Gore skier visits down 44%, WF down 22%

Adk Jeff wrote

For the most part, the North Creek economy today is about what it was 30 years ago:  a sleepy Main Street, bypassed by tourists on Route 28.

That's the problem right there. The state never should have re-routed rt28 around North Creek.  If you had to drive through town to get to Gore it would have been a whole different town. You might have even been able to extend the Ski Bowl down pretty close to town, and have walking distance lodging in North Creek.  

Now that I think of it, moving Exit 23 to the north side of Warrensburg would improve my experience more than anything else.

mm    

True MM. Thing is, back when it was done, moving Rt 28 might have been the thing to do. Considering the school is right there on the old rt, that puts all the skier cars in severe conflict with school buses, pedestrians etc all in a 15 mph zone that even has stop signs. 7 am - 9 am could be a nightmare and even dangerous for the kids. People scurrying to get to the mtn in the morning aren't always safe drivers. I doubt I'm the only one who has experienced some shaky driving behavior from people who are racing up to Gore in the morning.

 

Snowballs wrote

Ah so ! Ah so you've been schooled by Sno

No argument there. Sno has laid out a clear plan for making ski areas into soulless money making machines.

Well, not that it really makes much difference to a discussion about Gore, but the Telluride Mountain Village website also says the annual operational costs are over $3 million.  Also says that building the gondola cost $16 million.



https://townofmountainvillage.com/getting-around/gondola-chondola/

marznc wrote

8. The Telluride Mountain Village Owners Association purchases renewable energy credits from San Miguel Power Association, which funds the development and operation of regional renewable energy resources.

Now I see the problem.  Those kooky Colorado stoners are paying $2.5 million for electricity worth around $250K.  I also see that they're employing the equivalent of 40 full-time employees, but they're only paying about $10/hour.

Adk Jeff wrote

Now I see the problem.  Those kooky Colorado stoners are paying $2.5 million for electricity worth around $250K.  I also see that they're employing the equivalent of 40 full-time employees, but they're only paying about $10/hour.

Yes - that's the kooky liberal dance - Oh the poor poor, they need a hand out but heaven forbid I pay the Mexicans who cut my grass a living wage.

Harvey wrote

I disagree with your characterization of North Creek as a ghost town.  And I personally love the Ski Bowl and I also like Burnt Ridge.

NC is not a ghost town, that honor would go to Indian lake - they don't even have a grocery store any more.
However it is on life support.

"When I lived in North Creek the beverage of choice was Piels.  Apparently consumer preferences have evolved."

Had to laugh when I saw this. That effin Piels was packaged in the lightest gauge aluminum can known to man. I just had a can of Guinness get pierced this week while loading my groceries, and it appears the gauge of aluminum is lighter than before. I immediately though of the Piels I used to load in the case when working in a liquor store many years ago. Piels...shit beer, shittier can, lmao.

Milo Maltbie wrote

Now that I think of it, moving Exit 23 to the north side of Warrensburg would improve my experience more than anything else.

But, but, then I would have to drive out of my way to get to Oscars. No way.

Adk Jeff wrote

marznc wrote

8. The Telluride Mountain Village Owners Association purchases renewable energy credits from San Miguel Power Association, which funds the development and operation of regional renewable energy resources.

Now I see the problem.  Those kooky Colorado stoners are paying $2.5 million for electricity worth around $250K.  I also see that they're employing the equivalent of 40 full-time employees, but they're only paying about $10/hour.

Actually, last fall the renewable energy credit auction  ended up negative in Colorado, meaning renewable was cheaper than other energy.  Maybe they the Village Owners are on to something.

http://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/negative-prices-require-positive-changes-in-community-solar

MM

Benny Profane wrote

Milo Maltbie wrote

Now that I think of it, moving Exit 23 to the north side of Warrensburg would improve my experience more than anything else.

But, but, then I would have to drive out of my way to get to Oscars. No way.

Move Oscar's to North Creek. It's a win-win.

MM

I think Gore could use a lot more midweek traffic, the place is empty whenever I go there midweek. Why because it does not attract a lot of folks who are going away for the week like Vermont does. Personally I think this is because of the lack of slopeside accommodations.

Note sure whatever happened t 0Ski Bowl village.  It always seemed odd that they planned on building a few expensive slopeside condos before putting in a hotel.  Seems like the land is there not sure what the sisue is putting a hotel there. A hotel there would increase the use of the bowl and help make it more of a snowmaking priority.

They also need to improve skier access to the bowl from Burnt Ridge.   A lift from Main street  to the bowl would be nice but if the mountain was actually accessible from the ski bowl a shuttle bus would be fine (it is only a couple of minutes drive) and it could make a few stops on main street.

Milo Maltbie wrote

 Move Oscar's to North Creek. It's a win-win.

MM

 

What? ...... and put them out of business ?

All I know is I promote Gore and Whiteface and encourage others to ski/ride at these areas. Word of mouth is a great form of advertising, but not the cure all for patron visit increases.

It's hard to identify the magic bullet needed to increase visits/revenue.

Back in the 70's, the ski tour company industry was in full swing. I worked for a tour company who's primary destination was WF, with a mix of stops on certain trips at Gore, enroute to Lake Placid. To the best of my knowledge, those tour companies are few and far between these days. I see more bus traffic from Canada to WF then from anywhere else. I haven't been to a significantly major ski show in a while, but would guess ORDA has or would participate in such events.

For all I know, the ski tour industry may be in full swing in VT these days. Not sure. I'm sure some folks on this blog would not welcome such traffic, fearing bus loads of sex, drug, and rock & roll yahoos would appear at "their" mountain. But as stated pin previous posts on this topic, most of those type folk don't even get out of bed in the morning to pick up their transportation to the mountain.

The whole dynamic of organized ski trips has certainly changed since the 70's, when their popularity seem to be at their highest height. May be the reality of the whole change revolves around liability, and the lack of most to engage in taking a chance versus the actual profit to be gained looking from a true business perspective. As far as numbers, 52 folks packed into one vehicle (bus), can increase the visitation numbers quickly and significantly if a successful business and marketing model is created. Maybe I'm completely off the mark with my thinking here...just my thoughts at the moment.