The "Sugarbush Thread"

[NewEnglander77]

North Linx was taking passengers shortly after 9, despite the lift report showing 10AM opening. Can't get the communication right. Left hand/right hand issues.

 

[nhskier1969]

Is the problem finding lift mechanics or finding mechanics that will work for the hourly rate Sugarbush wants to hire them at? Again, this all goes back to management. How active was management in the summer and early fall recruiting seasonal workers? What does Sugarbush pay vs competitors? Does Sugarbush give the extra perks to their employees like other resorts do? You would assume senior management would have identified these issues over the summer months and thought of "out of the box" ideas for recruitment.

 

[vtboarder]

The subject of HG's dismount ramp was mentioned a few pages back. Here's my take from a snowboarders perspective: it is more steep than ideal and too narrow for when the lift is at capacity. While I don't understand why they made it that way, it isn't brutally bad. The plateau that it dumps you at has a slight uphill so it's quite manageable assuming the unload area isn't a clusterf*ck/no skier is turning into you.

Over many years, have found that little thought is given to things that would improve the on mountain experience for most snowboarders, or at the least, not detract from it - so not too surprised by this. Hopefully management realizes that having wrecks off the lift is neither a good look nor conducive to keeping the lift running at full speed and takes sufficient corrective action to get through this winter and then a long term fix in the off-season. Been out of town so will see first hand (fingers crossed) next week.

 

[cdskier]

Is the problem finding lift mechanics or finding mechanics that will work for the hourly rate Sugarbush wants to hire them at? Again, this all goes back to management. How active was management in the summer and early fall recruiting seasonal workers? What does Sugarbush pay vs competitors? Does Sugarbush give the extra perks to their employees like other resorts do? You would assume senior management would have identified these issues over the summer months and thought of "out of the box" ideas for recruitment.

Lift mechanics aren't seasonal. They're year-round positions. Sugarbush has been trying to recruit more lift mechanics for quite some time. They currently have both Level 2 and Level 3 positions posted on their job site. The Level 3 position includes a $2K signing bonus (although for the life of me I can't see a single difference in the qualification requirements between L2 and L3 based on the job posting details).

Yes, Sugarbush offers many perks/benefits similar to other resorts. How the pay compares is a good question. The pay isn't listed in the job posting so no idea on that one. Are other resorts short lift mechanics? I can't say I've seen any other resorts mention this recently as reasoning for not having any lifts open/ready. If Sugarbush is an outlier, then there's a problem. And maybe the pay itself is comparable, but maybe there are other issues that make it more difficult to find local candidates (i.e. maybe less housing available or housing being more expensive in the MRV compared to other resort areas...for a job like a lift mechanic where you need to be at the mountain no matter what, you likely don't want to commute from a large distance every day).

 

[Cheetah440]

Lift mechanics aren't seasonal. They're year-round positions. Sugarbush has been trying to recruit more lift mechanics for quite some time. They currently have both Level 2 and Level 3 positions posted on their job site. The Level 3 position includes a $2K signing bonus (although for the life of me I can't see a single difference in the qualification requirements between L2 and L3 based on the job posting details).

Yes, Sugarbush offers many perks/benefits similar to other resorts. How the pay compares is a good question. The pay isn't listed in the job posting so no idea on that one. Are other resorts short lift mechanics? I can't say I've seen any other resorts mention this recently as reasoning for not having any lifts open/ready. If Sugarbush is an outlier, then there's a problem. And maybe the pay itself is comparable, but maybe there are other issues that make it more difficult to find local candidates (i.e. maybe less housing available or housing being more expensive in the MRV compared to other resort areas...for a job like a lift mechanic where you need to be at the mountain no matter what, you likely don't want to commute from a large distance every day).

Recent and interesting read. https://www.snowopsmag.com/article/education-training/new-ski-lift-mechanics-training-program/

 

[ingsy]

no more cups at the Lincoln Peak cafeteria by the water bubbler. :/

 

[thetrailboss]

“Difficulty hiring” translates in corporate speak to “no one wants to work for the wages we‘re willing to pay.” It’s simple economics: pay more, you attract more workers. There’s absolutely NO reason a major resort is so short staffed on lift mechanics that they can’t get preseason maintenance done in time for timely annual inspections.

And the fact that the high cost of living/high taxes in Vermont really do deter people from moving there.

 

[thetrailboss]

A lot of detailed lift updates and information in the latest blog post:

State of the Mountain 12/27/24 - SugarBlog

Happy holidays and welcome back to another edition of State of the Mountain. Perhaps unintentionally, we've been posting these weekly since the start of the month, and my plan is to continue to do that until we run out of things to talk about. Plenty to talk about this go-around though, and I'm...

blog.sugarbush.com

The transparency is good, but the fact that it's a major holiday week and there are issues with five of the lifts is pretty ridiculous. Don't kid yourselves. Folks might remember that when Win spoke at the Community Meetings he would allude to the fact that pretty much every Saturday and the three holiday periods (Xmas, MLK, Presidents Week) make or break the ski season revenue-wise. To not have key lifts ready by the opening, let alone Christmas Week, is a major fail. They also knew that Gatehouse was going to be first to open so why did they not have North Lynx inspected and ready? Yes, finding help is tough. Yes, the lifts are complicated. However, we're not talking about an independent and locally owned ski area anymore. We're talking about one of the two ski resort duopolies with plenty of resources. Why didn't management ask Alterra for help? Maybe fly in a tech or two to help in the offseason to get things rolling? Maybe this is not feasible, but at least try.

And saying that your terrain is open because one can hike it due to the lift being closed is cute when we're talking about Castlerock. That makes sense and appeals to hardcore skiers willing to brave the thin cover. But using this as a way to say that you have terrain open when your lift(s) are not functional is really stupid and cheap. People buy lift tickets, not hike tickets. The lifts are why people pay. And IKON is supposed to be a premium product. If folks are going to hike for ski terrain then they will go to Tuckerman Ravine or Lincoln Gap and ski for free.

From my 30,000 foot vantage point it is not clear to me if the major issues at SB are due to Alterra Central focused elsewhere or local management not working hard enough/having no pull with Alterra Central, or both. But I am not hearing about any major issues with lifts at Stratton and I am seeing lots of money being spent at Deer Valley and Steamboat.

One last observation is that your sister ski area, Solitude, as well as other Alterra resorts are struggling this year to open terrain, make snow, and get lifts going. As I've said, Alta has said at least twice that IKON pass sales were down for Alterra. We'll see if the operation issues continue.

 

[Carl_Greig]

Noth Lynx windhold lifted.

 

[Carl_Greig]

¯\_( ͡~ ͜ʖ ͡°)_/¯

 

[SkiingInABlueDream]

Maybe their doing it on purpose just to trigger people

 

[Lotso]

Maybe their doing it on purpose just to trigger people

Something they are good at, it seems

 

[WinS]

“Difficulty hiring” translates in corporate speak to “no one wants to work for the wages we‘re willing to pay.” It’s simple economics: pay more, you attract more workers. There’s absolutely NO reason a major resort is so short staffed on lift mechanics that they can’t get preseason maintenance done in time for timely annual inspections.

In other news, I note the blog completely drops snow requirements for SBX. Instead they say they want to prioritize getting lifts that serve skiing ready for the season. This again stems from point #1 above. And as a reference, LBO opened SBX far earlier than Win’s ownership or current ownership.

IF LBO did and I do not recall, it was because there was sufficient snowpack. I always did and am I sure the current teams wants SBX open as soon as possible. It takes great pressure off LB by moving people over to ME. Even though the bus goes every 30 minutes not as many use it as will use SBX. There has to be sufficient snowpack for lift mechanics to get to all 40 towers and for ski patrol to get there quickly in a case of an evacuation and for guests to get out safely in case of one. And yes, this usually does happen in December and in recent years until later, so work of other lifts and inspections happen ahead of SBX. Also there is a an environmental restriction on work within the Slidebrook area because of the black bear and their hibernation times. Memory may be fading but I think it is until November 15. I would also totally disagree with the comment on wages. This is not an informed comment. Obliviously wages have to be competitive. I am sure the current team is paying competitively, but as I have mentioned previously this is an industry problem not just a Sugarbush one and has been one for a number of years. I know people are trying to address the supply issue but this is not an overnight fix. We need encourage more young people to seek this trade and to train and develop them, and I know that may in the industry are trying to make this happen. I will also add that may very qualified mechanics today prefer working in the West as the climate and conditions there are not as challenging and uncomfortable as in the Northeast. They do have their days of course, but the Northeast weather is typically more challenging as we as going to to see the next couple of days. I had a good early day of skiing today, and I did personally experience the benefit of the new HG lift. I rod it three times the the wind was severe. The old triple would have definitely been on wind hold. All three rides up were smooth and it never went of windhold. Let give the Sugarbush team credit for this decision and major investment.

 

[solar]

Does anyone know how many electric / lift maintenance personnel Sugarbush had on staff in 2018/18 (i.e. Pre-COVID and Alterra/Hammond) vs today? Was there an exodus over new management?

 

[ducky]

no more cups at the Lincoln Peak cafeteria by the water bubbler. :/

Pack a bottle.

 

[djd66]

Paper cups are right next to the hot chocolate machine.

 

[vtski802]

no more cups at the Lincoln Peak cafeteria by the water bubbler. :/

You mean the water fountain you can drink from without cups??

 

[ingsy]

fair point all re: the bubbler. I just liked the ability to get a cup of water for free.
I agree with Win on the HG quad being a major improvement, So nice not to have an uphill on the left. Took a run offf North Lynx. Morningstar was nice but there is not much snow left on Birch. Fun day at the Bush despite the wind hold on Bravo.

 

[MadPadraic]

AlpineZone has peaked with this discussion about the bubbler. Part of that peak is that we are calling it a bubbler.

Forget powder, lifts, drops, and weather. We've peaked as a community.

 

[Lotso]

Well, at least the snowmaking pond will get recharged ove the next 3 days. Most of the natural snow will find its way back downhill