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View Full Version : Since there is no snow 2 talk about plz explain opening ASAP



TimKeogh
11-28-2009, 08:49 PM
Someone please explain the economics to me, because I must be a missing something.
(Forget the anomoly of this year, I trying to understand the long term)

Is it a loss-leader or marketing strategy to try to get a few trails open before everyone else?

Do customers from Boston, NYC or NJ really book trips in Sept for late Nov/early Dec?

I can understand seasons pass holders wanting as many days as possible, but would you forego your pass if ski areas waited for consistent cold temps in late Dec to open?

Turning on the guns and getting the lifts rolling, plus all the added labor/overhead costs seems like a cash flow nightmare before the holiday season.

Lostone
11-29-2009, 08:59 AM
Is it a loss-leader or marketing strategy to try to get a few trails open before everyone else?

IMNATHO

Yes. :lol:
It is a loss leader, which is a marketing strategy. And needed to get trails open, in case Ma Nature doesn't cooperate.

Hard to make money by opening early, but the buzz, from people saying that they had a great time at a resort does help some of those who come up at vacation time. Also, the fact that people are skiing, and that news getting out, reminds people who are in the flatlands, how much fun they had last year. (3 years ago?)





Do customers from Boston, NYC or NJ really book trips in Sept for late Nov/early Dec?
Yes. It is known to be a time when there are bargains, and relatively empty trails. Also, people have the jones, and can't wait to get started on the 5 trails, when (and this really bugs me!) they quit in late March, with almost the whole mountain open.



I can understand seasons pass holders wanting as many days as possible, but would you forego your pass if ski areas waited for consistent cold temps in late Dec to open?
Length of season is a major part of where you are getting your pass, for many people. As stated above, getting started early is the larger part of that, than finishing late, for many. (The fools! :roll: )


Turning on the guns and getting the lifts rolling, plus all the added labor/overhead costs seems like a cash flow nightmare before the holiday season.

It is. That is the loss-leader part. Still, you can't expect to turn on the guns half way thru December, and have the trails covered, and the people show up.

If you are making your plans for the holiday vacation, and you see that area A has 45 trails open, and area 2 has 3... what plans do you make?

Again... The above is IMNATHO. It is worth twice as much as you paid for it.

:wink:

muddy_hollow
11-29-2009, 02:24 PM
Do customers from Boston, NYC or NJ really book trips in Sept for late Nov/early Dec?
Yes. It is known to be a time when there are bargains, and relatively empty trails. Also, people have the jones, and can't wait to get started on the 5 trails, when (and this really bugs me!) they quit in late March, with almost the whole mountain open.
[/quote]

I can't speak for everyone, but for those folks we know who travel to the bush every week during the season including ourselves the schedule is totally based on kids sports. End of Soccer season is early/mid november and then spring season starts up in April when the fields start drying out. We're all stoked about starting the season and we know it all comes to an end once spring Soccer starts-up, leaving snow on the slopes.


....Can't wait to ski the traffic on route 128 (opps I mean downspout)..

win
11-29-2009, 05:15 PM
While we average approximately 160 days of skiing a season, a disproportinate amount of our profitability occurs on 40 days - Holidays and Saturdays. An accountant might argue that we should only be open those 40 days. However, we are in the business of providing a full service experience. It is not our ambition to be the first to open like Sunday River did this year, and we shoot each year to open on the weekend before Thanksgiving. While we would lose less money if we did not open for another couple of weeks, we open for a few reasons. First, we have many loyal passholders who enjoy skiing this time of year. They have put their money up front, and therefore we like to allow them the opportunity of one of the longest seasons in the East. We need to begin snowmaking around the first of November any way to get as much terrain open as we can for the Christmas Holidays. Our largest expense this time of year is snowmaking, so if we have made enough snow to open, it makes sense to do so. Also by opening early, we are giving employment to many of our seasonal people who need the work and we need them for the winter. It also allows us to have a gradual opening rather than a big band to train staff and work out any kinks. Finally, it does add excitement and momentum as we start another season.

That said, one needs to be sensible with one's snowmaking plan this time of year. Snowmaking in marginal temperatures (above 25 degrees F) is very costly. You pay a lot for electricity and don't make a huge amount of snow. One also doesn't want to make snow and then have it melt and have to start all over again. This year, as you know, we started making snow on Jester and had 3-4 feet down on Jester before the warmth came in. Because of that depth we kept a great amount of it, which will now allow us to move down the mountain further. The $30,000 or so we spend making snow on Jester earlier this month was not a total waste. That is why we try to focus of certain terrain this time of year rather that spreading out to thinly and not create sufficient depth before we move on to another area.

Staying open later too can be a loss leader, but far less costly because there in no snowmaking and the staff requirement is a lost less.

Yard Sale
11-29-2009, 07:00 PM
Thanks for the insight, Win, and the effort put forth by you and the whole organization toward balancing fiscal responsibility and opening early, late and often is greatly appreciated. The snow over the weekend looks like a nice and dense base coat. Hey what's that new piece of equipment beside Claybrook?

Thanks

YS

win
11-30-2009, 11:57 AM
The equipment has been there since Cb was built. It is the cooling tower for CB. It was behind an ugly fence which wasn't very attractive to look at, so we are updgrading it so the view from CB is much nicer. It is meant to look like a Sugarshack when finished.

As of noon on Monday is it snowing and getting colder again!