boyne aka asc 2

I

icelanticskier

New member
had a nice talk with a friend last night. he lives in bethel maine and has worked in and around and for sunday river for a better part of 15 years. i lived there as well from 93-2000 and worked for sunday river very happily during those years. i asked him how the new boyne takeover has been and he told me that initially things looked great and now it appears as if things will be worse than ever even worse than under previous ownership. up to 7 full time employees in mid-higher up positions who have been there since the 80's were fired or laid off last week. the mountain apparently has no plans for future upgrades due to falling way below budget last winter and that was after a pretty healthy snow season. so boyne i hear is being referred to by locals as ASC-2.
too bad.
rog
 
With the concerns over the economy and the impact of $4.00/gallon gasoline in a drive-to business, I don't blame any eastern ski area for being very conservative at the moment. You don't want to go down the ASC path of running up a huge pile of debt you can't pay back. In any business that has gone through an ownership and management change, it's common to let the business run for a year, do performance appraisals, and revamp the parts of the business where management perceives they have a problem. It is difficult for the mid-level people impacted by the churn since they're often collateral damage but that kind of thing happens in any business.
 
not surprising....i remember this past season and spring a lot of marketing baloney from them being put out about how they were going to be the new Killington in regards to late and early season opening.....lot's of cheerleading from them when we were there in nov in the preseason and a lot of happy talk all around loon all year long.....then they come out with, this spring, the foolish cheap season pass thing again...same as the old asc...ridiculously short money for a season pass...an obvious cash grab....they actually cut the price of the mid week pass from 500 to 350...i knew right then this nonsense about them being different hand having extended seasons was a crock...i dont disagree with geoff.. they need to run the business soundly and i dont expect them to lose money....however , when preston smith ran the business successfully and skied a full season, he did not give away the store with the stupid 300 something season pass... he just was smart enough to charge the right amount of money for it
 
I can only go by what I see. Last year. Everything was updated, New drills for lift attendants to set lift corral poles. Snow making at marginal temps. Open in oct, closing at reasonable time. Staying open late on Sat during daylight savings. Management had meet and greets with members of the Sr board. We got them to open up the foggy goggle to watch the pats ...Giants regular season game when that was not going to be broadcast on regular TV..
Communication lines were always open. I attened a couple of those outings.. Our input was listed to.

They have been public about the 12 hours operations. New lift.

Yes a strong part of the River is its core of great staff. Changes are going to happen and they always seem to effect good people. Sr is known for its excellent friendly staff. We were all sad to see jobs cut. I think many of us expected some cuts. That matched with the real world economy its not a surprise. Our condo association broke from the River. Certainally a period of change. There is change all over the place. So far I have been very impressed. I'm sure there will be some bad mixed in with the good. I bought my 4 passes and will buy my seasonal programs gladly. Asc, not how I view it, but I'm not employed by the River. As a property owner and a fan of the River I'm a happy customer.
 
BobR":3tmg5663 said:
Open in oct
Click to expand...
That was just for a day or two, not the official opening. Which deserves props. But you can't just leave it at "Open in oct" without a clarifier. Opening weekend was November 10th along with others.

Geoff is on point. In a tough business facing economic down turns and infrastructure and personnel setup by ASC, it is no surprise some lay offs are happening. They are probably trying to fix what broke ASC by laying off redundant, needless, or poor performing positions. I have yet to hear much disappointment with Boyne so far. Not sure how the local hearsay can be so bad due to the two issues cites. It is pretty easy to rake a company across the coals for layoffs and being fiscally prudent (I know of at least one "organization *cough*USA*cough* that could do with taking a lesson of spending less when less revenue is generated. But without knowing the background and more details, kind of hard to judge if this is more of the same or cleaning up and tightening the belts (after substantial initial investment without seeing if budgets panned out or not).
 
Riv I hope your ok after the storm. I have camped at the ames brook several times. I may ride up to see if my place is ok.

The oct open no matter what you call it was an opening. I had lift service turns. I was there and I enjoyed it. Others could have tried to do it and may have made a token attempt. The River did it. The snow did not go away. It stayed as a base, I think we will probably just disagree on that. Talk all year was the guns would be going in Oct and they were. You hiked the weekend after and were able to ski. There were not many other options for hiking. K was another.

Back to the feel of the mountain.... As a patron I feel I got a great value. I felt that way prior to boyne, but I feel the litlle things were taken care of or worked on.

I asked for new signs for the shuttle on the River board. Never got a response, but the next weekend they were in all the condo's and posted on bulletin boards in the lodges.
This is not ASC.
Nh vacation week. The boyne resorts had family activities at the loaf and River. Sure it was marketing. Due to that I did not rent a place in north conway like the last 8 years and ski attitach and wildcat and Cranmore like years past. I also planed on trying King Pine just for a change. I was working on the details when the info came out on the nh week stuff. We changed our plans. They got me to stay there. Marketing sure, but made it fun to spend money. Decent amount NH folk were there with me. I have always made a day trip or two during nh vacatin week to the River. It never had the voulume of people there prior. These were not people that came for the Feb 27th storm, they were families on vacation.

Long term maint and future stability of the mountain is good IMO. A few debate that the vibe and the persona of the mountain may change. Only time will tell. No doublt the high end will be a goal of the new regime. I think there is room for the rest of us.

This place will grow, but maybe at a slower rate due to the economy. The addition of Loon made it a home run for me. Not a favorite of many, but I like it and will use it. Especailly on either side of the weekend getting up north or breaking up the ride home. A few weekneds I drove to SR just for a day... I probably will just ski loon those single days and powder midweek days. Doing the math a round trip for me to the River with gas and tolls is $74. Loon is about $39.

WE all have our views I guess. I'm glad I have a happy one.
 
some good points but, this wasn't about the weekend warrior with money to spend and how it affects them but, the longtime locals that filled some important roles at sr through thick and thin. since i lived there and punched a clock for 7 years from otten through asc, i've seen alot that joey wouldn't. we'll just have to see, cuz if locals are affected negatively it'll surely affect the vibe abit.
rog
 
Rog got your point. I 'm a big supporter of the River crew. I have sent e-mails to mangement on excellent service. Shake a hand, buy a beer, share our BBQ food. My point was indeed from the weekenders perspective. The vibe of the mountain will not be the same if a big change happens in staff. Excellent point. I think at least the view form the outside is they are working with the lcoals with meeting on night turns and having town officals and business involved with the envionary process. This place comesback to a couple of things the people, the snow makign the grooming and the vibe. That is why I moved from the Southern Whites. No disrespect to the locals and the curent and former employees',, quite the opposite. We should have a beer sometime. I think we would get along well.
 
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