Ideas for Ski Area Improvements

No chit John boy , we r CORE  NORTH COUNTRY. Real men , dont need no stinkin pussified fancy azz bubble assed ,heated seat nonsense ' just an FN footrest thank you very much

I have seriously learned to appreciate a good footrest the last few years! Sno....did you miss the part where I suggested that maybe an eager local group of volunteers might be able to maintain the one natural trail? I don't think it needs to cost very much at all. I would be willing to bet there are enough locals that would enjoy skiing and maintaing that kind of trail. Maybe an initial logging cost but that would be very much either if it was a mix of gladed terrain and trail not wider than say.....20 feet.

I'd be willing to bet that most of Windham's locals don't really care about glades or natural trails.  I know that place extremely well and have over 50 days there.  I know what the mountain's strengths and weaknesses are and I have an idea as to where there is potential for growth.  Maybe they could add a couple more glades, but that's not going to drive business much.  I see a lot of potential for offering a wider range of activities for all seasons.  Indoor waterpark, expanded bike park, and an alpine slide are some of those things.

You've never skied there, at least not recently, and you won't know what their clientele is like unless you have many times.  I only post "master plans" if I've skied somewhere.  I can spot the pros and cons of ski areas really quick and what you think of them when you do internet research is sometimes way different than what the actual issues are.  

Maybe but you don't actually know. I doubt you have communicated very much with the local skiers or property owners. There might be a local crowd that would really like it. Maybe not, but like I said it's worth a discussion.

Kid, I don't need to be present to understand the target market or what attracts them. I actually took a few semesters of ski business at Colorado Mountain College.

But I get it now. You are 17 and know everything.

I'd be willing to bet a narrow, natural snow trail in the woods would cost a lot less then a cabriolet lift from the parking lot to the lodge. On the other hand, I agree that Windham is the kind of place that would benefit from an indoor water park. Of all the Catskills mountains it's the one that is a luxury-experience-overnight-destination kind of place. Maybe it would boost the value of all those houses along WindFall.  Not sure where they'd put it though.

Sno, are you considering a career in ski resort management?  If you follow some of the job openings on the SAMinfo jobs board (and also on Vail's, IntraWest's and Peak Resort's websites) it'll give you a good idea of the types of jobs and the experience / education necessary.  I think there could be a good career path for someone like you.

I don't know Warp, the kid might be on to something........ I nearly froze off some digits at Big Tupper a couple times.

Ah , John BOy u going soft on me now ?? , Tupper ? Seriously ?

Hell u can have Atomic powered chili or hot buttered rum for lunch as an alternative , and hey what about them hand warmer thingys hahahha

And lets remember all those Carhart wearing , full facial hair sportin' real Northmen (  TLHS Lumberjacks ) who would skoff at such  softness

Not sayin' I'm ready for a cabriolet ride from the trail head up to Tuckermans but it's nice to maintain 21 digits.....

^^^^^^^^^^
 specially that one at 6:30

JohnIrvingwrestles wrote

  but it's nice to maintain 21 digits.....

hahahahahahah

As per my plan, the Cabriolet would go from the North Lot across the street to the ticket windows at the lodge.  All day parking would be on that side of the road, so that lot would need to be expanded.  The Cabriolet would be about 1,800 feet long.  It would operate anytime there were activities going on at the resort and be free to all riders.  There would be escalators added where the big staircase under the lodge is to make access to the slopes even easier.  There would be a base village built in the remaining parking lots on the lodge side of the road.

The Cabriolet has the arrow pointing at it in this picture.  The hotel/indoor waterpark would be built within the blue outlined area in light blue.  The rest of the space could be used to add shops and restaurants to have a base village.  

RA:  If you want natural terrain to be improved, I've got another idea that improves it somewhere, not Windham, but at what you'd consider a better mountain.

The F-Lift at Windham would need to be removed to put up the bubble 6-pack.  Instead of scrapping a perfectly functioning, but long slow lift, send it to Magic Mountain in VT to reopen Timberside.  It's also a Hall, and they're amazingly reliable and long lasting.  That would almost double the size of that place which might allow it to pull some people away from MRG, which from what I hear gets ridiculously crowded.  

Anyone know of some other smaller mountains that need another lift.  All my master plans involve replacing lifts, some of which are fully functioning, but not suited to their location, and don't have a spot to easily be relocated to at the mountain they're being replaced at.  These could all find new homes at smaller, local mountains instead of going to scrap.  I love when you get two lift upgrades from one.  

Mad River has lift lines, often long (in minutes) on weekends.

This is not the same thing as being crowded.  

I don't think Mad has the uphill capacity to be crowded.

My definition of crowds is long lift lines.  I'd rather ski a more crowded trail than spend 75% of my day in line.  

Now do you have any idea of any smaller mountains that could use a newer lift?  My previous idea for Magic was what came to mind.

I contacted management at Magic, they said that they were already aware of your plans as they have been monitoring your threads for years to keep up on industry trends and your insightful progressive ideas. They said they wouldn't know what to do if it wasn't for your posting.

They are looking at possible avenues to fund the EIS for your expansion plans. Stay tuned for further updates.

snoloco wrote

  I'd rather ski a more crowded trail than spend 75% of my day in line.  

Like at Hunter where you almost got killed?

Gotta love skimore's straw man, excluded middle arguments.  There's a big difference between waiting an hour in line for an outdated, slow lift and having the run to yourself and putting way too many people on the trails so that there are lots of close calls.

I find Gore's skier density to be about perfect, well except on Burnt Ridge where they thought it was a good idea to add a HSQ that served only 2 trails.  My plan has 5 trails in there.  I recently rerouted my proposed Cirque trail that it doesn't clearcut Cirque Glades and so that the runout at the bottom is shortened.

snoloco wrote

I find Gore's skier density to be about perfect, well except on Burnt Ridge where they thought it was a good idea to add a HSQ that served only 2 trails.  My plan has 5 trails in there.  I recently rerouted my proposed Cirque trail that it doesn't clearcut Cirque Glades and so that the runout at the bottom is shortened.

i think everyone will agree when i say that i have never....ever felt burnt ridge was crowded....ever.

I was there MLK Weekend last year and Sagamore and Echo were packed and skied off to bare ice by 11am.  I went back to the front side and lapped Twister of the ADK Express for most of the day.