Stowe Thread

[jimmywilson69]

they aren't operating ziplines anywhere. we had a decent zipline tree canopy thing at Roundtop and vail has never run it.

 

[cdskier]

Costs money

Back when I did it several years ago it wasn't exactly cheap ($130/person). Since everyone that uses it pays per use...I'd think it has to be priced at a point where it was generating revenue. I doubt it was being operated at a loss... Most of the costs at this point should just be operational (staffing of people that I'm sure aren't exactly being paid a ton).

 

[jimmywilson69]

while I'm sure it generated revenue and profit, its not enough for vail to justify spending any money to run it. That's the rumor at Roundtop. NOt enough 000s after the comma.

Further proof they don't care about the local market.

 

[cdskier]

while I'm sure it generated revenue and profit, its not enough for vail to justify spending any money to run it. That's the rumor at Roundtop. NOt enough 000s after the comma.

Further proof they don't care about the local market.

At Stowe, Vail was were running the Zip line up until this coming summer...so it isn't like Vail never ran it at Stowe.

Wonder if Hunter is running theirs this summer (can't recall if they ran it last year or not as I simply wasn't paying attention).

 

[abc]

Don’t forget they were forced to raise the staff hourly rate by 25%. Cost more to run everything this year.

The bean counter may deem it not profitable to run anything in the summer. Save money by just shut the mountains down.

 

[Kingslug20]

Vail..where fun goes to die...

 

[cdskier]

Don’t forget they were forced to raise the staff hourly rate by 25%. Cost more to run everything this year.

The bean counter may deem it not profitable to run anything in the summer. Save money by just shut the mountains down.

Well at least at Stowe they can't just shut the mountain down entirely in the summer. They're required per the terms of the lease of the land to run at least 1 chair/gondola from July through September. (Although they could theoretically get away with not running one this year since there's an exemption in the lease for any year a new lift is installed/replaced).

 

[catskillman]

At Stowe, Vail was were running the Zip line up until this coming summer...so it isn't like Vail never ran it at Stowe.

Wonder if Hunter is running theirs this summer (can't recall if they ran it last year or not as I simply wasn't paying attention).

yes and it ran all winter at Hunter. A third party is involved.

 

[cdskier]

yes and it ran all winter at Hunter. A third party is involved.

Ahh...that's right. I forgot a 3rd party operated that. Probably a very good thing!

 

[crystalmountainskier]

If it makes people feel better they are abandoning zip lines in Vail, Breckenridge and Tahoe too. The Stowe death was the second in the company. Perhaps just too much risk for not enough reward.

 

[jimmywilson69]

oh was there a death at Stowe? didn't know that...

 

[jaytrem]

Gotta wonder what happens at Hunter when the contact is up??? If Zipline NY paid for the install, I would hope they have a lengthy one.

 

[drjeff]

Don’t forget they were forced to raise the staff hourly rate by 25%. Cost more to run everything this year.

The bean counter may deem it not profitable to run anything in the summer. Save money by just shut the mountains down.

The company wide staff raises don't go into effect until the Fall

 

[drjeff]

oh was there a death at Stowe? didn't know that...

Yes, last season. If I recall it was one of the ride operators either during a daily test, or maybe it was at the end of the day as they were coming down via the zipline to the base. The specifics of the incident escape me right now, but I think it was something to do with the braking system at the end of the line not being able to stop the person safely. It wasn't a situation where the line itself failed

 

[snoseek]

There was a pretty tragic one at heavenly as well

 

[Kingslug20]

Ive been on these things..a lot can go wrong. There was an incident where the person was hooked on wrong causing the line to almost cut through a caribiner.

 

[Vter]

I’m sure the family of the deceased don’t want to hear your war stories or unsubstantiated assessments about which you do not know. Even if your an investigator to this accident, this is Not the place to speculate. People who care read this site.

 

[deadheadskier]

I’m sure the family of the deceased don’t want to hear your war stories or unsubstantiated assessments about which you do not know. Even if your an investigator to this accident, this is Not the place to speculate. People who care read this site.

That's a fair point. While Alpinezone often appears to be just an insolated corner on the web, it is still on the web and because of that has many visits from non-members. And there's a lot more connections in this sport than we sometimes realize.

As someone who called Stowe home for ten years, that tragedy certainly hits.

 

[thetrailboss]

Yes, last season. If I recall it was one of the ride operators either during a daily test, or maybe it was at the end of the day as they were coming down via the zipline to the base. The specifics of the incident escape me right now, but I think it was something to do with the braking system at the end of the line not being able to stop the person safely. It wasn't a situation where the line itself failed

Yikes.

 

[djd66]

Stowe Mountain Resort employee dies in zip line crash

A Stowe Mountain Resort employee died last week while riding on the resort’s zip line as part of his job.

www.vtcng.com