2016 game on

[winjr]

Our blog is tame compared to the Killington Zone!

Looks like NL will be a go for the weekend although we will likely still be blowing there. Saturday may shut the guns down though as temps rise. We had to borrow a tension pump from Slidebrook for Bravo and have ordered a new one. Trying to get it so that if the snow depth is OK we can run SB for the weekend. We absolutely want to if at all possible. We did have an incredible lightning storm Sunday night that hit five lifts,our phone system and some other things. The Lift mechanics did an incredible job of getting the fuses and parts replaced and all the lifts open on Monday. Since SB has not run because of the tension pump, we do not know if lightning hit there too, butif it did, I am sure we will get that fixed quickly too. We have never experienced a lightning storm like this. The ground was a conductor and even though we have lightning rods and all protection of the lights terminals and towers the lightning struck broadly and circumvented the protectors. That is was the evening and not the day.

[HowieT2]

Our blog is tame compared to the Killington Zone!

Looks like NL will be a go for the weekend although we will likely still be blowing there. Saturday may shut the guns down though as temps rise. We had to borrow a tension pump from Slidebrook for Bravo and have ordered a new one. Trying to get it so that if the snow depth is OK we can run SB for the weekend. We absolutely want to if at all possible. We did have an incredible lightning storm Sunday night that hit five lifts,our phone system and some other things. The Lift mechanics did an incredible job of getting the fuses and parts replaced and all the lifts open on Monday. Since SB has not run because of the tension pump, we do not know if lightning hit there too, butif it did, I am sure we will get that fixed quickly too. We have never experienced a lightning storm like this. The ground was a conductor and even though we have lightning rods and all protection of the lights terminals and towers the lightning struck broadly and circumvented the protectors. That is was the evening and not the day.

Geez! its always something. maybe mother nature owes us a positive surprise now.

[tedwillie]

Hawk, you also have to realize that SR basically has an unlimited use permit to pull water from the Sunday River. I'm not saying the system couldn't be upgraded to take advantage of the times when water is abundant, but I have to imagine that there are times when the natural recharge and water level of the Mad River actually make it difficult to run what we have.

Regardless, things have really improved over years past.

Win is literally picking up the pieces of what ASC left behind. They ruined the mountain to some extent, as Sugarbush was quite far down their list of priorities when they were buying up every resort they could. Then they got in hard times and couldn't put money back into it anyway.

Regarding snowmaking, its just an older system that they are trying to upgrade as much as possible. They don't have the unlimited pockets of Stowe where AIG can just write them a check for $10 million. Imust say Stowe does have one heck of a snowmaking system now and can often keep pace with Killington and Sunday River early season but trying to expect that sort of massive and quick upgrade (as I've heard, Stowe literally ripped out most of their pipe, put fixed equipment/tower guns everywhere, and fan guns in all high traffic areas on the lower mountain) at Sugarbush is not feasible I'd imagine. Win and the boys have done a great job replacing it methodically and with the funds they have.

Is water that big of an issue at the Bush? I've always thought it was more a limitation on the pumping capacity because the two mountains are seperated? Again I've been out of the industry for years but I don't remember many spots being limited by amount of water they can take from the local environment. Of course there are limitations but with full ponds no one is in a situation that they can't make snow today because they can't take more water out of a local waterway. However I could also be wronghaha.

[Hawk]

I have always thought that Air Pressure was the issue. Win has said that water it the limiting factor now that they have the new guns. Last year we also had days that the power company limited our power consumption due to demand. At any rate yes it would be a large capital upgrade and that is not in the cards.

By the way, why do you say that ASC ruin the mountain. Do you really understand what they did here? Check out this excerpt from the NewEngland Ski History site. Doesn't sound like they ruined it to me.

"In October of 1994, Les Otten's LBO Resort Enterprises Corp. purchased Sugarbush for a reported $9.1 million. Following that season, massive changes were about to take place.

For the 1995-96 season, a staggering four new quad chairlifts were installed at Sugarbush, three of them detachables. Perhaps the most eye-catching of the new lifts was the 11,000 foot Slide Brook Express chairlift, which allowed skiers to go from Sugarbush South to Sugarbush North in only a few short minutes, without so much as having to take off their skis.

In addition to the Slide Brook, Sugarbush South saw the installation of its first detachable chairlifts, with the Gatehouse and Super Bravo quads providing high speed service to the lower portion of the mountain. Not only that, but a 63 million gallon snowmaking pond was constructed."

Sounds like they did some good stuff to me.

[cdskier]

Yes, ASC did do some good stuff, but they apparently also left a lot of "deferred maintenance" type of items which created problems down the road that Win and team had to take care of. I'd agree that they didn't necessarily "ruin" the mountain. They just neglected certain aspects of it.

[Dblshot]

And installed all the snowmaking at South. There was nothing for snowmaking there before ASC. What was installed was not maintained very well. From my memory I believe there is still room for one more pump at the pond and 5 more pumps at CB-1. Lower pressure form the pond to CB-1 then high pressure out the building to the hill. Pond is almost never dry unless river gets very low and/or it doesn't rain. They can draw water proportional to river level. Higher the river, more water. When it rains there is a high flow valve that fills it quickly without concern for water level.

[Hawk]

Actually it wasn't just ASC. They left in 2001. Some of the deferred maintenance crisis falls under the current administration also. Just trying to be fair. I have heard all of the tails. Both good and bad. There is plenty of blame to go around.

Yes, ASC did do some good stuff, but they apparently also left a lot of "deferred maintenance" type of items which created problems down the road that Win and team had to take care of. I'd agree that they didn't necessarily "ruin" the mountain. They just neglected certain aspects of it.

[winjr]

Actually it wasn't just ASC. They left in 2001. Some of the deferred maintenance crisis falls under the current administration also. Just trying to be fair. I have heard all of the tails. Both good and bad. There is plenty of blame to go around.

Les did some great things early on and we benefitted from them but later days the deferred maintenance piled up and we have pecked away at it as fast as we could. We also had to fund operating losses for the first few years until we could regain the list market share. We have reinvested 100% of our free cash in SB since 2001. Wish we had a Government bail out but we didn't.

Now the update on SB. We have the replacement pump but as of Thursday afternoon there is not enough snowpack to run SB. Fingers crossed for Saturday but as of now not looking like enough snow to get it open this weekend.

[HowieT2]

Les did some great things early on and we benefitted from them but later days the deferred maintenance piled up and we have pecked away at it as fast as we could. We also had to fund operating losses for the first few years until we could regain the list market share. We have reinvested 100% of our free cash in SB since 2001. Wish we had a Government bail out but we didn't.

Now the update on SB. We have the replacement pump but as of Thursday afternoon there is not enough snowpack to run SB. Fingers crossed for Saturday but as of now not looking like enough snow to get it open this weekend.

If you want bailout money you gotta get back into the financial services industry. Otherwise, you're just like the rest of us.
Looking forward to a good weekend

[Njski]

A question for Win regarding Slide Brook: Can you explain the concern for the amount of snowpack under the SB lift? I am guessing it is so that emergency services can get there via snowmobile? If that is the case, wouldn't a 4 wheeler (quad) do the job?
Also, given your choice, would you have liked the opportunity to develop the Slide Brook Basin, as opposed to Les giving up that option when he built the SB lift?

[HowieT2]

A question for Win regarding Slide Brook: Can you explain the concern for the amount of snowpack under the SB lift? I am guessing it is so that emergency services can get there via snowmobile? If that is the case, wouldn't a 4 wheeler (quad) do the job?
Also, given your choice, would you have liked the opportunity to develop the Slide Brook Basin, as opposed to Les giving up that option when he built the SB lift?

my guess is that quads would do the job but they have many snowmobiles but only one quad, so they need the snow.

[winjr]

NJski, yes that is the biggest issue but it is also so that our lift mechanics can get in safely and quickly on snowmobiles. 4 wheelers might be an option if their was just ground but they are not a good option with thin cover, icy services and open waterbars. We did recondition a groomer so that it can get in and pack the snow to get the lift open earlier, but the cover right now is too think for that.

Would we have liked to develop the SB Basin? Probably not extensively. With the Beechnut orchards this is a bear habitat and we would want to be very careful of harming that. Had lift not been done the way it was, we might have done somethings differently just as maybe running a lift from the bottom of Elevator Shaft to the crossover. It would have also been nice to have more year around recreational opportunity in there. Essentially, between April 15th and November 15th it is off bounds for any activities we might want to pursue. We can not even run the lift in that period other than for some summer maintenance. However, SB does provide a great relief on a busy weekend or Holiday and allows more people to enjoy Mount Ellen. Even though the bus takes about the same time, fewer people ride the bus than the lift.

[HowieT2]

NJski, yes that is the biggest issue but it is also so that our lift mechanics can get in safely and quickly on snowmobiles. 4 wheelers might be an option if their was just ground but they are not a good option with thin cover, icy services and open waterbars. We did recondition a groomer so that it can get in and pack the snow to get the lift open earlier, but the cover right now is too think for that.

Would we have liked to develop the SB Basin? Probably not extensively. With the Beechnut orchards this is a bear habitat and we would want to be very careful of harming that. Had lift not been done the way it was, we might have done somethings differently just as maybe running a lift from the bottom of Elevator Shaft to the crossover. It would have also been nice to have more year around recreational opportunity in there. Essentially, between April 15th and November 15th it is off bounds for any activities we might want to pursue. We can not even run the lift in that period other than for some summer maintenance. However, SB does provide a great relief on a busy weekend or Holiday and allows more people to enjoy Mount Ellen. Even though the bus takes about the same time, fewer people ride the bus than the lift.

that ridge would be a great place for some mtn bike trails.

I was thinking about that this summer. The new flow trails like at blueberry lake are akin to skiing groomers. Blue trails. Easy/fun. So you can put kids and first timers on there. People who are in vacation and want to try something. The trails at the mtn now are great. Old school. Love them. But u need to have some blue trails to open the activity up to a bigger market. And those trails should be off gate house/north Lynx.

Snow was great today. Lot was full but no lift lines at Mellon. Dense fog in the afternoon upper part of the mtn.

[Dblshot]

Question on snowmaking plan- over at Mt Ellen they have been blowing on Lower Northstar for 4 days, just wondering why that trail needs so much snowmaking when Lower Cruiser or Mainstream has depths. Why not be running Which Way for a few of those days? Has anyone been up to FIS since Monday when they were blowing on it? Skied it Saturday and it was in rough shape from some very wet snow/water, especailly the top section. Hopefully some dry manmade and natural covered it for a while. Not trying to stir it up, just curious.

[boot-up-room-poacher]

Question on limiting access to certain, privileged skier/rider populations over on the Inverness side at Mt. Ellen:

This past weekend all open and available terrain over on the Inverness side (i.e,, both Brambles and Inverness) was limited for a time to GMVS folks only (Walt's Run and Semi-Tough were not yet open and not enough cover to enter any woods at that point). I approached the area via Northway from GMX only to be told by a liftie/mountain ops guy at the top of the Inverness chair that we all had to turn around and return to Northridge Chair on Northridge Expressway.

I can appreciate that GMVS may contribute lots of $ to the resort and the value GMVS may add to Mt. Ellen in numerous non-financial ways but I walked away from the experience frustrated over the following: 1) If GMVS gets to own and llimit access to both Inverness trail AND Brambles, then there should be more open terrain options other than 2 flat traverses, 2) GMVS and/or resort staff should regularly maintain better signage at the entrance to Northway traverse heading over to the Inverness side. Specifically, at intersection of Exterminator and Northway there is flip sign indicating whether Inverness trail is open or closed to non-GMVS people and it is never maintained the way it used to be a long time ago. Also, if GMVS gets to buy/own Brambles and prevent the rest of us from skiing/riding on it then the sign should also be modified to indicate that Brambles is temporarily limited/closed and only available to privileged GMVS people.

I don't like that Brambles is closed off now on a regular basis when it is safe and skiable. Doing so takes away value from my season pass and my skiing experience at Mt. Ellen. This kind of experience I had and closing off Brambles to non-GMVS people leaves me resentful of GMVS.