Sugarloaf is home, so I might be biased. Skied there a week a year as a young kid, as while we had a home in Stowe, my dad had friends involved in Sugarloaf. Almost 60 years ago. I raced there a lot through college, and 30 years ago we returned, shifting our ski home. There were a number of years when we spent every weekend of the year, September through May up there. I'm probably a bit biased.
I think that Boyne is a good operator, but keep in mind that every one of these properties has their own President/GM, and their own teams who run the place. So the only place they connect is at the very top. Steve Kircher's management team and a few people at each resort. Now saying that, I do think these folks understand the ski buisness, and in decent years have done pretty well with minimal capital expenditures. They have invested money in snowmaking, and they do a pretty solid job with putting down a good surface. They also groom a ton of that mountain, which some folks dump on, but is pretty essential.
I think that Boyne's made some smart moves at Sugarloaf. The Brackett Basin side country was one. They have turned Bullwinkle's, which was once a tiny log cabin coffee and lunch spot, into a big money maker. The lift systems are OLD, for the most part. Of course, in my first days, the mountain was covered with nothing but T-Bars, so old is relative.
The main lift, the "Super Quad" is not so super, but does the job. Lots of finger pointing, and much or most of it uniformed as to the derailment of the old Spillway chair. Sugarloaf gets pretty extreme weather, and things can go wrong. I can guarantee that you will get an equal number of people to stay that it was freak accident, and that the chair was properly maintained and inspected {frequently}as you will find people who say it was neglected. My friends who all ski there every weekend never stopped riding the "other side" of the lift after the derailment.
The second accident, on the King Pine lift, was also really unfortunate, as clearly many folks jumped to the conclusion of "WTF is going on with lifts there?" Another freak deal. I hear could not have been foreseen, and would not show up with inspections. Still.....NOT good. The two accidents resulted in a new lift in the middle of the hill, Skyway, which has done a great job. They also replaced the bottom terminal, and most of the running and wear equipment on King Pine. Think they are good. KP is basically a new/old lift.
I haven't heard anybody in the business "lay blame" at Boyne's feet for those two. I will say that to be transparent, Sugarloaf created a section of their Webpage to keep people abreast of all of their lift maintenance, and plans.
I feel a LOT more comfortable on those lifts than on many others on this continent. Many in New England. Old infrastructure is a big issue, everywhere.
We'll see what happens with Boyne re-buying these properties. I think there is more to this than many suspect. Bet there will be some moving chairs. I LOVE Sugarloaf, but it's a tough business proposition. I'll be curious to see what the price was. Does Boyne need two properties in Maine? Sunday River needs a lot of investment, as well.
Think about this Boyne deal this way. CNL spent close to three years trying to sell their portfolio, and I hear that a huge hangup were the Boyne leases, and their right to match any offers. Hence selling the whole thing to Och-Ziff. Pretty strong rumors that O-Z began to think about how to break this all up, and do so with a nice return, as soon as the ink was dry. Boyne buying the hard assets means that they do need a source of capital, but they call all of the shots.....so no lobbying for the allocation of where to spend money. I hear that Boyne might be more concerned with improving the skiing, while O-Z would obviously be singularly focused on increasing asset value. In some cases, it could be the same.
Yes, I like Boyne. But I am guessing that they may unload some properties, perhaps buy some, etc. Rearrange things.
I also thing that almost every property in this business is always for sale at the right price. Some are obviously not. Others that people swear will never sell entertain offers ALL the time.
I said when the formation of Alterra took place, actually when KSL and the Crowns bought Intrawest, that this was early stage, just the start. BOOM a week later, they bought Mammoth, etc. Then shortly thereafter they bought Deer Valley. I assume that a lot more is underway.....in both directions. And once again, it's not about the passes. For them. I suspect that Boyne will be aligned with them more so that Vail Resorts. But I would not be surprised at all to see Boyne sell a property or two to Vail.
Vail wants to hit that magic 1 million pass number. It's only happening with acquisitions.
Strange business these days.
I think that Boyne is a good operator, but keep in mind that every one of these properties has their own President/GM, and their own teams who run the place. So the only place they connect is at the very top. Steve Kircher's management team and a few people at each resort. Now saying that, I do think these folks understand the ski buisness, and in decent years have done pretty well with minimal capital expenditures. They have invested money in snowmaking, and they do a pretty solid job with putting down a good surface. They also groom a ton of that mountain, which some folks dump on, but is pretty essential.
I think that Boyne's made some smart moves at Sugarloaf. The Brackett Basin side country was one. They have turned Bullwinkle's, which was once a tiny log cabin coffee and lunch spot, into a big money maker. The lift systems are OLD, for the most part. Of course, in my first days, the mountain was covered with nothing but T-Bars, so old is relative.
The main lift, the "Super Quad" is not so super, but does the job. Lots of finger pointing, and much or most of it uniformed as to the derailment of the old Spillway chair. Sugarloaf gets pretty extreme weather, and things can go wrong. I can guarantee that you will get an equal number of people to stay that it was freak accident, and that the chair was properly maintained and inspected {frequently}as you will find people who say it was neglected. My friends who all ski there every weekend never stopped riding the "other side" of the lift after the derailment.
The second accident, on the King Pine lift, was also really unfortunate, as clearly many folks jumped to the conclusion of "WTF is going on with lifts there?" Another freak deal. I hear could not have been foreseen, and would not show up with inspections. Still.....NOT good. The two accidents resulted in a new lift in the middle of the hill, Skyway, which has done a great job. They also replaced the bottom terminal, and most of the running and wear equipment on King Pine. Think they are good. KP is basically a new/old lift.
I haven't heard anybody in the business "lay blame" at Boyne's feet for those two. I will say that to be transparent, Sugarloaf created a section of their Webpage to keep people abreast of all of their lift maintenance, and plans.
I feel a LOT more comfortable on those lifts than on many others on this continent. Many in New England. Old infrastructure is a big issue, everywhere.
We'll see what happens with Boyne re-buying these properties. I think there is more to this than many suspect. Bet there will be some moving chairs. I LOVE Sugarloaf, but it's a tough business proposition. I'll be curious to see what the price was. Does Boyne need two properties in Maine? Sunday River needs a lot of investment, as well.
Think about this Boyne deal this way. CNL spent close to three years trying to sell their portfolio, and I hear that a huge hangup were the Boyne leases, and their right to match any offers. Hence selling the whole thing to Och-Ziff. Pretty strong rumors that O-Z began to think about how to break this all up, and do so with a nice return, as soon as the ink was dry. Boyne buying the hard assets means that they do need a source of capital, but they call all of the shots.....so no lobbying for the allocation of where to spend money. I hear that Boyne might be more concerned with improving the skiing, while O-Z would obviously be singularly focused on increasing asset value. In some cases, it could be the same.
Yes, I like Boyne. But I am guessing that they may unload some properties, perhaps buy some, etc. Rearrange things.
I also thing that almost every property in this business is always for sale at the right price. Some are obviously not. Others that people swear will never sell entertain offers ALL the time.
I said when the formation of Alterra took place, actually when KSL and the Crowns bought Intrawest, that this was early stage, just the start. BOOM a week later, they bought Mammoth, etc. Then shortly thereafter they bought Deer Valley. I assume that a lot more is underway.....in both directions. And once again, it's not about the passes. For them. I suspect that Boyne will be aligned with them more so that Vail Resorts. But I would not be surprised at all to see Boyne sell a property or two to Vail.
Vail wants to hit that magic 1 million pass number. It's only happening with acquisitions.
Strange business these days.
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