Vail Resorts- a new leaf?

[geepers]

And by the way, one could argue Vail and Alterra don't bother to generate profits on lift tickets either, but rather a means to draw in people to sell overpriced lessons, food, and lodging.

Don't think there's any need to argue about that. VR have written that in their freely available business information. Read it 2012 on a visit to Vail. Stated aim is to own at least 50% of accom and food outlets in a resort. The early season pass sales guarantee revenue for operating expenses regardless of the quality of the season.

So I assume that Epic passholders who day trip to a Vail resort and brown bag it bring in no money?

They do provide revenue preseason. But their marginal profitability must be lower than a holidaying guest who stays in resort and eats big.

If the customer base is divided into A (Awesome), B (Basic), C (Can't deal with), D (Dead) then they are going to be classified B.

 

[tomahawkins]

Remember when Vail was the first to pull the plug on the season back in 2020? Before any CDC guidelines or state mandates, they had the foresight to furlough workers before anyone else.

 

[Blue Streak]

I have never seen so much disillusionment and dismay among long-time Vail loyalists.
VR Managment has butchered the golden goose.

 

[Andy Mink]

I put this in the Funnies thread but it seems more relevant here. Reading some of the comments on social media I have to wonder if it's accurate.

 

[cantunamunch]

I put this in the Funnies thread but it seems more relevant here. Reading some of the comments on social media I have to wonder if it's accurate.

*shrug* it's more of a menage

 

[fatbob]

I have never seen so much disillusionment and dismay among long-time Vail loyalists.
VR Managment has butchered the golden goose.

Were people loyal to VR really or just to the hills and tolerated whatever VR BS was there as long as it didn't interfere with their experience too badly? Of course the value given by the epic pass was a factor - for a frequent skier who cared if a couple of weekends or holidays were write-offs through overcrowding when your exposure was down to $20 per day?

What has tipped over is a shitty experience where Vail cheapness/mismanagement was CLEARLY to blame. There is NO EXCUSE to not have enough staff to have (as much as conditions allow) everything open at the BUSIEST time of year. There is NO EXCUSE to not have enough parking shuttles. There is NO EXCUSE to not have a proper traffic management strategy in place so people can even reach the hill. If that means cut off times for parking then fine - set them and communicate them widely.

 

[Guy in Shorts]

My take on Vail -Ain't never been there, they tell me it's nice.

 

[Tony]

Remember when Vail was the first to pull the plug on the season back in 2020? Before any CDC guidelines or state mandates, they had the foresight to furlough workers before anyone else.

You say that like it was a good thing. I remembered hearing that after they closed, they kicked some workers out of employee housing. A quick search found https://www.sltrib.com/sports/2020/03/20/part-time-utah-ski-resort/ which also has a link to Video "Vail employees told to leave housing after resorts close during coronavirus pandemic"

While it may have prevented spread of COVID in employee housing in March 2020, foreign workers were unable to get home and "say by failing to act quickly, Vail Resorts left them feeling stranded and scared, with their most reliable communication coming from attorneys rather than a human resources department."

 

[WildBillD]

Not to knock the value of EPIC or IKON passes, as they do give you access to some great resorts, but you really need to have at least one home resort near you covered by these passes to make it a truly great deal. For us we have opted for season passes at Alpental plus a Mountain Collective pass. We ran the numbers (literally, I have a spreadsheet) and this really maximizes our ski $$ for the entire season.

@dovski I've already got that. I ski more than 40 times a year. There are 2 Vail Resort ski areas 5 minutes from my house. But let me reiterate, I am not happy with the lift conditions, snowmaking nor the 500 ft vertical drop with zero challenging terrain that these areas provide. But it is convient skiing and better than going for walks everyday or the gym. Forget skiing there on week ends - the crowds are overwhelming and a 15 min wait for a 3 minute run is not worth even putting my boots on..

I also go up to vermont and the feeling is the same- VR is destroying the culture associated with the areas they scoop up with the one size fits all mentality.

That aside, the skiing in the Northeast bites, so I go to Coloarado for variety of terrain choices, ski areas and better vertical drop.

 

[Roundturns]

Don't think there's any need to argue about that. VR have written that in their freely available business information. Read it 2012 on a visit to Vail. Stated aim is to own at least 50% of accom and food outlets in a resort. The early season pass sales guarantee revenue for operating expenses regardless of the quality of the season.



They do provide revenue preseason. But their marginal profitability must be lower than a holidaying guest who stays in resort and eats big.

If the customer base is divided into A (Awesome), B (Basic), C (Can't deal with), D (Dead) then they are going to be classified B.

I’m one of the great cheap unwashed eating my brown bag sandwich inside Sarge’s Shelter at Mid Vail. I wonder if they still provide and offer condiments and napkins or if the belt tightening did away with these free amenities (lol).

I was in there one day eating my sandwich and Horst Essex and his group came in and sat down at a nearby table . They had all kinds of sausages ,cheeses, and breads and asked me to please join them.
Unbelievable! I’m sure little of that culture is still alive and thriving at Vail now. But I’ll never forget that.
What was funny was Horst had a pair of the custom boots at the time Gorsuch was selling where they made a wooden cast of your leg and foot and built the boot for you around that. To get measured you stood inside a track that a camera travelled around scanning tour leg and foot.
Anyway I asked Horst if his boots were the best he ever had, and he told me they were OK, if he wore two pair of socks!!!!!
priceless response

 

[Roundturns]

I’m one of the great cheap unwashed eating my brown bag sandwich inside Sarge’s Shelter at Mid Vail. I wonder if they still provide and offer condiments and napkins or if the belt tightening did away with these free amenities (lol).

I was in there one day eating my sandwich and Horst Essex and his group came in and sat down at a nearby table . They had all kinds of sausages ,cheeses, and breads and asked me to please join them.
Unbelievable! I’m sure little of that culture is still alive and thriving at Vail now. But I’ll never forget that.
What was funny was Horst had a pair of the custom boots at the time Gorsuch was selling where they made a wooden cast of your leg and foot and built the boot for you around that. To get measured you stood inside a track that a camera travelled around scanning tour leg and foot.
Anyway I asked Horst if his boots were the best he ever had, and he told me they were OK, if he wore two pair of socks!!!!!
priceless response

typo above Essl.

 

[4ster]

 

[tomahawkins]

You say that like it was a good thing. I remembered hearing that after they closed, they kicked some workers out of employee housing. A quick search found https://www.sltrib.com/sports/2020/03/20/part-time-utah-ski-resort/ which also has a link to Video "Vail employees told to leave housing after resorts close during coronavirus pandemic"

While it may have prevented spread of COVID in employee housing in March 2020, foreign workers were unable to get home and "say by failing to act quickly, Vail Resorts left them feeling stranded and scared, with their most reliable communication coming from attorneys rather than a human resources department."

Sorry if the sarcasm didn't come through. Though it was good they made this decision when they did because in the years since they have demonstrated not being capable of implementing basic pandemic safety protocols. Countless lives were saved. Sorry, more sarcasm.

 

[BigSlick]

View attachment 155136

Backside (Chairs 3 and 4) were open last weekend, there was plenty of coverage. Looks like they are closed today as of 9:30 am due to "dangerously windy" conditions. Not a good sign for a holiday weekend. Was planning to go on Sunday, but if the backside doesn't open tomorrow the front side lines will be a disaster.

 

[doc]

*shrug* it's more of a menage

It is for me!

 

[cantunamunch]

It is for me!

It's ...exhausting

 

[davjr96]

View attachment 155136

Very windy in Tahoe yesterday and Today, Palisades also has upper mountain closures. Currently almost 90mph winds at Alpine.

 

[4ster]

Very windy in Tahoe yesterday and Today, Palisades also has upper mountain closures. Currently almost 90mph winds at Alpine.

That's actually good news if it was also windy & closed due to wind on Wednesday. Hate to think that Kirkwood is wimping out like many of the other Vail resorts.

 

[fatbob]

It's hard to think that there might not also be some comms around from GMs like "Y'know midweek it might not be bad if we give staff some time off by not having to open all the lifts so use your judgement re weather holds y'know"

 

[dovski]

@dovski I've already got that. I ski more than 40 times a year. There are 2 Vail Resort ski areas 5 minutes from my house. But let me reiterate, I am not happy with the lift conditions, snowmaking nor the 500 ft vertical drop with zero challenging terrain that these areas provide. But it is convient skiing and better than going for walks everyday or the gym. Forget skiing there on week ends - the crowds are overwhelming and a 15 min wait for a 3 minute run is not worth even putting my boots on..

I also go up to vermont and the feeling is the same- VR is destroying the culture associated with the areas they scoop up with the one size fits all mentality.

That aside, the skiing in the Northeast bites, so I go to Coloarado for variety of terrain choices, ski areas and better vertical drop.

@WildBillD I think we are making the same point. You have two local resorts covered by the Epic pass so you absolutely get your money's worth. You get even more value since that influences where you take your ski vacations. In my case my local resort is not covered by either Epic or IKON so pairing my local season pass with a mountain collective pass gives me the best value. Bottom line is that without access to a local mountain these passes are not always the best value.