Storm may allow Killington to open early
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Patrick
Well-known member
I don't believe it. #-o
:shock: :x
:roll: 
:lol: 
Can you see I'm going to a range of emotions?
I going to believe it when the lifts will start running, however I'm not holding with breath. HOWEVER, if it's happens!!! \/ (why do I have to be working on THIS Sunday #-o ).
Personally, I think that others ski areas which be thinking the same thing. :-k
:shock: :x
:roll: :lol: Can you see I'm going to a range of emotions?
I going to believe it when the lifts will start running, however I'm not holding with breath. HOWEVER, if it's happens!!! \
/ (why do I have to be working on THIS Sunday #-o ).Personally, I think that others ski areas which be thinking the same thing. :-k
Patrick
Well-known member
Admin":rgpefrj0 said:
Yes, but the "open when we can offer a quality top-to-bottom product" type statement is what make me skeptical.
But I would be happy if they go ahead. Let's say the odds are probably close to those at MRG for running the single for one day or two day in October. :shock:
K probably knows that a lot of people are watching and excited about getting started, so it probably the right statement to make under the circumstances. To say, no the openning is on November 11(?) regardless would probably not be well received by the hardcore Kmart diehards if they continue to get more snow.
riverc0il
New member
they really have to be re-evaluating their schedule opening date. okemo says nov 5th and you can bet other ski areas are going to look to capitolize on one uping killington, and doing so significantly. killington is going to have their hand forced sooner rather than later or they are going to have a lot of questions to field from upset pass holders. we have beat the arguement that killington does indeed need to open top to bottom with a quality product. the snow and weather could not cooperate more fully than they are. it is no longer a matter of having the right conditions to open ASAP but having the desire to.
joegm
New member
i don't buy it... i hope i eat my words and look like a fool but i just don't see it happening... all this snow is great but the odds are the ground is not going to hold this snow.. it could all be gone in a 48 hour period of rain or sunny temps in the mid 50's.... i just don't think the odds favor the weather pattern staying the way it is... i also think that in my opinion you will never see them open up again under asc until its " quality top to bottom " as they say... i hope i'm wrong .....i don't think there is any doubt though that this is their operating philosophy along with the may 15th shut down.... :evil:
Here is a video shot on Upper Royal Flush on Monday morning, before this storm.
Geoff
New member
JimG.":yvg9iffm said:
ASC isn't going to want to bring in all the seasonal people required to operate the resort much before their scheduled 11/11. Lift operators, ticket checkers, parking lot attendants, grooming crew, snowmaking crew, sled dogs, lift ticket sellers, cooks, cashiers, bartenders, dishwashers, janitorial staff...
Once you get beyond the flurry of opening day business, Kmart is a ghost town midweek until Thanksgiving day.
That said, I don't have a clue when Killington's gonna open this year.
I'm having a bit of a problem understanding the reluctance to open. New England sits in the IDENTICAL postion that Southern California was a year ago this week. The storm of ~2 feet fell on Tuesday and Wednesday Oct. 26-27. Mt. High West and Bear Mt. opened Oct. 28, Baldy Oct. 29 and Snow Summit Oct. 30. All of these had to round up "lift operators, ticket checkers, parking lot attendants, grooming crew, snowmaking crew, sled dogs, lift ticket sellers, cooks, cashiers, bartenders, dishwashers, janitorial staff..."
I skied Snow Summit's opening day Oct. 30 http://www.firsttracksonline.com/boards ... .php?t=124 and no, they weren't fully staffed. But they managed to run 4 lifts and 70% of terrain, their snowmaking was on until it got too warm around 11AM, and as you can see from the pics the skiing was pretty good.
I'm sure all 4 of these areas knew their odds of keeping terrain open that early weren't good, yet they still offered 30-70% on Halloween weekend. Nov. 7 they were only 15-25% open, Nov. 14 10%, and by Nov. 20 3 of the areas were closed and Bear Mt. had only one run open.
So your eastern ski areas are PUSSIES and and not as hard core as you might like to think if they don't even try to open on what you have now. And their odds of having some cold weather in November to stay open on snowmaking are a lot better than in SoCal.
I skied Snow Summit's opening day Oct. 30 http://www.firsttracksonline.com/boards ... .php?t=124 and no, they weren't fully staffed. But they managed to run 4 lifts and 70% of terrain, their snowmaking was on until it got too warm around 11AM, and as you can see from the pics the skiing was pretty good.
I'm sure all 4 of these areas knew their odds of keeping terrain open that early weren't good, yet they still offered 30-70% on Halloween weekend. Nov. 7 they were only 15-25% open, Nov. 14 10%, and by Nov. 20 3 of the areas were closed and Bear Mt. had only one run open.
So your eastern ski areas are PUSSIES and and not as hard core as you might like to think if they don't even try to open on what you have now. And their odds of having some cold weather in November to stay open on snowmaking are a lot better than in SoCal.
riverc0il
New member
the reluctance is based on no mid-week skiers, no booked vacations, and mostly only pass holders skiing on the weekend in many cases (especially ASC with their cheap pass so many bought into). not a lot of revenue for business that need the resort aspect of the ski area to carry the business. that is partially why i see wildcat being an ideal up start candidate: not a lot of season pass holders, can capitolize on high priced weekend tix due to a lot of terrain, and non-resort ski area gets all revenue from lift tkcets, food, rentals, beer, and lessons. essentially, low cost high revenue situation.
the other factor is the possiblity of a wash out. a big base building campaign would ensure most trails would go the distance. but it just takes a week of above normal temps and rain to wash everything out. a high risk for many areas. also, the ground isn't frozen today. something interesting i noticed at cannon today is the snow is melting from the bottom up in places because the ground is warmer than the air temp of 28~.
they are pussies for not going for it though, i agree 100%. i still say someone's gotta go for it this weekend.
the other factor is the possiblity of a wash out. a big base building campaign would ensure most trails would go the distance. but it just takes a week of above normal temps and rain to wash everything out. a high risk for many areas. also, the ground isn't frozen today. something interesting i noticed at cannon today is the snow is melting from the bottom up in places because the ground is warmer than the air temp of 28~.
they are pussies for not going for it though, i agree 100%. i still say someone's gotta go for it this weekend.
Mark Renson
New member
JimG.":29j4apwi said:
If they were serious about that, they wouldn't touch anything :lol:
Well, I droned, today. I see that Woodi guy from Clarkson made some turns on the Whiteface Highway ........I'm envious.
What wuz' it I said about not getting your hopes up for skiing in October and November ........ :roll:
riverc0il
New member
they are gonna have one heckuva problem with rop ducking if they dare to open this weekend! they seriously should leave a few natural runs open just to cut back on the amount of folks getting themselves in trouble. the pics posted from kmart show people going knee deep and not bottoming out. i can't imagine those trails ever being in better condition. though the snow will get cut up pretty quickly without a base underneith, probably a preservation issue for kmart and less an issue with quality of runs. people who like pow like buying new skis every few years due to base damage any ways. it comes with the terratory :lol:
Chromer
New member
riverc0il":29l04fmi said:
'Strewth mate!
Ever seen a bunch of sharks corralling fish into a bait ball? It's going to look just like that, with the patrol as the sharks, and any little skiers trying to break out of the mass getting eaten...
Can hardly blame them though (the skiers, that is).
I wonder if Wildcat will have 100% of their marked trails open on opening day? I think they can hit everything off one lift, so that would be a nice little marketing coup...
SoCal ski clientele is a direct analogy to much of New England. Day-commute and price-sensitive skiers, business heavily concentrated on weekends. And at this point we know there is MORE snow than SoCal had a year ago. With regard to losing the snow, I harp on New England's rain risk as much as anyone, but in SoCal mountains it's not consistently below freezing in November and the areas certainly knew that snow wasn't likely to last.
SoCal ski industry has consolidated down to 5 areas. Despite all the NELSAP stuff I read, upper New England still has what, 30 or 40? So let's see how many of them step up this weekend!
SoCal ski industry has consolidated down to 5 areas. Despite all the NELSAP stuff I read, upper New England still has what, 30 or 40? So let's see how many of them step up this weekend!