The "Sugarbush Thread"

[Orca]

Never seen longer lift lines. SB was overwhelmed. Must have been an excellent revenue day.

 

[tumbler]

At least you get 8 hours of skiing for the $139 you are borrowing. Figure that you’re not a golfer, where you can pay even more for only 3 to 4 hours of recreation.[/QUOTE

Never thought of it this way but absolutely right. This is the best point so far

 

[baseconsolidation]

Anyone know what was happening with the summit chair today? Lifties were loading every other chair and said it was because they didn’t have enough power. Then it shut down soon after. Is this curtailments or something with the chair itself?


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[WWF-VT]

Anyone know what was happening with the summit chair today? Lifties were loading every other chair and said it was because they didn’t have enough power. Then it shut down soon after. Is this curtailments or something with the chair itself?


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I don't know about the Summit chair, but wondering if the GMX is going to get fixed and not be running on diesel.

 

[slatham]

Not a single person has advanced a single reason as to why the day rate should be so punishing.

To encourage: season passes; quad packs, and pre bought online day tickets. So there’s three.

 

[slatham]

This just isn't at SB its at every ikon and epic run property. But I'll throw this at the discussion. The consumer that is waiting last minute to buy a lift ticket is probably waiting on conditions that day. On a day like this, sure he should pay top dollar for waiting and the conditions probably will warrant it. My thing is then it should be the other way around too. If it is -10 below or the ski area has half the mtn open or it just finished up a thaw freeze cycle, then I think they should reduce the ticket window price to warrant conditions. Case in point. My son was racing at Mt. Sunapee on Friday. I was thinking about making a few runs before hand. I called up the ticket office to see if there were discount for racing parents or half day rate. NO and NO. Even though I was only skiing a half day(afternoon) we just go off a thaw freeze cycle and it was only 2 degrees that day, Sunapee still wanted to whack me for $104 dollars.

This is where “policy” gets in the way of making money......

 

[WinS]

I don't know about the Summit chair, but wondering if the GMX is going to get fixed and not be running on diesel.

As I mentioned previously, we had a major lightning strike. Poma and subcontractor AB&B have been trying multiple things to repair the drive. We may be at the point where we need to replace with a new drive. Once built and delivered we would likely have to take GMX offline for a couple of days to install and then have a load test. Would obviously do midweek and have Inverness as the lift to get over to Northridge and then Summit.

 

[WWF-VT]

Thanks for the update on the GMX

 

[BenedictGomez]

It's whatever the market will bear. If you don't like the Vail/Altera walk up rates and can't do the mega pass, go ski the indie mountains.

In almost every instance in life, you'd be correct, but not in this rather unusual instance, as ski industry "walk up rates" are now completely detached from financial reasonableness, and intentionally so to drive pass sales.

Thus the market actually isn't "bearing" it, but that's the point.

 

[Scruffy]

In almost every instance in life, you'd be correct, but not in this rather unusual instance, as ski industry "walk up rates" are now completely detached from financial reasonableness, and intentionally so to drive pass sales.

Thus the market actually isn't "bearing" it, but that's the point.

I would submit the market is bearing it - 7000 tickets were sold at Hunter on Sat. That's in addition to the intentional drive to the mega passes. And by all accounts, all the NE mountains were packed this weekend. So, as a customer, either play ball and get a mega pass, or pay up at the window, or seek alternatives, like the small indie mountains.

 

[Orca]

To encourage: season passes; quad packs, and pre bought online day tickets. So there’s three.

I think you're right. It does appear to be intended to compel a subscription model by making the traditional day ticket unappealing. The next question would be: who benefits from this?

 

[Orca]

I am surprised that there isn't more talk about how overwhelmed SB was today. Mad house, really. Parking was all backed up (though I heard it was much worse at Stowe). Super Bravo and Valley House lines merged in an indistinct mass of people. Gate House line wrapped up the hill and sideways. (Appreciated Win out there organizing the flow to keep things moving -- nice work.) I asked someone who works with Vermont Adaptive and skis Mt. Ellen a lot what the Ellen base lodge was like and she responded with three words: it was impossible. Guess there were a lot of folks with pent up desire to get out, plus a holiday weekend, and it showed!

 

[BenedictGomez]

I would submit the market is bearing it - 7000 tickets were sold at Hunter on Sat.

Hunter doesnt count, it's lift ticket price is $90, which is not akin to the insane $140, $150, $200 ticket prices we're talking about. Not to mention, it's a bit of an outlier given it's market is the richest in America.

And not that it matters, but where does that 7k figure for walk-ups come from, as it's tough to believe?

I am surprised that there isn't more talk about how overwhelmed SB was today. Mad house, really. Parking was all backed up

Sounds like a truly IKONic day!

 

[slatham]

I think you're right. It does appear to be intended to compel a subscription model by making the traditional day ticket unappealing. The next question would be: who benefits from this?

Not just passes/subscription but online. Wednesday tickets are selling for $74. Next Saturday $96. A little risk, a little forethought, very reasonable pricing.

 

[Scruffy]

Hunter doesnt count, it's lift ticket price is $90, which is not akin to the insane $140, $150, $200 ticket prices we're talking about. Not to mention, it's a bit of an outlier given it's market is the richest in America.

And not that it matters, but where does that 7k figure for walk-ups come from, as it's tough to believe?



Sounds like a truly IKONic day!

It's Vail now, it counts ( it's a mega resort now :roll: .) And we don't know what Sugarbush or Vail proper sold this weekend on top of all the season pass holders and IKON/EPIC, so it's hard to discuss it without numbers. Furthermore, as you know, there are cutoff dates to buy EPIC/IKON passes, so anyone not planning way ahead is forced to the window price or any online discounts by buying in multiple days in advance. Regardless, the market is bearing the new model ( and the high walk up rates are part of that new model), was my point, the proof is in the number of ski areas reporting record crowds. We'll see over time where the number of skiers or ski days (same skiers, more days) goes. Meantime I'm enjoying the new model. My skiing has never been as inexpensive as it is right now. Last year on IKON my ski days were $11.99 when all said and done. :beer:

 

[MEtoVTSkier]

To encourage: season passes; quad packs, and pre bought online day tickets. So there’s three.

Remember when the mountains would offer a "conditions" money-back guarantee for the first 30-60 minutes of the day? LOL, that's long gone.

 

[Orca]

Not just passes/subscription but online. Wednesday tickets are selling for $74. Next Saturday $96. A little risk, a little forethought, very reasonable pricing.

Agree. However advanced purchase does shift risk to the consumer. It is a back door way of imposing a 100% cancelation fee on your ski plans.

 

[Orca]

Last year on IKON my ski days were $11.99 when all said and done. :beer:

Terrific for you that your circumstances allow you to take such good advantage of the pass. However, your usage is not scalable across the population of IKON pass holders. The model would break down if everyone used that much product, most notably on high-demand days.

I think you are right that the IKON pass (and Epic too) are attractive products. I'll likely have one next year.

 

[HowieT2]

I am surprised that there isn't more talk about how overwhelmed SB was today. Mad house, really. Parking was all backed up (though I heard it was much worse at Stowe). Super Bravo and Valley House lines merged in an indistinct mass of people. Gate House line wrapped up the hill and sideways. (Appreciated Win out there organizing the flow to keep things moving -- nice work.) I asked someone who works with Vermont Adaptive and skis Mt. Ellen a lot what the Ellen base lodge was like and she responded with three words: it was impossible. Guess there were a lot of folks with pent up desire to get out, plus a holiday weekend, and it showed!

I have a friend who got stuck on the mountain road for 2 hours going to stowe before turning around and coming to sugarbush yesterday.

 

[WinS]

I have a friend who got stuck on the mountain road for 2 hours going to stowe before turning around and coming to sugarbush yesterday.

I think we met him at the ticket window. Yes, it is was a very busy day yesterday. A record for us. But, when I timed the base area lines they were mostly under 10 minutes which for a Holiday anywhere is pretty good. The shortest lift lines are early and at noon. And that was without Castlerock or Slidebrook running. We need another foot of snow to get safe snowmobile access into SB for the lift mechanics. We also had parking still available in Lot G although Mount Ellen did fill up early. The vast majority of the skiers here as always were season pass holders. And, yes, the lodges on the Holidays get jammed because most people come in at the same time, and we do have future plans as I have mentioned in the past to expand our mid-mountain lodges to take the load of the base area lodges.