VAIL SUCKS

[mbedle]

April 11th is the last day so I'm told.

I believe the latest Vail is going in the East this year is 4/18 at Stowe.

That is correct.

 

[abc]

They’re going to find out when all the late season skiers all decamped to Sunday River and not renew their Epic pass.

That is, if there’s any cat skiers left to even contemplate renewing at all.

 

[deadheadskier]

They’re going to find out when all the late season skiers all decamped to Sunday River and not renew their Epic pass.

That is, if there’s any cat skiers left to even contemplate renewing at all.

Thousands of second home owners in the Valley. No doubt many people without ties to the area will move on due to the steaming dump Vail dropped on AttiCat, but I don't think the drop in customers will be that significant.

Here today with my son. Conditions are great, but...

25 minute wait for the quad. Not running it full speed either and it's not because of wind.

Late start to the Tomcat

Bobcat still broken

Not a single gun running on the mountain despite perfect conditions. Guessing they are done for the year

But plenty of seats in the lodge to warm up with a tiny chocolate milk and brownie for $7.25

I'd punch Rob Katz in the face if I met him for what he's done to this place.

 

[thebigo]

Attitash functioned as a normal non-vail ski area today. All lifts that should have been running were running, including the abenaki. The surface was in good shape, the usual areas got scraped off as the day progressed. Guns running on wandering when we arrived around 8:30, shut down mid morning and a half dozen crew were setting up on avenger. Upper pt has been blown deep but needs to be pushed out. No guns running when we left mid afternoon. Disappointed to hear no guns at the cat, does appear they have one crew between the two. Wandering is deep, serious whales, that is my eight year old daughter with a friend on one of the whales.

 

[abc]

Thousands of second home owners in the Valley. No doubt many people without ties to the area will move on due to the steaming dump Vail dropped on AttiCat, but I don't think the drop in customers will be that significant.

"Thousands" isn't a lot.

I don't know the demographic of the valley. But the few times I skied there, it's really not that busy. So even an "insignificant" drop in customers could be... significant?

A lot of the people I ran into while skiing there seemed to have driven from somewhere at least an hour away. At that distance, they could divert themselves to Cannon, Bretton Wood or Sunday River etc...

Oddly enough, I bought my Epic pass this year thinking largely of Wildcat! Because it wasn't all that busy in previous visits, I thought that would be a safer bet than the mad house of southern VT. But thanks to quarantine rules or whatever other reason (weather? Snowmaking?...), "the mad house" southern VT resorts turned out to be a lot quieter than both the NY and NH mountains!

While I'm happy to be skiing, I can't say I'm thrilled about the southern VT mountains. They're not exactly my favorites. So, given the state of Wildcat, my major motivation for getting the Epic pass is no longer. Needless to say, I'm not planning to renew my Epic pass. On the other hand, Vail may just offer another "significant" discount, which may potentially make me think again. Unlikely, but not impossible.

 

[deadheadskier]

You don't know the demographics of the area and have minimal anecdotal evidence to base your opinion off of. Got it

 

[abc]

have minimal anecdotal evidence to base your opinion off of

True. I've only skied the cat less than 10 times, and all only in the last 2-3 years.

But it's really odd that everyone I shared a chair with were "frequent" cat skiers yet didn't have ties to the valley. And many also "frequent" other mountains such as Canon or SR. Hence my speculation many will just move on to the alternatives.

 

[deadheadskier]

Been a regular in the area since 2009. Had a pass there 8 of those years. Somewhere in the neighborhood of 150 days skiing there over that time. Cat skiers fall into primarily three camps. Second home owner families, many of which have kids in the Devo or Race programs, local ski club people (there are roughly 20 clubs in the valley) and then local NH and Western Maine folks. I'd fall into the latter camp, but had intentions on getting a seasonal rental and putting my kids in the Devo program. I was literally two days away from signing off on a property last March before the world stopped.

People are extremely passionate about Cat. It's similar in a way to MRG in that regard. The thought of moving on saddens me. It just feels like home. When the natural terrain is in, it's my favorite place to ski in New England. The quad accesses the best mix of terrain of any lift in the East IMO. Just an incredible amount of variety over 2k vertical feet with no run out. All with incredible views.

I think most will give this year a pass based upon Covid.

Attitash? Different story. Much more a groomer resort type crowd. Those folks can look towards Cranmore or Bretton Woods. I expect a steep drop in visits at Attitash.

I'll be moving onto Cannon next year. I just can't invest in winter seasonal programs for my kids if they'll only have two trails open again by MLK weekend. If Vail puts in the effort the place deserves next season, I'll be back in a heartbeat.

 

[abc]

Thanks for the detail explanation.

I dig the terrain there too. And enjoy the low key vibe.

Every mountain has its core supporters. The Vail deal puts a lot of them, at different mountains, agonizing on how to move forward.

I've been going up to the Whites for whitewater in the spring, and was mixing it up with skiing at the cat. The more I ski there, the more I like it. The long season really helps in my case. If the cat stick with the mid-April closing as a rule going forward, that would put an end to that mixing whitewater with downhill skiing. Well, I suppose I can start hiking the Sherbie...

 

[Smellytele]

I have skied wildcat every year for over 25 years. This year I will not be skiing there after all the reports how VAIL sucks!

 

[thebigo]

True. I've only skied the cat less than 10 times, and all only in the last 2-3 years.

But it's really odd that everyone I shared a chair with were "frequent" cat skiers yet didn't have ties to the valley. And many also "frequent" other mountains such as Canon or SR. Hence my speculation many will just move on to the alternatives.

I am drunk and old but I have been skiing wildcat for forty years. I was literally raised in the lions den, although not born in the desert. I killed dads battery while we watched mannequin at the old theater with mom, while dad watched platoon.

Vail is the worse thing that has happened to this valley in my life. Short of a natural disaster, I cannot imagine worse.

They need to be put out of business. They do not give a shit about us or our culture. They care about nothing but dollars.

 

[drjeff]

I am drunk and old but I have been skiing wildcat for forty years. I was literally raised in the lions den, although not born in the desert. I killed dads battery while we watched mannequin at the old theater with mom, while dad watched platoon.

Vail is the worse thing that has happened to this valley in my life. Short of a natural disaster, I cannot imagine worse.

They need to be put out of business. They do not give a shit about us or our culture. They care about nothing but dollars.

I am so sorry to hear this.

While I have only skied Wildcat about 10 times over the last 40yrs, I have such fond memories of the mountain, and the Vail experience at my home Mountain of Mount Snow has been (covid issues excluded) close to what Peaks put forth.

And that's me, only buzzed, not drunk, posting Big O! LOL!!

I sincerely hope that Rob Katz and crew either chooses to run Wildcat and Attitash PROPERLY soon, or sells them off to an owner who will!

 

[deadheadskier]

I am so sorry to hear this.

While I have only skied Wildcat about 10 times over the last 40yrs, I have such fond memories of the mountain, and the Vail experience at my home Mountain of Mount Snow has been (covid issues excluded) close to what Peaks put forth.

And that's me, only buzzed, not drunk, posting Big O! LOL!!

I sincerely hope that Rob Katz and crew either chooses to run Wildcat and Attitash PROPERLY soon, or sells them off to an owner who will!

I hope Vail fails entirely.

As a former Intrawest employee at the height of their powers as the largest ski resort operator in North America and then seeing the downfall after the Fortress purchase and going public, I don't think Ski Resorts work as publicly traded companies. I fully see the same happening with Vail.

If I were Katz, I would cash out the many millions he has in MTN stock right now. The price being $270 a share today is a great jumping off point.

FTR, I didn't win Mega Millions last night, so I will not be the next owner of Wildcat.

 

[eatskisleep]

April 11th is the last day so I'm told.

I believe the latest Vail is going in the East this year is 4/18 at Stowe.

Wow pathetic, remember when the Cat used to always try to be open till May?

 

[thebigo]

And today wildcat is closed, attitash is yankee only. Bretton woods and cranmore are both open per snow report.

 

[skiur]

Can't really blame them for the wind.

 

[kingslug]

Wind at Gore is pretty stiff

 

[Edd]

And today wildcat is closed, attitash is yankee only. Bretton woods and cranmore are both open per snow report.

None of the chairs on Sunday River’s webcams are spinning, which makes their lift status report inaccurate. They’re the worst with wind, and I enjoy busting their chops about it. I’m mostly posting because I’m impressed with SR‘s webcam clarity.

BW and Cranmore are nearly windproof compared to the others. I’ve often wondered if some lifts are built unnecessarily tall, exposing them to wind more. Can’t say that about Wildcat’s HSQ though. That thing hugs the ground like BW lifts do.

 

[deadheadskier]

Not sure I'd even want to be on even a T Bar up top at Cat today. Wind across the street peaked at 151 mph this morning

Guessing Upper Wildcat and Top Cat are now picked clean of the good snow they had this past week

 

[2Planker]

Wow pathetic, remember when the Cat used to always try to be open till May?

I got married at the top of Wildcat on May 1 '15. The place was still open, so the kindly refunded our resort/lift rental fees