Well, I'm somewhat conflicted about this race to extend season length. Killington may be proud about opening so early and staying open so late, but, are they making any money? I'm a long time Killington skier, and lived through the bankruptcy. I don't want to see another financial failure. Sure, it's really cool to show kids skiing mud and slush bumps in late may, but, how many skiers actually do that, or even want to do that, and how many of them bought a day ticket or anything else like food and beverage at the mountain? It's mostly season pass holders, I would think, or, at least the Spring pass skier, who bought in at a very low price. The World Cup is another problem. Killington spends about a million dollars to host that thing, and, quite frankly, what do I get out of it? It may enhance the "brand", which may be good for d*** waving rights when these area managers get together in conferences or whatever, but, what does the average skier get? Well, an answer is a window ticket approaching 200 dollars, for one thing. But, hey, come back in May, and ski The Beast! What, you're going to be hiking or mountain biking or even on the beach? What's wrong with you?
But, damn, the conditions were pretty awesome there a few weeks ago, and I heard just today that a lot of chairs are spinning midweek and they're grooming a lot. So, there's that. But, I'm going to do forty miles on the bike tomorrow.
Brand matters, Benny. The reason they sell those season passes, get the marginal skier from metro NYC who makes one trip per year and make the Access Rd. relevant for apres is b/c of those investments and their brand as The Beast. It brings them exposure and into the consideration set of the majority of skiers who aren't tied to one of the mega-passes.
Their biggest financial issues in recent decades were a function of a clueless corporate parents (ASC) and then clueless day-to-day mgmt under the first POWDR regime who did a great job of reducing skier visits by 40% before they realized how important The Beast brand was.
Quote from Jay Peak: "Season Passholders who trusted us with their pandemic-season, we owe it to them to let the good times roll out as long as possible."
Likely quote from the MegaResort: "Our shareholders, we owe it to them to shut down this season as soon as possible."
What a great article, I couldn't agree more with the thoughts about a long season. I have felt exactly this way for many years but didn't know there were so many who agreed with me. When management keeps a resort open it tells me they care about the hardcore skier and not the skier who spends the most money.
Big Boulder in PA is only a fraction the size of Wildcat, but it is disappointing to report that it is receiving the same treatment. For years, this Pocono ski area would proudly boast that it was the first to open, last to close in PA. It sits around an elevation of 2,000 which helps. And Peak Resorts would aggressively push this. Ahh, no longer. The ski area is quickly losing its identity.
Well, I'm somewhat conflicted about this race to extend season length. Killington may be proud about opening so early and staying open so late, but, are they making any money? I'm a long time Killington skier, and lived through the bankruptcy. I don't want to see another financial failure. Sure, it's really cool to show kids skiing mud and slush bumps in late may, but, how many skiers actually do that, or even want to do that, and how many of them bought a day ticket or anything else like food and beverage at the mountain? It's mostly season pass holders, I would think, or, at least the Spring pass skier, who bought in at a very low price. The World Cup is another problem. Killington spends about a million dollars to host that thing, and, quite frankly, what do I get out of it? It may enhance the "brand", which may be good for d*** waving rights when these area managers get together in conferences or whatever, but, what does the average skier get? Well, an answer is a window ticket approaching 200 dollars, for one thing. But, hey, come back in May, and ski The Beast! What, you're going to be hiking or mountain biking or even on the beach? What's wrong with you?
But, damn, the conditions were pretty awesome there a few weeks ago, and I heard just today that a lot of chairs are spinning midweek and they're grooming a lot. So, there's that. But, I'm going to do forty miles on the bike tomorrow.
Brand matters, Benny. The reason they sell those season passes, get the marginal skier from metro NYC who makes one trip per year and make the Access Rd. relevant for apres is b/c of those investments and their brand as The Beast. It brings them exposure and into the consideration set of the majority of skiers who aren't tied to one of the mega-passes.
Their biggest financial issues in recent decades were a function of a clueless corporate parents (ASC) and then clueless day-to-day mgmt under the first POWDR regime who did a great job of reducing skier visits by 40% before they realized how important The Beast brand was.
Quote from Jay Peak: "Season Passholders who trusted us with their pandemic-season, we owe it to them to let the good times roll out as long as possible."
Likely quote from the MegaResort: "Our shareholders, we owe it to them to shut down this season as soon as possible."
What a great article, I couldn't agree more with the thoughts about a long season. I have felt exactly this way for many years but didn't know there were so many who agreed with me. When management keeps a resort open it tells me they care about the hardcore skier and not the skier who spends the most money.
Heading to Sunday River tomorrow.
Thanks
Great article.
Big Boulder in PA is only a fraction the size of Wildcat, but it is disappointing to report that it is receiving the same treatment. For years, this Pocono ski area would proudly boast that it was the first to open, last to close in PA. It sits around an elevation of 2,000 which helps. And Peak Resorts would aggressively push this. Ahh, no longer. The ski area is quickly losing its identity.
Totally agree and hope that they reverse course on this as they get to know the market better.