VAIL SUCKS

[drjeff]

Vail Resorts Plans Lift Upgrades at Hunter Mountain and Blackcomb in 2024

Vail Resorts today announced its initial 2024 capital plan, which includes three new lifts. The largest project will be at Hunter Mountain, where Vail intends to replace the Broadway quad with a si…

liftblog.com

Hunter getting some of that new chairlift smell next Summer

 

[Domeskier]

Jersey Cream Six...

 

[thetrailboss]

Vail reports $270M in revenue versus Wall Street estimate of $283M.

Cites a lower-than-expected demand for "destination mountain travel" and more people going to Europe.

Oh boy! Wall Street will be pissed about that $13 million difference!

 

[ThatGuy]

Oh boy! Wall Street will be pissed about that $13 million difference!

“$13 Million is chump change, thats barely half my yearly bonus for assembling the empire”

 

[BenedictGomez]

"Vail’s dining underperformed expectations and remains below pre-pandemic levels."

Yeah, because with runaway inflation and stagnating wages nobody can afford a $16 hot dog.

 

[snoseek]

"Vail’s dining underperformed expectations and remains below pre-pandemic levels."

Yeah, because with runaway inflation and stagnating wages nobody can afford a $16 hot dog.

I would occasionally buy something at their prices if it was truly something speacial but its not...its mostly low grade stuff.

And yeah everyone I know is getting squeezed and pumping the brakes on spending big time. I'm not buying 10 dollar drafts in this economy..or ever fuck Vail

 

[drjeff]

"Vail’s dining underperformed expectations and remains below pre-pandemic levels."

Yeah, because with runaway inflation and stagnating wages nobody can afford a $16 hot dog.

They might also want to grasp the basic concept, that at especially many of the former Peak properties, the BEVERAGE side of food and beverage revenue IS an important thing to focus on, rather than just force their one size fits every resort model.

I doubt they will.

 

[deadheadskier]

I would occasionally buy something at their prices if it was truly something speacial but its not...its mostly low grade stuff.

And yeah everyone I know is getting squeezed and pumping the brakes on spending big time. I'm not buying 10 dollar drafts in this economy..or ever fuck Vail

Prior to Vail owning the NH mountains, Id be good for $30 a day at the Cat pub. That could get you a decent lunch and a couple of beers plus tip. Now it's probably $40 for even lesser quality.

Even at Gunstock I barely ever spend money on F&B anymore. The occasional order of fries or cookies for the kids.

Bottled water is the item that pisses me off the most at ski areas and amusement parks. $4.75 for a bottle of water that probably has a cost of 25 cents or less. So lame.

 

[skiur]

Bottled water is the item that pisses me off the most at ski areas and amusement parks. $4.75 for a bottle of water that probably has a cost of 25 cents or less. So lame.

I don't ski Vail but they don't have water fountains with with the high spigot to refill water bottles?

 

[drjeff]

Bottled water is the item that pisses me off the most at ski areas and amusement parks. $4.75 for a bottle of water that probably has a cost of 25 cents or less. So lame.

The bottled water thing is going to be insteresting as the parent companies keep saying that they are committed to going more and more green and less and less waste, How will the $$ for sales of water vs saying their for less waste angle be played??

I noticed when my wife and I were at Disney a few weeks ago more people with their own refillable water containers and there starting to be some, isolated dedicated water bottle filling stations rather than just water fountains. We'd just buy 1 bottle each a day, and then refill it a bunch of times since we didn't bring any resuable containers on our trip, nor did we feel like we needed to buy another to compliment the probably 20 we already have!

 

[deadheadskier]

I don't ski Vail but they don't have water fountains with with the high spigot to refill water bottles?

They do have some of those, but at Gunstock they didn't have cups last season available. You had to pay 15 cents for a paper cup! Lol

While I certainly get the premise of reducing waste, I'm not someone who likes skiing with a backpack or camelback to carry my own vessel.

The reality is the mountains should encourage hydration, but these practices do the opposite.

 

[ThatGuy]

The bottled water thing is going to be interesting as the parent companies keep saying that they are committed to going more and more green and less and less waste, How will the $$ for sales of water vs saying their for less waste angle be played??

They’ll raise the prices and say they’re de-incentivizing single use plastics by higher prices while simultaneously making greater profits.

 

[snoseek]

Vail is actually good about this out west. Exceptionally good at heavenly there's filling stations all over. Wildcat not so much.

 

[thebigo]

one of the many things boyne does well, filling stations everywhere. Ragged could do much better but to their credit they did position a few portable jugs with cups around the lodge last year. going to be spending a bunch of time at gunny this year, DHS comments not encouraging, time to invest in a couple backup hydrapaks.

 

[snoseek]

one of the many things boyne does well, filling stations everywhere. Ragged could do much better but to their credit they did position a few portable jugs with cups around the lodge last year. going to be spending a bunch of time at gunny this year, DHS comments not encouraging, time to invest in a couple backup hydrapaks.

Aren't they putting in a huge lodge remodel? If you don't see it with a remodel you ain't gonna see it ever.

I was going to pick up a pass there for lazy days but didn't want to part with.ny money it's kinda pricey tbh.

 

[thebigo]

Aren't they putting in a huge lodge remodel? If you don't see it with a remodel you ain't gonna see it ever.

I was going to pick up a pass there for lazy days but didn't want to part with.ny money it's kinda pricey tbh.

no idea about a new lodge? been to gunny maybe 3X this century. ragged kids are going to train with gunny kids weeknights this year, bought midweek pass for around $300? possible we switch home mountain from ragged to gunstock next year if we have a good experience. gunstock plus ikon feels like a good mix. early season at SR, thanksgiving at sugarloaf, mix in the loon days, west trip in april, killington in may.

 

[ss20]

Wonder when desperation sets in? Stock is essentially unchanged compared to pre-pandemic. Where/how is there still growth to gain in their industry?

 

[ThatGuy]

Time to create the AZ hedgefund and short Vail

 

[Edd]

Aren't they putting in a huge lodge remodel? If you don't see it with a remodel you ain't gonna see it ever.

I was going to pick up a pass there for lazy days but didn't want to part with.ny money it's kinda pricey tbh.

Dang, sorry to hear, was looking forward to seeing you there.

 

[deadheadskier]

Aren't they putting in a huge lodge remodel? If you don't see it with a remodel you ain't gonna see it ever.

I was going to pick up a pass there for lazy days but didn't want to part with.ny money it's kinda pricey tbh.

The Stockade lodge is being converted to a full service restaurant and bar and then the Panorama Pub is having their kitchen and storage expanded.

I have mixed feelings on the Stockade. While it's a great spot for a full service restaurant and I bet it does better than the pub in the main Lodge; we used the Stockade almost exclusively for brown bag lunching the past two years. It's such a PITA to go down to the main lodge for that and now we will have to.

Gunstock is definitely one of the poorer values in the East for a season pass, but they obviously no well what the demand is there because of their prime location next to so many Winnipesaukee vacation homes. The kids programs are great and a good value though. So, that's why they have my business. It's only an hour door to door for me and the one day a weekend seasonal programs for the kids is perfect for me. We do Gunstock Sundays and Indy Saturdays. It's nice to ski until 2 on Sunday and easily get home by 3 to relax and get ready for the work / school week.

The other factor I like about the convenience is well over half the weekend days in a season in NH we are skiing icy groomers. In such scenarios, the availability of more compelling expert terrain doesn't matter as much to me. So why drive two hours + for it? Sure, I like Cannon or Attitash groomers better, but not that much better. I also love that Gunstock is a NASTAR mountain and they're committed to it. They also have it at Pats and Waterville, but they don't consistently run it at those mountains. Gunstock is definitely the top recreational GS racing mountain in the state