Vail: How it's changed skiing and where it might be going.

[MissySki]

Very interesting. A young man that was put in charge of one of the first three midwest urban ski areas also didn't last too long. He went to Purgatory but then disappeared.

Gavrilets is clearly quite capable. He was a GM with Peak Resorts before taking over at Attitash. Not someone with a long career with VR.

" . . .
This is the third general manager position Gavrilets has held in his relatively young career, which began in 2005 as a ski patroller at Ober Gatlinburg, Tenn. In 2012, he was promoted to the role of terrain park and snowsports development manager there. He was featured as a SAM “10 Under 30” in 2015 before he took on his first GM role at Paoli Peaks, Ind., in 2016.

He took over as GM of Hidden Valley, Mo., in 2017, where he oversaw the installation of a $2.5 million ZipTour attraction that opened last year.

Gavrilets, who holds an MBA from the University of Tennessee, said he arrived in New Hampshire last week. “I am grateful for the opportunity to lead the team at Attitash and continue elevating the guest experience at our resort,” he said. “The White Mountains of New Hampshire are a special place and I look forward to building on the legacy at Attitash and supporting our employees, guests, and local community.”
. . ."

Here is the announcement:

 

[marzNC]

Hmm, interesting that the announcement comes from Bobby Murphy. I don't have Linked In or I would look up a few names.

April 2021

Executive Leadership Changes at Vail Resorts - Ski Area Management

SAM Magazine—Broomfield, Colo., April 13, 2021—Vail Resorts (VR) is undergoing a leadership shuffle at its headquarters in Broomfield, with some top executives moving to different positions, and some leaving or stepping down. Mountain division president Patricia Campbell is stepping down from her...

www.saminfo.com

" . . .
An April 9 internal announcement delivered the news that Eastern Region COO Doug Pierini has been appointed Western Region senior vice president and COO, effective May 19, 2021. Pierini moved East in 2018 from California, where he was general manager of Kirkwood."

As of December 2021, the VR webpage doesn't list anyone in charge of the Eastern or Western Region. Bill Rock is leading the Rockies Region, along with other executive responsibilities, and James O'Donnell is handling the Mountain Division. Never that easy to keep up with the VR senior management org chart.

 

[KWlovessnow]

Is there any movement by passholders to ask for 52% of the pass price back? Can't hurt to ask.

I'm not sure if that would gain traction here. Unlike some other Vail resorts, I feel most people here buy their passes mostly to travel out West and seeing local skiing as an additional "perk". This includes my reasoning to buy the pass as well.

Also, if I remember correctly, Vail spent a lot of money and brought Brighton back from being a run-down ski hill that not many people frequented to a legitimate ski hill comparable to the others near Detroit. They put in all new lifts and completely renovated the lodge. So there's not nearly the animosity compared to the beloved resorts that Vail took over and made worse.

However, it's not nearly as well run as the other local hills in the area and beginning to annoy me enough that I will most likely spend more money to buy a pass to a local hill and an IKON.

 

[marzNC]

Also, if I remember correctly, Vail spent a lot of money and brought Brighton back from being a run-down ski hill that not many people frequented to a legitimate ski hill comparable to the others near Detroit. They put in all new lifts and completely renovated the lodge. So there's not nearly the animosity compared to the beloved resorts that Vail took over and made worse.

Correct, when VR bought the first three midwest ski areas (Brighton, Wilmot, Afton Alps) the capital investment in the first year was substantial. Those were small family-owned independent ski areas/resorts. Very different situation compared to when VR bought Stowe, Triple Peaks (Okemo, Sunapee, Crested Butte), and Peak Resorts (Mount Snow, Hunter, Attitash/Wildcat, small hills in OH/IN and PA). Both Triple Peaks and Peak Resorts had been spending money on big projects like new lifts and improving snowmaking. Stevens was also a pretty unique situation.

Fair to say that the first year or two after Peak Resorts expanded to the northeast, they weren't very popular.

 

[SallyCat]

Ugh, this is unbelievable. Sunapee has a LOT of on-site parking. And only 30% of its terrain is open!

 

[Abbi]

This made me smile. The political cartoonist for the Seattle Times takes aim. And I like his note about why this matters.

Stevens Pass skiers snowed

A Change.org petition says Vail Resorts has oversold Stevens Pass season passes and is failing to honor the promises made in the marketing of those passes.

www.seattletimes.com

Getting cheated on your ski area season pass definitely falls under the category of First World problems, but, in a region with a legion of snow sports enthusiasts, it is not inconsequential.

For generations, Stevens Pass has been a favorite venue for local skiers and snowboarders. It is not a destination resort in the league of Whistler or even Crystal Mountain, but, because of diverse terrain, plentiful snow and fairly long runs, a day or night at Stevens offers some seriously fun skiing just 90 minutes from the heart of Seattle.

Will Vail find a way to address this blizzard of complaints? Or is it just too cozy inside those corporate offices in Colorado for them to care?

I was just about to post that! At least it’s becoming public knowledge.

 

[Abbi]

Ugh, this is unbelievable. Sunapee has a LOT of on-site parking. And only 30% of its terrain is open!

View attachment 17383

this was Okemo about an hour ago. I have a friend who has a condo there. I don’t want to know that many people!

 

[Abbi]

And here is the traffic jam trying to get to Okemo this morning. This is heading into Ludlow a few miles away from downtown. For those who know the area that is backed up almost to Route 131 by The Pointe. That is nuts!

 

[MissySki]

Wildcat apparently had a chairlift derailment today?!? How scary! Thank goodness it happened low to the ground.. Add this to the negative press on operations, yikes.

 

[ski diva]

And here is the traffic jam trying to get to Okemo this morning. This is heading into Ludlow a few miles away from downtown. For those who know the area that is backed up almost to Route 131 by The Pointe. That is nuts!
View attachment 17386

@Abbi, what time was this?

 

[Abbi]

@Abbi, what time was this?

I’m not sure when the picture was taken. It was posted seven hours ago on Facebook. So 10 AM or earlier.

 

[Abbi]

If you are on Instagram check out epicliftlines. It is showing picture after picture in state after state with bumper-to-bumper traffic for miles.

 

[tinymoose]

And here is the traffic jam trying to get to Okemo this morning. This is heading into Ludlow a few miles away from downtown. For those who know the area that is backed up almost to Route 131 by The Pointe. That is nuts!
View attachment 17386

We stopped by Alpina Ski Shop on the way home from Montage today, and the owners said traffic was backed up from Jack Frost to nearly their shop this morning. For reference, if you map it, it's a distance of over 3.5 miles. 1.5 miles to the mountain road alone.

 

[geargrrl]

I know the days of Mom and Pop ski areas are pretty much over.

I sooo disagree with this. I have no desire for an epic or iKon pass, or to ski big resorts. We love the small ones off the beaten track. They often have old double chairs but also rare crowds and rare lines. Granted, I don't know the backstory to the bottom line of everything but I do know my little local non- profit is making tons of money right now. Covid has been great for business and they are fully sold out every weekend. I'm pretty sure other small ski areas are doing well: Lookout Pass, 49, Mount Spokane and Schweitzer have all put in new lifts the last few years.

We bought INDY passes, for places like Lost Trail, Castle Mtn, White Pass, Brundage and more.

We have zero interest in mega resorts. We hit them rarely bit never a first choice and certainly not a destination choice for us.

I totally get the SP debacle and both sad and horrified by this whole thing.

 

[ski diva]

I sooo disagree with this. I have no desire for an epic or iKon pass, or to ski big resorts. We love the small ones off the beaten track. They often have old double chairs but also rare crowds and rare lines. Granted, I don't know the backstory to the bottom line of everything but I do know my little local non- profit is making tons of money right now. Covid has been great for business and they are fully sold out every weekend. I'm pretty sure other small ski areas are doing well: Lookout Pass, 49, Mount Spokane and Schweitzer have all put in new lifts the last few years.

We bought INDY passes, for places like Lost Trail, Castle Mtn, White Pass, Brundage and more.

We have zero interest in mega resorts. We hit them rarely bit never a first choice and certainly not a destination choice for us.

I totally get the SP debacle and both sad and horrified by this whole thing.

I bought a mid-week pass at a small independent resort this year, too, and I'm so glad I did.

 

[SallyCat]

I bought a mid-week pass at a small independent resort this year, too, and I'm so glad I did.

Same; plus I stay close to home when there's enough snow to hike-and-ride. I do have an Epic pass, but 90% of my reasoning for the purchase was spring skiing, and crowds tend to thin by March.

I dread thinking about what MLK, Jr. weekend and Presidents' week is going to look like up here. An opportunity to pick up overtime at work and ski later imho.

 

[santacruz skier]

Drove home from Tahoe today after 5 days amazing skiing. The cars lined up about 6 miles (opposite direction where I was going) to get into Palisades. Not EPIC resort BTW. IKON. I imagine those poor souls in Truckee waited hours. This was at 11 am.

 

[newboots]

Late snow, weekend. Traffic and hordes of skiers/riders. Plus everybody already upset with Vail. It isn't going to be pretty.

 

[NewEnglandSkier]

Regarding the photos above of liftlines and traffic backups----how much do you think is really attributable to the Epic Pass sales being really high this past year or how much is due to the storm that came through New England? I didn't pay any attention whether VT got any snow out of it, but here in eastern MA it was pretty common to see 6-12 inches---so we know that people see snow in their back yards and automatically head north to ski . . . . .I mean I saw something on another forum about Killington being packed as well--and they are associated with Ikon.
Same with Tahoe---didn't they just get a ton of snow? Which will cause everyone in California to head there--whether they have a pass or not?

 

[SallyCat]

Not to diminish anything you've said, @SallyCat , because I agree, but I thought that Vail had moved its hourly wage to $15. an hour.

Quick update: I did get verification from a Vail manager that VR raised wages to $15/hr at its Vermont resorts, but kept them at $13/hr at their New Hampshire mountains. The reasoning seemed to be that Vermont's resorts were "flagship" destinations, whereas VRs New Hampshire holdings are smaller mountains.