Poaching and other questions answered

[Killington Resort]

It appears that KZone has taken a turn back to the old days of conspiracy theories around how we
manage the resort and I’d like to set a few items straight.

The first is around poaching. We have cameras placed around the resort for various reasons but
primarily so we can remotely monitor operations to improve service levels. This helps us more quickly identify and
respond to guest experience issues where in the past we didn’t find out there was a problem until it
was too late. For example, we can quickly identify if we’re missing someone grouping people at a lift
and get staff to respond immediately vs. reading about it here or via email complaint.

We identified we had a challenge with people poaching the canyon trails which puts our ski patrol
staff at risk should they need to respond to an emergency. I know you all can’t imagine you’d ever
need help from patrol given your excellent ability levels but stuff happens. While stationing
patrollers to catch people is one option it puts them in a position of needing to deal with belligerent
poachers and one of our team members realized we could identify people poaching using a couple
of existing cameras we had. This seemed like the best way to send a message that poaching isn’t
tolerated – which isn’t a change from the past.

We aren’t using the app to track people, we didn’t install game cameras in the woods over the summer and we
certainly didn’t invest in RFID readers in the woods. Seriously? We don’t intend on rolling out
additional cameras for this sole purpose but if we have tools to respond to a problem, we’re going
to use them. Don’t poach and you won’t have a problem.

There’s also a lot of comments about our expansion. We modified a few items in our terrain roll out
plan based on race training programs on Superstar following the world cup but otherwise it’s pretty
similar to what we’ve done in the past. There’s no staff shortage, in fact our staffing is the best it’s
been in years. And we’ve taken advantage of every opportunity to make snow, maxing out the
system based on weather conditions. The only exception is for power curtailments which typically
happen 5pm-9pm on very cold nights so that GMP can shave the peak demand in Vermont. But
again, this isn’t a change from the past but can be more noticeable if we have fewer really cold
nights.

Last I compared, the middle of this week we had 65 trails open and Okemo had 35 which tells me we are doing pretty well compared to the competition.

Thanks
Mike

[Stormchaser]

Sugarbush 59% open
Stowe 65% open
MRG 50% open
Jay Peak 77% open
Bolton Valley 58% open
Burke Mountain 46% open

...Killington 43% open

K is lagging. Used to blow the doors off...

[Stormchaser]

The window in front of the Snowshed cam is so dirty, you'd never identify anybody...can we get a little windex?

[eagle628]

Sugarbush 59% open
Stowe 65% open
MRG 50% open
Jay Peak 77% open
Bolton Valley 58% open
Burke Mountain 46% open

...Killington 43% open

K is lagging. Used to blow the doors off...

A better comparison of the snowmaking system will come by seeing what those percentages are after Monday's weather...

[skiadikt]

Sugarbush 59% open
Stowe 65% open
MRG 50% open
Jay Peak 77% open
Bolton Valley 58% open
Burke Mountain 46% open

...Killington 43% open

K is lagging. Used to blow the doors off...

A better comparison of the snowmaking system will come by seeing what those percentages are after Monday's weather...

first of all, thanks mike for responding.

all the areas mentioned above, just like killington, have benefited and inflated trail counts from the natural snow. those percentages, will change dramatically after monday's event. guessing mrg will close. sunday river who i believe is the poster child for a powerful snowmaking system is at 26%. okemo is at 33%. mount snow at 20%.

[whymoo]

You didn't answer one of the biggest questions. Are you using AI to identify people?

[Killington_Lover]

Stormy come on man. MRG? Maybe K can drop more ropes with some thin cover signage. I do think K could do a better job of opening stuff to “ski it if you can” in marginal conditions. It’s good to hear staffing isn’t the issue. I do wonder how much GMP curtailments cut into prime temps for snowmaking. I don’t feel like the roll out has been that slow given the various blowouts and the idea that a big Dec/early Jan washout will do a lot of damage to trails that they just get enough down to open. It seems they try to get enough down for it to last instead of paint it white and move on.

[Southside_Bobby]

"I know you all can’t imagine you’d ever need help from patrol given your excellent ability levels, but stuff happens."

Nailed it.

I started the poaching thread, knowing full well the kind of tangents it might take (It is KZone after all). But I also hoped it would generate some useful conversation.

Thanks, Mike.

[twilkas]

ease up sc, no need

[hillbangin]

If I poach a run first chair and that rope is dropped later in the day - and the snowfall stopped in the morning - is that really poaching?

So there is a Canyon Cam.....

And is the Light to Escapade to Flume route under video surveillance?

Asking for a friend....

Thanks Mike -

Sent from my SM-S906U1 using Tapatalk

[snoloco]

Thank you Mike for setting the record straight. A couple points I wanted to respond to:

Don’t poach and you won’t have a problem.

I've never been much of a poacher. In fact, I can't remember ever doing it last year. If continuing to use cameras, then I'm concerned about the potential for false positives. A lot of ski gear looks alike.

Last I compared, the middle of this week we had 65 trails open and Okemo had 35 which tells me we are doing pretty well compared to the competition.

I'd be interested in seeing the numbers for acreage and mileage, which provide a better comparison than the trail count.

[KingsFourMan]

Mike, a simple "would you guys shut the f*ck up please" would have sufficed.

[Pedro]

The window in front of the Snowshed cam is so dirty, you'd never identify anybody...can we get a little windex?

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[Downdraft]

lol when resort GM comes on this dumpster fire site to tell a select few morons what’s what

[Captain Hafski]

First off thanx Mike for your input. Probably most of us were expecting to hear something from you on these items.

I am normally with you 100% - And still am. But in this case your team could have done better if you are really trying to "stop" poaching. All you did, in the short term, was to catch poachers.

A Root Cause analysis [e.g., Tap Root "Tm"] would tell you that you need to:

- Have a policy, including repercussions [OK, you pretty much have that but in this case the Policy changed w.r.t to using the cameras].
- The Policy has to be communicated. Again, most of us know the policy but didn't know about the cameras.
- The Policy has to be upheld, including dishing out the punishment, and advertised as such. OK - We collectively got that nailed.

In short, I think your team should have advertised the new way of catching poachers before it was put in place. That would have reduced the poaching which is what I think you want.

Just a thought for the future. Keep up the good work.

Respectfully - CH