Vail Resorts to Buy Stowe

Yeah, I thought of that as I was posting the other. I know if I still lived up there I wouldn't be for it, but a lot has changed since then so who knows how the locals would feel now. If Vail wanted to I'm sure they could pull it off, after all, everything is for sale. Man that would be some ski area. I know it was fun going over and back stealth mode

<quote author="x10003q">

The ownership of Smuggs has said there is zero truth to Vail buying Smuggs.



For now......

campgottagopee wrote

Yeah, I thought of that as I was posting the other. I know if I still lived up there I wouldn't be for it, but a lot has changed since then so who knows how the locals would feel now. If Vail wanted to I'm sure they could pull it off, after all, everything is for sale. Man that would be some ski area. I know it was fun going over and back stealth mode

Yup, I would probably feel the same if I was a local there. I would love to go back and forth and escape the Stowe scene. I would definitely want dual citizenship though if I lived on either side.

I wonder if Bill Stritzler still owns the joint

x10003q wrote

raisingarizona wrote

campgottagopee wrote

With the potential crowds at $towe it could push more to the Smuggs side.

This might not be a popular idea but I have always dreamed of them being interconnected and being one giant (for the east) ski area. Then they would really crush the competition. Killington couldn't even compete for size. Vail might actually be able to make that happen.

The ownership of Smuggs has said there is zero truth to Vail buying Smuggs.

Stowe has been very crowded on holidays and weekends this year. It seems they sold a load of under 30 passes. There have been complaints about no parking and traffic jams on 108 up to Stowe. If the Epic Pass increases pass sales, you might not be able to park at the mountain on any Saturday or Sunday.

if you could drive to Smuggs from the Burlington area and still ski the connector that would lessen the load on the access road to Stowe.  The drive up to Smuggs is not so bad typically.

I would think Smuggs would have to get bought by Epic as they are going to have no way to compete.  Epic also will come in and throw a whole bunch of money at the Smuggs infrastructure which while old school cool is seriously dated.

Coach Z wrote

x10003q wrote

raisingarizona wrote

campgottagopee wrote

With the potential crowds at $towe it could push more to the Smuggs side.

This might not be a popular idea but I have always dreamed of them being interconnected and being one giant (for the east) ski area. Then they would really crush the competition. Killington couldn't even compete for size. Vail might actually be able to make that happen.

The ownership of Smuggs has said there is zero truth to Vail buying Smuggs.

Stowe has been very crowded on holidays and weekends this year. It seems they sold a load of under 30 passes. There have been complaints about no parking and traffic jams on 108 up to Stowe. If the Epic Pass increases pass sales, you might not be able to park at the mountain on any Saturday or Sunday.

if you could drive to Smuggs from the Burlington area and still ski the connector that would lessen the load on the access road to Stowe.  The drive up to Smuggs is not so bad typically.

I would think Smuggs would have to get bought by Epic as they are going to have no way to compete.  Epic also will come in and throw a whole bunch of money at the Smuggs infrastructure which while old school cool is seriously dated.

Yup, I've always felt that there is a lot of good with the bad with these Epic purchases. Before we got the new guy here at the Snowbowl I always joked that I hoped Vail would pick it up.

Coach Z wrote

 

if you could drive to Smuggs from the Burlington area and still ski the connector that would lessen the load on the access road to Stowe.  

 .

You can

you can now but it requires two passes

if it was all Epic up there that would be EPIC.  Stowe would way better than Killington at that point and if you buy a pass you get a free out west skiing.  Its going to be very difficult to compete with that except for on price.

Gotcha

Coach Z wrote

you can now but it requires two passes

if it was all Epic up there that would be EPIC.  Stowe would way better than Killington at that point and if you buy a pass you get a free out west skiing.  Its going to be very difficult to compete with that except for on price.

I could have added the MAX pass to my $450 Stratton non-holiday pass  for $300. That is pretty competitive with whatever EPIC will offer, plus there are 15 eastern areas on the MAX pass including Killington/Pico, Stratton, Okemo, Loon, Sunday River, Sugarloaf, Mt St Anne, Mt Tremblant, Wachussett, Sunapee, and Mountain Creek.

If you are a Stowe passholder, EPIC is a bonus only if you go out west and ski EPIC resorts. The other side of the coin is that Stowe will become even more crowded. There are other pass options for the other big Western resorts that are pretty competitive with EPIC and offer more than one Eastern area. For eastern skiers, there is a lot of variety that EPIC is unable to offer.

https://www.themaxpass.com/

I realize the Smuggs owner is in a never say never situation. There has to be a price where he sells. Smuggs could easily be connected to Stowe by a short 2500ft 2 way chair at the top. Smuggs would certainly need a huge infusion of capital, but if it happens, it could be the best skiing in the East.

from an email I got from Sugarbush - playing the we are are easier to get to and less crowded card already

As you have undoubtedly heard, Vail has announced the purchase of the Stowe Mountain Ski operation, while leaving ownership of the Stowe Mountain Lodge, Stowe Mountain Club, Golf Club and real estate development assets with AIG. We have long anticipated that Vail would come East and considered Stowe one of the most likely targets.

 We have long respected Stowe as a very well-capitalized and well-run resort, and we have admired the success of Vail under its recent ownership. Vail will clearly bring a number of changes to Stowe, not least of which is their EPIC pass. This pass has changed the landscape in the West and certainly will create some challenges, but also some opportunities, here in the East.

 The fact that Vail chose Stowe as its first Eastern acquisition is a great testimony to the skiing and riding here in Northern Vermont, and recognizes that their terrain is commensurate with mountains like Vail and Park City out West. Whether Stowe or the Mad River Valley has better terrain depends on who you talk to - I know where my vote is cast. Personally, I like to think that our terrain is the Eastern equivalent of mountains like Alta, Jackson Hole, Aspen Highlands, Telluride and Squaw, where I have skied in recent years.

 Thanks to your support these past fifteen years, I believe that we are extremely well-positioned for the future. Good competition is always welcomed, and Vail will bring that to Vermont. The one thing that they cannot bring to Stowe, however, is the special nature of the Mad River Valley - the nearly 4,000 acres of terrific skiing we have at Sugarbush, and the unique environment of our neighbor, Mad River Glen.

 The three roads into the resort (German Flats Rd., Sugarbush Access Rd., and West Hill Rd.) make getting here on a holiday fairly easy. Our new parking lot at Lincoln Peak with shuttle service on weekends and holidays handles the crowds well. And our new Valley House lift has really improved the wait time out of the base area. (Of course, there are hardly ever long lines at Mount Ellen.) With our 16 lifts able to handle 21,000 people per hour and our nearly 4,000 acres of skiable terrain, people are moved all over the mountain when we are 100% open. If the EPIC pass brings more skiers and riders to Stowe, as it likely will, I think everyone will appreciate even more the environment we have here at Sugarbush.

And with 4K acres of skiable terrain it's almost twice as large as Jackson Hole...

I thought that seemed like one 0 too many
Win must be counting the acres between north and south which really can't be skied

It's quite the reach

Vermont is overrated!

He is including Slide Brook at 2000 acres (the area between SB and Mt Ellen) and including MRG, which might be 700 acres (border to border). The SB website says they have 591 acres, but the rest of the acres might be in some kind of border to border calculation for SB and Mt Ellen.

At approximately 70% of the terrain being covered by snow making which is about what...2800 acres they must have quite the system.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sugarbush_Resort

How does this guy count Slidebrook? Isn't that basically wilderness or NF land in between the two ski areas?

My point is that it seems like a desperate stretch of the truth.

raisingarizona wrote

At approximately 70% of the terrain being covered by snow making which is about what...2800 acres they must have quite the system.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sugarbush_Resort

How does this guy count Slidebrook? Isn't that basically wilderness or NF land in between the two ski areas?

My point is that it seems like a desperate stretch of the truth.

It is promoted on the Sugarbush website and there is a bus stop where you come out of Slide Brook to get you back to the lift serviced areas.
Slid Brook

Ya but that's not in area. It's a serious stretch.

The Snowbowl here is bordered by probably 25,000 acres of "ski-able" terrain but nobody is trying to claim it as part of the ski area.

Slide Brook is public land between two private ski areas that are now one. It is awesome, loaded with prime tree skiing.

If I was based in VT and choosing a mountain, Slide Brook would definitely figure into my thinking.