Superstar stockpiles!

[steamboat1]

Not sure how much money K makes out of spring operations, if any. The majority of people on the hill are pass holders, otherwise tickets are cheap. If they make money anywhere it's probably at the U-Bar. Even then a good amount of people bring there own F&B for tailgating. Forecast a little rain & it's a total loss running the lift & keeping the lodge open all day. Money & proximity have nothing to do with it. It's just a marketing expense that I guess K feels is worthwhile spending.

 

[machski]

Not sure how much money K makes out of spring operations, if any. The majority of people on the hill are pass holders, otherwise tickets are cheap. If they make money anywhere it's probably at the U-Bar. Even then a good amount of people bring there own F&B for tailgating. Money & proximity have nothing to do with it. It's just a marketing expense that I guess K feels is worthwhile spending.

Couldn't agree more. I've been going on unused Max Pass days this late spring so there may be some revenue depending on how Max Pass revenue is shared (if its on a per visit or not) to the individual ski area. Regardless, just like late season at SR on my season pass there, I make the effort and fork over the $ for some food and beverage every late season day. I know tailgating is great fun and all, but if skiers want to support their mountains, especially on either fringe of the season, and keep the fringes going, there needs to be some revenue. If you're buying a day pass, you've done your part. But if you are a long paid off passholder, I feel like it is our duty to show some $$ support during the ends of the season (or no complaining if it someday is ended). IMHO

 

[cdskier]

Never gonna happen. A place like Saddleback or Sugarloaf could go deeper into spring with more terrain, but the business just isn't there. Ks proximity to Manhattan is why it works.

Even Sugarbush could go deep into spring if they wanted to. Stein's and even Spring Fling still look like they have decent cover for the most part, and Sugarbush didn't try to blow anywhere near the amount of snow on them that K blows on Superstar. And if they really wanted to make a run for spring skiing, they could always blow a ton of snow on the upper part of Mt Ellen (but that will not happen anytime soon).

But I absolutely agree that it is unlikely anyone else truly challenges K anytime soon for the spring skiing title. K lost that battle a number of years ago to Sugarbush and maybe a couple others for a year or so and I don't think they will make that mistake again. It is certainly not a money-maker in the traditional sense, but at the same time it would probably hurt them overall with their core followers if they are seen as not making a legitimate attempt to stay open late.

 

[deadheadskier]

If Killington was located in Rangeley Maine, there's no chance they'd be open right now and have a similar operating philosophy. Location absolutely has something to do with it. Places further away from cities, even marginally further like Sugarbush do not draw near the crowds that K does on spring weekends even during years that they have a massive terrain / product advantage. Never said anything about making money.

 

[steamboat1]

Ks proximity to Manhattan is why it works.

K is not within day trip range from Manhattan. It's even further away than Cornheads trip from upstate. For me here in Brooklyn it's about 285 miles or 5hrs. each way, that's with no traffic. Not many people willing to make that long a day trip. I give Cornhead lots of credit for his efforts.

 

[deadheadskier]

Did I say it's within day trip range?

Often times in spring, Sugarloaf can have near 100% of their terrain open when K is down to the Superstar pod. Sugarloaf will be a ghost town in comparison to K even with a massive product advantage. Why? Killington's proximity to Manhattan.

 

[steamboat1]

By the way it's snowing right now at K....:flag:

 

[steamboat1]

Did I say it's within day trip range?

Often times in spring, Sugarloaf can have near 100% of their terrain open when K is down to the Superstar pod. Sugarloaf will be a ghost town in comparison to K even with a massive product advantage. Why? Killington's proximity to Manhattan.

Not worth wasting my time arguing with you. You're always right, at least you think you are.

 

[deadheadskier]

Not worth wasting my time arguing with you. You're always right, at least you think you are.

Please don't. Thanks

 

[steamboat1]

I've been going on unused Max Pass days this late spring so there may be some revenue depending on how Max Pass revenue is shared (if its on a per visit or not) to the individual ski area.

I don't know how true it is but I've read areas get $50 each visit.

 

[cdskier]

Location may be a factor when you're talking about the difference between a 4-5 hour drive vs a 6-7 hour drive. But I think another factor (and perhaps a bigger one) is marketing/branding. People "know" that K has skiing late into Spring.

 

[steamboat1]

Even Sugarbush could go deep into spring if they wanted to. Stein's and even Spring Fling still look like they have decent cover for the most part, and Sugarbush didn't try to blow anywhere near the amount of snow on them that K blows on Superstar

I've said this many times before that if Sugarbush blew the amount of snow on Steins that K blows on Superstar Sugarbush would win. It might be a little more difficult now with the lower loading of the VH chair & having to go around the base lodge.

 

[machski]

Did I say it's within day trip range?

Often times in spring, Sugarloaf can have near 100% of their terrain open when K is down to the Superstar pod. Sugarloaf will be a ghost town in comparison to K even with a massive product advantage. Why? Killington's proximity to Manhattan.

DHS, you are ignoring a very big component here IMHO. Killington is in striking range of Manhattan yes, but is a not so difficult day trip from Boston as well. They can pull both markets, where Loaf can only pull Boston (and even then K is a shorter drive than Loaf). SB is about an extra hour from Boston than Killington. AMD if you want to throw it in as well, Albany is in range too. With dwindling skiers from any market late season, being in range of three markets is huge.

 

[deadheadskier]

Absolutely. Location, location, location they say. And that's true for peak season as well. Killington is the most popular ski resort in the East no matter what time of year and that's because they have a good product and about as good of a location as you can get in the Northeast. I only bring up Manhattan as it's the biggest pond of them all. Sugarloaf, Sunday River and the Northern VT areas are at a distinct disadvantage to Killington because they are all that much further from Manhattan.

We have a number of members of this forum from NYC metro that make the extra effort to get to Sugarbush each weekend, but I've met many K skiers who say that even though they prefer Stowe, Sugarbush, Jay etc, to Killington, they don't want to drive that extra distance every weekend.

 

[steamboat1]

Skier visits 2015/16. Sugarbush down 25%, Killington down 30+% (800,000 vs 550,000). If that's accurate it means down 35+% at K.

In either event K is about a 1/2 hour from our VT. lodge, Sugarbush 1hr., Stowe 1hr 40 min. I would never consider any of those areas within day trip range from NYC. I'm sure there are some that have done it but very few. But to drive to any of those areas from our lodge doesn't make much difference. As a matter of fact I'd say more people go to Sugarbush from our lodge than go to K. The majority of our members are from NY/NJ.

 

[cdskier]

We have a number of members of this forum from NYC metro that make the extra effort to get to Sugarbush each weekend

Sure do! And to me that extra effort is so worth it during the regular season (no offense to K as I've enjoyed many of my days there...). With no traffic I can make it to SB in 5 hours flat from where I live in NJ (just a few miles west of NYC). I give K a lot of credit for their commitment to spring skiing though and wish SB did that (although I understand why they don't and can't blame them). My season usually ends when SB's season ends. Even the 4 hours to K isn't day-trip distance and I'm not about to spend money on lodging at this point.

 

[joshua segal]

All things being equal, Sugarbush is probably a better ski area than Killington, but the extra 40 minutes of travel time might as well be the Atlantic Ocean. In the 60s Glen Ellen (Sugarbush North) tried for a season or two to be last to close and they finally gave up.

 

[WWF-VT]

Location may be a factor when you're talking about the difference between a 4-5 hour drive vs a 6-7 hour drive. But I think another factor (and perhaps a bigger one) is marketing/branding. People "know" that K has skiing late into Spring.

Killington plans to lose more money as part of their marketing/branding than other mountains by staying open late into Spring

 

[Savemeasammy]

Proximity to population is it's biggest advantage, but the set-up for spring skiing is ideal. Having a hsq that is so easily accessible to parking, and the umbrella bar right there for the party crowd, it's really hard to beat the fun atmosphere.


Sent from my iPhone using AlpineZone

 

[bdfreetuna]

Killington being a kick ass ski resort with loads of terrain from the flattest of flats and big learning areas to legit double diamonds and woods that stack up against the vast majority of other eastern terrain... combined with good location.

Superstar still has a decent mound up top, was up there yesterday. Actually surprised at the overall coverage on Superstar. The trail was fairly crowded but not so much that it ruined the fun. The umbrella bar and grill were busy enough. With the small amount of staff there I figure they made a few bucks on Saturday.

Killington consistently gets most of my early and late-season business. I only get around to skiing the mountain wide open maybe once a year (and not at all this past season because it never was)... but I'll say it's a real treat to ski that mountain at 100%.