Crested Butte and Stevens pass get Epic (as in bought by Vail)

[AdironRider]

I was just going to say that. Isn't Irwin just a couple of off grid houses and a base camp for cat skiing? I thought about building a place there a couple years back but everyone I talked to said it would be a permitting nightmare.

[skifishbum]

VR has actually saved this industry multiple times.

yeah right
saved it from what?

When you walk out the door in the morning, what matters most is not what type of skiing you do but whether that skiing is any good. On a waist-deep day, dropping into tight chutes or open bowls, down a sweet line throught the trees where pockets of wind-blown snow create so many natural lips and launching pads... So lets let the dubious bickering within our own sport die with it. The answer is already out there, along with the energy, the freedom, and the truth: What "saved skiing" is SKIING. - Tom Bie

with a name like shredgnar
your epic weenie goblin posts read more as skigrooms

[Name Redacted]

yeah right
saved it from what?

with a name like shredgnar
your epic weenie goblin posts read more as skigrooms

How many of these ski areas would have been dead in 5-10 years without large corporate investment?
I didn't say I ski Vail resorts, but I do enjoy the fact that they divert millions of folks away from where I do ski.

[Benny Profane]

I was just going to say that. Isn't Irwin just a couple of off grid houses and a base camp for cat skiing? I thought about building a place there a couple years back but everyone I talked to said it would be a permitting nightmare.

I skied Irwin Cats one day a long time ago. Rode a cat in from the end of a road just outside CB (awesome experience, got to ride up front in the right side Recaro with music blasting. 180 glass. Slow as shit. Lots of sleds passing us. So, just flatten it for the sledheads. Those people spend money. Beautiful place.

[glademaster]

I was just going to say that. Isn't Irwin just a couple of off grid houses and a base camp for cat skiing?

Yes, that's all it is precisely because you can't drive there 6 months a year.

[goldenboy]

Well, it's officially official: http://news.vailresorts.com/corporat...aksclosing.htm

[teleee]

Well, it's officially official: http://news.vailresorts.com/corporat...aksclosing.htm

I was hoping they would roll CB season passes into the Epic Pass program, wishful thinking.

[Name Redacted]

I was hoping they would roll CB season passes into the Epic Pass program, wishful thinking.

Because you already bought a CB pass and they won't convert it to Epic? That does suck/

[goldenboy]

I was hoping they would roll CB season passes into the Epic Pass program, wishful thinking.

Pretty sure you just have to change it:

"If I bought an Okemo, Mount Sunapee or Crested Butte pass, am I entitled to a refund?

No. However, we will be allowing pass holders who purchased an Okemo, Mount Sunapee or Crested Butte pass to exchange their pass for another product, should they want to. Depending on the price difference between the two products, you will either be charged the balance or refunded the difference. Please note, exchanges for products purchased prior to the 6/4 2018 acquisition announcement will be eligible to receive pricing and benefits on their new pass in line with those available on the acquisition announcement date for a limited time. For those who purchased post 6/4/2018 guests will be eligible to upgrade or exchange to an Epic Season Pass product at the price and benefit offering available for that product on 10/7/2018. Additional information on the process for exchanging pass products to be announced in the coming days. Once the refund exchange process has been announced guests will able to exchange at 10/7/2018 pricing for a limited time."

[teleee]

Pretty sure you just have to change it:

"If I bought an Okemo, Mount Sunapee or Crested Butte pass, am I entitled to a refund?

No. However, we will be allowing pass holders who purchased an Okemo, Mount Sunapee or Crested Butte pass to exchange their pass for another product, should they want to. Depending on the price difference between the two products, you will either be charged the balance or refunded the difference. Please note, exchanges for products purchased prior to the 6/4 2018 acquisition announcement will be eligible to receive pricing and benefits on their new pass in line with those available on the acquisition announcement date for a limited time. For those who purchased post 6/4/2018 guests will be eligible to upgrade or exchange to an Epic Season Pass product at the price and benefit offering available for that product on 10/7/2018. Additional information on the process for exchanging pass products to be announced in the coming days. Once the refund exchange process has been announced guests will able to exchange at 10/7/2018 pricing for a limited time."

Ha I got the email about 15 minutes after posting.

[goldenboy]

What the hell, I didn't get an email I just dug through the Epic website

[teleee]

What the hell, I didn't get an email I just dug through the Epic website

if you are saying I’m lazy you are correct

[Pancakes]

Vail is run by an asshole C level executive team. Everyone in that company at the top is a bloodsucking slimebag who should be tar and feathered for what they've done to the soul of Colorado skiing. If they read this, I hope they break their legs on the hill. It's too bad, Crested Butte was cool. I'm sad to see it compromised.

[riff]

Tell us how you really feel, don’t hold back.


Sent from my iPhone using TGR Forums

[AmmergauerTele]

So Vail is publicly traded and are beholden to the stock holders and are there to make money.....most likely just like every other publicly traded company? They hooked me and my family up with a $99 military pass to be used at Vail owned resorts (non-partner). Stowe, Vail, BC, CB, Whistler.....that is ridiculous!

[The SnowShow]

^^^that’s awesome. What a way to say thank you.

[Sirshredalot]

So Vail is publicly traded and are beholden to the stock holders and are there to make money.....most likely just like every other publicly traded company? They hooked me and my family up with a $99 military pass to be used at Vail owned resorts (non-partner). Stowe, Vail, BC, CB, Whistler.....that is ridiculous!

The military pass is one of the things they do well. They probably feel that the positive press is worth it.

Groomers too crowded to ski safely and effectively, paid parking, and $14 hamburgers definitely look like success to the suits in Broomfield, though.

It is what it is.

[TAFKALVS]

Groomers too crowded to ski safely and effectively, paid parking

Hate to say it, but that's resort skiing in the 21st century... unless you go to a throwback hill that has low snowfall, crappy infrastructure and is a long way from anything or anywhere.

Don't blame Vail. Blame the NEPA process that drag the planning phase of new development out 10 - 20 years and can cost millions in lawsuits from kooky environmental groups and Tribes.

and $14 hamburgers

That's any ski area. Blame inflation.

[The SnowShow]

The military pass is one of the things they do well. They probably feel that the positive press is worth it.

Groomers too crowded to ski safely and effectively, paid parking, and $14 hamburgers definitely look like success to the suits in Broomfield, though.

It is what it is.

There are easy ways around most of those extra costs if you’re not a gaper.

[Sirshredalot]

Hate to say it, but that's resort skiing in the 21st century... unless you go to a throwback hill that has low snowfall, crappy infrastructure and is a long way from anything or anywhere.

Don't blame Vail. Blame the NEPA process that drag the planning phase of new development out 10 - 20 years and can cost millions in lawsuits from kooky environmental groups and Tribes.


That's any ski area. Blame inflation.

I mean, the crowds are not exclusively Vail's fault, and there are factors at work in the crowding beyond the corporate strategy of Bob Katz and NEPA review. Diminished snowfall and warmer temps mean you can't operate a ski hill without heavy duty snowmaking. Liability insurance is brutal.

$14 hamburgers are definitely not strictly due to inflation. It's part of the corporate strategy of Vail. You pack as many people in as you can via cheap season passes and then gouge as hard as you can on everything else.

You could argue that it ends up being a good deal if you are a pocket sandwich mid-week kind of skier.

In any case, it is what it is these days. Clever people take things as they are and try to work it in their favor.

[Name Redacted]

You guys who think Vail is the only ones charging $14 for a burger are cute. Monarch mountain charges $16 for a bacon cheeseburger. Should we create an index similar to the "Big Mac Index" for ski resorts?

BTW, 22 years ago I was the guy who transported food to the coolers of the on mountain restaurants at Keystone. If you knew how involved it was, you might realize why it costs so much. We shipped stuff across two gondolas and hauled it around with snow cats.

Not trying to make excuses for Vail or anything, but they charge $10 for a fucking Bud Lite at Fiddlers Green. It's the way of the world. Captive audiences will be charged a premium. At least you can still BYO at the ski area. I usually have a grill and some hot dogs and a cooler of beer. Rarely make it into the lodge, and when I do, I don't buy shit.

[The SnowShow]

You guys who think Vail is the only ones charging $14 for a burger are cute. Monarch mountain charges $16 for a bacon cheeseburger. Should we create an index similar to the "Big Mac Index" for ski resorts?

BTW, 22 years ago I was the guy who transported food to the coolers of the on mountain restaurants at Keystone. If you knew how involved it was, you might realize why it costs so much. We shipped stuff across two gondolas and hauled it around with snow cats.

Not trying to make excuses for Vail or anything, but they charge $10 for a fucking Bud Lite at Fiddlers Green. It's the way of the world. Captive audiences will be charged a premium. At least you can still BYO at the ski area. I usually have a grill and some hot dogs and a cooler of beer. Rarely make it into the lodge, and when I do, I don't buy shit.

This. How much does Mile High charge for shitty good and beer? Same or more. It’s not hard to get around all that bullshit but most are too lazy and they prey on lazy tourons.

[goldenboy]

OK, bumping this thread as the season winds down in Crested Butte.

I'm still not sure what to think of this Vail thing, curious what those of you who have been under Vail forever think. You can tell that Vail is run by lawyers. The number of signs and ropes must be 4x what it used to be. And the employees have a ton of new rules. Patrollers are rightly pissed that there are no more beers in the locker room- which used to be a time for camaraderie and going over the days events.

I think that what happened yesterday has me pretty concerned, though. April 1st, so plenty of longboards, snowlerblades, costumes, and people having fun. I was just skiing and didn't notice anything that was remotely a big deal. But they closed 10-15 minutes early, because "people are partying". What? I wasn't skiing by then, but why punish people that aren't "partying", whatever that even means. Is that normal VR behavior? Am I going to get denied one of the last chairs on closing day, since people will be having fun that day too?

[californiagrown]

OK, bumping this thread as the season winds down in Crested Butte.

I'm still not sure what to think of this Vail thing, curious what those of you who have been under Vail forever think. You can tell that Vail is run by lawyers. The number of signs and ropes must be 4x what it used to be. And the employees have a ton of new rules. Patrollers are rightly pissed that there are no more beers in the locker room- which used to be a time for camaraderie and going over the days events.

I think that what happened yesterday has me pretty concerned, though. April 1st, so plenty of longboards, snowlerblades, costumes, and people having fun. I was just skiing and didn't notice anything that was remotely a big deal. But they closed 10-15 minutes early, because "people are partying". What? I wasn't skiing by then, but why punish people that aren't "partying", whatever that even means. Is that normal VR behavior? Am I going to get denied one of the last chairs on closing day, since people will be having fun that day too?

Just wait till they start demanding to search backbacks for beer in the liftlines and hiring police to cruise the lots looking for open containers. Can't have people drinking beer they didnt buy from VR!!!

FYI, this is already a reality at a couple VR ski areas. Pretty shitty. But then again, just party on the low key days, avoid the shitshow days and you should be golden.

[goldenboy]

Just wait till they start demanding to search backbacks for beer in the liftlines and hiring police to cruise the lots looking for open containers. Can't have people drinking beer they didnt buy from VR!!!

FYI, this is already a reality at a couple VR ski areas. Pretty shitty. But then again, just party on the low key days, avoid the shitshow days and you should be golden.

Maybe I should be more clear, I rarely drink while skiing and could care less about that subject. I'm more concerned with the early lift closure to everyone.