VAIL SUCKS

[Smellytele]

Sunapee, Wildcat and Attitash web sites all say “opening day not yet announced or confirmed “. Crotched still has an update from March saying they are closed for the season, see you next year!
This is the first year that we did not renew our Epic passes. Seems it was the right decision.
But I really don’t get it. I can sort of see Wildcat and Crotched might not fit the Vail mold. But we used to ski Sunapee and it was crazy busy, surely, surely Sunapee made them money. And it’s a really nice small mountain. And Attitash being close to North Conway, all those condos and the mountain village. Again surely that is a profitable resort. So why dontt they try? I know they want the feeder mountains for their big western resorts. But I think Sunapee and Attitash were.

Did drive by Sunapee today and they were blowing snow only on the south peak learning area

 

[oldfartrider]

I checked the Sunapee Cams and they r blowing snow at the base as well as the peak.

 

[Smellytele]

I checked the Sunapee Cams and they r blowing snow at the base as well as the peak.

They were not blowing at the peak around 2 today only base/learning area

 

[deadheadskier]

We call that move the Katz inversion. Take advantage of those marginal temps at the base while they can.

 

[joshua segal]

Clearly, the websites of most Vail areas are not good. But if you are curious about opening dates, here is the info I have found:

If one looks at the "ticket tab", the first day of availability of lift tickets is given as Dec. 6 for Sunapee and Dec. 13 for CM. Stowe, Mt. Snow, Okemo and Hunter are all open. Wildcat shows Dec. 3 and Attitash shows Dec. 6. I have no idea if these dates are accurate.

 

[drjeff]

Clearly, the websites of most Vail areas are not good. But if you are curious about opening dates, here is the info I have found:

If one looks at the "ticket tab", the first day of availability of lift tickets is given as Dec. 6 for Sunapee and Dec. 13 for CM. Stowe, Mt. Snow, Okemo and Hunter are all open. Wildcat shows Dec. 3 and Attitash shows Dec. 6. I have no idea if these dates are accurate.

I would think that with the looks of the forecast for this coming week, any of their resorts who arent open yet, if they aren't on a hard pre set date on the calendar for opening, will atleast be making snow, if not be spinning their lifts by next weekend

 

[oldfartrider]

They were not blowing at the peak around 2 today only base/learning area

New Hampshire Mountain Web Cam | Mount Sunapee Ski Resort

They've been blowing on the peak since before Thanksgiving.

 

[thetrailboss]

If one looks at the "ticket tab", the first day of availability of lift tickets is given as Dec. 6 for Sunapee and Dec. 13 for CM. Stowe, Mt. Snow, Okemo and Hunter are all open. Wildcat shows Dec. 3 and Attitash shows Dec. 6. I have no idea if these dates are accurate.

The passionate folks here will do that research and go to the online shop as a point of reference. I've done it before. The average skier or rider will not. Again, it's not hard to do some basic PR iand outreach by trying to regularly update the snow report and social media channels.

 

[AdironRider]

The average skier isn't skiing in November....

 

[jaytrem]

The average skier isn't skiing in November....

Apparently they do indoors. Big Snow removed the bumps a day early due to the crowds. Was thinking about going today, but now won't bother.

 

[slatham]

Lots of things surprise me about Vail, but their poor website, and lack of any upgrades in several years, is indicative of organizational disfunction. It is one of the simpler areas to fix and maximize, and it’s the first - and ongoing - point of customer engagement. The guest experience really starts there.

 

[thetrailboss]

The average skier isn't skiing in November....

That was conventional wisdom, but I'm not so sure anymore.

 

[1dog]

That was conventional wisdom, but I'm not so sure anymore.

Only thing that changed is Ikon/Epic so people think- 'hey, why not?' Then add in over-abundance of social media reporting with videos- yeah, think you're right.

( But once they experience early season mm snow and funnels like Deathspout and Bunny Buster, many will wait for more options later in season)

 

[AdironRider]

That was conventional wisdom, but I'm not so sure anymore.

I don't know man, they've called it the white ribbon of death for decades, and its still the same problem. To many people (mostly die hards like us) skiing much to fast down one or two available runs. That problem has always been there of just limited operational resources.

If you look at resort visitation for Thanksgiving vs. Christmas / MLK / President's it isn't remotely close. I could see individual resorts seeing increases in visitation based on circumstances (such as Jay drawing Indy passholders after a record setting November), but I think the overall market of skiers that go in November is relatively static and still just a small portion of the overall skier population.