Trailboss' Biggest Winners and Losers of 2009-2010

[Johnskiismore]

I agree too that the Boyne pass flat pout rocked, started skiing in October and I enjoyed lift serviced skiing until April 25th..... and proved to Bobr that I excist!

 

[Vortex]

It was worth the wait on my part. A true gentleman I am glad I met. You owe me beer now.;-)

 

[roark]

Ok., I've been waiting this out for awhile. I know I'm the resident Magic homer besides Rusty Groomer and Orange Gondola... but:

The vibe was a whole 'nother thing this year. It's admittedly weird to be excited about crowds, but in 4 years of skiing there I saw more than ever - lines outside the corral even! Which gave me the opportunity to ride and as a single and chat it up... it was great to talk to so many people who hadn't been there in years and were stoked that it was just as they remembered it. There really is nowhere in in S VT that can compare to the variety of terrain and natural options that are available there... but more than that - people were really excited to be there. In years past I'd heard more 'I got a deal' kind of comments, but this year it was more about the skiing and vibe/people.

While the overall count is certainly lower, it's growing the last couple years. I'm glad to be a part of that. Hopefully we can pull off a share soon, but if not the wife and I will certainly have passes. Viva el Magic!

 

[orangegondola]

Well said Roark, I think you described this season to a tee. There was something Magical in the air!

Open invitation from Rusty, Roark and me. We would be happy to give anyone who visits next season the local's tour.

Come and check out Magic's awsome terrain and improved

 

[bobbutts]

Killington doesn't have a town shuttle? I didn't know that. I believe Stowe's shuttle runs about once every half hour so, maybe even hourly. I know it doesn't run late at night, so it doesn't help the bar patrons. Local taxi service is decent, but expensive. DUI's are an issue in that town. Almost everyone I know has gotten one.

Usually the douche bags that drive drunk are too cool to ride a bus anyway. I mean if they can't be bothered to use a dd are they really going to check a bus schedule and wait out in the cold for some crappy bus?
As long as there's ample parking at the bar there will be dui.

 

[Edd]

I think I've been buying an SR/Loaf pass for 6 years now. For next year I've been considering other options but I can't come up with anything close value-wise. It's nice to have Loon for a change of pace but I think I only went there twice this year. Since I ski over 90% weekdays I'll probably step it down to a Bronze pass and put the extra money towards other areas....hopefully starting with Magic.

 

[Johnskiismore]

It was worth the wait on my part. A true gentleman I am glad I met. You owe me beer now.;-)

You got it! :beer:

 

[RustyGroomer]

Ok., I've been waiting this out for awhile. I know I'm the resident Magic homer besides Rusty Groomer and Orange Gondola... but:

The vibe was a whole 'nother thing this year. It's admittedly weird to be excited about crowds, but in 4 years of skiing there I saw more than ever - lines outside the corral even! Which gave me the opportunity to ride and as a single and chat it up... it was great to talk to so many people who hadn't been there in years and were stoked that it was just as they remembered it. There really is nowhere in in S VT that can compare to the variety of terrain and natural options that are available there... but more than that - people were really excited to be there. In years past I'd heard more 'I got a deal' kind of comments, but this year it was more about the skiing and vibe/people.

While the overall count is certainly lower, it's growing the last couple years. I'm glad to be a part of that. Hopefully we can pull off a share soon, but if not the wife and I will certainly have passes. Viva el Magic!

Can't remember if i said this already & don't really care. Where else does management come out to greet the biggest liftline of the season & yell "it's just so nice & the snow is so good we're going to run the chair til 4:30!"

Followed by a huge roar from the crowd. I loved every minute in a liftline this season.

 

[deadheadskier]

I don't think I'd love every minute in lift line even if they were handing out free beer. :lol:

I did however like seeing crowds at Ragged this season. While not in the same situation as Magic, Ragged has been on the verge of failing in the past and in order to see reinvestment from the parent company; the management of the mountain needed to show increases in skier visits with what they already have in place. So far, I haven't heard of any plans for new infrastructure this summer though.

 

[jaywbigred]

Isn't this thread about "Winners" and "Losers" this year? So if Magic and Killington did better than their past years, that isn't really relevant, to me.

I mean, you could make the argument that Killington has fallen so far that improving from the "last year" doesn't mean much. Caveat that I did not ski there this year, I'm just going on general understanding from these forums and chats on lifts, etc...

All I know is until I hear reports of happier skiers coming back from a Killington day trip, I'm not going to be heading up there any time soon.

 

[thetrailboss]

Isn't this thread about "Winners" and "Losers" this year? So if Magic and Killington did better than their past years, that isn't really relevant, to me.

I mean, you could make the argument that Killington has fallen so far that improving from the "last year" doesn't mean much. Caveat that I did not ski there this year, I'm just going on general understanding from these forums and chats on lifts, etc...

All I know is until I hear reports of happier skiers coming back from a Killington day trip, I'm not going to be heading up there any time soon.

You're right. My thread is more about who I think did well considering my experience, what I have heard people saying, perceptions from what I read and hear, and operational factors. I don't doubt that Killington had good conditions at some point or another, but when there are thread after thread of negative comments with some good points, and when you read, hear, and experience good vibes from other places, you get a different impression. These are just my observations. Some agree, some don't.

To continue with the topic, Saddleback just posted some downright impressive numbers and really over the past few years has gotten people excited and delivered what appears to be a great product. They've extended the season and have done a lot of work with infrastructure. It seems like things are finally coming together with Warren Cook formerly of the 'loaf involved.

 

[Tin Woodsman]

How much have you spent on each exclusive project in the last three years? Ive yet to hear one person comment on your immense snowmaking prowess. Ive yet to see it myself (although I havent been there in two years, I will admit). Im not saying your season is short, its not. But you are falling behind other New England resorts in terms of snowmaking capacity. Telling me closing dates and total natural snowfall is not going to convince me otherwise. Snowmaking to me shows more in how you open up terrain, and recover after bad weather. You are not the best at this, and it shows.

I'm as big a critic of SB snowmaking as there is, but a little of this is unfair. They had an old, decrepit, and frankly uncompetetive base area. In addition to the Clay Brook residential building (which is mostly sold out, BTW), they built a brand new base lodge and are now building two new skier services buildings, neither of which have a residential component. That's a substantial investment in items that will have a real, lasting and material impact on the skiing experience for their target family market, amongst others. I can't fault them for prioritizing this first while trying to incrementally improve the snowmaking by tackling the low-hanging fruit (like installing low-e guns/nozzles on runs like Ripcord, Steins Run and Spring Fling.

That said, now that these investments are out of the way, a significant investment in the snowmaking infrastructure will be needed from top to bottom. They need to replace the lousy pipe ASC installed just 13 years ago. They need to build out their reservoirs to permitted capacity. They need to add more pumping capacity and higher volume guns on wider trails and critical areas. My guess is that they'll need at least $5MM to do this and maybe much more. The pressure is on, as it is in any competitive industry, b/c their ability to expand terrain, deepen base depths and recover from thaws is most certainly inferior to the main competitors.

 

[Newpylong]

Build out their resevoirs to permitted capacity? Isn't the manmade pond by the Mad River enough?

 

[thetrailboss]

Build out their resevoirs to permitted capacity? Isn't the manmade pond by the Mad River enough?

Well......

LBO had a permit to have that reservoir be MUCH deeper than it was. In 1995 when they were doing all their hocus pocus, they simply ran out of time and dug it shallow, saying, "good enough." Well, we know what happened to LBO -> ASC. In 2001 it was still not as deep as permitted at the time they sold it to Summit Ventures. Of course the 2001-2002 season was bad and they needed to do lots of . Guess what? They soon discovered that the reservoir was NOT as deep as advertised. IIRC Summit DID dredge that pond to its permitted depth. LBO was also supposed to interconnect the two areas via a two mile long pipeline and that did not happen either.

 

[Tin Woodsman]

Well......

LBO had a permit to have that reservoir be MUCH deeper than it was. In 1995 when they were doing all their hocus pocus, they simply ran out of time and dug it shallow, saying, "good enough." Well, we know what happened to LBO -> ASC. In 2001 it was still not as deep as permitted at the time they sold it to Summit Ventures. Of course the 2001-2002 season was bad and they needed to do lots of . Guess what? They soon discovered that the reservoir was NOT as deep as advertised. IIRC Summit DID dredge that pond to its permitted depth. LBO was also supposed to interconnect the two areas via a two mile long pipeline and that did not happen either.

TB -

IIRC, they said they were going to do that, but never got around to completing it fully. Also, Win has written either in an AZ challenge or on SkiMRV in the last 2-3 years that they had a lot of opportunity/needs in this area. I specifically recall him making a statement about a new or expanded reservoir being required or in planning stages down near the river. Maybe you've got better information living in the Valley?

Edit: Looked for it but couldn't find it. Maybe I'm misremembering. Either way, between the piping on the way up from 100, the pumps once it gets there, the possible connection of the two systems, and new guns, there's a lot of investment needed.

 

[Newpylong]

I remember when they were building that pond and the digging equipment fell in / got flooded mid progress. Quite visible from RT 100...

 

[thetrailboss]

This might be a chance for Win to chime in. Maybe they did dig it down part way, but I thought they dredged it deeper.