What Is The Vast Majority Looking For?

[Dr Skimeister]

That "vast majority" that the original question alluded to wants easy. Easy to get to, easy to navigate around once there, easy to make reservations, easy to secure rentals/lessons/child care. And easy enough to ski well enough so it's easy to stoke one's ego by telling his/her friends that, "I skied a black diamond".

 

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

maybe some of these smaller ski areas can band together with a larger destination resort, offer some sort of reciprocal ticket. Maybe the bigger resorts ought to find a way to help out the little guys.

.

I agree..although I think this season smaller feeder areas did better than destination resorts due to the economy..

 

[MommaBear]

One reason we've introduced our kids to different mountains (Bromley, Magic, Butternut) in addition to the bigger ones is to show them there is more to skiing then just the "big" mountains and all their amenities (most of which we don't even use). When they move out on their own, skiing those bigger mountains may not be an option due to cost. And even more so when they start having kids.

One thing I've learned in this forum, I'm not one of the masses, so what I would like in a mountain won't jive with the rest.

 

[St. Bear]

on another note, how many of you actually buy the food they sell in the lodge, overpriced as it may be? or do you cheap out and brown bag it? when i was younger and funds were more scarce, I used to do that. nowadays, If I am breaking for lunch, I tend to stop in the lodge as a way of supporting the ski areas.

I tend to do both. For my home mountain I get a discount with my season pass, so if my wife and I skied at night, instead of coming home at 10 to no dinner, we ate at the pub on the slopes. For our day trips, we usually packed sandwiches, but would supplement them with a cup of soup or something similarily hot from the cafeteria.

 

[highpeaksdrifter]

According to 2007 Snow Sports Industry data, the average skier...

is between 27 and 31 years old

has a college degree an an average household income of more than $100k

skis an averae of 13 days a season

skis on gear purchased in 1997

 

[highpeaksdrifter]

These are comments that I think are right on the mark. A qualifier to me any way is I believe the average skier is for the most part a day tripper. Once you get into the ski vacation set then distance is much less of a factor.

ease of access, expansive grooming and snowmaking

. If I can ski somewhere that's 80% as good but spend an hour less in the car, I'll pretty much do it every time.

I don't think the masses are as picky and critical as us either...

by telling his/her friends that, "I skied a black diamond".

 

[highpeaksdrifter]

It's funny to watch the masses - the non-fortunate masses that don't live in MRV areas etc - move up the skiing ladder.

I'm sure you meant this in a light hearted way, but I don't think they're funny. As a matter of fact I admire them. It's freakin hard to lug around equipment, kids, get tickets, place in the lodge, lessons, etc. especially when they don't know there way around. They make me realize how spoiled rotten I am.

 

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

According to 2007 Snow Sports Industry data, the average skier...

is between 27 and 31 years old

has a college degree an an average household income of more than $100k

skis an averae of 13 days a season

skis on gear purchased in 1997

averages can be deceiving..I don't know many people between 27 and 31 years old that makes that much money and skis that often on old skis..

 

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

One thing I've learned in this forum, I'm not one of the masses, so what I would like in a mountain won't jive with the rest.

times 2

 

[highpeaksdrifter]

averages can be deceiving..I don't know many people between 27 and 31 years old that makes that much money and skis that often on old skis..

You make a good point, maybe using the median in these catagories would have been more useful.

 

[St. Bear]

I'm sure you meant this in a light hearted way, but I don't think they're funny. As a matter of fact I admire them. It's freakin hard to lug around equipment, kids, get tickets, place in the lodge, lessons, etc. especially when they don't know there way around. They make me realize how spoiled rotten I am.

+1 I regret to say that that's most likely going to be me in a few years.

 

[mondeo]

According to 2007 Snow Sports Industry data, the average skier...

is between 27 and 31 years old

has a college degree an an average household income of more than $100k

skis an averae of 13 days a season

skis on gear purchased in 1997

Clarification on the average days per season - is that the average number of days for a skier, or the number of days for the average skier? If I remember the data correctly, the median number of days is 5 or 6, while the mean is higher (I guess 13.) This is a situation where the mean or median is an important distinction.

 

[mondeo]

You make a good point, maybe using the median in these catagories would have been more useful.

Beat me to it. By definition, the average skier is the median skier, the skier average is the mean skier.

Would those stats include 80th or 90th percentile, if we're looking at vast majority?

 

[Geoff]

i don;t think t;s really the well funded destination resorts that are hurting as badly right now.

it;s the smaller, mostly family run day trip ski areas that are in danger of getting swamped by the economic downturn and bad snow conditions, these are the guys that need to figure out how to stay profitable and attract skier visits. obviously not everyone can be an Okemo or a Stowe. However, I think there exists a fine balance where these day trip "feeder hills" can exist. I think the industry needs them as a low cost way of introducing people to skiing.

maybe some of these smaller ski areas can band together with a larger destination resort, offer some sort of reciprocal ticket. Maybe the bigger resorts ought to find a way to help out the little guys.

on another note, how many of you actually buy the food they sell in the lodge, overpriced as it may be? or do you cheap out and brown bag it? when i was younger and funds were more scarce, I used to do that. nowadays, If I am breaking for lunch, I tend to stop in the lodge as a way of supporting the ski areas.

Okemo and Stowe are not "destination resorts". People get in airplanes and spend a week at destinnation resorts. Okemo and Stowe are busy on weekends and completely empty midweek unless the locals come out on a powder day.

Vail now has a president who is working for zero and the rest of the staff is taking a big pay cut. Jackson Hole had huge layoffs. Disney just had a big layoff, too. Drive-to attractions aren't getting hit as hard as fly-to places.

 

[ERJ-145CA]

if "beaming" was perfected i'd be out west chasing the best snow every weekend but it's not so i'm stuck w/ the least coast. i'm looking for the most interesting terrain & best snow conditions w/ an emphasis on nat snow trails within my driving threshold. if i had my druthers i'd probably have a pass at sugarbush which makes mrg an option with stowe & killington an hour away if needed. however the mrv is out of my weekly driving threshold at this point so i'm at k which meets most of my requirements: within my driving threshold, interesting natural terrain, reliable snowmaking though a bit too much grooming in recent years. at this point i couldn't give a poop about apres or services. beam me up scotty ...

Hopefully beaming doesn't happen during my working life 'cause I'll be out of a job.

 

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

Hopefully beaming doesn't happen during my working life 'cause I'll be out of a job.

LMBFAO!!!:beer:

 

[tekweezle]

I thought the crux of this discussion was all about Magic Mountain(who is in danger of going out of business) plus what some of the smaller areas(Cannon) were doing to survive by expansion-mostly in the snow starved North East. I think Vail and Jackson Hole's of the ski world will survive-well atleast what they need to do to attract visitors is going to be different from the little guys. They are big pocketed and already do most of the things necessary-fast lifts, dependable snow, ect...

my definition of "destination resort" is full featured ski area w/ on the mountain lodging and real estate as opposed to mere day trip areas that don;t have those amenities and presumed advantages.

I am sure there were plenty of local hills that did well this season, courtesy of good early season snow, prevailing attitudes to stay local due to the economy as well as running efficient low overhead operations.

 

[mondeo]

Hopefully beaming doesn't happen during my working life 'cause I'll be out of a job.

+1

I don't think we'll have to worry, though.

 

[ski_resort_observer]

According to the ski resort marketing experts for the multi-day ski resort destination skiers it's -

shopping
dining
terrain

in that order.....

 

[Geoff]

According to the ski resort marketing experts for the multi-day ski resort destination skiers it's -

shopping
dining
terrain

in that order.....

So why does Deer Valet get such a high rating? Pork Sushi has really crappy shopping.