Wait, wait... I think I've heard this one before....
Run it and market it properly in an area where there is demand for skiing? Right?
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Mid-Atlantic The Neverending Timberline, WV: Info, Weather, and Stoke
Wait, wait... I think I've heard this one before....
Run it and market it properly in an area where there is demand for skiing? Right?
Rudi Riet
AKA songfta AKA randomduck - a USSS coach, as well
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I'm wondering how Vail will handle the season pass situation for Peak Pass buyers who rushed to purchase their 2019-20 passes earlier this year. Will they do a 1:1 replacement of the pass? Will they offer some kind of upgrade pricing? Will they simply allow the Peak Pass holders to use their passes at Vail properties for the upcoming season?
Rudi Riet
AKA songfta AKA randomduck - a USSS coach, as well
SkiTalk Tester
Contributor
SkiTalk Supporter
The press release from Vail sorta answers the season pass query:
"When the transaction closes, the 2019-20 Epic Pass, Epic Local Pass and Military Epic Pass will include unlimited and unrestricted access to the 17 Peak Resorts ski areas. Guests with an Epic Day Pass will also be able to access the new ski areas as a part of the total number of days purchased. For the 2019-20 season, Vail Resorts will honor and continue to sell all Peak Resorts pass products, and Peak Resorts’ pass holders will have the option to upgrade to an Epic Pass or Epic Local Pass, following closing of the transaction."
If I recall correctly, when Snowshoe was acquired by Alterra, we were given "credit" for our early season pass purchase and allowed to pay the difference for an Ikon Pass. Seemed like a fair and reasonable option. Upgrade to Ikon or just keep a Snowshoe only season pass.
Rudi Riet
AKA songfta AKA randomduck - a USSS coach, as well
SkiTalk Tester
Contributor
SkiTalk Supporter
That seems to be what VR is doing. The thing that has the customers from the former SnowTime resorts (Liberty Mountain, Roundtop, Whitetail) in a weird pickle is that we were all rushed along to order Peak Resorts season passes at the end of 2018-19, and the Peak Passes didn't offer a lot of upside yet were a lot more expensive than the old SnowTime-only pass offering (they also got rid of some popular discount card options for folks who only skied at nights, etc.). Now VR is saying that Peak Pas holders can upgrade their pass to an Epic Pass or Epic Local for an additional outlay of funds.
Don't get me wrong: the Epic Pass is seriously attractive for Mid-Atlantic skiers and riders, with a lot of travel upside that Peak could never offer. But asking to lay out more money (which will bring the season pass expenditure to a sum that's likely far more expensive than an Epic Pass) is not very customer focused. Skiing and snowboarding are already extremely expensive, as-is; asking even more from families whose winter sports budgets are already set for the upcoming season is salt in an already festering wound.
And as a coach at one of the SnowTime resorts (note: none of the alpine racing teams at the SnowTime resorts are officially part of the Peak Resorts staff - we're all 501 (c)(3) non-profit clubs), I'm wondering what our pass options will be. Under SnowTime (and under Peak last season), we received the now-defunct SnowTime-only season pass. There was a high likelihood for the same pass this coming season (even though it's no longer offered to the public, it's offered to ski instructors and patrollers). Now? Who knows?
Just my $0.02. YMMV.
How about the optimists who are still holding valid TL4s passes? They were selling like a 3 year version right? Are those folks in line behind the other creditors? Might CVR step up and let folks use them there, or at least let folks use them for discount on a CVR pass?
I'd love to snag something like that as a retirement nest egg. Just sell or scrap everything with regard to infrastructure. Put in a simple (solar powered w batteies?) rope tow or two, and get a nice riding mower and some other gear to keep a couple trails manicured. Maybe build some bike jumps/terrain park jumps and have the best snow days when it snows and downhill biking when it doesn't. Keep the pond at the bottom stocked with tasty fish too.
Also drop in a couple frisbee golf baskets. What else??
WINING!
I see it as a cu de grass for Tslime but also a win for local skiers.
Why would anyone with a EPeek pass in mid Atlantic even come to Cannan Valley now?
Whitegrass, OFC.
Those folks typically do not buy a epic/ikon style pass.
Typical ballet dancers aren't bodybuilders - but everyone who has seen Pumping Iron knows that there are excellent reasons for bodybuilders to take ballet classes.
Whelp, there went the hope for a Vail Deus Ex Machina miracle save...
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Canaan Valley is on the Indy Pass. For skiers and riders who want a multi resort pass that doesn't destroy the sport they love.
The VR purchase of Peak probably will have no effect on the Timberline situation. After listening to the Epic blog last night on how Vail acquires resorts, I don’t believe think Timberline is a good fit at this point:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/epic-by-nature/id1443033576?i=1000444479961
Vail wants to acquire resorts that already have excellent infrastructure and operations and make them better. They are not into building resorts from scratch or fixer up specials. They’d rather let others do that and then acquire the resorts once they are fixed up. Stowe is a good example, Vail let AIG build Spruce Peak village and install new lifts before acquiring it. Similarly, all the Peak resorts are in peak form.
In the long run, Timberline might work for VR, once fixed up because it’s a hedge against climate change. With better snowmaking, it could offer more reliable early and late season skiing in this region for Epic Pass holders than the former Peak Resorts east of the Allegheny Front, but the major redevelopment will have to be done by someone else.
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/epic-by-nature/id1443033576?i=1000444479961
Vail wants to acquire resorts that already have excellent infrastructure and operations and make them better. They are not into building resorts from scratch or fixer up specials. They’d rather let others do that and then acquire the resorts once they are fixed up. Stowe is a good example, Vail let AIG build Spruce Peak village and install new lifts before acquiring it. Similarly, all the Peak resorts are in peak form.
In the long run, Timberline might work for VR, once fixed up because it’s a hedge against climate change. With better snowmaking, it could offer more reliable early and late season skiing in this region for Epic Pass holders than the former Peak Resorts east of the Allegheny Front, but the major redevelopment will have to be done by someone else.
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