Great Turns at Mt. Snow, and POWDR Still Sucks

[da Pimp]

Great day at Mt. Snow on Sunday. Top to bottom runs, full trail coverage with sunny skies temps in the mid-30's. Then for a special treat, they opened up one trail on the north face side, silky snowmaking all the way down with a second trail being blown.

Not crowded, just busy until noon but not unsafe by any means. A wide variety of customers, including learning terrain on a small beginners slope in front of the lodge.

We had a sweet time, and thanks to POWDR everyone I will talk to all season will hear about Mt. Snow on Nov. 11, but not Killington. Despite less mountain, less elevation, and warmer snowmaking temps I'm sure they made some good cash over the weekend. The trail base needs to be blown anyways, it's money you have to spend, so why not collect some cash right away, too!

There were people from may different New England mountains there, just read the jackets to see how many racers, freestylers, boarders, coaches, ambassadors, etc. were there because their home places were still closed. I am sure that K people were there incognito to see what they were missing and report back to K jerk Iceberg (not that he cares).

My learning from this weekend is that the town of Killington should count up the dollars they did not receive this weekend and consider that to be just the beginning of lost revenues over the long haul. The bars, restaurants, lodges, stores were dead up there yet the market is out there looking to spend. Winter business near a New England ski area is challenging enough - there should be growth not recession. POWDR talks about growth but they will doing everything in their power to influence growth IN THEIR BEST INTEREST ONLY so the town had better start acting in the best interests of the town of Killington only. Village plans need PUD and permit approvals from the very people that POWDR is affecting negatively.

Taking a mountain with a huge geographical advantage and turning it into a big marketing negative is just one example of their decision making process. Whenever I see a decision opportunity in the future I will remember their season opening position and know that the people in charge are amateurs.

Whatever happened to those comments or thoughts about opening ahead of the "posted date" if conditions allowed? Well, conditions certainly allowed it yet they have a "business plan" to stick to. Some K jerk must be talking with phrases like "stay the course" and "make a plan and stick with it" but you have to be pretty stupid to fly into a thunderstorm and not recognize that you have to make a turn. The German army lost a lot of battles large and small because they followed the plan, followed orders without deviation or improvement right up to the point of getting wiped out. Blind obedience. POWDR is going to shove crap down our throats this first year with them so that we get used to it in successive years and no longer challenge their poor practices.

I for one will be looking forward to standing in line Friday morning (if they do indeed open up and not make a weather complaint) and starting some good shout-outs like POWDR SUCKS.

Remember: This Friday morning there will be press people from newspapers, radio, maybe television and their business is to take flames and fan them to generate their own sales so if they see first hand a juicy story about a lot of unhappy customers before the first chair turns it will get real air time, maybe national.

We must let POWDR know what they are up against all season. Word of mouth is a powerful tool in a competitive market, let's use it.

I initiated the thought on this forum last year about being careful about wishing for change away from ASC. Well, the change has arrived and even if it dumps a foot a week all season and people are temporarily happy we really need to remember who we are deaing with from now on.

da Pimp

[Geoff]

I'm going to start up a cottage industry selling Chris Nyberg voodoo dolls. I think the one with the hangmans noose will be a big seller. I'm also stocking wooden crosses and gasoline for the bonfire in front of the admin building. Those go on sale April 13th when they close the resort for the season.

[Mister Moose]

Taking a mountain with a huge geographical advantage and turning it into a big marketing negative is just one example of their decision making prowess.

da Pimp

Fixed it for you.

[skiadikt]

i guess some of us were wishing & hoping that we'd get underpromise & overdeliver. pimp you're right, looks like they're determined to stick to their business model of under delivering.

[BadDog]

Beware of Westerners bearing business plans...

[daytripper]

I got to mt snow and was on my first lift up by 7:45. the 1.5 diffrent runs they had were nice. snow cover was excellent and was going non stop top to bottom runs untill about 10:30. by that point it was getting pretty croweded (never a wait at a lift line though) and the one and a half runs got pretty old so we called it a day. 10 non stop runs was all my legs could take anyway.

comparing it to last few opening weekends at k (not counting the oct storm a few years ago) I have to give snow props for getting open but $50 seemed a little steep for what they had (have pass at K so not sure of there prices) open. K opening weekend always had a bit more open (glades+ some snowdon) and I didnt get bored as quick. Of K opens next week with such a better pruduct as they say, then I have no problem with a week later.

[SuzyQ]

I heard r*in this week, so they might have frozen grandular by then. There is no such thing as a perfect product. You have to go when its good. This would have been an ideal weekend because it didn't r*in yet.

[Finn]

hey girl with the weather forecast check out the real weather report. I heard da da......go to sunday River instead.

[SuzyQ]

When I say r*in, I mean for Killington, not SundayRiver. It hardly r*ins at the River. And I'm thinking about heading to Sunday River

[tombuch]

It was an outstanding three day weekend at Mount Snow. They have been marketing the heck out of their 101 fan guns, and they had them center stage for all to see. The snow quality was excellent, and even when the guns were going they were directed in such a way that they weren’t a problem. Plus they are much quieter than conventional guns. On Monday there was a second top to bottom trail opened that had been blown with the older style guns, and the snow quality was noticeable weaker, even allowing for grooming differences.

Mount Snow obviously understands that this is a transitional year, with folks shopping around a bit more than usual. They made a strong showing, not only with the man made snow and early opening, but also with a terrific staff that looked happy to be at work assisting guests. The resort earned my respect.

[Nevada West]

It was an outstanding three day weekend at Mount Snow. They have been marketing the heck out of their 101 fan guns, and they had them center stage for all to see. The snow quality was excellent, and even when the guns were going they were directed in such a way that they weren’t a problem. Plus they are much quieter than conventional guns. On Monday there was a second top to bottom trail opened that had been blown with the older style guns, and the snow quality was noticeable weaker, even allowing for grooming differences.

Mount Snow obviously understands that this is a transitional year, with folks shopping around a bit more than usual. They made a strong showing, not only with the man made snow and early opening, but also with a terrific staff that looked happy to be at work assisting guests. The resort earned my respect.

I've always had a good time skiing there. The vibe is always positive. I am sure with the new ownership it could only be better.