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Talisman
10-04-2007, 07:59 AM
Win, thanks for Sugarbush participation in the CT Ski Council bulk ticket sales again this year. Another mountain further south isn't partipating and I will be at Sugarbush more as a result. I really like that Sugarbush bulk tickets are direct to the lift versus a voucher that has to be redeemed at the ticket window. We have a long drive up to the MRV from Mt Holly and saving a few minutes allows us to get the chair behind you on the Super Bravo at ~8:00 AM.

Will Sugarbush be participating in CT Ski Council 'council days' again in the future?

win
10-05-2007, 07:51 AM
Talisman,

Some good and bad news for you. We are going back to vouchers this year. Unfortunately, there was quite a bit of abuse with the direct to lift system.
This should have been communicated by the Council.

We are doing the Council days on April 5 & 6 and April 12& 13. I think it should be posted on the Council site by now.

Sorry for the extra couple of minutes! Let's hope for the 7 feet in April again this year.

See you soon.

Win

Ps; That extra hour drive makes all the difference!

Tin Woodsman
10-05-2007, 08:51 AM
Win -

Thanks for the update. While it's good news that you are back in the program, and that the increase in the daily rate is smaller than last year's unfortunate 8% increase, there are also some notable downsides to the changes this year. the direct-to-lift system was really. It's too bad to see that go but if people were taking advantage of this convenience in an abusive manner, then obviously you have to do what you have to do. Far more disappointing to me is the movement of the Ski council days entirely into April. You know very well that it is highly unlikely those weekends will be taken advantage of, seeing as how your skier visits drop like a rock when the calendar turns to April. I could certainly understand one weekend being in April, but both? My gosh, why not schedule them for June instead? One would think Sugarbush would derive maximum benefit by having at least one of the weekend mid-winter so that CT Ski Council members could be exposed to the prime conditions that would draw them back to the area year after year. Climatologically (we al know last year was a fluke), you are more likely giving them the chance to experience a lot of melting slush on a few limited options at LP. Not exactly putting your best foot forward.

atkinson
10-05-2007, 11:44 AM
April corn rocks, hardly a bad foot to put forward. And having people up in June is a great idea!

John

chuck
10-06-2007, 05:25 AM
I concur with Atkinson! April corn is da bomb baby. Besides of which the snow is still awesome, the days are longer and clothes start to shed. Hanging outside at the bbq, having a beer - I can't think of any other place i'd rather be in April.....

Triple Shot
10-07-2007, 09:46 AM
Tin Woodsman, you can't blame Sugarbush for the Awareness Days being pushed back. In years past the participation levels have been extremely low and given the amount of the benefits that the council receive in ticket reductions, etc. it was suprising to see. Also, from what I understand the CT Council is the only council that gets these days.
April snow is not bad and for $33 dollar tickets you really can't complain. Sugarbush is a premium mountain with some of the best terrain in the East and spring here is awesome. Chilling outside on the deck with sunshine and soft snow listening to music....seems pretty nice to me.

Triple Shot
10-07-2007, 09:50 AM
[b]Climatologically (we al know last year was a fluke), you are more likely giving them the chance to experience a lot of melting slush on a few limited options at LP. Not exactly putting your best foot forward.



Personally I think this comment is unfair......the council has had many times to experience the mountain all throughout the year and we make a lot of effort to bring ourselves to the clubs as well as provide them with competitive rates and benefits. We have worked hard here these past years to get Sugarbush back on the radar and the resort looks better than ever, and the staff is great. I would say they have put a BIG and much better foot forward.

Tin Woodsman
10-07-2007, 09:23 PM
[b]Climatologically (we al know last year was a fluke), you are more likely giving them the chance to experience a lot of melting slush on a few limited options at LP. Not exactly putting your best foot forward.



Personally I think this comment is unfair......the council has had many times to experience the mountain all throughout the year and we make a lot of effort to bring ourselves to the clubs as well as provide them with competitive rates and benefits. We have worked hard here these past years to get Sugarbush back on the radar and the resort looks better than ever, and the staff is great. I would say they have put a BIG and much better foot forward.

I'm not sure if you posted this, or it was copied from somewhere else. It appears to be from someone representing the mountain. Whoever it is, it's just a red herring, especially the last part. Just because the Council has many times throughout the year to experience the mountain, that doesn't change the fundamental fact that these weekends have been moved to a time of the year where it is proven they are less likely to be utilized. Moreover, I certainly didn't say anything about what a great job SB has done improving the mountain and raising its visibility in recent years. The improvements in the skiing experience from top to bottom is quite clear. I was speaking specifically about this change in the dates. For those of you who have drunken the Kool-Aid if April skiing was, ON AVERAGE, as universally fantastic as you say, perhaps more people would take advantage of it. It's great for locals who can time when they go to avoid the rainy or foggy days, or the refrozen garbage after an early April cold front. You likely experience only the sunny days - and are they ever glorious. The fundamental fact is that April skiing conditions are more variable and less reliable than mid-winter conditions. I'm not sure how this is debatable.

atkinson
10-08-2007, 10:09 AM
Okay Tinnie, I understand that you want more. We all do. But your logic doesn't quite add up.

Every month is crap-shoot for weather. Rain in January? Almost guaranteed. Bitter cold in February? Almost guaranteed. Deep powder and a warm-up freeze-up in March. Almost guaranteed. Sunshine in April? Almost guaranteed. Try to time your vacation plans around the weather? Almost guaranteed to not get what you want.

Historically, there is better skiing and coverage in April than in December, but we have way more demand in December. We almost always close down because of lack of crowds, not lack of snow. It's a challenge to get people thinking about skiing, no matter how good it is, when there is green grass growing their yards. Only the true diehards know how good April is.

So promoting April skiing is good thing. And getting people up here for some of the best turns of the year is also a good thing.

And that is not debatable.

John

Tin Woodsman
10-08-2007, 11:27 AM
Promoting April skiing is a good thing. Not debatable.

Historically, April may be better than December, but it's not at good as January, February and March. That is also not debatable, and that's my point. It's always tricky if you try to time your ski vacations with the weather. So, if you want someone who isn't familiar with the mountain to give it a try, you are best off getting them to commit during the period the climate nd history tells you they have the best chance at finding good conditions. Yes, it can rain in January, but it rains a LOT more often in April.

I would think that SB would get more mileage out of their efforts to increase April crowds by targeting the people who already know how good SB is but whose minds change to off-season pursuits when the calendar hits April 1. Otherwise, they are trying to change hearts and minds not only about where people want to ski, but also about WHEN they want to ski.

I'm not sure what doesn't add up in that analysis.