Vail to buy Stowe?

[mbedle]

So Vail buys Stowe and all I get is a lousy new parking lot under the gondola.... WTF. Going to packing them in real tight next year, door dings for everyone... lol

 

[benski]

So Vail buys Stowe and all I get is a lousy new parking lot under the gondola.... WTF. Going to packing them in real tight next year, door dings for everyone... lol

Thats what you get for paying half price for Stowe.

 

[mbedle]

Thats what you get for paying half price for Stowe.

So true...

 

[mbedle]

I'm going to buy a second one just so they can afford to install the quad at toll house!!!

 

[thetrailboss]

So true...

+1

I mean they only bought Whistler-Blackcomb AND Stowe last year!

 

[mbedle]

+1

I mean they only bought Whistler-Blackcomb AND Stowe last year!

Whats really sad is they buy a 200 foot hill in WI and invest 13 million in the first year. Buy Stowe... hey, lets just put in 149 parking spaces, for a grand total of 500K.... lol.

 

[thetrailboss]

Whats really sad is they buy a 200 foot hill in WI and invest 13 million in the first year. Buy Stowe... hey, lets just put in 149 parking spaces, for a grand total of 500K.... lol.

True, but what needs to be upgraded? And $13 mill at a 200 foot hill goes a lot further than at Stowe.

 

[benski]

Whats really sad is they buy a 200 foot hill in WI and invest 13 million in the first year. Buy Stowe... hey, lets just put in 149 parking spaces, for a grand total of 500K.... lol.

I think that place was a little run down. In the pictures everything looked old.

 

[drjeff]

Whats really sad is they buy a 200 foot hill in WI and invest 13 million in the first year. Buy Stowe... hey, lets just put in 149 parking spaces, for a grand total of 500K.... lol.

And I'm sure with the typical pace of the Act 250 environmental permitting process (scam) in VT, you'll see some sizable capital expenditures by Vail resorts at Stowe sometime about 2023.... Until them, you get spaces to park more people to help track the place out even quicker ;-)

 

[mbedle]

True, but what needs to be upgraded? And $13 mill at a 200 foot hill goes a lot further than at Stowe.

Expanded parking at Toll House and a quad to get them up to the main mountain. Would also be nice if they replaced the double to remove some stress off of the quad. At the 3 smaller hills in the midwest, they spent around 34 million right after they acquired them. One can dream that they would spend a little more than 500K at Stowe.

 

[thetrailboss]

Expanded parking at Toll House and a quad to get them up to the main mountain. Would also be nice if they replaced the double to remove some stress off of the quad. At the 3 smaller hills in the midwest, they spent around 34 million right after they acquired them. One can dream that they would spend a little more than 500K at Stowe.

Patience young grasshopper.

Seriously though I do imagine that they have plans for that, but figure that everything else is brand new and ready to go. Also, as said, they have to go through permitting unless that was already approved.

 

[Jully]

Patience young grasshopper.

Seriously though I do imagine that they have plans for that, but figure that everything else is brand new and ready to go. Also, as said, they have to go through permitting unless that was already approved.

Agreed. I doubt Vail is content to spend just 500k total at Stowe. It will all come with time. Permitting in VT is almost definitely nothing like permitting in the midwest.

 

[thetrailboss]

Agreed. I doubt Vail is content to spend just 500k total at Stowe. It will all come with time. Permitting in VT is almost definitely nothing like permitting in the midwest.

It will be very interesting to see what happens this season at Stowe. Will it be overcrowded? Will those longtimers get turned off and leave? If so, where do they go? Or will it be the same as it was albeit at a cheaper pricepoint?

I think that Park City is not a good comparison. That area has a lot of capacity and never really was considered a "top of the list" resort pricewise or experiencewise. Deer Valley, on the other hand, is both. That said, locals have really complained about the crowds the last two seasons at Park City. Not so much on the Canyons side. Parking is a nightmare. Show up at 10 and you are parking across town at the high school and riding a shuttle. Even then it is not an apples-to-apples comparison because PC has a much larger daytrip market than Stowe.

So while Stowe will no doubt pick up a few more locals due to the pass deal, it will not be nearly as many as Park City. That probably equates to more weekday skiers and riders and still busy, but not overly crazy, weekends.

 

[dlague]

Agreed. I doubt Vail is content to spend just 500k total at Stowe. It will all come with time. Permitting in VT is almost definitely nothing like permitting in the midwest.

This will be their inaugural season so operationally they will get things figured out. By this time next year, I bet larger plans will be shaping up.

 

[deadheadskier]

I'd imagine a Toll House HSQ with more parking happens. An upgrade of the Triple to a HSQ probably happens at some point as well. As the Mansfield Base Lodge is untouchable, that leaves expansion of the Midway lodge the most likely scenario to improve lunch options. And $150 day tickets to go along with all of that. Running 5 HSQs, 2 Gondolas and 5 lodges takes a ton of labor to do.

 

[cdskier]

Was the plan for ~140 additional parking spaces even approved yet? I saw an article that the proposal was tabled until the July Stowe Development Review Board meeting. The main argument from the township seems to be that Stowe isn't doing enough to add enough parking...

 

[p_levert]

I don't think anything is happening quickly:

http://www.stowetoday.com/stowe_rep...cle_4bdd5fae-51e3-11e7-8634-a72909ff6955.html

 

[BenedictGomez]

I'm surprised they claim there were only 250 parking spots at Spruce.

I'm not sure how they arrive at that, but it seems to me it had to be much more than that. That parking lot was massive. I parked right up front because I had to be there really early, but it went WAY back where the buses used to linger. Had to be more than 250 spots.

 

[snoseek]

Its been over five years since the Kirkwood became part of the Vail family and on the surface nothing has really changed on mountain. Heavenly has been patiently waiting for some lift upgrades as well. I'm not convinced there will be a whole lot of spending anytime soon at Stowe

 

[RISkier]

I'd imagine a Toll House HSQ with more parking happens. An upgrade of the Triple to a HSQ probably happens at some point as well. As the Mansfield Base Lodge is untouchable, that leaves expansion of the Midway lodge the most likely scenario to improve lunch options. And $150 day tickets to go along with all of that. Running 5 HSQs, 2 Gondolas and 5 lodges takes a ton of labor to do.

No idea what Vail will do. The Toll House area is seriously ignored. Beautiful beginner terrain with what has to be in the discussion for slowest lift in the world. Beginner's don't really know about it and mostly can't get to it without riding the quad or the triple. Real Stow skiers would never deign to go over there. But lovely beginner terrain. If it's not too cold (the lift ride can truly be miserable) we'll often do a run or two over there, especially later in the afternoon when we're tired. And it is nearly unskied. No one parks there. The hotel is no longer operating. You can't really get back to any of the main parking lots easily. Could be a wonderful area to send the beginners from Spruce over to the other side of the road.