Killington Closing Date

Patrick

Patrick

Well-known member
Anthony":1ldqhk1i said:
Then of course there is always Killington that will hang in there as long as they can.
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That is matter for discussion.

See previous Spring discussion about why, why not, who care, they can't, etc discussion about Killington. The discussion are easy to find, look for any discussion with 140 messages on them in the Spring 2003 and 2004. :lol: The worst part is that there are really over 140 messages in those discussions. :roll:

I heard elsewhere that K was thinking of closing May 15th, can anyone confirm this?

As for who is going to push the limit, St-Sauveur (in your neighbourhood Anthony :wink: ) said they were going to try to make it to June (I didn't they will, but that was the message a few weeks ago).
 
sheahunter":zauco8xq said:
Word has it is the 15th is it.
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That's it? This is when the mighty K will fall? Possibly losing the braging right to the longest season in the East?

Yes, I read from someone on zoneski that St-Sauveur was going to try to reach June (heard this elsewhere also) and definately going to make to May 20th (that I weird day). The June thing is a PR stunt, I remember many years ago (early 80s) being at MSS on it last day on something like April 30 and they took a pictures of skiers with a sign with May 1st on it. :roll:
 
On the subject of closing dates, I think the ski areas are really watching their money and not trying to stay open too late as in the end they end up only attracting people with season passes. The revenue generating casual day skiers just don?t show up once April starts. Notice how the MSSI group closed all their ski areas last week except Jay Peak and St. Sauveur. As far as St. Sauveur goes, I agree that they leave hill 70 open as a gimmick as long as they can. Can?t see it lasting much into May as the snow is really melting fast and without any elevation for cooler night time temperatures you?re looking at a 24 hour melt cycle.

I heard the same story on Killington that they were also closing early this year. I guess going for the record is not worth the money.
 
Anthony":x4gq373f said:
On the subject of closing dates, I think the ski areas are really watching their money and not trying to stay open too late as in the end they end up only attracting people with season passes. The revenue generating casual day skiers just don?t show up once April starts. Notice how the MSSI group closed all their ski areas last week except Jay Peak and St. Sauveur. As far as St. Sauveur goes, I agree that they leave hill 70 open as a gimmick as long as they can. Can?t see it lasting much into May as the snow is really melting fast and without any elevation for cooler night time temperatures you?re looking at a 24 hour melt cycle.

I heard the same story on Killington that they were also closing early this year. I guess going for the record is not worth the money.
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http://www.firsttracksonline.com/discus ... 1086091443
 
I wonder if Killington having an earlier closing day has anything to do with the cheap season passes. Makes sense to me that the former follows from the latter.

They're not making money from day tickets in May -- it's basically only passholders. So the only reason to stay open that late is if the reputation of doing so increases season pass sales. If they charged a premium price for the passes, I can see that some skiers might only decide to buy the pass (as opposed to a pass elsewhere or no pass at all) if K was going to stay open late. But at the current cheap rates, I doubt many people are going to decide against a pass because they're closing a bit sooner.
 
Anthony":34rt7b23 said:
On the subject of closing dates, I think the ski areas are really watching their money and not trying to stay open too late as in the end they end up only attracting people with season passes. The revenue generating casual day skiers just don?t show up once April starts.
(...)
I heard the same story on Killington that they were also closing early this year. I guess going for the record is not worth the money.
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That's what Trembalnt (Intrawest) found out after pushing skiing into June in 1997, now they have a fixed closing which is generally on the 3rd weekend of April (April 17, this year).
 
I was wondering when this thread was going to get started :D

I don't actually think that I have anything to add that i haven't already added in the past 2 years.
 
Jonny D":3slgf9xw said:
I was wondering when this thread was going to get started :D

I don't actually think that I have anything to add that i haven't already added in the past 2 years.
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It was actually created by Admin, I was just replying to Anthony in another discussion. :o

Yes, it's a bit early for the K bitching season. Like Jonny, nothing to add for previous years, I think I will just do a CUT and PASTE of the whole discussion the last two season which will make this one at over 280 messages and should keep people busing reading if there weren't here before. :lol:
 
Not strictly on topic, but Mammoth's Value Pass program has proven too successful and is being closed to new entrants.

A few years back, the marketing director told me that the average pass was being used 6-8 times a a year, and that a few people actually ordered them in April and never picked them up.

Now the average use is 10-12 days, so the following changes have been made:

Prior pass holders (from any year, Garry Klassen had one a few years back but not this year) were allowed to renew from March 21-31, before any new people could join. They have been doing this presale for a couple of years.

New people could sign up starting April 1. In the early years it took the whole month of April to sell out. Last year it took a week. This year I bought one around noon April 1, they were 81% sold out then and completely sold out by April 3. My son Adam had a pass the last 2 years and I renewed him in March.

The 2005-06 passes will be good starting May 1, 2005. This will be the first year Mammoth is open until July since the Value Pass program started.

2006-07 Value Passes will be available a year from now only to 2005-06 passholders. If you didn't get a 2005-06 Value Pass a season pass for next year will cost you $1200.

I would conclude that the increased use was viewed as a cost, but that Mammoth chose not to alienate their most frequent customers and thus grandfathered the program. It will be interesting to see if the Value Pass prices in the future increase at the same or a higher rate than the day ticket prices. Value Pass prices:
2005-06: $485
2004-05: $425
2003-04: $399
2002-03: $375
I don't remember the exact year it started or the original price.
 
St-Sauveur want to be open until may 20 this year (although they're tough to believe).

I think we'll have a great last-to-close contest !!

Last year Killington closed only 2 days after St-Sauveur... quite close :)
 
Frankontour":1asx3ak2 said:
St-Sauveur want to be open until may 20 this year (although they're tough to believe).

I think we'll have a great last-to-close contest !!

Last year Killington closed only 2 days after St-Sauveur... quite close :)
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What I don't like about May 20th (and doesn't make sense) is that it's a Friday before the long weekend.

I don't remember, but when did MSS open versus K this year?
 
May 20th ?
This is very late in the season

I hope so

Last year, they tried to reach may 15th but they closed for the season on the 9th. There was almost no more snow the weekend after
 
actually it's not late but early when compared to some of the epic years in the 80's and 90's before than pine head bum les rotten pulled into town :twisted: :roll:
 
I suggest someone save that table. Will Killington really want to leave it on the website so that everyone can see their change in philosophy so clearly?
 
For the St-Sauveur opening date, it's on november 9... just like Killington. However, St-Sauveur opened during the afternoon while Killington opened in the morning the same day. So the last-to-close contest will be particularly interesting this year, as the last to close is sure to have the longest season !
 
I skied at Killington over last weekend and Superstar had plenty of cover. The snow is about as high as the chairlift about halfway up the trail. Skye Lark also has alot of snowcover, so they should make it into May without a problem, especially if the weather stays dry with cold nights like last weekend into late April.
 
Patrick":1m13b47u said:
Yes, it's a bit early for the K bitching season.
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Oh really? The only thing that prevents K bitching season from being 366 days per year is that leap year only comes every 4 years.

The American Skiing Company is in a world of financial hurt. Killington doesn't show positive cash flow in May which is why they keep closing it earlier and earlier. Until something changes with respect to ownership or their financial condition, I'd expect opening to be postponed until it looks like it's going to be cold for a week (best case late October, worst case, the weekend before Thanksgiving). I'd expect closing to converge on the 2nd weekend in May.

30 years of marketing good-will down the tubes.
 
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