The early season truck ride at Killington

[nycskier]

And getting back to the truck thing.....

If Powdr doesn't even plan on opening the weekend of April 19th do you really think they are going to run a truck to the Canyon Quad?

 

[2knees]

We are already paying more the the same product we got last year. What if it is worse?

That is what a lot of Killington skiers are worried about. We have to pay up front now for our passes but we really are not getting a good sense how the new Management plans to improve the place. All we see is Peaks talk about expanding snow making, and make improvements while Powdr seems to what to make cuts, revoke lifetime passes, shorten the season and raise prices.

It isnt personal, it's business.

 

[Greg]

Hard to hype a seasonal product...we're the only idiots talking about skiing right now. I mean, it's good we're here because we're the only group of skiers worth marketing to right now and ski areas ought to be taking advantage of that and placing ads here, now. But we think of ourselves as a large, powerful segment of the industry. We're not. Most folks are perfectly content with warmth and won't even think about skiing until the holidays.

To those folks, anything written here may as well be written in martian...it doesn't matter to them. All that matters is what is there when they think about skiing near the holidays. And that is when the real tale will be told.

I have to admit that this probably is the reality of it all, unfortunately. The trick is to come up with ways to increase the lunatic nutjob segment (us!) of the skier demographic.

 

[JimG.]

JimG, the problem is we've generally seen resorts promise the moon and deliver a lot less. What happens if powdr promise us less and delivers even less!!!!

Generally our hope is the resorts blow a heck of a lot of snow and stay open late. If Powdr plans on closing Killington April 13th does that mean they won't blow as much snow as ASC did?

We already seen a ton of staff firing in Killington. What if the people who replace them aren't as good as the experianced people who were let go? What if they just have less staff and less ski patrol working the mountain.

We are already paying more the the same product we got last year. What if it is worse?

That is what a lot of Killington skiers are worried about. We have to pay up front now for our passes but we really are not getting a good sense how the new Management plans to improve the place. All we see is Peaks talk about expanding snow making, and make improvements while Powdr seems to what to make cuts, revoke lifetime passes, shorten the season and raise prices.

Maybe this perception is unfair and I really hope they do improve Killington but you can't blame us for being a little worried and put off by what they are doing.

I don't blame you or anyone else who skis there for anything. Remember, the pot stirrer. Do you realize how much conversation this topic has spawned here and other places? And I'm not "against" you; I'm playing devil's advocate if you will.

But I can't be fair and blame anything on POWDR yet either. It's the middle of summer. They've made some tough decisions. To me, the guys who buy stuff and tout how it will be used in the Winter have it easy in comparison. POWDR has created a stir and it's why we're talking mostly about them. Because we mostly are and it's because we're interested in what happens. And it's why they have it tough...they had better come through come winter.

That question that lingers (for all ski resorts each year I might add) is what makes it fun to watch.

 

[Geoff]

On the truck thing...
It was a cost issue. Shuttling trucks back and forth pounded the snot out of them. Big repair bills to suspensions. It also took a ton of staff compared to the old Killington double days where you could open with 1 guy at the bottom, one guy at midstation, and one guy at the top. One sled dog. One person selling day tickets. You're good to go.

In my opinion, early skiing won't return until Killington replaces one of the Snowdon lifts with a high speed quad. That gives them the upload/download capability. You start with the Glades triple and get the poma going as quickly as you can.

This is all moot since the new management is clueless about how they need to market Killington. It ain't Vail or Deer Valley. It's the Beast of the East where the name of the game is to make snow early and often.

 

[ALLSKIING]

Come fall I am looking to ski anything thats cold and white....So I voted for early season.