Why doesn't Gore?

adkskier wrote

ORDA has expressed a very serious interest in taking food service in house.

Uh Oh.

 It's peanut butter and jelly time.

adkskier wrote

ORDA has expressed a very serious interest in taking food service in house.

Centerplate just renewed for 10 years, so dream on.

As long as we are dreaming, how about some chairs/tables/picnic tables at the Saddle so we can enjoy the Spring sun?

........a nice size deck around the Saddle Lodge facing Pete Gay.

I will have to go over to the Centerplate discussion forum and leave my suggestions there.  And to the person who suggested that home whaffles are better, agreed, but the ones at Killington are very tasty, and convenient.  They can be used with success to bribe my 7 year old to go skiing, instead of a "home day."

+1 on the waffle house.  Also a web cam or two would be a great idea.  Basically every ski hill has a few now including big brother whiteface.  A tow rope either at the summit to access the north side or a rope over to BR would also be helpfull and draw more people to burnt ridge.  Also maybe they can add some more bump runs, do a half groomed half bump type of deal.

..........Have a " Mo Zone "  


" The triple chair area at West Mountain Ski Center in Queensbury was festive last Sunday afternoon, reminiscent - in spots at least - of a tailgating experience at a football game or concert.

West Mountain regular Mo Wilkins was holding court with at least a dozen or so friends in his self-titled "Mo Zone" area, now complete with a mini-kitchen and amazing picnic table he created from cut softwood branches.

But while Mo's set-up is beyond compare (he even had wood chips laid on the ground to keep the mud down) he seems to have spawned some spin-off tailgaters.

At the base of the AOA trail, near the building on the far end of the lot, I noticed a small group grilling away and hanging out in lawn chairs enjoying the sun on a break from skiing.

There was another group several cars down from the "Mo Zone" with a fire going. On the other side of the lot near where I parked, I noticed a pickup truck with a couple armloads of wood in the back and smoke drifting up.

My eye was caught by a cute little blonde girl with a huge smile and cool, tight-fitting purple winter hat.

Her dad, Paul Kelly of Lake George, came over to chat with me and she trailed along.

"That's Eva," he said of his 2-year-old. "She's not feeling great today."

Kelly was there with his wife, daughter and a group of teachers he had skied with earlier in the day. They were relaxing, visiting, having a bite to eat and enjoying the needed sunshine.

"I'm going to start her skiing next year," he said proudly.

West Mountain owner Mike Barbone said he likes what's happening over on the Northwest side.

"It's a family thing. They BBQ, they go skiing and they don't leave a mess. They understand they clean up after themselves," Barbone said. "Where else can you ski and have a little barbecue like that in your back yard?"

Barbone said Wilkins is essentially his police officer at the triple area. He said Wilkins knows that if people abuse the tailgate privilege, it'll go away. He likes it too much to let that happen.

Spring and slush

West Mountain and Gore Mountain in Johnsburg are offering spring rates these days with West offering five-hour midweek tickets for $17 and weekend tickets for $37. But if you already have a Ski West card, that rates drops to $12 midweek and $32 on the weekend, Barbone said.

At Gore, the price of an adult ticket has dropped from $73 to $52 and this week, sons 19 and under can ski for free with a paying adult, according to marketing director Emily Stanton.

As far as upcoming events, West Mountain will host the annual "Slush Cup" on Saturday, where skiers and riders try to skim across a man-made pond of water in front of the base lodge. For the second year in a row, the event will also sport a smaller pond for the kids. But Barbone stressed that although some years the Slush Cup signifies the end of the season, that's not the case this year.

"I don't want it to be considered the end of the season. It's just an event," he said. "There isn't a bald spot on the property."

Stanton said Gore will host its "Pond Skimming" competition on April 10.

Like Barbone, Stanton stressed that Gore is still blanketed in snow and she said events are planned through that weekend but skiing is likely to continue well after that.

"The end is not in sight," she said.

Hickory Ski Center in Warrensburg is planning another weekend of skiing with its annual Hickory Family Follies fun day on Saturday complete with family races, games, sledding, afternoon barbecue and evening pot luck dinner.

Willard Mountain in Easton is currently closed, but owner Charles "Chic" Wilson said if the area gets hit with significant snow this week, he'll re-open next weekend with $25 tickets. The mountain doesn't need the snow, he said, but snow is needed in people's yards to get them back out skiing. He said last weekend was beautiful skiing, but few came out and didn't cover the mountain's expenses.

"I got all kinds of snow, but when my customers tell me they're done, you're beating a dead horse," he said. "But it's a sin to look as good as we do and be closed."

 http://poststar.com/sports/article_4c199986-55ca-11e0-929e-001cc4c002e0.html

Excellent post SB, I may have to go over to West this Sunday with the family.

" Welcome to Mo's! "  

Ok, I stole that line from Moe's Southwest Grill, but hey.

I never went over for the shin dig, but it's popular. Mo even feeds patrol and sends grub up the lift for the lifties.

1 - How about a First Tracks program like Whiteface?
2 - Post more pics online from the mountain photographer, again like WF.
3 - Webcams (already mentioned)
4 - More timely snow report, not the afternoon before (again, already mentioned).  While we're at it, how about reporting YTD snowfall.  Geez, again like WF.
5 - Regarding Twister, to me the real bummer of having that trail closed for racing is the ugly detour around the back of the triple chair to get from the bottom of Echo back to the base area.  It makes the already sketchy interconnectedness of BR even more interconnected.  Try doing that death march with a 6-yr-old in tow.
6 - Gore wants to compete with the So Vt mtns:  Okemo, Mt Snow, Stratton, even Killington.  Nobody closes half the mountain mid-week.  Gore needs to give mid-week skiers access to the whole mountain, or at least publish a well-defined schedule in advance regarding which terrain pods will be open on which days.
7 - Since I'm shooting for the stars... Double snowmaking capacity.  30 days to cover the mountain in a foot of snow is inadequate and way out of line with competition (competition is 7-10 days).  Think about last winter ('09 - '10).

Great points Jeff.

1) actually light a fire in the firepit on the deck?
2) actually fire up the grill and sell food with some regularity from the food stand on the deck?
3) sell space on the gondola interior so local resturants can display their menus? (I brought up a few years ago)
4) have patrollers actually patrolling slopes for excessive speed? It's getting downright lethal out there on Sunway, Showcase, and other "slower" areas.
5) create a beginner terrain park off the sunway chair? Little Dipper? Ward Hill?
6) trim some of the other side of lower double barrell back?

Adk Jeff wrote

1 - How about a First Tracks program like Whiteface?
2 - Post more pics online from the mountain photographer, again like WF.
3 - Webcams (already mentioned)
4 - More timely snow report, not the afternoon before (again, already mentioned).  While we're at it, how about reporting YTD snowfall.  Geez, again like WF.
5 - Regarding Twister, to me the real bummer of having that trail closed for racing is the ugly detour around the back of the triple chair to get from the bottom of Echo back to the base area.  It makes the already sketchy interconnectedness of BR even more interconnected.  Try doing that death march with a 6-yr-old in tow.
6 - Gore wants to compete with the So Vt mtns:  Okemo, Mt Snow, Stratton, even Killington.  Nobody closes half the mountain mid-week.  Gore needs to give mid-week skiers access to the whole mountain, or at least publish a well-defined schedule in advance regarding which terrain pods will be open on which days.
7 - Since I'm shooting for the stars... Double snowmaking capacity.  30 days to cover the mountain in a foot of snow is inadequate and way out of line with competition (competition is 7-10 days).  Think about last winter ('09 - '10).

I agree with everything here, especially the Burnt Ridge death march.  There is 1 more thing to add, close the gondola at 4, not 3:45.

Adk Jeff wrote

3 - Webcams (already mentioned)
4 - More timely snow report, not the afternoon before (again, already mentioned).  While we're at it, how about reporting YTD snowfall.  Geez, again like WF.

These two somewhat related things really get my goat. It made me laugh when I heard the rumor they were gonna put a vidcam near Grim Reaper, but they can't even put one at the base. And the ski reports this season have been utterly useless.

C'mon, man!These things are easy to fix

No crap the Twister Racing all the time, is really annoying,

have a Gore only pass?

gebbyfish wrote

have a Gore only pass?

+1

I do think gore did a much better job midweek since presidents week. I hope that's part of a new policy but won't hold my breath.

Tom

gebbyfish wrote

have a Gore only pass?

They do... but it is midweek only.  Been skiing it for the last two years.  Good value if you can ski only midweek.  Personally, I would love the ability to add whiteface to it but whiteface does not have the midweek pass.  

SIAWOL wrote

4) have patrollers actually patrolling slopes for excessive speed? It's getting downright lethal out there on Sunway, Showcase, and other "slower" areas.

6) trim some of the other side of lower double barrell back?

Lame & lamer.

I was thinking more a Gore only full season pass.  I can usually only ski on the weekends.  Just don't see myself headed to Whiteface or Belleayre.