Rate Mt. Snow and Peaks' first year

[marcski]

So, now that year's end is on the horizon, Dr. Jeff's thread gave me a thought. What do you think about Peaks' first year heading Mt. Snow.

Here's my humble opinion: Obviously, it was a great snow year and they did a fantastic job with the new guns and making and grooming. But, what do you think about the pass situation. Besides raising the season's pass rates significantly from years past (granted ASC's were perhaps underpriced), but apparently they are claiming that they just had "an o.k. year" as far as revenues. Don't you think that by doing away with any options other than a full priced day ticket and an increased season's pass actually hurt their bottom line. I know a whole hell of a lot of people that used the MeTicket in years past. They didn't have a value card, no 10-packs, nothing. I think they should defnitely get something like the above going again. It will help their bottom line by increasing skier visits overall.

 

[drjeff]

Okay, I'm biased as can be here, and I'll admit it, but I think that Peak is about 99% right on with what they've done and where they plan to go with Mount Snow. I bet that when the bottom line comes in, revenues will be pretty darn good. Just remember that with Peak doing away with the underpriced All4one pass, and various other discounts, that the amount spent per person per visit to be on the hill was up over last year. While the total number of passes sold this year under Peak may very well be down compared to that of the last year under the ASC All4one pass, as someone who was in the lift lines most every weekend that Mount Snow was spinning there lifts this year, the I didn't notice any real appreciable decrease in the percentage of folks in line with a pass on any given day. What i did notice first hand is that I rode the lifts alot more this year with folks commenting that it was their first time at Mount Snow and asking about what trails are good, where the best snow is, etc.

As for the loyal passholder crew, the folks that I see/talk to/hear talking in the lodge week in and week out LOVED the new on hill and base area product that Mount Snow put forth. I can also say that by far and away in the 25 odd years that I've been skiing Mount Snow regularly that I've never seen the upper level management in the base lodge/base area/liftlines/on the hill helping out and being visible and talking with the guests as this season.

As for the pass pricing structure, well not too many folks will like an increase, but the cold reality is that when a season pass has a break even point of 6 or so day as the All 4 one Bronze pass did and you had folks using it 30+ times a season, well the bottom line that just isn't going to work for the health of the business overtime. Last year, yup I paid $100 odd $$ or so more than my last All4one (I had the gold level), but I saw far more in the way of infastructure improvements this season for that extra $100 than I've seen at Mount Snow in over a decade, and that's fine with me. This coming season for the extra $100 I'll spend over last year, all indications are that I'm going to get a similar number of new fan guns on the hill as I saw this past year, and more generalized improvements around the mountain, and that works with me.

About the only thing that Peak has done so far that I would liked them to do differently, is that when the request for a study concerning animal habitat and the proposed site for the West Lake snowmaking reservoir made it obvious that West Lake couldn't be completed for the '08-'09 ski season, I would have liked if they had pushed up the lift upgrade of the summit local to a 6 pack to this coming season. Bottomline, as Tim Boyd of Peak has said, Mount Snow is their premier resort and he intends on running it that way, and I'm fine with that.

 

[Vortex]

I 'm glad it has kept good competition going. Helped us all out.

 

[roark]

By and large a great first year. The fan guns are worth the additional $$ on the pass. Hopefully they can get the additional water in the next couple years...

 

[MommaBear]

Overall, we're pretty satisfied. Was glad to see them finally get the traffic patterns working well at the liftlines. Kids were thrilled with the parks - both with the layouts and the conditions (thou not so thrilled with several rangers with attitudes). Trees were great.

Our only complaint would be the lack of bumps during the year. Yes, they were there...once in a while. But more weekends than not, North Face was groomed flat. I thoroughly enjoyed the seeded bumps on Ego Alley this past weekend; maybe with all the talk we'll see more of that next year? Or at least sooner in the season?

 

[arik]

I have been real pleased with the season at Mount Snow, I noticed they often had all the lifts running which kept the lines down.

 

[roark]

I have been real pleased with the season at Mount Snow, I noticed they often had all the lifts running which kept the lines down.

Agreed. For the most part they ran the local whenever the summit express got busy. Also ran some of the other underutilized chairs more often.

 

[BeanoNYC]

Excellent year. From the great skiing to minor improvements at the lodge, the vibe is just great. I also like that it wasn't Bruce Jacques every freakin Saturday apres.

 

[tcharron]

I missed Crotched being the flagship ... I just didn't feel the same level of excitement this season for some reason . ..maybe it's just me.

I got the same feeling. Overall Crotched did well, parking lot was DEF more crowded this year. But they did hold back on early on snowmaking, I suspect under a dictum to live within their means for once.

Be interesting to see if Crotched gets any new trails cut for this year, and if they finally get SOME sort of lift, ground or otherwise, to the summit.

I do wish Francestown wasn't being such a bunch of douches. The owner of the land owns it all, but Francestown won't let them do squat over the town land. They could easily double their size cash permitting.

 

[BeanoNYC]

They could easily double their size cash permitting.

I can see the marketing already: "Two crotches for the price of one!"

 

[Newpylong]

Overall I am pretty happy.

- The amount of snow and quality was greatly better.
- Impressive season for southern VT.
- The grooming way WAY better.
- Secondary lifts ran earlier, meaning people spread out better.
- Better lift line management meant even with big lines on main lifts things moved along well.
- Better atmosphere certainly all around.

Definitely looking forward to a new lift out of the Main Base and on Sunbrook. It's a shame they are having such problems with the water.

I was always a Mount Snow skier but it is great to have a strong area again in Southern VT which has consistent snow.

 

[amf]

Had to add my 2 cents... overall, the place seems well run. However, my ski club, which has a year round lodge just north of MS, just got a letter saying they will no longer offer landed ski clubs group rates. This has been a benefit going back many, MANY years, and has helped many a family get their young'uns into skiing somewhat affordably. They suggest buying a FANcard or a pass. I'm in the process of drafting a letter pointing out to them the competition, at least as far as our club is concerned: 1) the Stratton X2 card is a far better value - even though the ticket rate will end up about $5 more, the card costs less and there is a free ticket with it; 2) Bromley offers $25 weekday rates, & has an excellent kids program; 3) Magic offers the best terrain for advanced skiers with window rates matching the FANcard; 4) The Stratton pass that combines with Okemo offers better value for area skiiers than the MS pass - NH ski areas really are not a draw for a ski club lodge in SoVT, and Jack Frost is'nt enough incentive, even for a Philly area ski club.

 

[vcunning]

I'll have 68 days in at Mount Snow when the season ends in a week and a half. So maybe I'm biased or experienced, but I give MS management an A. Here is why I give them that grade:

- Spinning all lifts on busy weekends right away - this substantially cut down on lift line waits (for me anyways).
- Honest snow reporting - although it was a banner winter for snow, there were also many freezing rain days. I was up here for a few and the snow/lift reports were always accurate.
- Communication - I've attended two of the passholder meetings with management. I believe they really listen. They may not always respond the way everyone wants, but they're not making decisions in a vacuum.
- Lift Line Queues - These seems simple, but a combination of 2 things make the queues smaller - better design and more importantly, if they get behind in ticket scanning, they just let you through. No empty chairs (the Killington loyalists would love that approach).

Although there were quite a few complaints on the pass prices, my personal situation made it easier. This year I paid the full price pass price for my son, because he is over the age of 5. Peaks introduced kids pricing. His pass price went down $200 for next year. The passes for my wife and I went up $200. I believe I'm really lucky given I've always said the A41 passes were way underpriced.

 

[Vinny]

We thought it was a noticeable improvement at Snow this year. My wife and I buy the midweek pass each year, and did not mind paying the extra $ only because we saw improvements on the mountain and at the base. Of course we would have liked them to hold prices (another increase this year), but as long as we feel we're getting something back for our money, it's fair enough.

The terrific snow this year helped, but it did seem that the grooming was much improved over past years and that the fan guns deserve their positive feedback. Hopefully the water issue will be solved in the not too distant future.

Agree with cunning that the "honest snow reporting" was very welcome.

We only ski midweek, so can't comment on weekend lift lines; however, we've met many people who ski weekends at Snow and they all seemed very happy with the transition.