Turmoil at Sunshine Village

[Admin]

Another story getting more play right now is the one involving the son of one of the founder of Intrawest.

An employee of Outdoor Adventures Whistler says he killed at least 70 dogs over two days.

Heard about that one. I'll say publicly right now, whoever is responsible for that ought to be "culled" from the gene pool in the same manner. The unnecessary taking of the life of something so innocent and unknowing as a dog, all in the name of profits, is positively despicable. I spend two grand trying to buy my pup a few more months of happiness and some jackass does this? :evil:

Whoever ordered those killings knew damned well that the dogs would be a liability after the Games. It's positively infuriating.

 

[soulskier]

I gave them my notice and got a night job. I am confident many others who have worked for ski corporations have stories of their own.

From those early days being mistreated

Unrelated to this case but, Soulskier, I think it's one thing to be employee friendly and another to give free passes to every missed shift and screw up that your employees make... I'd think you'd be getting walked over by your employees pretty quick with awful customer service to boot if that's your view of how to run an effective business. Not to say I am for some sort of draconian red tape type employee rules either; but really, you missed your shift from your own screw up as a 20 something and expected a total free pass by your manager? That he wanted to have short sit down chat in his office to make sure the same thing wouldn't happen again next shift is being 'mistreated'? I can't imagine how you'd run your MRA resort if none of your employees is actually accountable for anything. The first confrontations with employees in your career are always the hardest, but teach immeasurable lessons on being proactive, fair and..., yes holding people accountable for the jobs that you are paying them for.

Nice cut and paste job.

Along with receiving minimum wage as a lift operator, a season pass was included. I had an accident on my lunch break, it was not intentional.

At MRA mountain playgrounds, employees will be treated with respect (and will likely be shareholders as well.) If an employee has an accident on their lunch break, they won't be reprimanded, that's for sure.

 

[Patrick]

For those that don't read blogs and don't spend time on ski forums (like a few of my friends), I tried going to rundown of the situation in Ski Mad World.

http://madpatski.wordpress.com/2011/02/ ... e-village/

 

[soulskier]

Sunshine Village Ski Patrollers vs. Resort Management

http://www.skinet.com/skiing/articles/s ... management

And the plot thickens ....

 

[Tony Crocker]

Back to this specific case, with the resort badly managing it's PR, one is left with a single version of the truth that, if true, does paint a poor picture of someone in management/ownership. The resort still has several weeks before they have to respond with their side of the story. I wonder when ownership will attempt some kind of meaningful PR in their own defense though (assuming they have a defensible position).

I'm amazed there has been no PR defense mounted. The last time the ski boards were so hot after an issue was the Warren Miller/Level One film. Bonnier/WME defended itself vigorously in the media during that time. I am curious what Sunshine's rationale for this debacle is, because we've heard absolutely nothing.

FWIW Chris Chevalier was my source for Sunshine's snow data for many years. He also was the guide in Delirium Dive when Banff hosted NASJA's March 2002 annual meeting. I have my doubts anyone will be skiing Delirium/Wild West etc. this season given both snowpack and staffing issues.

 

[soulskier]

Interview with Attorney representing fired senior staff.

http://www.mrablog.com/radio-interview- ... age-staff/

 

[soulskier]

Skiing Mag pulled their article over the weekend. Here's the latest from ESPN

http://sports.espn.go.com/action/freesk ... id=6099056

 

[Patrick]

Skiing Mag pulled their article over the weekend. Here's the latest from ESPN

That isn't the only article that has been pulled, that is what I feared initially when I posted links only in Ski Mad World blog. I have a copies of the links I've put.

 

[Admin]

Skiing Mag pulled their article over the weekend

Pathetic, but not surprising. Take note that we haven't pulled ours.

 

[jamesdeluxe]

Skiing Mag pulled their article over the weekend

Pathetic, but not surprising. Take note that we haven't pulled ours.

OK, I'm dense. Why all the fear and loathing? Is Sunshine's legal team going after internet ski news providers?

 

[Patrick]

Skiing Mag pulled their article over the weekend

Pathetic, but not surprising. Take note that we haven't pulled ours.

OK, I'm dense. Why all the fear and loathing? Is Sunshine's legal team going after internet ski news providers?

I would think it might have something to do with advertising dollars with the mainstream ski media. Skiing (skinet) is trying not to offend a customer/potential customer. That's always where I have issue with most ski media magazines, sites and forums (not FTO) where the world is present in rose-coloured glasses and what is a valid criticism and negative point is removed not to offend.

Kudos to Admin for his site. =D>

 

[jamesdeluxe]

I would think it might have something to do with advertising dollars with the mainstream ski media. Skiing (skinet) is trying not to offend a customer/potential customer. That's always where I have issue with most ski media magazines, sites and forums (not FTO) where the world is present in rose-coloured glasses and what is a valid criticism and negative point is removed not to offend.

Ah yes, the advertising-based model does have its issues. I assume that if this drama had happened with a major major player (Vail Resorts, Aspen Group, etc.) instead of an independently-owned resort, the story wouldn't have been pulled from the Skinet site because it wouldn't have even appeared there in the first place!

 

[Mike Bernstein]

Kudos to Admin for his site. =D>

Kudos indeed. I hate when shitbergs like SSV try to influence, or in this case eliminate, the public discourse on their dirty laundry with cheap threats. It's even worse when a semi-respectable publication knuckles under. Is SSV really that big of an account to be worth forfeiting your integrity? Seriously - where are they going to take their magazine ad dollars? To another Bonnier publication? Oh no!!

 

[jamesdeluxe]

I love how AdSense delivers the Lake Louise/Sunshine "some of the world's most extreme inbounds terrain" banner while I'm looking at this thread.

 

[soulskier]

Kudos to Admin for his site. =D>

Kudos indeed. I hate when [censored] like SSV try to influence, or in this case eliminate, the public discourse on their dirty laundry with cheap threats. It's even worse when a semi-respectable publication knuckles under. Is SSV really that big of an account to be worth forfeiting your integrity? Seriously - where are they going to take their magazine ad dollars? To another Bonnier publication? Oh no!!

Rumor has it Breckenridge is censoring all negative comments on their FB page about the proposed Peak 6 expansion as well.

 

[Marc_C]

Kudos to Admin for his site. =D>

Kudos indeed. I hate when [censored] like SSV try to influence, or in this case eliminate, the public discourse on their dirty laundry with cheap threats. It's even worse when a semi-respectable publication knuckles under. Is SSV really that big of an account to be worth forfeiting your integrity? Seriously - where are they going to take their magazine ad dollars? To another Bonnier publication? Oh no!!

All of this is conjecture. The only thing we know for sure is that Skiing pulled the article. None of this is confirmed. I don't necessarily disagree with the guesses and suppositions, but that's a far cry from fact.

 

[Mike Bernstein]

Kudos to Admin for his site. =D>

Kudos indeed. I hate when [censored] like SSV try to influence, or in this case eliminate, the public discourse on their dirty laundry with cheap threats. It's even worse when a semi-respectable publication knuckles under. Is SSV really that big of an account to be worth forfeiting your integrity? Seriously - where are they going to take their magazine ad dollars? To another Bonnier publication? Oh no!!

All of this is conjecture. The only thing we know for sure is that Skiing pulled the article. None of this is confirmed. I don't necessarily disagree with the guesses and suppositions, but that's a far cry from fact.

Well said.

 

[Patrick]

All of this is conjecture. The only thing we know for sure is that Skiing pulled the article. None of this is confirmed. I don't necessarily disagree with the guesses and suppositions, but that's a far cry from fact.

What is not confirmed?

- Sunshine fired senior and less senior staff.
- Senior staff have filed a lawsuit against the resort.
- Patrollers stages a protest with lead with other firings.

BTW, Explore magazine (Canada's Outdoor magazine) also pulled their online story.

Sunshine is going to drag this out as long as they can. You've been working for an employer for 25 years, you are fired on the spot without any notice or severance pay. Weren't talking about a summer students here. There is a minimum notice and pay that the fired employee is entitled.

Here is the radio interview with the lawyer representing them.

http://soundcloud.com/jkhg/qr770-sunshine-village

I've updated my blog piece on the stories with a few links and added link to the deleted stories from Skiing and Explore magazines.

http://madpatski.wordpress.com/2011/02/ ... e-village/

 

[Marc_C]

All of this is conjecture. The only thing we know for sure is that Skiing pulled the article. None of this is confirmed. I don't necessarily disagree with the guesses and suppositions, but that's a far cry from fact.

What is not confirmed?

You've totally missed the point. What is not at all known or confirmed are the reasons why Skiing pulled their on-line article about the situation, not what happened at Sunshine.

 

[Patrick]

All of this is conjecture. The only thing we know for sure is that Skiing pulled the article. None of this is confirmed. I don't necessarily disagree with the guesses and suppositions, but that's a far cry from fact.

What is not confirmed?

You've totally missed the point. What is not at all known or confirmed are the reasons why Skiing pulled their on-line article about the situation, not what happened at Sunshine.

That is why I asked. It wasn't clear (at least to me) what wasn't confirmed.

Agree with your reply. Reasons why Skiing (and Explore) pulled their stories isn't known, nor confirmed.