VAIL SUCKS

[deadheadskier]

And Ragged would be a place that's on the difficult side to staff I would think. Most people don't like longish commutes on back roads for short money. There's not a very large local population there, so I imagine many of their workers commute from the Concord area.

 

[thebigo]

And Ragged would be a place that's on the difficult side to staff I would think. Most people don't like longish commutes on back roads for short money. There's not a very large local population there, so I imagine many of their workers commute from the Concord area.

There is a significant contingent from Brazil, several lifties and kitchen help. Others are long term employees, local to the mountain that work on newfound in the summer.

 

[snoseek]

And Ragged would be a place that's on the difficult side to staff I would think. Most people don't like longish commutes on back roads for short money. There's not a very large local population there, so I imagine many of their workers commute from the Concord area.

Or Laconia and Plymouth

 

[thetrailboss]

so, i ended up going to Mt snow. Conditions weren't bad. crowded as you'd expect, lift lines were fine, didnt wait more than 5 minutes if you stayed away from the 6 pack.

BUT.......

I parked in D lot as we got there at 9, and b/c i didn't want to park in a pay lot, ESPECIALLY when vail has made it clear that there are shuttles to/from the unpaid lots.

guess what? weekend day, lots packed, NO FUCKING SHUTTLES TO THE UNPAID LOTS. yep, that's right, NO FUCKING SHUTTLES.

Now, I can walk. But my kids had a very hard time carrying their gear and making that walk, and in boots carrying skis it was no fun for me either. The walk form D lot sucks.

If you are going to charge for parking, and you say shuttles will be running, THEY BETTER BE FUCKING RUNNING, ESPECIALLY ON THE WEEKENDS.

Maybe I read things wrong. that's possible. either way, I stand by my statement above.

vail sucks!

Yeah, Vail's stock price dropped just over 8 points today so they had to cut the shuttle service.

Seriously, that sucks. Especially with kids.

 

[Kingslug20]

I would think that smaller family run places would attract help,even with low pay as opposed to corporations...like Fail.
Its not always about the money.

 

[ericfromMA/NH/VT]

Not seeing that at the MS bubble yet, no effort to group people up at all. One guy at the Grand Summit Express was pretty funny though. Was actually pushing snowboarders towards the lift so that he could keep his no lift line thing going. Everyone was having a good laugh. Gotta clone that guy!

when I was there saturday 12/4..., that bubble was a total joke the first 2 hours....we made the mistake of going into that line for our first lift.

it was the first weekend they more than 1-2 trials open, and it was a Saturday. you'd think they'd be ready....

That thing stopped literally very third person for anywhere from 5-15 minutes a time. It took us an hour from entering the lift to getting to the top.

and the lines weren't that bad. all four lanes at most 1/2 full. they just could not get that thing to work. looked like it was doing better later in the dat but we said fuck that thing and just went up to the top on the other lift that goes to the top next to it.

And, that lift was a total free for all when the lift kids just abandoned it about 1230 or so. literally every man for himself. luckily the crowds had thinned quite a built by that point.

more efficient my ass..... between this crap and the no bus situation that was by far the worst experience I've ever had at a mountain. no joke.

 

[deadheadskier]

*worst* Experience of a lifetime?

 

[ericfromMA/NH/VT]

Well, shows what I know about surface management. They groomed out Upper Blastoff. That skied very nicely. They groomed out whatever (too many dumb trail name sections) to the north. That had cookies. I ski 95% at Magic Mountain where they would preserve the whales, let them drain and groom then out when it gets cold. I see some very hard surfaces ahead.

So, I know very little about grooming and snow making but want to understand it better. Can you explain further why you see hard surfaces ahead? Sunapee will be the place I ski 75% of the time once they get more rtails open. thx!

 

[ThatGuy]

So, I know very little about grooming and snow making but want to understand it better. Can you explain further why you see hard surfaces ahead? Sunapee will be the place I ski 75% of the time once they get more rtails open. thx!

The more you groom something the more liable to turn to a sheet of ice it becomes since you’re compacting it down.

Snow Farming - SugarBlog

Learn about the art and science behind snow grooming, from managing fresh powder to handling man-made piles under snow guns.

blog.sugarbush.com

 

[drjeff]

So, I know very little about grooming and snow making but want to understand it better. Can you explain further why you see hard surfaces ahead? Sunapee will be the place I ski 75% of the time once they get more rtails open. thx!

Best way to think about what a snowmaking whale is, is lets say that the time the gun was running to make the whale that it had 50,000 gallons of water pumped through it to make that whale. Not all of that water used to make the whale gets converted into a fully frozen product, so that whale will often have some wet, dense snow in it. If you leave that whale untouched by a groomer for a couple of days in dry conditions, some of that water will drain out of the whale, and then when they groom it out, you get a much drier finished product.

If they push out the whale quickly, then that wet snow gets exposed to the cold air, and it sets up into a firmer surface

There are times and locations where the reality is they need to groom out freshly made snow quickly (like say heavy volume trails where the whales for some could become safety issues) howver in an ideal scenario, once a whale is made, it would be left to drain for a few days prior to pushing it out. Just like sometimes after a liquid event, an area will choose to not groom out some terrain for a couple of days to let the water drain out before putting a machine on it

 

[ericfromMA/NH/VT]

Regardless of that, McIntyre opens this Friday!! If Crotched gets beat by McIntyre, that is just plain flat pathetic.

i live 15 minutes from the mac. if it opens before crotched it wont be pathetic, it will be criminal negligence....

southern NH has been super warm, it was 60 last weekend. if the Mac can open but crotched cant, that says all you need to know about vail.

 

[MadKitty]

Cranmore has opened before wildcat for 2 years in a row now. Although they would have opened on the same day this year if wildcat hadn't been on wind hold.

Financially, these are good times for Vail. Imagine how it will look once things start going south.

 

[machski]

i live 15 minutes from the mac. if it opens before crotched it wont be pathetic, it will be criminal negligence....

southern NH has been super warm, it was 60 last weekend. if the Mac can open but crotched cant, that says all you need to know about vail.

They did and Crotched still has no posted planned opening date. I'm disgusted with Vail and Epic, first and last year for us ever. I get it has been warm but given what others in the same region have been able to do, Vail is epic failing in my book. Likely due to staffing and management failure rather than just weather at this point.

 

[thebigo]

i live 15 minutes from the mac. if it opens before crotched it wont be pathetic, it will be criminal negligence....

southern NH has been super warm, it was 60 last weekend. if the Mac can open but crotched cant, that says all you need to know about vail.

Mcintyre snow report:

Report updated December 20, 2021 at 9:51am

Thank you to everyone who joined us for opening weekend, we will re-open for day and night skiing and riding on Thursday, December 23 from 12pm-8pm with $20 lift and $20 rental. Our snowmakers will be back on the slopes making snow to add to our trail count, and we’ll be sure to add that information here as soon as it becomes available. Our Retail and Rental Shop will be open Monday through Wednesday 9am to 6pm and then open following the lift operating hours for Thursday and Friday.

Crotched snow report, at least they updated it, last I checked it was still from closing day.

Hello Crotched Mountain family!



Thank you for your patience while we work hard to get everyone back on the slopes.



The guns have been blowing snow non-stop since early Sunday and we have plenty of snowmaking windows ahead.



Stay tuned for our opening date announcement!

 

[thebigo]

I feel for the crotched seasonal instructors. There are many excellent passionate instructors that must be absolutely furious. Hopefully they take their talents to pats/ragged/gunstock etc. next year.

 

[deadheadskier]

I feel for the crotched seasonal instructors. There are many excellent passionate instructors that must be absolutely furious. Hopefully they take their talents to pats/ragged/gunstock etc. next year.

For sure. I had a number of excellent experiences with Eric and his team with our son over the past three seasons. I feel for all the rank and file Vail employees who are hostage to their "spreadsheet" managing overlords. I can't even imagine how bad staffing will be next year at their NH properties. This year is even worse than last which was bad enough to lose my business and that of many friends.

 

[MadKitty]

...I feel for all the rank and file Vail employees who are hostage to their "spreadsheet" managing overlords. I can't even imagine how bad staffing will be next year at their NH properties. This year is even worse than last which was bad enough to lose my business and that of many friends.

100%

Xmas week is going to be rough at Vail's NH areas. All of VT and Hunter is blacked out on the Northeast value pass. None of the NH areas are and I bet you see the hoards from DC to Boston descending on the Granite State. People are going to be pissed at how much of a shit show everything is and unfortunately some assholes will start berating the rank and file employees. Wildcat lost several employees last year due to this. Can't say I blame them when pretty much everywhere is hiring up here.

 

[Mainer]

It’s going to be bad at attitash. J1s in ticket booth and bumping chairs. No quad midweek again, not enough staff they said. No rentals today, probably 5 people asked while waiting for pass. Even the dunkin in Glen was closed, guessing not enough staff.
Skiing was fine, basically 1.5 trails off top. They are going to get crushed Christmas week. They were blowing snow hopefully can open bear soon.

 

[abc]

In the old days, when thing aren't working (no shuttle, no rental etc), you get a voucher for something free (lift ticket, free rental etc). These days with most people skiing on passes, what do they give as compensation? Hot chocolate? Or just a shrug of the shoulder?

 

[Edd]

It’s going to be bad at attitash. J1s in ticket booth and bumping chairs. No quad midweek again, not enough staff they said. No rentals today, probably 5 people asked while waiting for pass. Even the dunkin in Glen was closed, guessing not enough staff.
Skiing was fine, basically 1.5 trails off top. They are going to get crushed Christmas week. They were blowing snow hopefully can open bear soon.

Imagine being a condo owner at Attitash right now.