VAIL SUCKS

[2Planker]

Funny story, I was at Okemo yesterday and asked for a couple little Okemo helmet stickers for my kids, the ones you usually get for free everywhere.

The woman came back and said they didn't have any Okemo stickers but had an "epic" sticker I could put on my truck and offered me that.

I was very polite because I don't give people doing their jobs a hard time. I just kind of chuckled and politely said "no thanks, no offense but I don't want to advertise for Vail".

The woman looked me dead in the eye and said " no worries we totally understand" and chuckled a little bit herself.

She was very nice and helped me find another thing I needed but that exchange told me the passholders aren't the only ones that dislike Vail.

Wildcat Urinal & toilet bowls had the Epic stickers on/in them...

 

[ericfromMA/NH/VT]

Wildcat Urinal & toilet bowls had the Epic stickers on/in them...

great place for them!

 

[pinion]

great place for them!

Best sticker on Wildcat is along the Tomcat lift

 

[thetrailboss]

Best sticker on Wildcat is along the Tomcat lift

View attachment 52788

There is only one?

 

[Geoff]

Waterville had a lot more skier visits than Attitash back in those days. Back then Waterville was a clear top 2 resort in NH with Loon. Attitash had only developed half of Bear Peak at that point. I bet the Grand Summit under construction at the time and other developable real estate is why ASC kept Attitash over Waterville. Or Les just wanted to hold onto Attitash because it was the second resort he owned after Sunday River.

I’m not that familiar but aren’t Loon and Waterville always the top 2 for skier visits? It helps being on a real road.

 

[deadheadskier]

I’m not that familiar but aren’t Loon and Waterville always the top 2 for skier visits? It helps being on a real road.

If I had to guess the current ranking of top 3 by skier visits it is probably

Loon
Sunapee
Bretton Woods

 

[Geoff]

If I had to guess the current ranking of top 3 by skier visits it is probably

Loon
Sunapee
Bretton Woods

Bretton Woods? I’ve never been there. Do Boston day trippers really go that far? I’ve been Vermont-oriented for so long that I’m clueless. Sunapee was bigger than I was expecting when I was there in December but that’s a very limited number of acres to be #2.

 

[MogulMonsters]

My AntiVaxx BIL just got out of the hospital after 23 days, 13 in the ICU
Home on O2, has Myocarditis, can barely walk up a flight of stairs, lost 30lbs, bigtime "covid fog" issues.
Finally admits that he prob should have got the Vaxx...

So

Best sticker on Wildcat is along the Tomcat lift

View attachment 52788

I was on the LC triple at Attitash last weekend. My six year old says "Dad, what does Fuck Vail mean?
My five year old. "fuck vail, fuck vail, fuck vail". Came into the house and kept saying that. Mom was not impressed.

 

[deadheadskier]

Bretton Woods? I’ve never been there. Do Boston day trippers really go that far? I’ve been Vermont-oriented for so long that I’m clueless. Sunapee was bigger than I was expecting when I was there in December but that’s a very limited number of acres to be #2.

Bretton Woods is only about 15 minutes past Cannon, so yes Boston day trip folks head there and they have a fair amount of condos plus the Mt Washington Valley to draw from.

Agreed that Sunapee is pretty small acreage, but that is the case for basically all of NH. Bretton Woods is the largest ski area in the state and is only about 450 acres of terrain.

 

[SkiingInABlueDream]

This thread... is like an 8 song playlist that's been on constant shuffle-repeat for months. And I can't seem to stop following it

 

[boston_e]

The Mandate worked really well for Killington who lost 80 +employees a week or two ago. Omicron is getting you weather you're vaccinated or not.

Had they not had the mandate, they likely would have lost more employees and many of the 80 affected would have been out for longer.

 

[thebigo]

If I had to guess the current ranking of top 3 by skier visits it is probably

Loon
Sunapee
Bretton Woods

Interesting topic. If I had to guess:

Loon undoubtedly #1, likely approaching 2x anywhere else.
Bretton woods #2, they do big crowds and have taken a good chunk of the attitash days
Cannon #3, always surprisingly well attended midweek with the free senior days
Sunapee #4, feels busy but not sure if that is because of the more limited terrain
Gunstock #5, also feels busy and does a good night business
Waterville - I have no idea, only skied there as an adult a few late season days

I would guess cannon, sunapee and gunstock numbers are available.

 

[deadheadskier]

Oddly, I wouldn't sleep on Pats Peak. That place is an absolute factory. We race there Wednesday nights and it is completely slammed. It would not surprise me if they are in the top 5. Between after school programs, youth ski racing and 4 nights of adult race league they truly max the place out 7 days a week.

 

[IceEidolon]

What you described makes sense before Omicron (which both infects vaccinated people just as well AND are relatively mild in symptoms). And before the Supreme Court shut down the administration's mandate on large employers.

Vail made a sensible decision back in November. But that decision no longer make sense now.

Things had moved on. Vail have not kept up. (and nor did you, if I may say so)

Kindly stop lying about Omichron's severity and vaccine effectiveness. https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(22)00056-3/fulltext "...meta-analysis of neutralization studies found that vaccine effectiveness curtailed to around 40% against symptoms and 80% against severe disease; however, booster vaccinations appear to have efficacies of 86% and 98%, respectively." - https://www.news-medical.net/news/2...her-than-an-increase-in-transmissibility.aspx

You're also assuming that only Omicron is circulating - though it's predominant, it's not the only variant and may not be the last variant.

I'm also not going to continue this topic on this thread - Vail's driven off enough workers through management, pay, and working conditions that their vaccine policy is responsible for only a small portion of applications turned down or not submitted. I applaud them for continuing - for once - to do the right thing for their employees and guests, and since this thread is about the many ways Vail sucks, it's not really fitting.

 

[thetrailboss]

Not sure if this was posted...

Vail Resorts offers $13M to settle class action lawsuits

Vail Resorts has extended a $13.1 million offer to settle five wage and labor lawsuits filed in California, a step that could have implications for a similar lawsuit filed in Colorado and for anyone who…

www.vaildaily.com

 

[eatskisleep]

Likewi

I've been working as a Patroller since 1982. 6 different places in VT, NH & ME, all well known resorts....
Never in my life have I seen such utter incompetence. GM who knows absolutely nothing about Liability and Risk Management.
Minimal training, No annual recerts.
Rag Tag fixes held together w/ Duct Tape - Not kidding here
Staff Retention of less than 25% from last year. - YIKES

It was very hard for me to walk away after 40 years, BUT I didn't want to be a part of an organization that cares so little about it employees.
It wasn't about the $$$, I work 30-40 days for only my pass. Comes out to about $15 for a 10 hour day

yikes is right. I think this post says it all!!

 

[eatskisleep]

So

I was on the LC triple at Attitash last weekend. My six year old says "Dad, what does Fuck Vail mean?
My five year old. "fuck vail, fuck vail, fuck vail". Came into the house and kept saying that. Mom was not impressed.

OMG this is amazing

 

[Tonyr]

Bretton Woods is only about 15 minutes past Cannon, so yes Boston day trip folks head there and they have a fair amount of condos plus the Mt Washington Valley to draw from.

Agreed that Sunapee is pretty small acreage, but that is the case for basically all of NH. Bretton Woods is the largest ski area in the state and is only about 450 acres of terrain.

We hiked Bretton Woods this summer. I would add that the terrain looks fairly mellow. The vert from the top is around 1500 feet and the tree skiing looked pretty good. Omni built a new lodge at the top of Bretton Woods and it's absolutely beautiful so is the hotel next to the resort. I would say that BW is the Deer Valley or Beaver Creek of New Hampshire skiing.

 

[So Inclined]

We hiked Bretton Woods this summer. I would add that the terrain looks fairly mellow. The vert from the top is around 1500 feet and the tree skiing looked pretty good. Omni built a new lodge at the top of Bretton Woods and it's absolutely beautiful so is the hotel next to the resort. I would say that BW is the Deer Valley or Beaver Creek of New Hampshire skiing.

The tree skiing is mostly fairly easygoing low-angle good times. I missed out on the Stickney Glades when I was up there last year, which bummed me out - I've yet to have that T-bar be running while I'm up there.

 

[xlr8r]

Looking at newenglandskihistory.com, it has Waterville's attendance numbers up to 15/16, but that season is an outlier for how bad it was so I will use 14/15 as a baseline for comparison, but Bretton Woods is not listed for 14/15, so I'm using its numbers from 10/11. I know this is not perfect science. Today I bet Pats Peak beats Waterville as well.

14/15 Season Attendance
1. Loon 333,809
2. Sunapee 261,000
3. Bretton Woods 192,008 (10/11)
4. Gunstock 181,090
5. Attitash 165,138
6. Waterville Valley 158,977

In comparison here is the order from the year ASC sold Waterville and Cranmore

95/96 Season Attendance
1. Loon 337, 503
2. Waterville Valley 256,000
3. Gunstock 239,000
4. Attitash 208,000
5. Bretton Woods 130,000
6. Sunapee 119,880

Interesting how Loon's number are almost exactly the same, everyone else has changed considerably

Overall Waterville Peaked at 333,702 in 92/93
Attitash at 233,000 in 97/98
Loon at 427,611 in 12/13