To Lease or Not to Lease? The Future of Cannon

[thetrailboss]

As stated in this article, there is still some consideration that Cannon will be leased to a third-party as has its sister, Sunapee. Read and comment.

 

[Marc]

If they're leasing it out, there's only one thing to do...


AZ forum consortium. Think we could muster the dough?




Sorry I don't have any more serious comments to lend, having never been there. Not in the winter anyway. My family used to vacation in Franconia in the summer. Clark's Trading Post and the Santa's Village and all that. Good times.

I'll have to make it up to Cannon sometime in the next few years.

 

[riverc0il]

first: HELLZ NO!

second:

"Cannon holds its own," agreed state Sen. John Gallus, R-Berlin, who is also on the study commission. But Gallus said the area may not be reaching its full potential. "Here we are operating a major ski area, and they're driving by us to go to Bretton Woods," he said.

don't fix it if it isn't broken, right? if the area makes enough money to cover expenses, there isn't a problem. and why the sudden drive to be competitive with a privately owned, expensive, mega resort? also, why does a representative want a state park in direct competition with privately owned business? obviously, this representative is not covering the county that BW resides in!

also, the suggestion that changing cannon to a leased operation will increase state park traffic to compenstate for the lose of the old man is ludicrous at best. you have to expect a drop when the biggest tourist attraction in the state is gone. nothing could ever nor will ever inspire as many tourists to hit the notch as the old man did, certainly leasing out cannon wouldn't do much at all.

having watched cannon's marketing department change cannon from "It's a Blast!" to "The Big Easy" :lol: i can state that cannon's marketing department has been doing nothing short of everything to try to draw in more skiers and tame the mountain's image.

here's the other question: even if this was a good idea, what company in their right mind would actually want to least out cannon? there is ZERO bed base except mittersill, which is a long time down the road if ever. i can't see a private company seeing cannon as generating much money. certainly, the first thing a private company would have to do to make money is raise prices and eliminate NH resident discounts.

okay, passioned rant over... for now :beer:

 

[thetrailboss]

Yeah, to compete with BW is ridiculous. Two completely different resorts, atmospheres, and markets. Regrettably, the 'die-hard' market that many of us here at AZ fit in do not spend as much money as the high-roller types who enjoy skiing groomed tame trails that stroke their egos. :roll: So you need a little of both. Regrettably, Cannon has harder terrain and a reputation that scares a lot of folks away...and that there is no grand hotel to park the Beamer in front of :wink:

 

[Birdman829]

To me Bretton Woods is a $hithole and people who ski there instead of Cannon are insane. I'd say Cannon has the second best terrain in NH behind Wildcat.

 

[Brettski]

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

The Horror

 

[riverc0il]

ironically enough, cannon and BW partner to offer a combined "Bold and Beautiful" mid-week pass. the name of it says it all, they are two different mountains with two different personalities that can each be enjoyed for their own merits. hardly competitors.

 

[Sky]

I called a ski pal to tell him I was forwarding the link via e-mail.

His response to my phone call: "It's that time of year again."

He and his family have skied there for years. He goes up every Wed after mid Jan (other ski-related commitment prior to mid-Jan).

The nearly perrenial issue is...the land to be leased is the entire Flume. So, who wants all that as part of a Ski resort?

Also, the deal with linking Mittersil is...Federal Land. *gasp*

I skied @ Cannon for the first time two seasons ago (March). Torqued my knee on the very first run. Could have posted this in the funniest/worst fall thread. Was looking up @ the gondi for my pal...caught an edge, got turned around, lost a ski...started picking up speed....decided to figure out how to bail...dug in my free heel...torqued my knee. All right under the gondi. *awesome*

I skied the rest of the day. Kept flexing the knee after every run.

I almost fell in the gas staion parking lot after driving to Concord on the way home. Really ended my season. I took 8 weeks off from everything physical. Really lucky I didn't screw anything up badly.

BUT...I loved the place. Sure there's some tougher stuff there than what I hit injured...but if you're a fan of no crowds...decent prices...and you're able to edge your turns...you'll love this place. Sure it's intimidating when the gondi disappears into the clouds. Sure the front three look a "bit" steep. And yes...it feels very cold at the summit. Don't let the tough front view fool you. Plenty of good skiing. I didn't take the time to check the beginner area. That lodge over there looked pretty sweet. Too busy geting in runs to check out the inside. Wish I had checked it all out to se if it would appeal to my wife and daughter (didn't make that mistake when I went to Wilcat last year).

LAST thing. BW and C...two different animals for two different crowds. C skiers don't want BW skiers @ C...and vice versa.

Not competition. Alternatives!

 

[riverc0il]

Not competition. Alternatives!

so what you are suggesting is that the state buys BW and leases them both as counterparts? :lol:

 

[thetrailboss]

I'm stoked that the pass that I'm most likely to get will have CANNON as part of the deal :beer: If only it were closer to where I was living. Ms. Trailboss and I are likely to be at Sunapee a lot...Burke for me on certain days as well...

 

[Sky]

so what you are suggesting is that the state buys BW and leases them both as counterparts? :lol:

Erraahhhhh....? I re-read my post to see if one of my many tangents got me in trouble *entirely possible*...or if you're just...

It's a joke right? *smirk*

Looking forward to skiing with you sometime.

 

[riverc0il]

yup, joke it was. i tried to use emoticons enough to show my sarcasm towards the reps talking about leasing cannon. always happy to share some turns with folks from AZ whenever possible.