Receiver Announces that Burke has a Stalking Horse Bid and Deal will Close by End of 2024

[urungus]

If Jon is the Partner the Berkshire East Summit Pass would be great adding Burke. Burke, Berkshire East, Catamount, and Bousquet. Maybe they would give discounts to their other operation Big Red Cat Tours in BC!

Burke pass alone is already hundreds of dollars more expensive than the Berkshire East/Catamount/Bousquet Summit pass. So expect a big increase in the cost of your (and my) Summit pass if the Schaefer purchase of Burke goes through. For my occasional visit to Burke, the current setup is cheaper where Burke is Indy Allied and also offers $65 any day lift tickets to other mountain pass holders.

 

[B-Eastski]

Burke pass alone is already hundreds of dollars more expensive than the Berkshire East/Catamount/Bousquet Summit pass. So expect a big increase in the cost of your (and my) Summit pass if the Schaefer purchase of Burke goes through. For my occasional visit to Burke, the current setup is cheaper where Burke is Indy Allied and also offers $65 any day lift tickets to other mountain pass holders.

Why would it increase? The majority of the skiers would be going to Berkshire East & Catamount so nothing would change. Also it would reduce the price of the current Burke pass. More passes would sell and potentially lowering the pass across the board. Its called economies of scale. Why do you think Epic is so inexpensive? Lower the price of something increase volume of sales and actually make more profit.

 

[urungus]

Why would it increase? The majority of the skiers would be going to Berkshire East & Catamount so nothing would change. Also it would reduce the price of the current Burke pass. More passes would sell and potentially lowering the pass across the board. It’s called economies of scale. Why do you think Epic is so inexpensive? Lower the price of something increase volume of sales and actually make more profit.

Because they wouldn’t want to undercut themselves. Given Burkes remote location, my guess is that a drop in Burke season pass price is not going to lead to enough additional sales to make up for the lost revenue from existing renewing passholders. Otherwise why wouldn’t Burke have done this already? I guess time will tell.

 

[snoseek]

They could always take the PRG route and have separate pass prices and a certain amount of free days at burke. It seems to work well for them.

 

[B-Eastski]

What will go up for Burke folks is the Biking pass if they combined it. However Burke regular down hill riders would now have access to Thunder which is arguably the best bike park on the East Coast. At least for advances riders. I live 5 min away and prefer Stratton or Killington places scares the shit out of me.

 

[urungus]

So the consensus is purchase by deep pocketed locals assorted with the Burke Mtn Academy, sort of like Killington. And the Schaeffers will help managing the resort without much if any ownership stake ? Sort of like the arrangement at Bousquet ? Who in that group has experience running a large hotel ?

 

[B-Eastski]

So the consensus is purchase by deep pocketed locals assorted with the Burke Mtn Academy, sort of like Killington. And the Schaeffers will help managing the resort without much if any ownership stake ? Sort of like the arrangement at Bousquet ? Who in that group has experience running a large hotel ?

I would think Jon would have some level of ownership i this deal. This is a much bigger animal than little Bousquet!

 

[thetrailboss]

So the consensus is purchase by deep pocketed locals assorted with the Burke Mtn Academy, sort of like Killington. And the Schaeffers will help managing the resort without much if any ownership stake ? Sort of like the arrangement at Bousquet ? Who in that group has experience running a large hotel ?

It's not at all clear to me IF the Hotel is part of the deal. I know that the Receiver wants it to be so he can be done with this, but those in the know have consistently told me that the Receiver has interest in one OR the other, not both.

 

[machski]

Because they wouldn’t want to undercut themselves. Given Burkes remote location, my guess is that a drop in Burke season pass price is not going to lead to enough additional sales to make up for the lost revenue from existing renewing passholders. Otherwise why wouldn’t Burke have done this already? I guess time will tell.

You are talking from a Burke only pass model perspective. If Burke were combined into a single pass with the other three down in MA, you'd sell more passes overall and revenue share across the areas. They could also keep Burke separate and offer some comp days across their portfolio (akin to how Boyne has dealt with Pleasant to date with the NEP).

 

[B-Eastski]

Jon would add more summer activities on the mountain as well and improve the bike park. Berkshire East’s park was built by gravity Logic out of Whistler so you know he is into spending money.

 

[AdironRider]

Kingdom Trails seems to be a tough relationship for partners. Previously under Q Burke reign, the relationship fell apart once already. That appeared at the time to be a one off (given the Quiros scam that was running) and the fault of Burke, but since then several other stakeholders ended their relationship with KT as well, so it is a little murkier in terms of who is the bad partner here. Others in the biking industry say KT is working through some challenges there, which is all ultimately to say, its not a guarantee that Jon or whoever the new owner is immediately going to see a huge benefit from working with KT or necessarily want to make that investment right out of the gate without seeing how that relationship plays out.