Question for mark

joegm

joegm

New member
marc, first off thanks for the direct feed from k and the marketing dept. question 1. does the recent steady stream of negativity generated here by us crazies towards the management of the resorts in general, cause them to be hesitant to deal with you in general?... do you think you could convince any resort pr/gm's to come on to fto, online chat for a q and a if we promised to be hard hitting , but respectful? <BR>asides- 1) frank on tour is NOT BORING!!! 2) I would agree with the bretton boosters for the horse race... but i think in the end it will be k by a nose.. k on monday nov 10th and bretton on wed nov 12th. i can't believe the photo bretton has posted on their rsn web cam is accurate at this point
 
<BLOCKQUOTE><HR SIZE=0><!-Quote-!><FONT SIZE=1><B>Quote:</B></FONT><P>1. does the recent steady stream of negativity generated here by us crazies towards the management of the resorts in general, cause them to be hesitant to deal with you in general?<!-/Quote-!><HR SIZE=0></BLOCKQUOTE> <BR>Not at all. When I first started out, there was one marketing VP that I thought that I myself had teed off with something I wrote. To my shock, he was actually grateful. "You wrote something that we never could," he said, "so you've got credibility on your side. If they believe the other 90% that you wrote that's positive, then we're better off because they know that's honest, too." <BR> <BR>This is a public forum. Within certain boundaries (i.e., obscenity, personal attacks [one message earlier tonight came close], etc., folks can post whatever's on <I>their</I> minds. With limitations, of course, we're not responsible for what folks write. Remember the old Killington chat room on Killington's own website? For gawd's sake, they got killed there...on their own site. <BR><BLOCKQUOTE><HR SIZE=0><!-Quote-!><FONT SIZE=1><B>Quote:</B></FONT><P>do you think you could convince any resort pr/gm's to come on to fto, online chat for a q and a if we promised to be hard hitting , but respectful?<!-/Quote-!><HR SIZE=0></BLOCKQUOTE> <BR>There was a time when we used to do this in the chat room, i.e. have an industry guest in for a moderated Q&A session. It might be tough here, because it's not real-time, but nonetheless worth considering. Who would you want?
 
Joe : very good idea, for the chatroom with people from the ski areas, this could be useful to present our point of view to the ski areas, but we should be very respectful to them, if we want to pass our message (hitting & respectful is a great way to say it effectively). Also, we shouldn't be only negative, of course, cause if so, we wouldn't have a so much great impact. <BR> <BR>Also : Thanks Joe, I really appreciate it ! <BR> <BR>but somehow I must do my little Mea Culpa (if the expression is used in english) <BR> <BR>I took a big place on the board, since last spring... probably a little bit too big, cause there wasn't a lot of posts and I tried to keep the conversations alive until this fall. Now I will slow down a bit, don't you worry Mr Anonymous. (who is <B>not</B> the same anonymous than the one "pro" ASC, I think) <BR> <BR>If it's more for the english level... I can tell you that I do my best... but I wouldn't pass 1 hour to write a perfect 3-sentences english post neither ! <BR> <BR>Marc : interesting idea, if you have some great contacts in the areas. I don't have some ideas of persons in particular, but I'm sure few of us should have some great ideas !
 
in terms of who to get for a q and a... my 1st preference would be someone who could / would be willing to, basically provide no bull answers to questions about operations at a resort. more specifically someone who could / would be willing to provide accurate answers for 1) insurance costs 2) margins and how they affect shoulder seasons 3) snowmaking costs 4) snowmaking technical info 5) lift costs. things like that. i'm not sure someone like kim jackson could do that , but maybe she could. for celebrity guests i'm biased , but glen plake seems to be a big supporter of things like this ( plus you can never have too much mogul talk... plake will go on for hours about bumps !!!! ) i know he is bringing his hot dog tour to new england in january
 
Frank you are not annoying, and whomever said that, shouldn't be writing on this board, and your english is fine, better than mine sometimes, i have probably posted to aften as well this fall <BR>porter
 
LOL Salida, no, you didn't post too much, not at all. <BR> <BR>it's just perfect and I like your comments, infos and other messages ! I can't wait to see your ski reports ! (do you have a digital cam ?) <IMG SRC="http://www.firsttracksonline.com/discus2/clipart/happy.gif" ALT=":)"><IMG SRC="http://www.firsttracksonline.com/discus2/clipart/happy.gif" ALT=":)"> :-D <BR> <BR>(just joking for the cam... no problemo if you don't have one, but if you do, it's always kool to look few pics with the no-bull reports !)
 
yes, i have a cam, <BR>here is one of my pics from last year at cannon <BR>cannon<IMG SRC="http://www.firsttracksonline.com/discus2/messages/8/2864.jpg" ALT="porter at cannon"> <BR>porter
 
Frank: <BR> <BR>Who cares how you might mis-spell a word here and there, the important thing is to get your point across about your passion for our sport. As far as posting to this sight, I dont want to make my vacation a slide show, so if there is any interest in a particular part of Sugarloaf, Saddleback or Mt Orford that someone would like pictures of, I am more than happy to oblige. As far as any negativity torward Killington, they are getting what they deserve as far as I am concerned. There website is like reading Pravda(I imagine), when you call the snow-phone you get 2 minutes of lodging and promotional bull before you here the ski-conditions. Who makes these ski reports? Joseph Goebels? I know nothing, I zee nothing? Has anyone read the article in the news section from a New York State newspaper about the upcoming ski season? They quote a Killington spokes person as stating that Killington used to offer skiing without top to bottom coverage (rime trail with downloading) but we will not DO THAT anymore. What is this kind of skiing tabu? give me a break, there just fooling themselves
 
i would way rather have somebody post who is entusiastic about the sport than somebody with perfect grammar.. if we wanted perfect grammar and spelling we sure as s**t not be looking on the intenet for it... <BR> <BR>anywho, as far as getting a skiing spokesman in for a "live" chat, that would be cool, but if wasn't possible, i think it would still be cool if we could get them to respond to a set of questions that we got to generate. Not that i think we won't get a lot of hot air if the're not in the hot seat, but it would be better than nothing... <BR> <BR>One last question: do any of the higher-ups in the world of skiing and ski-resort operations browse the forums here (aside from 'Les Otten' who posted this week <IMG SRC="http://www.firsttracksonline.com/discus2/clipart/happy.gif" ALT=":)"> )
 
Jonny D asked: <BR><BLOCKQUOTE><HR SIZE=0><!-Quote-!><FONT SIZE=1><B>Quote:</B></FONT><P>One last question: do any of the higher-ups in the world of skiing and ski-resort operations browse the forums here (aside from 'Les Otten' who posted this week )<!-/Quote-!><HR SIZE=0></BLOCKQUOTE> <BR>In a word, yes. A surprising number. A former executive from one of the large ski area holding companies referred to it to his staff as "required reading".
 
wow, seriously !!?? <BR> <BR>If it's still true today, we're sorry for the increase of 1600% in the posts, compared to last year ! hehe <BR> <BR>(I hope that the turnover in the ski areas didn't grew up cause of this :-D ... although I guess it's more during a ski season that it's important for the resorts to see what are the comments about their conditions & all...
 
Good question joegm. <BR> <BR>salida/porter, if I correctly recognize that spot in your photo at Cannon, I hear there is now a plaque on the rocks on the opposite side of Bypass that honors a long-time Cannon skier and friend of ours, Jim Cunniff, who died unexpectedly in September. <BR> <BR>Frank, your English is better than my French, keep up the posts (just make sure you leave time for university and skiing!).
 
Joegm/Salida/Kevin/Jonny/Lftgly <BR> <BR>I'm glad to read this, cause on few other websites, the people look a lot more the level of english. I guess here we don't care of the language as long as it is skiing/boarding ! <IMG SRC="http://www.firsttracksonline.com/discus2/clipart/happy.gif" ALT=":)"> <BR> <BR>(curiously, there is not a lot of snowboarders, in the regular writers here) <BR> <BR>Very sad, for Jim Cunniff, Lftgly <IMG SRC="http://www.firsttracksonline.com/discus2/clipart/sad.gif" ALT=":("><IMG SRC="http://www.firsttracksonline.com/discus2/clipart/sad.gif" ALT=":(">
 
lftgly, i think so, this picture is on the out of bounds somewhere above where the man on the mountain used to be. above where the tramline trail cuts off of tramway <BR> <BR>and frank, no ones cares how you write as long as it is about skiing, and curiously there are no snowboarders that write here? <BR>porter
 
Frank wrote: <BR><BLOCKQUOTE><HR SIZE=0><!-Quote-!><FONT SIZE=1><B>Quote:</B></FONT><P>wow, seriously !!?? <BR> <BR>If it's still true today, we're sorry for the increase of 1600% in the posts, compared to last year ! hehe<!-/Quote-!><HR SIZE=0></BLOCKQUOTE> <BR>I should've clarified -- the comment that was made was referring to the <FONT FACE="comic sans ms"> <A HREF="http://www.FirstTracksOnline.com/news.shtm" TARGET="_blank">Ski News</A></FONT> section, but it wouldn't surprise me if many wandered over here as well.
 
With regard to the Killington opening controversy, I would think the new gondola could be turned into a positive rather than a negative. Lots of areas have gondolas/trams for access to upper mountain terrain with easier downloading at the end of the day. So what is needed is for the Glades triple chair to be extended enough (or maybe a surface lift put in) to let skiers get back to the top of the gondola for downloading. I believe the top gondola station also has restrooms/food service etc. Perhaps Marc could inquire/suggest on his upcoming visit.
 
... or even just put a bus on the top, if possible rather than the long one to reach the canyon quad ? <BR> <BR>But this is over, now, I think... they will only open when they're going to have it T2B. But they will rush a lot to remain the first to open in the east ! <BR> <BR>Glad to see that you were in a safe spot, Tony. I hope this was the last big fire there for a really long time !
 
not for nuthin ,but as usual , tony c brings up an outstanding idea/point... i would love the opportunity to get into a room with a high level management person with some real clout at a place like k and have them show me how they could not justify one late season trail( their pick ) accessed by a t-bar, and only accessed by those who purchase a separate late season pass or pay an additional premium on the regular pass they buy or buy a late season ticket that is not discounted so much ( k's is about $25 ). my guess is any one who is going to ski in may is not going to not ski because a lift ticket costs 45 instead of 25. i guess i could be wrong about that but i don't think so. i gotta believe they could make money with this!!!!!. i think it is a shame that the economic approach taken my the areas now seems to be offering cheaper skiing to people but for a shorter period of time. the boston airwaves are being flooded with ad time touting the 299 season ticket for sunday river/attitash, with only something like 15 days blacked out!!!!. that is outrageous... no wonder they can't make any money!!! i think it's it's a band aid/panick approach to a floundering industry and it's killing the season.. and i think the approach is flawed ... from a LONG TERM, economic standpoint at the very least it really hurts the hard core skier... but then again it's not really about the hard core is it?
 
joegm, <BR> <BR>Quote:"my guess is any one who is going to ski in may is not going to not ski because a lift ticket costs 45 instead of 25. i guess i could be wrong about that but i don't think so." <BR> <BR>I am sorry to disagree with you, but I would be a May skier to be turned off by $45 ticks, instead of $25. I might be wrong here, but I believe that last May when Superstar was the only one left (walking required), ticks were $30. <BR> <BR>What turned me off last May was that I skied Ste.Anne last weekend with 18 trails (see report on May 3rd) for something like $30can(?) then would have to go to K for one run and pay 50% more. <BR> <BR>Ticket prices increases have been steep over the last few years. For us Canadian (last May) $45 = $57 Canadian compared with $37 Can at $25US. $57 Canadian is in a high range of prices who could expect to pay in high season in most Canadian ski areas (I believe Whistler/Blackcomb is the highest at something like $61 Canadian). <BR> <BR>Unfortunately Day ticket prices aren't rarely written in Ski resort stuff, so it hard to see the actual different from year to year (unless someone writes them down). I notice yesterday that Whiteface Super Sunday (3 times) at going to be $35 this year, compared with $30 (2002-3), $25 (2001-2) and $20 (6 times in the season)(2000-1). <BR> <BR>BTW, it is snowing here in Ottawa this morning. The snow is staying. However, tomorrow forecast is 15c (60F) and rain.
 
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