VAIL SUCKS

[drjeff]

Skied with a teacher at Stowe monday. Hes booked all the time. One guy dropped 7 grand for a week of lessons for his kids. Guess if its working why change it. There are a lot of people out there..that could buy the resorts if they wanted...

Fully agree.

Was sitting next to a looked to be late 30's/early 40's 2 sets of couple up in the Mount Snow Summit lodge a couple of weekends ago warming up, and my wife and I overheard them talking about their mutual friend who's family had just gotten back from 10 days at Vail where they had their 6 year old in private lessons for 10 days straight at $1200 a day! With the tip, they apparently dropped 15k on lessons for their 6yr old on that trip!

 

[BenedictGomez]

I’m guessing it’s a place where you can drop your trash (empty beer cans) off the lift. WTF is it with people? You are too lazy to put it in a trash can?

Only place I've seen this is in the Poconos at Blue Mountain IIRC. IMO it seems to backfire & instead gives people license to think they can just huck crap from the lift.

 

[BenedictGomez]

Great posts about the inclusion and diversity. the reason those folks don't ski is it is expensive.

That's the common belief, but I have serious doubts based on other things where that was the exact same belief, so it was made cheaper (or free), and yet it still didn't increase "diversity" much at all. While I'm sure it might be the case for some, for the majority my belief is Occam's Razor best explains why "those folks" don't ski.

 

[BenedictGomez]

they had their 6 year old in private lessons for 10 days straight at $1200 a day!

This is why guerilla ski lessons have become a thing. Makes sense to me. Were I local to a Vail or a Park City or a Jackson Hole with plenty of qualified instructors local, I would 100% go that route for qualified instruction. I have no idea when ski lessons became, "let's bleed the rich at an absurd price to hit our nut rather than go for volume at a rational price for everyone", but it's not a good thing for our sport.

 

[eatskisleep]

It looks like Wildcat has at least one gun running. I guess they can't close before next season's passes go on sale. Or is this fake news.....View attachment 53542

They don’t have a single black Diamond open right now. Pathetic.

 

[eatskisleep]

We pick on Vail in the East, but OMG I have never seen so many slows/stops with Detachable chairs as at Vail and Breck. Good God. The 6 chairs are the absolutely worst, the dual load Quicksilver at Breck being the absolute worst. If you base out of 9 and aren't on that thing at the bell, better to hike or shuttle up to the Beaver Run Quad. The only 6 that ran smooth at either was Avanti at Vail. It also happens to be the only Dopp 6 and has a loading carpet that places everyone exactly at the right spot from the wait gate.

Honestly, they have a ton of clueless folks at both resorts. Guess that maybe good if they are true newbies. Regardless, they need to figure it out because it was super frustrating. I honestly believe they could cut the slow/stops in half by either moving back the Epic Mix gantries or getting rid of them. Even found myself wanting to wait there for next chair instead at the little snow stick yellow "wait here" signs beyond the gantries.

Haven't used my Epic a ton in East because of the operations in NH and weather, but has anyone notice the gantries causing folks to wait too far back then misloads detaches out East?

That’s why I don’t get why people want 6 and 8 packs. Imagine 8 beginners all trying to get off the lift at once?! Lol

 

[eatskisleep]

This is why guerilla ski lessons have become a thing. Makes sense to me. Were I local to a Vail or a Park City or a Jackson Hole with plenty of qualified instructors local, I would 100% go that route for qualified instruction. I have no idea when ski lessons became, "let's bleed the rich at an absurd price to hit our nut rather than go for volume at a rational price for everyone", but it's not a good thing for our sport.

Long term this is all terrible for the sport. Vail is very short sighted.

 

[Smellytele]

That’s why I don’t get why people want 6 and 8 packs. Imagine 8 beginners all trying to get off the lift at once?! Lol

I have at Loon. It is quite comical

 

[chuckstah]

They don’t have a single black Diamond open right now. Pathetic.

Yup, basically 2 trails. Pathetic.

 

[Kingslug20]

When they put the new 6 in at Hunter..i said MRG...ski it if you can...Hunter..get off it if you can...

 

[machski]

That’s why I don’t get why people want 6 and 8 packs. Imagine 8 beginners all trying to get off the lift at once?! Lol

Getting off wasn't the major issue, it was getting into position to load.

 

[machski]

All the locals I talked to the past 3 days at CB hate Vail too. Apparently the Evil empire is shutting them down 2 weeks earlier than past norms on April 2nd. Even though CB has the deepest base depth and most snowfall of Vail properties in CO this season to date.

 

[Pez]

I wonder when Epic will go on sale? Last year it was the 23rd

 

[snoseek]

All the locals I talked to the past 3 days at CB hate Vail too. Apparently the Evil empire is shutting them down 2 weeks earlier than past norms on April 2nd. Even though CB has the deepest base depth and most snowfall of Vail properties in CO this season to date.

I've spent some time over there in the past couple weeks and got the same vibe. Honestly if nh resorts ran half as good as cb I would be thrilled. It's a pure fuck you to the locals to shut with how good it is right now. To vail it makes sense because the masses aren't hitting cb after mid March.

 

[ss20]

This is why guerilla ski lessons have become a thing. Makes sense to me. Were I local to a Vail or a Park City or a Jackson Hole with plenty of qualified instructors local, I would 100% go that route for qualified instruction. I have no idea when ski lessons became, "let's bleed the rich at an absurd price to hit our nut rather than go for volume at a rational price for everyone", but it's not a good thing for our sport.

I hear this argument a lot that private lessons are price gouging. There is a reason... It is not just because the resorts can get away with it.

You pair an instructor up with one private all day that's $700-$1200 for the lesson, one lift ticket sold, and one set of rentals (if needed). A group lesson goes for considerably less per person ($150-$400). But if you can get 3 or more people in that lesson, all buying a lift ticket in addition to that, it's a LOT more money for the resort.

I'm not here to defend the industry...lessons as a whole are overpriced. But group lessons are what brings in the revenue on the busy days. Using any pricing structure I'm familiar with, 10 instructors teaching 20 private students will bring in considerably less revenue than 10 instructors teaching 50 students.

"Stack 'em and pack 'em" was an old slogan the director would tell us other supervisors.

 

[ss20]

Fully agree.

Was sitting next to a looked to be late 30's/early 40's 2 sets of couple up in the Mount Snow Summit lodge a couple of weekends ago warming up, and my wife and I overheard them talking about their mutual friend who's family had just gotten back from 10 days at Vail where they had their 6 year old in private lessons for 10 days straight at $1200 a day! With the tip, they apparently dropped 15k on lessons for their 6yr old on that trip!

I am still shook up at some of the money I see clients drop on a single week ski vacation. It's tough for me to fathom still, 8 years into this job. The family you overheard spent more on 10 days in Vail than most Americans earn in a year. My "favorite" is the family ski privates who will spend $120+ everyday on lunch and end up throwing away most of the food. I don't think I've ever spent $120 on ski resort food in a single season, skiing 60+ days a year.

 

[BenedictGomez]

"Stack 'em and pack 'em" was an old slogan the director would tell us other supervisors.

That really makes it even worse given teaching isnt a top concern, and no wonder "guerilla lessons" are now a thing. Imagine if the best teaching possible wasn't the primary concern of your kid's tennis lessons or violin lessons, nobody would stand for it. Odd how in the ski industry it's just accepted.

 

[hovercraft]

All the locals I talked to the past 3 days at CB hate Vail too. Apparently the Evil empire is shutting them down 2 weeks earlier than past norms on April 2nd. Even though CB has the deepest base depth and most snowfall of Vail properties in CO this season to date.

That’s weird as I just googled the ending dates and the latest the mountain stayed open was 4/9 back in 16/17 season. All other closing dates were the first weekend in April

 

[skiur]

That’s weird as I just googled the ending dates and the latest the mountain stayed open was 4/9 back in 16/17 season. All other closing dates were the first weekend in AprilView attachment 53574

How dare you interrupt a good Vail bashing with facts!

 

[hovercraft]

Every party needs a party er on occasion. Keeping it real