EAST COAST ROLL CALL - Turn it up to 11

[biggins]

Don't mean to poke at the teachers on here (hard job, no doubt) but Vermont's spending per student is 70% above the national average and the student to staff ratio is the lowest in the nation. I know they don't pay you guys enough, so where is all that money going? School taxes are outrageous but there's no other way to get the funding because the corporate climate is so toxic.

Don't be sorry, VT Ed. spending as an economic black hole goes way back and is likely the one thing most f'ing up this state's economy. Causes: bussing for choice towns, reciprocity with private schools; Academies taking the cream off the top, state funding in pocket, with little or no obligation to serve special needs kids; hippies in Btown designing (but not implementing) flavor of the moment assessment ideas, a million school boards with voting powers and individual budgets, on and on, oy vey is this a patshke!

Edit: fine points by Ayo and NEK. But yeah- school spending/property tax and localism in spending politics is a gong-show.

Edit II: In spite of so much adversity, VT trudges along beacause it's so small. I can't help but feel like tourism CAN make a difference in this lil' place. I am a flatlander who came here after decades of tourism, I am, on paper, still a tourist. I want to play responsibly and see things help communities at the same time. I think it can be done (know it can- see it all over up here). Crying cranky on the interwebs... I can't figure what that accomplishes..?

Happy note- sunny and corntastic today for one INTENSE Ramshead skin lap. Again: intense.

[ex-powderbroker]

after thinking about all the great points in this thread, it’s pretty clear that the only thing vermont needs to get back on track is a MONORAIL

[biggins]

^^^

[From_the_NEK]

Monorail is sooooo last millennium. Hyperloop is the wave of the future!

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[BigDaddy]

As long as it goes directly to Montreal, I'm down with either one.

[Bottleman]

Attachment 222400

Sunsetting in the BB

PTT

[My Pet Powder Goat]

Monorail is sooooo last millennium. Hyperloop is the wave of the future!

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Great minds think alike, that was just my proposed solution for the LCC traffic problem in the 'Utah conditions' thread. So obvious...

[biggins]

Three words: drones.

[MyNameIsAugustWest]

Lots of inter-related and complex issues at play in Vermont. One thing leads to another. Bottom line, Vermont is beautiful and for better or worse, it sells. I may be wrong, but my thought is Vermont will never have the robust high paying economy of other states, as there are not enough skilled people for the labor pool.

People from the outside always assume this but it's really not true. UVM, for a very long time, fed the engineering and computer science workforce needs. When IBM first moved here, it was the tourism factor that drew the skilled workforce. But UVM totally changed its focus and began to produce highly qualified graduates throughout the 70s, 80s, & 90s and into the new millenium. You'd be shocked at the number of Engineering Ph.Ds that are working as screeners for TSA here.

[DoWork]

I love it when people throw around statistics with no context.

Dig a lite deeper into vermont economic status before you start assuming someone who is not all gushy about the growth of a clearly extractive and destructive sector of the economy has personal wealth. What I'm saying about tourism is so far from questionable, even the toirism industry recognizes It's true.

It can be tough to get through to the realities of the industry because there is so much marketing material out there. I also understand that it can be tough for someone who's deep in a venture like Magic to hear criticism, but don't put words in my mouth. Never said there was an easy alternative.
We should be transitioning to a more real production based economy.....no one suggested we should or could do it tomorrow, but at the same time we sure as fuck should not be looking to grow and expand it.
Do yourself a favor and look closer VT labor statistics, income inequality, and dependence of federal $. Track that with the growth of service industry jobs and the decline of production.

Trust fund. Heh. Yeah, trust funder here in my tiny house, with my rusty 12 year old vw and my 17 year old mtb, on old Tele boots and skis you would all throw away. Save the judgement bro. When Magic Mtn falls apart again let me know, I'll forward your resume to DarnTough.

I am critical of the toirism industry based on years of personal effort to understand it. You are all titty balls for it based on what? Just arguing with me? Fine. If you really believe that the continued growth of this industry will provide any significant number of resident upward economic mobility and fiscal security you're embracing ignorance but hey....that's what we do in 'Merica. We're exceptional after all.
https://youtu.be/GaD8y-CGhMw
https://vtdigger.org/2017/12/10/pete...ng-vermonters/

I never said I loved it, just that it’s a very real necessity for a lot of Vermonters and it is a massive eye roll when I see people dog on reality, then suggest some long-winded utopian socioeconomic upheaval as an alternative. It just seems like a “let them eat cake” kind of thing to me. Great idea and I’d be all for it- but not happening.

Until something better comes along, this is real life. Best to make it work for ya, and there’s plenty to be made with pride in all kinds of service industries. Fwiw I just left the domestic production sector and while the money is good it sucks there too- soulless work, crushing advancement and constantly fighting international contractors and tariffs blows. Cheers to being content with whatever shit you’re currently stepping in if your bills are all paid because of it and you love what you do or who it lets you be on the side.

[2ski2fish4ever]

another fun day of riding the lift and skiing the groomed concrete,but at least no need for mittens

[JerseyDave]

I never said I loved it, just that it’s a very real necessity for a lot of Vermonters and it is a massive eye roll when I see people dog on reality, then suggest some long-winded utopian socioeconomic upheaval as an alternative. It just seems like a “let them eat cake” kind of thing to me. Great idea and I’d be all for it- but not happening.

Until something better comes along, this is real life. Best to make it work for ya, and there’s plenty to be made with pride in all kinds of service industries. Fwiw I just left the domestic production sector and while the money is good it sucks there too- soulless work, crushing advancement and constantly fighting international contractors and tariffs blows. Cheers to being content with whatever shit you’re currently stepping in if your bills are all paid because of it and you love what you do or who it lets you be on the side.

IMO you're doing gods work at a small place like magic. As to the unlikely creation of utopia, amazing thing can rise from the ashes of a wrecked system. Things our generation thinks an unlikely scenario historically have happened many times in the last 2 centuries all over the world.
Make it work, I hear you. I work 5 jobs throughout the year and am the primary on kid duty. At the same time, wake up. You can't hide from the truth. Tourism sucks by any metric other than wealth inequality and pollution, and destruction of resources. It rules at that. You can throw up your hands and just go with it and live that excessive, rediculous lifestyle or make clear consumer choices to not feed that machine with your hard-earned money and free time....'cause how we spend is way more important than how we vote in the long run.
ps...spelling police.....fuk off.

[DoWork]

So how exactly does one have it both ways? You can’t have rad ski areas at all without skier visits aka tourists. It isn’t even about ridiculous lifestyles in most cases, it’s making the most of the you’ve got in the mountains IMO. Not everybody can be as cool as you and live here- and if they were they would have moved to VT by now chasing the dream just like you did and then they’d be pissing you off 10x as much. You should love that they spend inordinate amounts of cash, pay 2nd homeowner taxes and STILL fuck off 5 days a week if that’s your rage angle lol.

Excuse me tho, a whole row of Oreo Double Stuffs and a glass of whole by the fire calls my name.

[FussyDutchman]

Excuse me tho, a whole row of Oreo Double Stuffs and a glass of whole by the fire calls my name.

TGR post of the week right there and the first paragraph is runner up. I hope they were golden Oreos though!

Stoked dad day, kid finished 2nd in both her USASA single plank races today. First ever slalom race (typically a GS racer) and based on the conditions, it's a small miracle anyone finished, just a bit slick out there!

[BigDaddy]

^Props FD... very cool!

People from the outside always assume this but it's really not true. UVM, for a very long time, fed the engineering and computer science workforce needs. When IBM first moved here, it was the tourism factor that drew the skilled workforce. But UVM totally changed its focus and began to produce highly qualified graduates throughout the 70s, 80s, & 90s and into the new millenium. You'd be shocked at the number of Engineering Ph.Ds that are working as screeners for TSA here.

Yeah, I hear you. I had a couple friends that worked in the Essex IBM plant... even got a tour. More interesting than Ben and Jerry's.

So many factors in play in VT economy, so it's great bar fodder. I'm not going to attempt to delve into it here as I am not an expert, but would love to discuss more on the lift. In the meantime, I'm sorry someone feels so compelled to speak ill towards one of the more positive things in VT and this forum, the rebirth of Magic. I don't get the tourism hate, but hey, I'm just a flatlander/tourist.

[FussyDutchman]

Thanks BD

[Goniff]

Magic stoke.

[buttahflake]

Skied both days at Killington. Saturday was perfect weather and soft snow. Half hour lift lines, however I managed to pretty much ski on Needles Eye until lunch, whereupon, I bailed. The rain Saturday night, turned the hill into a vertical skating rink. Super Tacks would have been the prefect weapon. No lines anywhere, made for a fun but loud day.

[JerseyDave]

So how exactly does one have it both ways? You can’t have rad ski areas at all without skier visits aka tourists. It isn’t even about ridiculous lifestyles in most cases, it’s making the most of the you’ve got in the mountains IMO. Not everybody can be as cool as you and live here- and if they were they would have moved to VT by now chasing the dream just like you did and then they’d be pissing you off 10x as much. You should love that they spend inordinate amounts of cash, pay 2nd homeowner taxes and STILL fuck off 5 days a week if that’s your rage angle lol.

Excuse me tho, a whole row of Oreo Double Stuffs and a glass of whole by the fire calls my name.

The place we ski would still exist without tourists. Resorts are dumb and ugly. I'm not pretending to be cool, just being honest. Your perception of me is hilarious, and off base.
Before skiing turned into a product there were 5 times the number of places to ski in New England. It was accessible and affordable.
You're 100 percent WRONG about my feelings about folks moving here vs vacationing here. That's exactly what I'd like to see. I'd love to see our school full. You'd see that price per student drop to a more reasonable level if we weren't running a school at 60 percent capacity. Live here. Pay property taxes. Enjoy the resources. Buy an old house and fix it up. Open a business here.
Saying Magic's long term success is a long shot is not hating on Magic, it's reality. I doubt that's news to anyone involved. Scroll back to some trip reports and you'll see, "Conditions were great, place was a ghost town." Not sounding like a win to me. The large resorts that consolidated and made skiing prohibitively expensive for locals was horrible for "Skiing" from a local's perspective, as well as the economy and real estate development it brought with it. Interesting blurb....annoyingly chatty, but real.
https://megaphone.link/PPY7507826622

[AyoBeng]

It looks like we’ll be picking up 2-3” every few days for the next week or two. This thread needs more powder stoke.

[Peruvian]

Before skiing turned into a product there were 5 times the number of places to ski in New England. It was accessible and affordable.

Are you suggesting that the height of Vermont skiing is when every tilted pasture had a rope tow? Hahahahahaha.

One of the main issues keeping employers (and employees) out of Vermont is the lack of infrastructure. Cell service, high speed internet, and other information tech is pathetic in VT and the private sector is not going to resolve this without serious public pressure.

[JerseyDave]

Are you suggesting that the height of Vermont skiing is when every tilted pasture had a rope tow? Hahahahahaha.

If we were to measure success by how the activity improved the locals quality of life, then abso-fucking-lutely. Of course, once $ becomes the focus....you get something else. I ski in a farm field. On a rope tow and T bar. It's way more fun, and a way better vibe than when I take the boy to Sugarbush. I also had a pass at Stowe for years so I've seen the full range of the New England ski experience. I'd love to see 90 percent of the ski infrastructure removed from our "big" Mtns. Overdeveloped is a gross understatement IMO.

[cat in january]

Enough fuckin talkin about Vermont and its tourism. Start another thread and carry on if you must.

[Skidog]

If we were to measure success by how the activity improved the locals quality of life, then abso-fucking-lutely. Of course, once $ becomes the focus....you get something else. I ski in a farm field. On a rope tow and T bar. It's way more fun, and a way better vibe than when I take the boy to Sugarbush. I also had a pass at Stowe for years so I've seen the full range of the New England ski experience. I'd love to see 90 percent of the ski infrastructure removed from our "big" Mtns. Overdeveloped is a gross understatement IMO.

Then vt completely ceases to exist. Without tourism there is very little other than some pretty trees in fall to bring folks to VT.



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[DoWork]

The place we ski would still exist without tourists. Resorts are dumb and ugly. I'm not pretending to be cool, just being honest. Your perception of me is hilarious, and off base.

Before skiing turned into a product there were 5 times the number of places to ski in New England. It was accessible and affordable.
You're 100 percent WRONG about my feelings about folks moving here vs vacationing here. That's exactly what I'd like to see. I'd love to see our school full. You'd see that price per student drop to a more reasonable level if we weren't running a school at 60 percent capacity. Live here. Pay property taxes. Enjoy the resources. Buy an old house and fix it up. Open a business here.

Saying Magic's long term success is a long shot is not hating on Magic, it's reality. I doubt that's news to anyone involved.

The way you talk out both sides of your mouth simultaneously, and without pause, every day all day just blows my mind. It’s like I’m talking to two tools at once and neither is enjoyable. That must be so taxing to carry around. +vibes+

Also, Magic is slaying it right now fwiw. Way ahead of projections but that’s the beauty of a small operational footprint, a solid infrastructure investment plan and of course that quality marketing of a sweet differentiated product! All the town business owners I know and speak with regularly are *surprise* stoked at the bump in traffic too. Nice armchairing tho, we always get a good chuckle out of that.

Log -> fire



In actual ski stoke news, I’m going to be actually making some turns for Innkeepers Weds over at the B. Now that all the main projects are handled, I may just stay for the day and ride somebody else’s lift lol. Buttah I’ve got to come see you, I’m knocking on the top 10 but the fall of ‘16 tune isn’t doing me any favors in the gates on these SLs! Peruvian lets get together for turns, beers and that cash for those pants if you’re free! I’ve got two free tix in hand if anybody wants to go and I’m filling my vest with brews #fyeahgoldcard