Exceeding Expectations

[Treeskier]

Exceeding Expectations:

What a testing winter at Sugarbush. A good friend of mine Claudio coined the phrase "The Mountain continually exceeded expectations", and I could not agree more.
First, there was the reorganization that brought in some very good “ski minded” people like Hardy Merrill, John Egan, and Doug Lewis. These are the people who helped management realize what Sugarbush Skiers are truly looking for, and ultimately fulfilled these desires with their wide ranges of skill, expertise, and experience, as well as their hard work, and attention to detail. Permissions and encouragement from management allowing these people to hire and oversee some excellent prodigies no doubt improved the success of their efforts.

Then, when Mother Nature continually threw curve balls they where able to swing back and here are just a few of the examples:

One day during February Spring Break, rather than putting a thin coating of snow all over the place after one of those rain events (that the first hour of skiers would enjoy, but everyone else would be skating on all day) they instead chose to build a good deep base on an expert/intermediate trail and a beginner trail, so everyone had at least one place on each Mountain to ski on and have fun all day.

When Castlerock and Moonshine trails were too thin to open, they transported snow or dragged snow guns in to build enough of a base to open these gems.
On one of the last weekends of the season the wind gusts were so high that they could not open any of the North Lifts, but they groomed out Sunny D to keep the area open, which meant they where the only VT ski area open that day.

And let’s not forget that unique event of the hurricane force wind spinning the chair into the lift tower on Super Bravo! How quickly and efficiently they repaired the damage, and rumor has it that they flew the State Inspector in on a Sunday to expedite the reopening of this lift.

They also followed through with their promise of starting to blow snow early in the season, and kept it up much later than most other Mountains; which allowed them to be open earlier than other ski areas in VT, and to be the second last to close (Kmart stayed open on more day than us, and you needed “rock skis” there).

With the new Sugarbush way of thinking and attitude they opened marginal terrain all the time…YAH! "Did We Mention the Rocks" is considered a positive Sugarbush Sign, and if anyone wants to ski vanilla they can go back to the feeder hills.

Finally, there was closing weekend. Management and a lot of the staff rallied and re-opened (as scheduled and promised). Upper management ran lifts, took tickets, and dragged band equipment up to Glenn House. To top it all off they had our favorite blues band, the Detonators, play on the Glenn House deck the official final day of the season which was Sunday, April 30th! They even left the GMX running 1 ½ hours late so that the band could play one more fantastic set! Even when the beer ran out they found a way to pull beverages out of the golf course coolers and have them quickly transported up to the deck!

Again, exceeding expectations! Hats OFF!

Nice post. I replied to your version on AZ. Agreed. Great job!

[noski]

[007]

It's a pleasure to hear that others in addition to myself, truly recognize and appreciate what we have been provided with at Sugarbush.......

And it sounds like things are only going to get better!!!

Win, you should be very proud of your efforts.

[ski_resort_observer]

I am very excited about the future of the Bush especially in regards to the base area renovation.

[Tin Woodsman]

I am very excited about the future of the Bush especially in regards to the base area renovation.

I think it all starts there, really. Sb will get a tremendous amount of press around the new base lodge, which is far more important to the avg skier than Claybrook will be. Of course Claybrook will in an of itself draw a lot of attention from a variety of corners due to its truly unparalleled location and a design that will be unique for VT. When you add in the skier services bldg the year after, a new base core will have emerged.

More importantly, as evidenced by Win's participation here and on the AZ Ski Area Challenge, mgmt "gets it" and cares about the guest experience. I love the honesty and pledge to do better w/r/t on-hill F&B, snowmaking on parts of Castlerock, the SBHRC, and forest/glade maintenance. SV might have stumbled somewhat as they worked up the learning curve, but they are a passionate and knowledgeable, and seem to have hired similar personalities with a "lead from the front" attitude.

I love the fact that these guys are out there scanning lift tickets, explaining things to guests, and remaining accountable. The contrast with the faceless bureaucracies of Stowe and Killington couldn't be more obvious. This was a tough season for resorts south of I-89. The snow didn't fall enough and at the right times. Yet when I hear about how much snow was made despite the lousy weather, that portends only good things for a time when normal temperatures reign. When I see Win talking about the importance of balancing uphill capacity and skiable terrain, I am put at ease by the thought of future changes to the lift system. And when I see that the possibility of new terrain above Inverness is still on the table, I am energized by an ownership that isn't afraid to dream big.

The next two years will likely be the most critical in SB's history. Will Clay Brook be a success? How will customers react to the new, unified lodge structure and the demise of the beloved (by some) Valley House? The way I see it, given some unexpected capital expenditures, along with some less than ideal weather the last three years, a successful launch of Clay Brook is a requirement to set SV on the path to long-term prosperity. It would be the greatest of shames if SV became just another in the seemingly continuous merry-go-round of SB owners. They are local, committed, passionate, intelligent and clearly hard-working. I can't wait to see how things shape up in the next five years.

[smootharc]

And when I see that the possibility of new terrain above Inverness is still on the table, I am energized by an ownership that isn't afraid to dream big.

....thinking about this. Let's help Win out....and everyone meet tomorrow up there with our chainsaws !!! I'll let you "say hello to my leettle friend".....a 56" nitrous charged Husky Redwood Clearcutter model from 1973.

As a fun aside, say they can make 5 trails (a liftline...and two left, two right) there.....what would you guys throw down as potential names ? Anyone ? I'm going to sleep on that and let you know next week. If they ever did this, they could auction trail naming rights off during a valley fundraiser of some sort, funds going to some local cause.

[noski]

....thinking about this. Let's help Win out....and everyone meet tomorrow up there with our chainsaws !!! I'll let you "say hello to my leettle friend".....a 56" nitrous charged Husky Redwood Clearcutter model from 1973.

I swear I just heard Tim-the-Toolman-Taylor's "ahr-ahr-ahrrrr"

If they ever did this, they could auction trail naming rights off during a valley fundraiser of some sort, funds going to some local cause

hmmm. Like my downcountry marketing budget..? Consider it a reinvestment.

[Treeskier]

North's "Sunny Bowl" Or Sun Splash Bowl.

[smootharc]

North's "Sunny Bowl" Or Sun Splash Bowl.

I like Sunsplash Bowl....where the locals "in the know" call it "UV Bowl"....

[Treeskier]

Valley Reporter prints this Post/Story http://www.valleyreporter.com Thanks

[Lostone]

Yes, I saw that in the print version. Good work!

I was planning on coming here and posting it was there, but...