Silverton TR

[MakersTeleMark]

It was actually March of 2009. Not like it matters. Good times indeed.

As for the operation, if they are going to keep their guide population they are going to have to run the lift, or buy a lot more birds.

[SKIP IN7RO]

Wonder who is gonna hold court from Jen's spot on the tailgate? See you next trip.

[BGSTi_403]

One thing that gives me hope they will maintain some sort of unguided: late season snow conditions tend to be quite variable given how far south Silverton is. If its snows, sun is too strong and the new snow will mank up quickly. You tend to get refrozen chunder in the morning, and every time I go we seem to get at least one day where there is cold snap or a stiff breeze and you don’t get any thawing at all, and you are just surviving down the glare ice one miserable turn at a time. All part of the adventure if you paid $240 for unguided pass, but dont think heliskiers would pay $1300 / day for that experience. Under prior ownership they would shut down the heli last week of March? So they can either close for the season way early or open it up for the masses and make some marginal $ and have that serve as bit of a marketing campaign for the heli season.

[jhyatt]

I've had some great times at Silverton mountain and in town.
Like most, I've had a mixed bag with guided. One day I was solo and they put me with a group of 7 buddies and I could see them roll their eyes at each other like "fuck this dude is going to mess up our day" but I more than hung with them and had an amazing day. The group dynamics at the bottom in the morning are like picking your kickball team in school! Don't put me with the fat kid!
I skied with mag @FiveLarge one day there on a BOGO. Hopefully they keep those.
But another day I remember waiting for this one out of shape guy all the time. But in the end I think we did the same number of runs anyway.
The way financial inequality is in our society today, I see this getting more exclusive and expensive. Probably keeping some guided dirtbag stuff to maintain the image of raw and rad so the folks that heli in from Aspen can take a selfie drinking a PBR on the dirty sofa in the yurt and claim they are extreme and down to earth.
In any case I don't see myself back skiing in Silverton for a bit due to some other financial priorities but I am grateful I had the opportunity to ski there a few times.


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[FiveLarge]

Had a great day with you, jhyatt! Unfortunately, they haven't done the BOGO for a few years now, so it's been awhile since I last did guided as the price has become steep for me.

Comes down to timing, but I've had better snow overall for unguided vs guided. Of course, quantity of quality is ideal, but guided experiences have always been solid. Unguided pass is a great deal.

Will be interesting to see how it unfolds, guessing this year will largely be business as usual due to timing of the transaction.

I've had some great times at Silverton mountain and in town.
Like most, I've had a mixed bag with guided. One day I was solo and they put me with a group of 7 buddies and I could see them roll their eyes at each other like "fuck this dude is going to mess up our day" but I more than hung with them and had an amazing day. The group dynamics at the bottom in the morning are like picking your kickball team in school! Don't put me with the fat kid!
I skied with mag @FiveLarge one day there on a BOGO. Hopefully they keep those.
But another day I remember waiting for this one out of shape guy all the time. But in the end I think we did the same number of runs anyway.
The way financial inequality is in our society today, I see this getting more exclusive and expensive. Probably keeping some guided dirtbag stuff to maintain the image of raw and rad so the folks that heli in from Aspen can take a selfie drinking a PBR on the dirty sofa in the yurt and claim they are extreme and down to earth.
In any case I don't see myself back skiing in Silverton for a bit due to some other financial priorities but I am grateful I had the opportunity to ski there a few times.


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[goldenboy]

For the guided season, I wish they had a deal where you make $20 for every piece of your guide's gear that you pick up during the day. I would have made money

[phishstx]

Came across this writeup from the lenders. "Thoughtful plans to elevate the currently raw experience" seems like real estate-speak for things are going to change.

JDI Realty LLC has agreed to provide first lien financing representing 37.5% of the capitalized acquisition cost of an iconic, expert-level boutique ski resort and adjacent helicopter skiing operation branded as Silverton Mountain Ski Resort/Silverton Heli Skiing, one of only two authorized helicopter skiing operations in all of Colorado. Located in the historic gold mining area of Silverton, Colorado and situated within the San Juan Mountain range, the resort is approximately 12 miles east of the renown Telluride, Colorado resort and ski area. In addition to +/- 670 acres of owned mountainside land, this acquisition will be comprised of +/- 1,300 acres of contiguous, undeveloped alpine land leased from the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (“BLM”) through at least October of 2047 plus approximately 29,000 acres of resort-contiguous alpine land permitted for helicopter skiing usage by the BLM. The acquisition will also include Silverton’s largest in-town commercial building of 10,000 square feet, contemplated for hospitality redevelopment and a smaller 1,500 square foot residential structure contemplated for employee housing redevelopment.

While the asset’s operations are profitable and growing, posting an 11% compound annual growth rate in ski visits over the past five years, our borrowers have articulated thoughtful plans to elevate the currently raw experience, extend the season and average stays and further drive revenues and profitability. The ski property has the approvals for the development of a base lodge building, a second mountainside lift and ten base mountain chalets. Sponsorship expects to meaningfully increase the number of available ski days, to add helicopter capacity and hospitality improvements both at the mountain and in town, and to dedicate significantly more dollars to the marketing effort. For 2023/2024, they are budgeting over 11 times what the seller has historically averaged in marketing expenses. As heli-skiing enthusiasts with deep financial backgrounds in both alpine skiing and heli-skiing operations, our borrowers own another heli-skiing operation in British Columbia, Canada as well as an online adventure travel platform, both of which will aid in this acquisition’s ongoing marketing.

[skaredshtles]

"Boutique ski resort"

[Foggy_Goggles]

With the 10x marketing budget, what will the pimping of the Overstoked Slash on Dirt look like.

Thanks for the pics. For better or worse, I feel like the same asshole living the same life however many years forward.

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[Buster Highmen]

With the 10x marketing budget, what will the pimping of the Overstoked Slash on Dirt look like.

... Sponsorship expects to meaningfully increase the number of available ski days, to add helicopter capacity and hospitality improvements both at the mountain and in town, and to dedicate significantly more dollars to the marketing effort.

Given that in recent years, the heli was running basically every day of the week during the guided season, guided chairlift skiing was Thursday-Sunday and unguided ran Wednesday-Sunday, I wonder what meaningfully increase the number of available ski days means. A longer spring would be sweet, but that's not typically a money maker. Does this mean more guided chairlift skiing? The staff was pretty maxxed out the last few years, everyone needs a weekend. Maybe there's a benefit for the average skier here?

add heli capacity means more helis I guess. Not much benefit for the average skier.

hospitality improvements both at the mountain and in town Well gee, maybe the portapotties at the mountain base will be replaced by heated bathrooms with Japanese seats? Kiss the tent goodbye? A lodge? All that requires water, so maybe a well with potable water at the lift base is first up? These seem like decent improvements, but the money will have to come from somewhere, likely you. As for the improvements in town, the sale evidently included the Old Miners Tavern, so maybe there will be a decent restaurant in town a la La Marmotte, Petit Maison or a decent Thai spot? More than that is going to be a cost passed down to consumers.

Change is inevitable, but in my experience, all of these ski area acquisitions have driven costs and crowds up and wrecked the previous experience.

[sarcasm]Maybe this will be different? Maybe a tram from Howardsville up to Dome Peak?[/sarcasm]

Thanks for the pics. For better or worse, I feel like the same asshole living the same life however many years forward.

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I'm not quite the same since I get to savor those days as I slide off to the rocking chair. And what daze they were.

[durangobrad]

With the 10x marketing budget, what will the pimping of the Overstoked Slash on Dirt look like.

Thanks for the pics. For better or worse, I feel like the same asshole living the same life however many years forward.

Sent from my Turbo 850 Flatbrimed Highhorse

Looks about the same as every year... posted 15 minutes ago.

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[Buster Highmen]

Looks about the same as every year... posted 15 minutes ago.

https://www.instagram.com/stories/si...2101640314517/

[hatchgreenchile]

Thanks for the link Phishstx. Change is inevitable.

I wonder how much terrain the new lift will serve. If you can hike all the way to the Sandwiches (and beyond?), I'll be giddy.

Meatball Couloir - 2020

[skier666]

My old TRs are a mess due to a change in hosting years ago but found some vids on my vimeo page haha.

[covert]

For better or worse, this is definitively the end of an era.

We may never see another North American ski area like Silverton was.

[Foggy_Goggles]

For better or worse, this is definitively the end of an era.

We may never see another North American ski area like Silverton was.

Thats kinda how I feel. I'm gonna prioritze getting there this season for that reason alone. I wish Covert would be there along with some of the OG guides. That would be a something. Maybe even but that bookback in around the private land to get to Colorado.

Watching people melt down from the chaos is part of the experience. Listening to people opine about how they would run the place frothing in the parking lot at 9:15 included. That place chews people out and spits them out like none other. Having your customers cry is probably not good for business.

It is such a crazy place and I'm gonna miss that.

[covert]

I'll probably be around. I just don't spend much time at the ski area anymore. You may see my truck on the side of the road.

This is the end of the 4th Silverton Mountain era, not the first. We're really only in the 3rd era of Silverton skiers. The changes are more incremental in that world. It will endure I think for at least another 5-10 years, or hopefully until I'm dead.

[covert]

Unguided day tickets are now listed at $99 on their website. Is that new?

[SKIP IN7RO]

Unguided day tickets are now listed at $99 on their website. Is that new?

IIRC, I looked last spring and they were $89 or $99.

[ASmileyFace]

First real storm of the season for silverton bump.

Found this article the other day. https://www.landdesk.org/p/silverton...i-area-changes There are a couple other interesting articles detailing early Silverton mountain stuff on his site too is you search around. The discussion between Aaron and local avalanche experts is particularly interesting.

[Name Redacted]

You guys like burritos and coffee?

https://www.skimag.com/ski-resort-li...1mKNBDlJzHsRKM

[jerlane]

Silverton’s version of Black Friday: White Sunday.

$645 for six heli runs on Sundays from 12/31-1/21. Seems like a really good deal.

They also have deals on three run/guided deals

https://go.theflybook.com/book/680/E...8/5503/package


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[skiracer88_00]

That really is a fantastic deal. You couldn't Heli ski anywhere in the world for less than that.

Maybe these new owners aren't trying to price out the ski bum after all.

[skaredshtles]

That really is a fantastic deal. You couldn't Heli ski anywhere in the world for less than that.

Maybe these new owners aren't trying to price out the ski bum after all.

Maybe not... but they're going to have to monetize their assets such that the ski bum simply gets priced out through nobody's fault.

I'd like to be wrong... but this is America, and I don't think I'm going to be wrong.

[PNWbrit]

You couldn't Heli ski anywhere in the world for less than that.

A quick search found a 6 run package under $600US in New Zealand.