NY Times article on this not-so-wintry winter

http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/02/16/state-run-ski-slopes-missing-snow-and-visitors/?ref=nyregion

The timing is ironic - I was actually going to toss out a question to the group this AM about attendance and losses this year.  It's a brief blog post, but it confirms what we all know - attendance is WAY down.  Belleayre is really getting hit.  I'd still be curious how in the red the resorts are with all the money spent on snowmaking coupled with the lack of visitors.

Perhaps there will be a big storm in March to help all us regulars out (I'm not holding my breath), but that probably won't pull enough non-passholders out to make a difference.  Let's hope this winter's just a blip and not what NE winters are becoming...

I also appreciated this cartoon from another NY Times article from about 6 weeks ago... I think it sums up how we all feel!

It smells like spring up here in the Daks.  No snow in the yard at all.  

This article reminds me of what a mistake orda running Bell is going to be.  Good snow year it loses money - bad snow year and it bleeds money like crazy.

This is my favorite part:

"Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo last month proposed as part of the state budget that responsibility for Belleayre be transferred to the Olympic authority, consolidating all of the state’s ski areas under one entity and moving their finances outside the state budget."

Um, yeah. Just like Fannie Freddie are private companies, too. Until they aren't. The charade just continues.

May be rading there there snowmaking equipment and moving it North is not that bad of an idea after all.

ugh.  that pic makes me sad.  

Warm today in the Catskills too...
Hunter has had good numbers the last couple weeks..  That's just my guess..  And i don't get out until 1PM most weekend days - after all the snow gets scraped off...  :)

Ski shops have been laying off people..  Restaurants seem to be doing OK..

In reading that article, I was surprised that ORDA mountain revenue is only down 11% compared with last year.  Not bad given the near absolute dearth of natural snow.  I really hope that Belleayre isn't brought into the ORDA fold.  50,000 skier visits won't help the bottom line.

So ORDA gets money from the state. Belleayre/DEC gets money from the state.

Where is the savings supposed to be for taxpayers just by changing the ledger Belleayre is on?

While times are tough at ORDA and other major ski venues throughout the northeast, this season has been a disaster for places like Hickory. Has Hickory even opened this winter?

No doubt the ski industry has faired poorly this winter. The areas of the country with the highest ski visits all have had substantially below normal snowfall. No bueno.

CMR wrote

In reading that article, I was surprised that ORDA mountain revenue is only down 11% compared with last year.  Not bad given the near absolute dearth of natural snow.  I really hope that Belleayre isn't brought into the ORDA fold.  50,000 skier visits won't help the bottom line.

Orda is faring way better than the ski industry average because ORDA is blessed with being so far NORTH.  Something that Bell will never be - this is a disaster in the making Bell will drag Gore and WF down with it.  The Gov's comment of Orda being outside the budget is the indication that I'm worried about - they will expect Orda to run 3 ski areas for the price of two and essentially live off what the areas make themselve.  This is what I have been saying all along.  Bell is a loser let it die or it will kill our skiing golden gooses of WF and Gore.

Imagine for a minute...

The state says "we are going to pony up $20M to run our three ski areas."  For sake of discussion, lets take the demise of Belleayre off the table.

In that case -  would you rather have ORDA run all three, or have them split between ORDA and another organization?  IMO ORDA is likely to reduce cost, and Bell may not like it.

I do think having ORDA run all three could be more efficient. You only have one set of top mgmt. The other thing I'm hoping is that ORDA would put a stop to volume of free tickets given out by Bell.

The question remains do you "save" Bell or not. No doubt that people depend on Belleayre in the same way that people in Warren County and Lake Placid depend on Gore and Whiteface. It'll probably come down to the strength of their representation in NYS govt.

While having ORDA run all three sites would certainly prove to be more efficient by cutting out the DEC, I don't believe that the savings would offset the probable incurred losses.  I'm all for saving Bell, but not at the expense of Gore and WF. Even if that possibility is remote.  As a Gore/WF pass holder, I freely admit that I want to protect my own self interests.  

Furthermore, I really don't think that Bell can be restructured easily.  Couple that in with the degree of local competition in its vicinity, and Bell's prospects look mighty bleak.  Throw in year of unseasonably warm weather, and you can almost hear ORDA's death knell.  

I certainly don't want anything that will hurt Whiteface or Gore.

But money is money. And if you combine operating expenses (what we are talking about here ie "losses") with capital improvements then way more money has been put into WF/Gore vs Bell. And it's quite possible IMO that if Bell had had the same level of investment, it's operating numbers would be significantly better, especially in a year like this one.

My issue is with competition.  You shouldn't you use taxpayer money to cover losses while undercutting private businesses (ie lots of free lift tix).

Something went down yesterday at Bell. This was posted on Bell's FB page and the comments underneath and rumors indicate a bigger story:

Belleayre Mountain would like to thank Windham Mountain, Chip Seamans and Louis Caruso for coming to our aid today on behalf of the Belleayre patrons, employees and the Belleayre Region Lodging and Tourism Association members. We would like to add a special mention of thanks to Ted Blazer for his offer of support. And mostly would like to thank our amazing customers for their patience and understanding. We assure you Belleayre Mountain will be in complete operation for the holiday week.

It looks like some staff walked off the job and they weren't able to run all the lifts. From what I read Windham sent over some staff to help out..

ausable skier wrote

 It smells like spring up here in the Daks.

Yep. The last couple weeks the air has definitely had that " Spring " smell to it. Odd and unnerving.

CMR wrote

 In reading that article, I was surprised that ORDA mountain revenue is only down 11% compared with last year.

Not bad at all considering last season was a record year. An 11% decrease from last season puts this season ......at about par?

Given this season's natural disaster, if ORDA skates thru it with an attendance about equal to their annual average they'll have done very good. Of course it's not over yet.