powderfreak

No matter what resorts use to assess validity of ticket, this is the ultimate no-no in mountain operations. You have a fixed uphill capacity, you need bodies in those spots no matter what when there’s a line up. They still need to monitor loss prevention practices and make sure guests are legitimate (even for liability as purchase acknowledges the legal release)… but filling uphill capacity on every carrier is key.

Ha yeah good to know these opinions. Mine and many others in the industry love the gates. I understand the logic of Vail wanting to have a personal interaction face to face but once you got the hang of the RFID gates, I thought it was incredibly smooth. The first winter was real rough though. The main driver was to get something with a reloadable card/ticket that the guest can keep and just reload when they want to ski. Or hell you didn’t even have to reload, just attach a credit card to it and you just show up to the lift and get charged the first run of the day. It’s so much more flexible than having to get the day’s paper ticket each time out. Little known fact… Alta, Utah was one of if not the first ski area in the U.S. to use them. Jay Peak was first in Vermont. We went up there to talk to them about their experience before buying and I remember Jay Peak said their one mistake was they put it too close to the lift load point… you miss chairs when there is a problem at the gate. And no one wants to see empty chairs going up when there’s a line.

This is why there's no one size fits all ski area and why "who is best" is often a mute point in the grand scheme of things. Because each mountain excels at something different and fits visitors differently. That's why when you find something that works and is enjoyable go with it... it can be fun to venture out but often the question is why mess with something good? I guess that carries over to everything in life, ha. Have a favorite restaurant that's perfect for your situation? Think hey maybe we will try this other place, then at the end you're like should've just gone to our usual spot. The big thing for families skiing, is that if you get separated for any reason you just want to go downhill and know your family will end up there. My mom was always ultra anal about staying together at Killington growing up... because literally a wrong turn could put a kid like 4 miles from where the rest of the family is. Sunday River is the same thing. Also ski areas with a lot of geographic width will eventually have you end up on a traverse or cat track with some skating involved... with kids that can be problematic as everyone wants a tow or a push. However, if you are older or don't have to worry about where a kid might end up, it's a lot of fun exploring a huge ski area and basically getting lost with friends trying all the different lifts and areas. And regarding the RFID gates... man, I love them. We put them in at Stowe years ago and it was a terrible first year. The guests didn't understand it, and to be honest the staff wasn't even sure. But once everyone figured it out and learned it, it was fast and people loved it. With kids though it's a pain because the "strike zone" is usually one height (aimed at adults) and kids are not all one height... so scanning their passes means they are jumping up at it, doing a shuffle/dance, then bar drops down and hits them in the face or something, its definitely not as kid friendly either. Kids also don't move as fast or easily as adults so the bar can be back in position before the kid even made it through. But it is wildly efficient otherwise. However after we had them for several winters, Vail bought us, and Vail Resorts likes the "personal" touch of having an employee scan you and greet you by name (in theory) and all that jazz. They wanted the face to face interaction instead of the "toll booth style." So we removed the RIFD gates but now need to find 30+ people a day to staff lines as ticket scanners, and in a tough labor market I know many wish it was just automated like it was for those few years. I think once you learn how to use them, it is incredibly efficient. Though the VR scanning method is fine too, as you don't have to take your card out of your jacket, it just scans it through your clothing. In the end the least efficient method is having to physically display a lift ticket... it's 2021. Put it in your pocket and forget about it for the day...get scanned without having to show it to anyone whether with a wand or an RFID gate.

A couple full moon shots from the other evening in Stowe. The last three days have been phenomenal for viewing the huge full moon...tonight's stratus layer at 3,000ft, not so much.

Real Estate. Later when watching the Sox game I’ll put some thoughts together on that. Just a quick look on news items past two years gives me a good idea on Waterville right now.

I agree, Bretton Woods is looked at in the industry as the flagship up there. They do an Okemo level family friendly operation… good lift system and while the terrain is relatively mellow, they take great care of it through the snow surfaces department. I’ve never skied Attitash but it has a very outspoken loyal following which surprised me. Some of those infrastructure issues go all the way back to American Skiing Company. There’s no doubt those two mountains have sort of just been getting sold and moved together as a package deal. When Peak Resorts sold to VR, no doubt they were like if you want Mt Snow and Hunter you are taking these as well. Maybe I’m an eternal optimist but I think someone at VR may realize Attitash’s potential in a way like you wrote. I just know VR certainly prioritized certain integration steps to high visit spots like Mt Snow and Hunter. The more that gets dialed in the more likely I think they start looking to other areas. They like places that have potential growth so if Attitash does, they’ll find it. Im on the same page as you with Wildcat… fantastic core mountain but without knowing for sure, I can’t imagine a prospective buyer looking at their financials and getting excited .

My buddy resigned as the GM up at Wildcat this summer. We had had neighboring offices at Stowe years back. Good guy but sounded like a very difficult task up there as they aren’t financially viable businesses on their own. So trying to make them into one is quite tricky. Sounds like Wildcat barely has reliable power, with the power company working in the remote woods up there many times a winter. I don’t think there’s anyway those two ski areas can financially operate independently… why they were with Peak Resorts and now Vail Resorts.

That’s awesome. I think my family from Albany used to do about 30 a season growing up. I bet you can crush 40 days. But even more so, to me, my favorite family memories are almost all ski trips and ski days growing up. Can’t tell you how much your kids will appreciate that later on in life. There’s something about getting up early, excited, Mom’s got lunch made, everyone making their bagels for the car ride to the hill… then getting to explore and have adventure with siblings and parents all day. Then 10 minutes in the car at 4:30pm and all kids are passed out. I don’t know, I give all of you parents big props for it because I know it shaped my life and many of my best family memories are those fun days on the hill together. I’m the oldest in my family and I remember it was like the first time I was looking out for my sisters… going through glades and stuff, everyone looking out for each other and helping them in tricky spots. Then get home and wanting nothing to do with my sisters lol. Some cool family dynamics take place on the hill as kids that you don’t get at home.

Summer tourism has been incredible. People want to travel. I think the demand for vacationing and travel is through the roof personally.

Hey now, not all of us read all the way through to realize there’s been paragraphs written about it already .

Yes, that’s what the difference was… it feels like an autumn warmth because it’s got that “dirty” warm vibe. Cloudy, lower temps, breezy, etc. It just doesn’t have the punch it did a few weeks ago.

Yeah you want to call someone ASAP if you've had a couple dozen inside so far today at 11am. We had bees in the fall it make it into our place through a crack in the brick siding. Once it got cold outside, they started coming inside through any crack they could find. Best $125 ever spent was having a Pest Control come out the next day and take care of it. Later on when we were re-painting our walls, we took off the light switch covers and found numerous dead bees behind each one.

All I remember is sweaty deli meats and stale bread at the “sandwich bar” .

Yeah the dews seem different… cloudy, low ceiling, inverted somewhere up there, breezy. Feels like autumn dews ahead of a FROPA.

Muggies getting ripped up here on south flow. Low clouds and moisture increasing. Dews were upper 40s at 5am and now near 60F.

Pizza Chef in Southbridge on the corner of Elm and Main St. That was my childhood summer pizza. Grinders too.

I love the ancestral look to eating. How evolution and prosperity has changed human food habits from the hunter/gathering societies. 56/49 at MVL. This is above normal, it has been, but it's still noticeably chillier than what we saw this summer. Any dews below 50 seem like another season. Something is happening in the seasonal change, just not shockingly in any way.

Mods can move this to the banter thread for sure, but props to you man for being religious about it in respect for your father. I'm with you, I'm all or nothing. I need that strict mentality. Like you running every morning, the warm season I find time every day to hike with the dog. Sometimes it's obsessive to my wife, ha. I find it necessary mentally and physically. Speaking of lactose intolerant, I know that well. I was in like 3rd or 4th grade and was getting real nauseous, puking and/or having the shits. Probably the only time in my life I felt a true unknown reason for feeling shitty to be honest. Teachers and my parents started thinking I was just avoiding school because of the randomness of feeling sick. Turned out I was lactose intolerant after some tests. Cheese pizza day was a bad time, peanut butter and jelly was a good time. Milk with cereal in the morning led to a bad day, while bagel with peanut butter was fine. I grew out of it in my teens and early 20s though, slowly adding dairy back later in life, body was fine with it. The cool thing about it is every body chemistry is different. Big props though for your dedication to body health.

You don’t do dairy? That would be the toughest for me. I live on meat protein (mostly chicken, turkey, salmon, tuna, but sometimes red meat), eggs and dairy. Beer is the carbs. I’m a big cheese fan, that would be real tough to give up. I’m not talking about your supermarket cheese but like specialty stuff (like a good brew instead of Bud Light). A block of good cheese and a knife after a day of skiing…sitting down to look at some winter storm models? That’s my jam, haha. Channeling my inner Norwegian heritage of broad shouldered big guys living on dairy, fish and meat.

Eating the dick of an oxen in a NYC restaurant as a kid is still probably the weirdest thing I’ve ever eaten. I think we had Pigeon then too. Some restaurant our family went to when I was like 12, and they kept bringing out weirder and weirder stuff to try. Looking back, not sure I would’ve jumped at it now. I remember it just tasted like sausage.

What a shot! Don’t believe I’ve ever hiked that despite being in the neighborhood. Great shot of Camels Hump. I think JSpin’s place is down there somewhere.

73/46

I’m going on a month long dry spell here, it’s all catching up to me now in my mid-30s. Drinking a couple double IPAs (many walkable restaurants/bars) with frequency will catch up to you. I’m not in my 20s in a ski town anymore. Mid-30s is a different ball game. 54/52 to make it weather relevant, this weather has been awesome.

Good to hear! Was starting to worry when you made it sound like life is no fun and depressing without heat and dews a few weeks ago .

The US is a country where at 18 years old you are expected to fly away and go on your own. I feel like in the town I grew up in that being a “townie” was labeled as a bad thing. Over in Europe people live 3 generations together very frequently. No expectation to move out on their own or whatever. More of a group effort for survival vs individualistic. We also joke about living in Mom’s basement, there are very strong stereotypes here about living with your parents and stuff like that. It’s normal in many European countries and cultures though.