Once more Powdr Corp says "Bend Over"!

**bdog** · 11-09-2008, 10:13 AM

Mt Bachelor and parent company Powdr Corp announced this week they were ending a long standing tradition of "Free Ski Day". Until this year the program brought in thousands of tons of non-perishable food to be donated to the local food bank. In exchange for donation of cans of food one received a lift ticket for the day. It was a good program. It is just another part of the past, of what once was a nice place to ski.
Instead, according to Dave Rathbun, Bachelor's latest GM and recently the "much loved" GM at Killiington, Vt. Bachelor will donate $377,000 worth of tickets to 10 local charities which will sell the vouchers for $25 which will bring in an estimated $160,000 for said charities. While some of the 10 charities may actually benefit those in need, certainly two do not: The Tower Theater and MBSEF (Mt Bachelor Ski Education Foundation). The Tower does promote the arts which is a good thing, still they hold frequent black tie events for the influx of Californian's that have invaded Bend. They are not a charity. As for MBSEF, certainly their origins were of providing skiing to local kids, primarily through race programs; again fine. Currently MBSEF and director Chuck Kenlin bring in plenty of funds of their own through a variety of events not the least of which is the annual ski swap where they now ream locals for 25% of their profits for goods sold. The clientele of MBSEF are not local kids unable to afford to ski or ride, they are the children of the most affluent of Bend's population. No one else can afford their fees. Yes they do have a handful of scholarships.
This is just one more insult to Bend locals. While Bachelor is a fun mountain to ski, it is in the hands of pirates. Many good folks and some magots still work there.
Fight piracy with piracy .. speak with your dollars. Pay to ski elsewhere and poach Bachelor. Hike the cone, slide into the lines at OB and NW.

This has been a public service announcement

**powndnstein** · 11-09-2008, 11:06 AM

Have always thought Wilamette Pass might be an alternative to the batch anyone have any experience skiing there?

BLOOD SWEAT STEEL · 11-09-2008, 11:18 AM

Nice to hear Nevada isn't the only place Californians have hijacked.

**bdog** · 11-09-2008, 11:22 AM

Originally Posted by powndnstein

Have always thought Wilamette Pass might be an alternative to the batch anyone have any experience skiing there?

Wilamette Pass is pretty nice. Easy drive from Eugene; about an hour and a quarter. Close drive from Corvallis as well and actually most days only about an hour from Bend. Hoodoo is another good alternative.

**ACH** · 11-09-2008, 12:30 PM

Wow these guys are incredible.
I have never seen a ski area owner repeatedly fuck it's local customer base like Powder Corp.

you guys, I'll happily not spend my skiing dollars at your mountain.

**whacked** · 11-09-2008, 01:40 PM

Powdr Corp is going to screw the pooch by raising lift ticket price too high, now something like $69, which is too much given that they never seem to be able to open the summit chair before 10 am and often not at all.

Agreed, they are not concerned with supporting their local base. Their trying to elevate Bend to a destination, which is in line with the last decade of Kalifornication.

On Willamettee Pass. It actually has some steeper terrain, but it horribly run and has uneven snow conditions due to low altitude. It's now closed Monday-Wednesday, so that's when I ski there. They have that wrist-bracelet-thingy that you use as a lift ticket, but they break and then you have to spend an hour in line waiting for "customer service." They often are unable to open the backside. Two years ago they lost all their lift ops in one quick move by implementing drug testing.

Hoodoo is much better. More consistent snow. Great stuff to hike or sled nearby. I bought a pass there this year. I will still ski the other two, but I look for deals or ski at Bachelor or go to South Sister nearby.

**ACH** · 11-09-2008, 01:46 PM

Ever ski Polina?

**Tap** · 11-09-2008, 02:20 PM

Originally Posted by AlpenChronicHabitual

Ever ski Polina?

not skiable. very dangerous.

**ACH** · 11-09-2008, 03:39 PM

Huh?
I have heard from some Bend locals that it gets shuttled with sleds?
Maybe I'm confusing it with something else...

**jonesy** · 11-09-2008, 04:40 PM

Tapper.......

**bdog** · 11-09-2008, 04:56 PM

Originally Posted by jonesy

Tapper.......

copy that! How ya doin' Scotty? Hey tapper ... it's that time of year again.

**bdog** · 11-09-2008, 04:59 PM

Originally Posted by AlpenChronicHabitual

Ever ski Polina?

Maybe if you spelled it right :

Paulina! If you're really nice maybe Tapper or Scharlper will take you there .... naw ... probably not.

**DJAK** · 11-09-2008, 06:12 PM

Or someone looking at this objectively might come to a different conclusion. MTB now coming up with a serious way to support the community. A few of the hate pushers will discount it off hand, but those actually curious about the merits are coming to other conclusions.

Here's what I sent to staff after a local anti-guy decided to break our new charity program a couple days early to throw it into whack. We're talking about CHARITY here folks, and about MTB doing waaay more of it.

----

All,

We had hoped to announce this later this week once it was 100% set, but word has started going around town that the Free Day charitable promotion is no longer going to occur. That is correct, and alone that would lead to some fast growing rumors. Here’s the bottom line - It is being replaced with a far more comprehensive charitable plan. We have chosen to make this program public a bit earlier than hoped so that folks can make an informed judgment. Please read on.

Alex

--------
Below are parts of the release that are slated to be ready for announcement later this week. We have been working on this program since September. As you can see, one of the charities is not final yet. They are simply waiting to get it in front of their board of directors. 9 out of the 10 are finalized. Mt Bachelors community support has been unfocused in the past, including the community benefit derived from free day.

The ending of the free day promotion is surely sad news for those concerned with personal freebies. However, it was a charitable promotion, which did not support our region in a very effective manner. We’re taking that similar amount of visits (6500) and making them really support the well being of central Oregon through our new charitable giving plan.

Not every change that Mt Bachelor makes in this time of change will be exactly what everyone wants to see. We took a look at Ski Free day and thought, are we doing everything we can with this for the community? We are still making $0 in ticket revenue through this new program, but now up to $162,500 will be raised for donation, instead of $0 raised through Free Day.

MT BACHELOR UNVEILS COMPREHENSIVE 2008-2009 CHARITABLE GIVING PLAN
Donations Program Aims to Support Local Organizations That Improve and Uphold Central Oregon Way of Life

(Bend, Ore.) –Mt Bachelor has announced a new plan to assist a wide range of charitable organizations throughout the ski season via two charity ski periods. Ten Central Oregon non –profit organizations will distribute Mt Bachelor lift vouchers in advance that will be redeemable for a $25 lift ticket during one of two charity ski periods. The Free Day promotion, which supported NeighborImpact, is being replaced by these two charity ski periods, offering $25 skiing and supporting 10 non-profit organizations including NeighborImpact. All ticket revenue generated through this giving plan will be donated directly to the organizations that distributed the ticket. Organizations will be presented a check for the amount of vouchers redeemed at the conclusion of each charity ski period.

The following organizations are participating in the Mt Bachelor charity ticket program this year: __________, Saving Grace, Sparrow Club, Tower Theatre, NeighborImpact, Boy and Girl Scouts, Volunteers in Medicine, MBSEF, and Oregon Adaptive Sports. Organizations will be distributing either 1000 or 500 vouchers depending on their size and scope. Through this new charitable giving plan Mt Bachelor will be giving away $377,000 worth of lift tickets to charity, which will raise up to $162,500 for central Oregon non-profits.

“These organizations epitomize our beliefs and values as a company,” said Mt Bachelor president and general manager Dave Rathbun. “Many local non-profits have been forced to tighten their belts lately and we believe this program will be a boost at a time of need. Our past charitable efforts have lacked direction and not done enough for the community. While Free Day was popular because it was free, it did not accomplish our renewed goal of supporting local charities in a meaningful way. We’re proud to announce this program that will provide wide reaching support across our region, while extending the length of time that folks can get involved.”

The $25 charity tickets can be redeemed midweek Jan 5-16, and midweek April 6-17. Organizations distributing tickets for the first charity period are NeighborImpact, MBSEF, Saving Grace, Sparrow Club, and Tower Theatre. Organizations distributing tickets for the second charity period are __________, Oregon Adaptive Sports, Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, and Volunteers in Medicine. Locals looking to acquire a free voucher redeemable for the $25 lift ticket during the charity ski periods should contact the distributing organizations.

"We're pleased to be part of Mt Bachelor's new charitable giving campaign," said Sharon Miller, NeighborImpact's Executive Director. “We appreciate our ongoing partnership with Mt Bachelor which helps to feed many families across the region. As part of this new charitable initiative we will be distributing the tickets within a few weeks so we hope folks will go out and ski for a good cause.”

Mt Bachelor will be celebrating its 50th anniversary on Dec. 19 via a range of events and invites the public to donate food to NeighborImpact on that day. The resort is also sponsoring a “Stuff the Bus” promotion that is currently generating food for donation.

“Assisting local kids and families in need, supporting venues that host and nurture local artistic and cultural activities, providing winter recreational opportunities on Mt. Bachelor for kids and those physically challenged, and protection of our cherished natural environment are the pillars of Mt. Bachelor,” said Rathbun.

**donutlynx** · 11-09-2008, 06:13 PM

Commencing Operation Poach Bachestache.

Willamette Pass is a terrible choice. Never gets any good snow, no backcountry options, and definitely NO trees to ski....

Just kidding. The 'Pass is a good place to be when the snow is flying.