Poaching and other questions answered

[hillbangin]

Killington appears to be more water limited than they are letting on at the moment. They aren’t running enough guns to be air limited even in these conditions.

Look at the forecast for next week. Why waste the air.

Another horrible Christmas.

Reverse Jynx.

Sent from my SM-S906U1 using Tapatalk

[GlacierBoy]

To the OP- Mike @KillingtonResort -

Howdy Howdy Mr. Solimano,
Thanks for posting a formal Management reply and clarifying and debunking some of the (admittedly awesome) KZone myths and conspiracy speculation re: poaching, RFID readers in the glades, expansion, open terrain. From those of us who lurk in the shadows of KillingtonZone and rarely post, thanks for engaging us.

We read the posts, obtain our snow reports and plan our ski days based on KZone, and some days just sit back and munch on popcorn to enjoy the KillingtonZone drama and story lines!

No questions from here at this early point in the season. It's been years since some of us have looked at the Killington.com "Conditions & Weather" snow report - we use KZone. But for all the resorts out West that we've visited in the past three years (Snowbird, Alta, JHMR, Aspen, A BAsin, Crested Butte (f'ing Epic!), Revelstoke, etc etc), please know that we do use their on line snow reports.

Jackson Hole has one of the best and their graphic for "Snow Totals By Resort" is super helpful and awesome and is the best report with no marketing B.S. in all North America! Howdy yeah
This:
https://www.jacksonhole.com/mountain-report

Thanks again for staying active, and engaging us on KZone, Mike. And a big ole howdy and thanks to all the Killington employees. Let's ski some gnar and huck some Killington headwalls...

- GlacierBoy

[Big Bob]

To the OP- Mike @KillingtonResort -

Howdy Howdy Mr. Solimano,
Thanks for posting a formal Management reply and clarifying and debunking some of the (admittedly awesome) KZone myths and conspiracy speculation re: poaching, RFID readers in the glades, expansion, open terrain. From those of us who lurk in the shadows of KillingtonZone and rarely post, thanks for engaging us.

We read the posts, obtain our snow reports and plan our ski days based on KZone, and some days just sit back and munch on popcorn to enjoy the KillingtonZone drama and story lines!

No questions from here at this early point in the season. It's been years since some of us have looked at the Killington.com "Conditions & Weather" snow report - we use KZone. But for all the resorts out West that we've visited in the past three years (Snowbird, Alta, JHMR, Aspen, A BAsin, Crested Butte (f'ing Epic!), Revelstoke, etc etc), please know that we do use their on line snow reports.

Jackson Hole has one of the best and their graphic for "Snow Totals By Resort" is super helpful and awesome and is the best report with no marketing B.S. in all North America! Howdy yeah
This:
https://www.jacksonhole.com/mountain-report

Thanks again for staying active, and engaging us on KZone, Mike. And a big ole howdy and thanks to all the Killington employees. Let's ski some gnar and huck some Killington headwalls...

- GlacierBoy

Mike,

Please don't read how much the parking costs at JH, we like our current rates which are similar to what Magic Mountain charges, if they ever open...

[biged]

Personally, I always thought it was best practice to give ski patrol beer. Goes a long way to make you invisible.

[liv4ski]

[/quote]

Mike,

Please don't read how much the parking costs at JH, we like our current rates which are similar to what Magic Mountain charges, if they ever open...
[/quote]

The learning slope and terrain park open Tuesday. Baby steps. . .

[Big Bob]

Mike,

Please don't read how much the parking costs at JH, we like our current rates which are similar to what Magic Mountain charges, if they ever open...
[/quote]

The learning slope and terrain park open Tuesday. Baby steps. . .
[/quote]

I am sure the pass holders will be trilled!

[asher2789]

well i certainly feel vindicated for mentioning the camera on / pointed on spillway and cross checked with the cameras at the RFID gates at the lifts as a form of catching the poachers. of course, i was called crazy by many on this forum. RFID scanners in the woods is crazy and doesnt even make sense! i take issue with how this was done - in the past decade ive been coming to killington / living here, poaching anywhere that didnt have active operations near it was usually met with a "dont do it again" and a smile unless you acted entitled and belligerent - then you lost your pass and rightfully so. to go from that to remote pass suspensions with no notice is... kinda shitty. funneling a bunch of people onto insufficient overcrowded trails while half the mountain is reserved for ski racers during an epic early season was... kinda shitty. we had the conditions to be open to at least the snowshed crossover if not needles eye, and in past years in similar conditions, we were. hell, even with the ski racing ramshead could of been fully open with the lodge only open for bathrooms. and now all the snow is gone save for the man made. i didnt poach (and regardless of the cameras im not dumb enough to poach the canyon without any open trails coming out of it), but given the deluge that followed maybe i should of.

since we have your attention, can you answer if its considered poaching to access terrain that's not part of killington? such as the way to coops, or the top of ramshead? i was going to hit some out of bounds terrain next to ramshead but didnt (despite the fact i wouldn't be ducking a single rope to do so) because i didn't want to get my pass pulled for poaching the ramshead carpet on my exit. i wouldnt of thought twice about it prior to this year.

and i take issue with the whole "were staffed better than ever!" maybe on a spreadsheet you are. but you lost numerous veterans in key departments - like patrol - which says a lot (especially if you check the demographics of who you lost). even if you replace them with the same or more people you still have to train them which takes time. and then there's the quality of the people you're staffed with - for a very specific example, what the hell are J1s who have never skied or snowboarded before doing working for ski school teaching younger kids?! cant be that you ran out of local qualified workers willing to work because the wages (and hours - dont get a lesson and get cut for the day, get paid for just 15 minutes) just werent there? nah, cant be! i would be irate and demanding to get refunded if i were paying the expensive ski school fees only to find out my child is being taught by someone who just themselves learned to ski a few weeks ago!

like everything else in the "post covid" economy, pay more for shittier product/service, across the board in every industry.

also! since we have your attention: can we pretty please remove "howdy beast fans" from the conditions report?!

[ski]

well i certainly feel vindicated for mentioning the camera on / pointed on spillway and cross checked with the cameras at the RFID gates at the lifts as a form of catching the poachers. of course, i was called crazy by many on this forum. RFID scanners in the woods is crazy and doesnt even make sense! i take issue with how this was done - in the past decade ive been coming to killington / living here, poaching anywhere that didnt have active operations near it was usually met with a "dont do it again" and a smile unless you acted entitled and belligerent - then you lost your pass and rightfully so. to go from that to remote pass suspensions with no notice is... kinda shitty. funneling a bunch of people onto insufficient overcrowded trails while half the mountain is reserved for ski racers during an epic early season was... kinda shitty. we had the conditions to be open to at least the snowshed crossover if not needles eye, and in past years in similar conditions, we were. hell, even with the ski racing ramshead could of been fully open with the lodge only open for bathrooms. and now all the snow is gone save for the man made. i didnt poach (and regardless of the cameras im not dumb enough to poach the canyon without any open trails coming out of it), but given the deluge that followed maybe i should of.

since we have your attention, can you answer if its considered poaching to access terrain that's not part of killington? such as the way to coops, or the top of ramshead? i was going to hit some out of bounds terrain next to ramshead but didnt (despite the fact i wouldn't be ducking a single rope to do so) because i didn't want to get my pass pulled for poaching the ramshead carpet on my exit. i wouldnt of thought twice about it prior to this year.

and i take issue with the whole "were staffed better than ever!" maybe on a spreadsheet you are. but you lost numerous veterans in key departments - like patrol - which says a lot (especially if you check the demographics of who you lost). even if you replace them with the same or more people you still have to train them which takes time. and then there's the quality of the people you're staffed with - for a very specific example, what the hell are J1s who have never skied or snowboarded before doing working for ski school teaching younger kids?! cant be that you ran out of local qualified workers willing to work because the wages (and hours - dont get a lesson and get cut for the day, get paid for just 15 minutes) just werent there? nah, cant be! i would be irate and demanding to get refunded if i were paying the expensive ski school fees only to find out my child is being taught by someone who just themselves learned to ski a few weeks ago!

like everything else in the "post covid" economy, pay more for shittier product/service, across the board in every industry.

also! since we have your attention: can we pretty please remove "howdy beast fans" from the conditions report?!

So true . . . love your insights . . Would be curious to know if sidecountry skiing will get your pass pulled. Pretty lame if it does . . . Also extremely lame that Mike S allow this "Howdy Beast Fans" thing to keep going . .. How degrading. . .

[Fluffhead]

I suspect they are more focused on other issues right now and hopefully ignoring this drivel. They’ve done a good job with a miserable hand.

[daytripper]

Yeah, I kinda doubt there will be much poaching going on for a while.

[Bubba]

Yeah, I kinda doubt there will be much poaching going on for a while.

Eggs for breakfast?

[asher2789]

Yeah, I kinda doubt there will be much poaching going on for a while.

free base grind!

[Stormchaser]

Yeah, I kinda doubt there will be much poaching going on for a while.

free base grind!

Took my skis into the shop for a base weld. Dave took one look at my bases and told me to stop skiing in the parking lot! I chuckled...

[asher2789]

I suspect they are more focused on other issues right now and hopefully ignoring this drivel. They’ve done a good job with a miserable hand.

ramshead not being open when conditions allowed - and not remotely near the ski racing so we cant use that excuse - is sh*t and a result of veterans leaving ski patrol regardless of how they wanna spin it. they didn't have enough trained staff to mark hazards and put up pads on the lift towers. i know, most people are like who gives a damn about ramshead its just greens and easy blues, but when it comes to early season powder, its a great spot. low angle trails and woods, low risk of hitting unseen obstacles. way safer than the canyon!

J1s who never skied or snowboarded before working for ski school teaching kids is also sh*t, and not drivel. again, if i were a guest paying eye watering prices for every goddamn thing related to skiing these days, i would be absolutely livid to find out my kid is being taught by someone completely unqualified to do so.

clarification as to what counts as poaching (out of bounds - yes or no?) is not drivel. is it not acceptable unless the uphill route to pico from ramshead is open? if we're gonna be pulling passes sight unseen the least we can do is make sure everyone understands what is what.

im not going to pretend running a mountain is easy, especially with climate change and the damage done to skyeship and bear by the july deluge courtesy of the oil and gas industry that have been lying for decades to mislead the public worse than the tobacco companies did. and of course, the shock of covid on the industry and everything becoming unbelievably expensive due to greedflation across the supply chain. i don't envy being mike, its hard to please everyone. that being said nobody and no company is beyond criticism. critics get misunderstood as negative, but they are the true optimists as they can see how things can be better. complacency is negative.

[asher2789]

Yeah, I kinda doubt there will be much poaching going on for a while.

free base grind!

Took my skis into the shop for a base weld. Dave took one look at my bases and told me to stop skiing in the parking lot! I chuckled...

haha. i switched to my new board just before the deluge, my old board is unfortunately beyond rideable at this point. fingers crossed i avoid the sharks!