills now, I believe. They have not done too well either this year. I don't think they're even open, I drove by on Saturday and saw their main slope nearly bare, and don't forget all the snow the north country has been getting is 100% rain in Canton, MA. I hope Blue Hills continues to operate without Ragged, it has good night skiing, it's close and it's really cheap. Good luck to both of them.

 

[riverc0il]

ragged leases blue hills, the ski area is still owned by the state. there was a big to do in MA legislation recently about what to do with blue hills... the nelsap forum has good beta on that topic if you are interested.

 

[hiroto]

...the nelsap forum has good beta on that topic if you are interested.

Is getting discussed on nelsap means it is on a death row

 

[jack97]

Is getting discussed on nelsap means it is on a death row

I think it's in terms of the the Blue Hill lease.

For Ragged, who knows. I love the terrain. However, the past 3-4 seasons have not been kind to them. Seems like they made some bad decisions; water pipe freezing, putting an inexperience manager for snowmaking. In addition, the lack of natural snow did not help.

 

[hammer]

Last time I went was a few years ago...the place is really good if they have enough natural snow. Lots of nice intermediate trails and the novice run in front of the lodge is wide and long enough for low-timers to have their space. Can't speak for the glades but IIRC there are a decent amount of them for an area in central NH.

The area's not all that close to major highways, which is good and bad...keeps the crowds down but the drive time is not much less to bigger places like Waterville and Loon that will offer more trails in a bad snow year.

I hope they survive, but in all honesty they need to improve their snowmaking if they want to compete with nearby ski areas like Sunapee or Gunstock.

 

[jack97]

I hope they survive, but in all honesty they need to improve their snowmaking if they want to compete with nearby ski areas like Sunapee or Gunstock.

I hope they survive also. IMO, snowmaking is the major problem. I heard rumors that the locals have not been giving them favorable terms for water usage. Thus it influences cost all over; daily operation, upgrades and expansion.

Makes me wonder about Sunapee and Gunstock, both own by local goverment. Do they get breaks (in terms of taxes) on water usage? The rumor is Wachusetts get water access for free when they make snow.

 

[hiroto]

Seems like they made some bad decisions; water pipe freezing, putting an inexperience manager for snowmaking. In addition, the lack of natural snow did not help.

Interesting. I always thought they simply don't have much of water supply to
make snow with.

 

[jack97]

Interesting. I always thought they simply don't have much of water supply to
make snow with.

Based on the rumors I heard, last season, they put a new guy in charge of snowmaking. Two or three seasons ago, iirc, they were trying to make snow during a cold spell in Jan, a main pipe froze, and it stayed cold for most of the winter. Basically, they could not make snow for the rest of the season.

 

[Angus]

location is tough for Ragged - especially locally the population ctr to the east provides easy access to 93 and to the west you have sunapee and 89.

if I remember correctly (& I think I posted it here a year ago or so) the mgmt had announced a plan for many private home/condos, etc and the ownership was pursuing a 4 season model with golf, etc. somewhere, I think I heard that the local towns are not particularly accommodating.

there are a couple of medium sized rivers that run nearby - never been there so I don't know the proximity.

on a related note, they gave me a bunch of 1/2 price coupons at the Boston ski show this year and I received a free ticket too as part of a marketing ploy -so I hope they open up the full mountain at some point.

 

[billski]

more...

location is tough for Ragged - especially locally the population ctr to the east provides easy access to 93 and to the west you have sunapee and 89.

if I remember correctly (& I think I posted it here a year ago or so) the mgmt had announced a plan for many private home/condos, etc and the ownership was pursuing a 4 season model with golf, etc. somewhere, I think I heard that the local towns are not particularly accommodating.

there are a couple of medium sized rivers that run nearby - never been there so I don't know the proximity.

on a related note, they gave me a bunch of 1/2 price coupons at the Boston ski show this year and I received a free ticket too as part of a marketing ploy -so I hope they open up the full mountain at some point.

as you note, it's "out of the way" - it takes the same amount of time to get to Loon and WV from Metro Boston as it does to get to Ragged. So everyone does the easy thing and stays on the highway.

It's a great place to go to when resorts on ski93 are crowded. never a lift line. No-stress skiing, but it needs snow. It struggles in the middle market much like Ascutney and Burke have. Great mountain, they just need to figure out how to draw more people, if that's possible.

 

[dcarbs]

I remember I went there about 1-2 years ago, the glades were very good, as they had not been skied out, even though it had been awhile since the last storm

 

[SnowRider]

Based on the rumors I heard, last season, they put a new guy in charge of snowmaking. Two or three seasons ago, iirc, they were trying to make snow during a cold spell in Jan, a main pipe froze, and it stayed cold for most of the winter. Basically, they could not make snow for the rest of the season.

I went after the pipe had frozen and it was bad. Very little snowmaking could occur.

 

[drjeff]

The other long term issue that Ragged has, and I've skied the place a few times (and loved it), is that while they have the physical pieces in place for a 4 season resort (golf + skiing), the longer season piece(the golf course), while a spectactualr challenge for the very good golfer (7 handicap and under) is a beast for the average golfer who'd play most of the rounds there and hence generate most of the $$. The course has lots of forced carries over water/marsh area and alot of elevation changes and blind shots.

Combine that with the relatively difficulty to get to from the major highways and the lack of other areas really nearby to generate proximity interest, and it has some issues, one's that I hope they can overcome

 

[Angus]

Wednesday AM (1/17) - they are making snow on Big Blue!