What is the impact of a bad Christmas week?

[steamboat1]

More times than not skiing isn't very good in the east Christmas week. May have been good earlier but not during that week.

 

[fbrissette]

I have to be in Florida from the 25th to the 31st.

The impact of a bad snow Christmas week is that I'll be lees pissed about being stuck in Florida.

 

[tumbler]

It is nearly catastrophic for the bottom line. Even if people still come they are doing other off mountain activities which puts the F&B $$ somewhere else. MLK is a big weekend but only 3 days. Presidents week is nowhere near as busy as Christmas and in VT the second week is VT school vacation so not as much being spent on mountain. A lot of people ski over Christmas and go south for Presidents week as they are sick of the cold. It is still a little early for the cancellations and policies to change, people are holding out for another week I think. I am very nervous for all the areas, not just the small ones. They will all be impacted. This will ripple to a much lighter year on the capital improvement front.

 

[Smellytele]

It is nearly catastrophic for the bottom line. Even if people still come they are doing other off mountain activities which puts the F&B $$ somewhere else. MLK is a big weekend but only 3 days. Presidents week is nowhere near as busy as Christmas and in VT the second week is VT school vacation so not as much being spent on mountain. A lot of people ski over Christmas and go south for Presidents week as they are sick of the cold. It is still a little early for the cancellations and policies to change, people are holding out for another week I think. I am very nervous for all the areas, not just the small ones. They will all be impacted. This will ripple to a much lighter year on the capital improvement front.

I think your perception may be off. Christmas week seems busier because there is usually less chairs and trails open. I have always found president's day weekend the busiest weekend to ski and the weekdays that week are the worst for weekdays. Restaurants are always fuller as are the lodges.

 

[tumbler]

Nope. MLK is the busiest weekend to ski by far. President's week weekday skiing is a dream compared to Christmas week weekday. Everyone has off Christmas, not everyone has off President's week. Don't forget private schools don't have President's week off, their vacation is in March. Also might depend on where one skis.

 

[BenedictGomez]

So far in this thread we have declarative statements that:

1) Christmas is the busiest ski time by far
2) MLK is the busiest ski time by far
3) Presidents is the busiest ski time by far

Classic AlpineZone!

FWIW, I don't know the answer, but from my time working at a ski resort I feel somewhat confident the answer is #3.

 

[VTKilarney]

So far in this thread we have declarative statements that:

1) Christmas is the busiest ski time by far
2) MLK is the busiest ski time by far
3) Presidents is the busiest ski time by far

Classic AlpineZone!

FWIW, I don't know the answer, but from my time working at a ski resort I feel somewhat confident the answer is #3.

I don't know the answer either. But here is my uneducated guess:
1) Christmas: Lots of people have other things going on and they've also just spent a ton of money on their greedy kids.
2) MLK: Busy weekend but schools are not off for the week.
3) President's Week: School is off for the week and conditions are much more reliable than Christmas.

Using this logic, my money would be on #3.

 

[deadheadskier]

Every place I've worked in the business Xmas week has been hands down the revenue winner, whether at the resort or a complimentary business. New Years Eve factors in big time. Lots of parties and big F&B revenue, highest lodging rates of the season too.

 

[da pimp]

With the threat of smaller areas being very limited or even closed for Xmas, you will see the larger and largest areas getting a greater proportion of xmas week visits. The weather would hurt smaller places more, and the big places a little less. This also makes the slope crowding more amplified, too. Xmas week is HUGE for lessons, rentals, property rentals and those are high margin revenue sources.

People will tend to sit around and wait for that one maybe two day window of decent conditions, and limit themselves in number of days that week. Right now I cannot get people in my skis club to come up and ski because they feel it is not worth the cost of a bulk rate ticket. They will avoid xmas week even more because of crowding. For certain, my club would be all over Vermont skiing if now thru xmas week was normal or above average. Right now - no one is going out. And they are missing great comfortable skiing and riding.

 

[ScottySkis]

It will hurt Platty . they normally open the whole week from x mas through new years. The owner is very smart though so probably has capitol saved for this but I sure no not many investment over this summer.

 

[VTKilarney]

I had a chance to speak with an employee of a well respected lodging facility in Vermont. Tonight (12/30) they have 12% occupancy. Tomorrow night (12/31) they have 4% occupancy. They are normally full, or very near full, this time of year. The facility is in a place that is very snow-dependent. It is not located in a town like Stowe or Woodstock that is considered a destination in its own right.

 

[ss20]

I had a chance to speak with an employee of a well respected lodging facility in Vermont. Tonight (12/30) they have 12% occupancy. Tomorrow night (12/31) they have 4% occupancy. They are normally full, or very near full, this time of year. The facility is in a place that is very snow-dependent. It is not located in a town like Stowe or Woodstock that is considered a destination in its own right.

Smuggs