Vail buys Peak

TheGreatAbyss wrote

Lol. It's an old trope about Hunter Mountain.  I used to ski there too.  Relax

It's a pile of horseshit designed to make shitty skiers that can't handle advanced terrain feel better about their lack of ability...

heard a rumor that Windham is going to be Icon or whatever this weekend...

dmc_hunter wrote

heard a rumor that Windham is going to be Icon or whatever this weekend...

Makes sense. They were on Max Pass at least one season.

dmc_hunter wrote

heard a rumor that Windham is going to be Icon or whatever this weekend...

The locals who owned Windham sold out to some kind of real estate or private equity firm recently.  I would have thought the former owners (who were mostly Goldman Sachs partners) would have closed an Epic or Ikon deal before the sale if that were on the table.  Still, Windham is the last big group of NYC skiers available to Alterra, and probably the wealthiest group as well, so it makes a lot of sense. I'm just surprised the old owners didn't close it before selling, if it actually happens.

mm

Milo Maltbie wrote

The locals who owned Windham sold out to some kind of real estate or private equity firm recently.  I would have thought the former owners (who were mostly Goldman Sachs partners) would have closed an Epic or Ikon deal before the sale if that were on the table.  Still, Windham is the last big group of NYC skiers available to Alterra, and probably the wealthiest group as well, so it makes a lot of sense. I'm just surprised the old owners didn't close it before selling, if it actually happens.

mm

Here's an article from Dec 2018 about the sale.  New owner only bought the shares from the previous majority shareholder.  Other partners still involved.  Doesn't seem like that much of a change from an operational standpoint.

https://www.hudsonvalley360.com/article/new-majority-stakeholder-windham-mountain

riverc0il wrote

Ikon doesn't have to do anything. Vail's only big draw for New England prior to Peaks was Stowe and Okemo (and Sunapee, whatever to that). They are only adding on the Peaks areas, hardly a game changer, IMO. It just gets Ikon and Epic onto more equal footing in the east whereas before Epic only had two significant resorts and only one that was truly top tier.

I would argue that Ikon still has a better overall selection of New England mountains even with this addition for Vail. That shows my New England bias... I can see the addition of Hunter and Mount Snow and the PA areas making a big difference for NJ/NY/PA area skiers. But overall, I just see this as Vail catching up to Epic in the east.

Neither pass yet appeals to me... the best areas in the east (except Stowe) remain independent of the mega pass options.

Does the addition of A-Basin this week to Ikon feel like it would influence many people in the northeast away from Epic to Ikon?  Or does it just add value for people who already prefer the Ikon/MCP destination resorts?

marznc wrote

Does the addition of A-Basin this week to Ikon feel like it would influence many people in the northeast away from Epic to Ikon?  Or does it just add value for people who already prefer the Ikon/MCP destination resorts?

Wow! I had not heard about Arapahoe joining Ikon. That surprises me, as one of the reasons they stated for leaving Vail was the excess skier traffic Epic had created. Of course, Ikon is a different strategy over Epic, but it will still drive traffic to Arapahoe.

Rj1972 wrote

marznc wrote

Does the addition of A-Basin this week to Ikon feel like it would influence many people in the northeast away from Epic to Ikon?  Or does it just add value for people who already prefer the Ikon/MCP destination resorts?

Wow! I had not heard about Arapahoe joining Ikon. That surprises me, as one of the reasons they stated for leaving Vail was the excess skier traffic Epic had created. Of course, Ikon is a different strategy over Epic, but it will still drive traffic to Arapahoe.

Just announced yesterday.  Those of us who already bought Ikon or on the Ikon e-list found out via email.  Also was in the weekly news on Liftblog.  May well have been a done deal weeks or months ago.  Timing of announcements by Epic and Ikon are clearly designed to drive new sales.

Pretty clear from Al's blog entry that A-Basin chose Ikon over less expensive multi-resort options deliberately to try to keep the numbers down on weekends.  Seem to be hoping most people who plan to ski A-Basin with Ikon will go for the less expensive Ikon Base at $749, which has blackout dates for holiday periods.  Ikon passholders can get a $20 discount on a day ticket for friends (unlimited).

A-Basin’s season pass is $449 or $349 for Midweek.  Also have other lower cost options for just a few days, and a 70+ Senior pass for $199.  The complainers so far are locals who recently bought an A-Basin season pass thinking that there wouldn't be a connection to a multi-resort pass.  They didn't read what was said in the spring carefully enough.

http://arapahoebasin.blogspot.com/2019/08/a-basin-joins-ikon-pass.html - 02Aug2019

“…

Today we are proud to announce that we have entered into a partnership with the Ikon Pass. Skiers and riders will have 7-day access with no blackout dates on the Ikon Pass, and 5-day access with selected blackout dates (Christmas holidays, Martin Luther King weekend, President’s weekend) on the Ikon Base Pass. These restrictions and blackout dates will make our already busy periods more manageable.

We know that many of our guests want a multi-resort pass. We believe this pass solution will provide the ideal access to Arapahoe Basin while joining a team of excellent resorts and providing us better control of our business. With this addition, we will only be part of two limited passes (Ikon Pass and Ikon Base Pass) and we will no longer be part of very low-priced multi-resort passes.

…”

Another Epic addition

Epic Addition

x10003q wrote

Another Epic addition

Epic Addition

Sure that’s a big win but I’m still waiting to see who Bull Mountain signs up with before I decide

just noticed Hunter raised their walk up price to 91$
Vail's making their mark

JasonWx wrote

just noticed Hunter raised their walk up price to 91$
Vail's making there mark

What was it last season?

The Epic Day Pass calculator is actually fun to play with.  Cheapest per day cost is $89 for 7-days, no holiday periods.  $105/day if want to ski during on holidays.  For 3 days non-holiday, it's $100/day.  That makes the entry price for an adult who wants to ski a few days at a VR resort under $400.  If want to go to a partner, such as Telluride, than must start with 4 days at $97/$114.  Epic Local is at $699 until Sept. 1.

The way Epic has evolved, it can be complicated to decide which Epic pass to get.  Depends a lot on where someone lives.  Certainly moved far away from the original premise of a season pass for a few Colorado resorts that was unlimited, no blackout dates, and far cheaper than what people were used to for a 1-resort pass at a VR resort before 2008-09.  It was $579 to start and good at Vail, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge, Keystone and Heavenly.

JasonWx wrote

just noticed Hunter raised their walk up price to 91$
Vail's making their mark

Coffee snorted into my nose this morning.

Well, as the old saying goes, snowmaking is expensive, especially when it's all ya got.

Are there ever any midweek deals there anymore?

it was 89..so 91 is acceptable ..

but last year they offered a 3 pack of 150...so far i haven't seen that offer

JasonWx wrote

it was 89..so 91 is acceptable ..

but last year they offered a 3 pack of 150...so far i haven't seen that offer

I looked at the prices for advanced purchase, which are already set up on the Hunter website if you switch over to Winter.  Prices seemed pretty reasonable.  Could get Sat, 1/11, for $65, 29% off.  $49 later that week on Wed.  Of course, the question is what the price will be 2-3 days before a given date.

Any idea when Hunter started doing the online advanced ticketing?  Meaning on their own, not just Liftopia.  I assume Mt. Snow does that too.

VR announced a major re-org at the top to accommodate regional oversight in a slightly different way.  Standard shuffling of experienced COOs, leaving Keystone and Sunapee open for the moment.  Doug Pierini will end up with northeast, midwest, and mid-Atlantic after the Peak Resorts merger is complete.  Pierini was moved from Kirkwood to Okemo in 2018, with oversight of Stowe and Sunapee.

http://news.vailresorts.com/corporate/vailresorts/vail-resorts-announces-mountain-division-leadership-changes.htm
" . . .
Northeast, Mid-Atlantic & Midwest
 
Doug Pierini, vice president, mountain division. Pierini joined Vail Resorts in 2010 as vice president of skier services at Breckenridge. He was appointed as general manager of Kirkwood in 2016, and chief operating officer of Okemo, with oversight over Stowe Mountain Resort and Mt. Sunapee, in 2018. During his more than 30 years in the ski industry, Pierini has worked at 10 resorts across three countries, and spent 12 years on the Professional Ski Instructors of America’s national alpine demo team.  
 
Bruce Schmidt, general manager of Okemo Mountain Resort. Schmidt joined Vail Resorts in 2018 as a part of Company’s acquisition of Okemo. He had been with Okemo for more than 30 years, fourteen in the role of general manager, prior to becoming general manager of Mt. Sunapee in 2018.
. . ."

https://www.summitdaily.com/news/vail-resorts-announces-leadership-changes-affecting-summit-county-ski-areas/

https://www.reformer.com/stories/mount-snow-investor-sues-over-merger,583665

Lawsuit  time

Not sure whats up - but I've heard Hunter hammering and digging on Hunter North for the last 2 months..   They are definitely fixing terrain..

interestingly the management reorg and the hiring of new GM's (that are posed in the other trhread)for the east properies of Epic are all subject to regulatory approval.  when a major investor of Peak that is somewhat an insider has this very specific grounds it is pointing to makes me wonder if this will get approved

coincidentally the investor advisory service that I use that had a buy in MTN changed it to a sell last Friday - sold it for a nice gain yesterday

Well Hunter/Vail did the right thing...

They are offering 3 anytime tkts for 150$.. that's a good deal