Ski Sundown: The 2007 AlpineZone Challenge

[thetrailboss]

Chris Sullivan, the Mountain Operations Manager of Ski Sundown has agreed to take the 2007 Alpine Zone Challenge!!! This is your opportunity to ask questions, offer suggestions, or say some praise to the men and women who are in charge of the Northeast’s Ski Areas. Please post some suggested questions in this thread and we'll select ten to present for official responses.

Also please don't be offended if we edit/change your question for grammar, tone, or some other minor thing. In order to get in all of the questions we MAY merge some questions but we'll do our best to keep the substance of your question. If we don't get your question in, feel free to post a follow up after we get the results...we are encouraging the representatives follow the threads. :wink:

As always, please be respectful of Chris and keep it civil. Also, please refrain from asking specifics about skier visit numbers, financials, demographic information, etc. Ski Sundown needs to be discrete about certain information.

We are honored to have Sundown join us for their SECOND AZ Challenge!!! Please take advantage of this special opportunity!


Ask away!

Sundown’s Profile

Previous Sundown Responses:

2006 Responses.

 

[Greg]

1. The moguls set up on Nor'easter and skier's right of Exhibition this season were great. I estimated that I skied the Nor'easter bumps about 175+ times this season! What feedback did you receive on the bumps? It was awesome that they started up by the Nor'easter sun deck, but they seemed to stop short. Why was that? Was it a safety issue to give folks a chance to stop before entering the Canyon Run flats? The bumps on Exhibition were also fun and I know for a fact they acted as a good starting point for folks looking to improve in the bumps. Do you plan to continue with this approach next season? I know early season was very challenging for you this season, but next year do you plan to seed bumps as soon as conditions allow?
   
2. Any update on the possible terrain expansion? I know you alluded to a possible custom cut trail for the terrain park if you do expand. If so, would you consider dedicating Stinger as a bump run? Even better, is there any chance of getting a new trail cut that can be a dedicated expert bump run? A narrow (perhaps Lower Nor'easter width) run straight down the fall line skier's left of Gunbarrel with top to bottom seeded bumps would be awesome. Call it a double diamond for marketing value if you want. Am I dreaming?
   
3. How did the April Freestyle camp go? Any chance for a mogul camp in the future?
   
4. Has an amateur mogul competition ever been considered? Perhaps a course with kickers could temporarily be seeded on Gunbarrel (maybe after racing is mostly done). This could be a unique event as I believe it would be the only mogul comp in Southern New England.

 

[BushMogulMaster]

1. The moguls set up on Nor'easter and skier's right of Exhibition this season were great. I estimated that I skied the Nor'easter bumps about 175+ times this season! What feedback did you receive on the bumps? It was awesome that they started up by the Nor'easter sun deck, but they seemed to stop short. Why was that? Was it a safety issue to give folks a chance to stop before entering the Canyon Run flats? The bumps on Exhibition were also fun and I know for a fact they acted as a good starting point for folks looking to improve in the bumps. Do you plan to continue with this approach next season? I know early season was very challenging for you this season, but next year do you plan to seed bumps as soon as conditions allow?
   
2. Any update on the possible terrain expansion? I know you alluded to a possible custom cut trail for the terrain park if you do expand. If so, would you consider dedicating Stinger as a bump run? Even better, is there any chance of getting a new trail cut that can be a dedicated expert bump run? A narrow (perhaps Lower Nor'easter width) run straight down the fall line skier's left of Gunbarrel with top to bottom seeded bumps would be awesome. Call it a double diamond for marketing value if you want. Am I dreaming?
   
3. How did the April Freestyle camp go? Any chance for a mogul camp in the future?
   
4. Has an amateur mogul competition ever been considered? Perhaps a course with kickers could temporarily be seeded on Gunbarrel (maybe after racing is mostly done). This could be a unique event as I believe it would be the only mogul comp in Southern New England.

Moguls on the mind? :wink:

 

[Greg]

Moguls on the mind? :wink:

Always...

 

[BushMogulMaster]

Always...

Yep... me too. I literally have dreams about skiing moguls. When I shut my eyes, I see mogul skiers. Should I visit a psychiatrist or psychologist or something? Am I okay? Or maybe that's just what 110 days of bump skiing will do to you!

Greg... we've got to hook up somewhere next year, but I'm not sure if I'll be able to make it home from Colorado much. I'll be in school a lot, and when I'm not in school, I'll be working at one of the many surrounding ski areas. Planning any trips west next year?


Anyway... sorry for the hijack. Back to your regularly scheduled programming.

 

[Grassi21]

1. The moguls set up on Nor'easter and skier's right of Exhibition this season were great. I estimated that I skied the Nor'easter bumps about 175+ times this season! What feedback did you receive on the bumps? It was awesome that they started up by the Nor'easter sun deck, but they seemed to stop short. Why was that? Was it a safety issue to give folks a chance to stop before entering the Canyon Run flats? The bumps on Exhibition were also fun and I know for a fact they acted as a good starting point for folks looking to improve in the bumps. Do you plan to continue with this approach next season? I know early season was very challenging for you this season, but next year do you plan to seed bumps as soon as conditions allow?
   
2. Any update on the possible terrain expansion? I know you alluded to a possible custom cut trail for the terrain park if you do expand. If so, would you consider dedicating Stinger as a bump run? Even better, is there any chance of getting a new trail cut that can be a dedicated expert bump run? A narrow (perhaps Lower Nor'easter width) run straight down the fall line skier's left of Gunbarrel with top to bottom seeded bumps would be awesome. Call it a double diamond for marketing value if you want. Am I dreaming?
   
3. How did the April Freestyle camp go? Any chance for a mogul camp in the future?
   
4. Has an amateur mogul competition ever been considered? Perhaps a course with kickers could temporarily be seeded on Gunbarrel (maybe after racing is mostly done). This could be a unique event as I believe it would be the only mogul comp in Southern New England.

I'll have what he's drinking. :beer: Seriously, those are some great suggestions.

 

[Greg]

Got another:

My daughter really loved the magic carpet this season. However, the terrain it services could stand to be a bit steeper. By the time she got any momentum she was back at the bottom again, especially on the warmer slushy days. Any chance the magic carpet could be positioned on some slightly steeper terrain? Do you anticipate extending its length at all?

 

[2knees]

Make the bumps on stinger and run the terrain park on nor'easter.

 

[2knees]

To explain, you are wasting a steep trail for no reason.

Make the bumps on Stinger and put the terrain park on Nor'Easter.

 

[skizilla]

Powder ridge

What are your plans for Powder Ridge? Will it open this Year? Will there be a shared pass? Will there be trail expansions? Will its opening affect Ski Sundown Via lost snowmaking capacity or grooming?

 

[Grassi21]

What are your plans for Powder Ridge? Will it open this Year? Will there be a shared pass? Will there be trail expansions? Will its opening affect Ski Sundown Via lost snowmaking capacity or grooming?

I nearly forgot about the Sundown/PR scenario.

 

[Greg]

1. The quantity of snow made this season seemed more that in season's past. The summit stockpile was impressive. Did you make more snow this year? I heard there were some tweaks made to the snowmaking system that made it more efficient. Can you ellaborate? Do you anticipate any changes to the snowmaking systems for next season?
   
2. Are there any other infrastructure improvements/upgrades planned, e.g. lifts, base facilities, etc.?

 

[loafer89]

I am not sure if I can ask this, but is the glade off of Gunbarrel legal to ski, or is it out of bounds?

 

[thetrailboss]

OK, does anyone besides Greg have questions??

 

[Grassi21]

Are season pass holders entitled to discounts at other mountains?

Have you ever offered/considered passes that are limited to night skiing or allow the pass holder to pick one day/night of the week to ski? Or is the Savings Card design to be the catch all?

 

[thetrailboss]

Awesome. Any more????

 

[Greg]

Would you ever consider building a small kicker or two in the Nor'easter bump run?

How about pumping some tunes on that run, ala Beartrap at Mount Snow?

 

[thetrailboss]

OK. We're done with this one.

 

[thetrailboss]

Thanks...