The Fall of Winter begins.....

[hammer]

I see Ragged is calling it quits Saturday. Which ill include their pond skimming event...

High temp of 30 and low of 14. Sounds toasty.

Makes me glad that my trip in northern NH was last weekend. Might have been sketchy in the AM but spring conditions prevailed in the afternoon. With the colder temps coming up unless there's a good coating of manmade it will be quite slick.

 

[Rushski]

[h=2]$39 Lift Tickets and Spring Bash Water Dash, Saturday, March 19!!! [/h]The spring thaw came a bit early this season, but we are embracing it and having an end of year bash, pond skim, BBQ on the Brix, and live music. Purchase Lift Tickets

May be wrong but it sounds like this may be it. Just seeing how thin WV was last Friday I'm guessing Ragged can't be in al that great of shape...

 

[xwhaler]

$39 Lift Tickets and Spring Bash Water Dash, Saturday, March 19!!!

The spring thaw came a bit early this season, but we are embracing it and having an end of year bash, pond skim, BBQ on the Brix, and live music. Purchase Lift Tickets

May be wrong but it sounds like this may be it. Just seeing how thin WV was last Friday I'm guessing Ragged can't be in al that great of shape...

I skied Ragged last Saturday....the snowmaking routes had very few thin spots and was quite deep all things considered. Certainty way way better than what I saw at Crotched the following day.

 

[ss20]

This MRG Facebook post sums up winter pretty nicely:



They also posted this pretty somber/terrifying letter on the financial state of their mountain:

http://www.madriverglen.com/site/preview/1402

Greetings Mad River Glen Skiers,

The 2016 ski season has turned out to be a bust of historic proportions, the worst in the past 35 years in fact. We received just a bit over 100" of snow for the season, well below our 225" average, made worse by the fact that whenever we did get snow it was followed up with rain, a thaw or both. Normally we budget for about 100 days of operation each season. This year we only ran for 45 mostly unspectacular days.

Beyond the less than stellar skiing, the season has had a major impact on our entire community:
Our pass holders had a tough time getting the value out of their purchases.
Mad Card skiers had a hard time using up their tickets.
Our seasonal staff members saw significantly diminished hours and were laid off very early.
Our full time employees are looking at unpaid furloughs this off-season.
The mountain finds itself in the most challenging financial situation it has seen since the founding of the Co-op in 1995.
Other regional ski areas are experiencing similar or even worse financial challenges.
Many of our friends and neighbors in the Mad River Valley have had a rough time of things this winter too.
We very much wish that there was something that we could do for all the folks who felt the force of "El Nino's" punch. We wish that we could allow Season Passes and Mad Cards to be used next season. We would also love to be able to compensate our loyal staff for lost hours of work. Unfortunately, the Co-op is not in a position to do that from a fiscal perspective: To do so would simply be guaranteeing another bad financial year next season and would threaten the long-term financial health of Mad River Glen. Our entire community, our skiers, employees, neighbors, local business owners and our families feel the pain. While we know that the situation impacted you, we ask that you take the longer view, chalk it up to a bad season and look forward to lots of snow next year.

The strength of the Mad River Glen Cooperative is in our community, our resiliency and our unique business model. The 2016 season was the 20th year under skier-ownership and while it was our worst financial one to date, it is important to keep in mind that we finished in the black 15 of the past 20 years. We also have many other positives to dwell on:
Our kids ski school and race programs were our anchor this year.
Our various departments did better financially than we ever could have hoped.
Ticket sales actually performed better than expected given the weather.
We continued to receive tremendous positive press attention.
We partnered with our neighbors at Sugarbush to help provide skiing for MRG skiers.
The spirit of the community remained steadfast.
As we look forward to the next ski season we are well aware that you have options on where you ski and that there are many factors to consider when making that choice. Mad River Glen offers a ski experience that is unavailable elsewhere. When it is good it is world-class, and even when conditions aren't outstanding it provides memories that will last a lifetime. Our dedicated staff is committed to providing you this exceptional experience and sense of place that is so rare to find in today's world. Please know that we will all be working hard to ensure that this special place is here for you and your family for years to come. Thanks for your continued support,

Sincerely,

Jamey Wimble - President
John Stetson - Co-op Board Chair

I'm sure every other ski area in NE would be writing similar letters to their customers if the industry wasn't so hush about this kind of stuff. The shitty thing about the ski industry is that whatever meager profits you make in 5 good years is wiped away by one bad year. The "2016 Offseason Improvements" thread will be pretty thin this year. I know mountains around me are considering putting improvements on hold because of the bad year.

 

[steamboat1]

I don't know if it's true & don't know how big a percentage of there normal gross it is but a Killington employee told me that at a meeting last week Mike stated that their gross is down $9mil. so far this year.

 

[BenedictGomez]

Very well-written and open letter by MRG management IMO. If I lived closer, I'd have a SP there to aid the cause. Great place.

 

[deadheadskier]

I wonder what the threshold is for MRG before they consider exploring ways to modernize their product with better snowmaking. I know water is an issue. I know it's never wise to make snap judgments based off one bad year of business.

I still think you can preserve the "vibe" of MRG while tweaking things a bit to make 100 operating days a reality even during years like this one.

 

[Jully]

I wonder what other resorts didn't get to 100 days this year either though. Crotched must be close.

 

[Newpylong]

I wonder what the threshold is for MRG before they consider exploring ways to modernize their product with better snowmaking. I know water is an issue. I know it's never wise to make snap judgments based off one bad year of business.

I still think you can preserve the "vibe" of MRG while tweaking things a bit to make 100 operating days a reality even during years like this one.

There was a good white paper actually done on this when I am back in the office Monday I'll try to find it.

 

[steamboat1]

There was a good white paper actually done on this when I am back in the office Monday I'll try to find it.

http://www.madriverglen.coop/images/resources/MRG Snowmaking system white paper 1-30-14 final.pdf

 

[Keelhauled]

I wonder what other resorts didn't get to 100 days this year either though. Crotched must be close.

Burke and Bolton Valley. Magic and Pico wouldn't in a normal year, but I'm sure they're down by similar percentages. Whaleback's in the same boat.

 

[catsup948]

Berkshire East operated about 8 less weeks than last season. Only operated a limited number of March days and no days in December. Sad times.

 

[RichT]

I think (or at least hope) that you'll find that with Peak Resorts as their owner that you'll see a bunch of changes, mostly subtle rather than completely trying to reinvent the wheel, as I saw 1st hand when Peak bought Mount Snow.

I heard a few weeks ago, Dick Deutsch, one of Peak's big wigs, speak about how important they (Peak) felt the addition of Hunter was going to be to their resort portfolio and overall company operations, at the Mount Snow passholders meeting. If Peak uses the same type of operations strategy they use at Mount Snow for Hunter, and they have a GM and senior staff for various departments in place who are as effective at communicating to their passholders why they are making such and such a decision, I think you'll find out why I get accused around here often of being a "Peak cheerleader" and why I don't get offended by that at all as they've done a very good job overall at making enhancements to a mountain that I love and saw had lost a bit of its luster under the previous management

Dr Jeff how do they
"communicate to their passholders "

 

[drjeff]

Dr Jeff how do they
"communicate to their passholders "

Multiple ways for sure!!

Actions speak the loudest obviously

Face to face works well

Media (social, print, video)

What I've seen at Mount Snow is that now matter how many ways they try and communicate their plans to their customers, there's always going to be some people who still don't get the message. As long as more customers (or potential customers) get the message than not, that's all you can realistically ask for communications wise!

 

[loafer89]

The lifty at the Mount Snow Grand Summit Express was commenting on my rare Moss Rocks Grass lift ticket from 2/15/16.

 

[mbedle]

Heading up next week to Stowe for some spring skiing. Hopefully this storm coming in will put a little more snow on the ground than the last one.

 

[Smellytele]

Heading up next week to Stowe for some spring skiing. Hopefully this storm coming in will put a little more snow on the ground than the last one.

The one that is bringing freezing rain on Thursday/Thursday night?

 

[mbedle]

The one that is bringing freezing rain on Thursday/Thursday night?

I'm seeing some snow on Wednesday, snow on Thursday and a mix of rain/snow on Thursday night and Friday morning, before changing back over to snow on Friday afternoon.

 

[machski]

I'm seeing some snow on Wednesday, snow on Thursday and a mix of rain/snow on Thursday night and Friday morning, before changing back over to snow on Friday afternoon.

This one is a tricky call with a stalled front over central new England. Hard to forecast how it will ripple. Pray that high builds in and slows down.

 

[mbedle]

This one is a tricky call with a stalled front over central new England. Hard to forecast how it will ripple. Pray that high builds in and slows down.

Every little bit helps. If they keep the trail count up, at least they will have more open than back in early January!!!