Closing Day Contest!

[Dickc]

Monday June 6th. With the reduced COVID crowds, Superstar will last longer.

[LocalSanity]

May 1st.

Less beer sold at the umbrella bar leads to less investment in sm. My understanding is that most days in May are not very profitable anyway. I also expect to be just weekends starting after Easter.

[Geoff]

Vail opened on Friday just like Killington. They also have a far bigger COVID-19 problem than Rutland County. It’s way easier for Killington to operate than Vail. Lots of parking with no shuttles needed. Only two gondolas and there are three alternatives to the K1.

I’ll go with May 2. I doubt there will be Superstar glacier this year. When Snowdon and the Cascade runout melt, that’s it.

[Mister Moose]

What a lot of bad juju on this thread. Killington will be looking to 21-22 as a recovery season; branding and stoke are important. Killington will want to ensure they close after Sugarloaf, Surarbush and Jay. The "sometimes until June" will exercise the sometimes option, but will still blow a glacier. With Memorial Day as late as possible this year (May 31) I'd take May 23rd, but Newpylong already took it. So looking from November I'll say May 22.

Once we hit Washington Birthday week recovery, it's Glacier Time. There will be reassessment based on business levels. With June 1 tacked right on to Memorial Day, it's a worthy goal. If COVID is no longer causing panic and harsh travel restrictions, my 2nd choice is a rocky top muddy slog June 1.

[snoloco]

This current wave is definitely a problem, but I just don't see it as something that could end the season. The first and second waves were largely over in 2 months, and the states hit hardest by the second wave didn't lock down. It self regulates to some extent. People don't want to get sick, so when they see the numbers going up in their area, they take more precautions, even without government action, causing the numbers to go back down. Some states are starting to flatten now, but it remains to be seen what effect Thanksgiving will have. There's also a huge disdain for widespread closures of businesses, even in Democratic states, and outdoor recreation like skiing is considered safe. Colorado's governor was the first to ban operations at ski resorts in March, but he also just moved the goal posts to allow ski areas to continue to operate now, despite being in a much worse position than March. California, Oregon, Washington, and Michigan also went under tighter restrictions, but kept ski resorts open. New Mexico is the only state in the country that isn't allowing them to open at this time.

[Bubba]

What a lot of bad juju on this thread. Killington will be looking to 21-22 as a recovery season; branding and stoke are important. Killington will want to ensure they close after Sugarloaf, Surarbush and Jay. The "sometimes until June" will exercise the sometimes option, but will still blow a glacier. With Memorial Day as late as possible this year (May 31) I'd take May 23rd, but Newpylong already took it. So looking from November I'll say May 22.

Once we hit Washington Birthday week recovery, it's Glacier Time. There will be reassessment based on business levels. With June 1 tacked right on to Memorial Day, it's a worthy goal. If COVID is no longer causing panic and harsh travel restrictions, my 2nd choice is a rocky top muddy slog June 1.

Gotta go with Mister Moose here. While this will be a difficult season, the resort has to play the long game. I think we’ll be looking better with respect to the virus as we head toward Spring (warmer weather, vaccine distribution) and current restrictions will have loosened considerably. Well run resorts will have proven by mid-January not to be super spreaders and more skier traffic will ensue. We may even see U-Bar activity of some sort sooner rather than later.

[daytripper]

I would expect both ubars, the vista bar thing on GE, and a bar on the k1 deck and the bear deck.

[LocalSanity]

What about the brat house on top of snowdon?

[boston_e]

I'm agreeing with the vibe that Mr Moose is laying out.

Since the 22nd and 23rd are taken, I'll take the pessimistic route (or optimistic if you really want to start mountain biking earlier) and say May 15th.... going on the idea of a warm spring and the likelihood that the glacier won't be quite as big as usual.

I hope to be there for a U-Bar Fiddlehead that day with hopefully COVID largely behind us, travel restrictions gone and the sun on all our shoulders.