Tis the season to wondering what our friends at Vail may or may not be upon to this off season in terms of improvements at the Laurel Highlands resorts.
Any insights? Hoping for a new lift in the next few years on the North Face.
Meet the new boss, same as the old boss……
I just viewed the paving job this past weekend. Nothing but a series of small patchwork on the potholes, not a full pave job. Looks like crap. It's my understanding that Nutting still owns the road so this makes sense.
It is my understanding that she owned no Vail stock....NONE. Not much of a commitment to Vail's success, I would say. Maybe she'll go back to being a high fructose corn syrup peddler.
Patf1engineer wrote:
Meet the new boss, same as the old boss……
Re HV-
Yep - just a bunch of patchwork. The whole entrance needs to be repaved, rethought, redone. Same for the lodge / base area. Fix the clock. It's ostensibly the centerpiece of your lodge. Doesn't work.
There isn't an easy way to describe the feeling of homeowners sort of held captive. They put their money in, everyone buys passes. Everyone skis. They seem to make bank on HV with all the children learning and all the alcohol sold. They need to put something back in. And by they I mean Vail.
trickshotscott wrote:
I just viewed the paving job this past weekend. Nothing but a series of small patchwork on the potholes, not a full pave job. Looks like crap. It's my understanding that Nutting still owns the road so this makes sense.
imp wrote:
they are trying to remove the rattlesnakes from the lodge. no one is permitted in lodge or around it without dcnr supervision
Not safe for work or mixed audiences. You have been warned
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=amYzBQMT4VI&pp=ygUXc25ha2VzIG9uIGEgcGxhbmUgcXVvdGU%3D
Apparently Vail Resorts is re-organizing the Mountain Division based on type of resort, as opposed to just geography. The mid-Atlantic resorts will be in the Local group, with Tim Harris at the top. Harris grew up in Canada.
CRICHTON, DONNELLY, GIORGIO, AND HARRIS PROMOTED BY VAIL RESORTS - Oct 2021, SAM
" . . .
Tim Harris was promoted to the role of vice president of Midwest resorts. Harris began his career in Whistler, B.C., in 2009, serving as retail/rental operations manager before becoming general manager of multiple outlets across Whistler/Blackcomb. He relocated to Colorado in 2017 to work in Vail Resorts retail (VRR) as director of operations for Vail and Beaver Creek. Most recently as senior director of operations for VRR, Harris has led operations for the Western Region, including Whistler, Tahoe, Calif., Park City, Utah, and Stevens Pass, Wash.
. . ."
How Is Vail Planning To Rebound This Season?! Let's Chat with Tim Harris, Vail's Midwest VP - Oct 2022, YouTube
LOL the Nutting comment. He definitely slots above Vail as an owner. The only comfort I take is that my experience at Breckenridge last season was that Vail's approach there is barely different.
Who'd have thunk the mega-corp monopoly publicly traded owner hasn't been the best for the end user. Shocking.
What did Nutting improve at HV? The lodge, conference center and sports center have been abandoned by Nutting. The deck on the slope side of the lodge was in danger of collapse when Nutting sold to Vail. Same with the old 'Outback Lodge'. I will say Vail has not invested much in HV. But last year at LM, they did a great job of snowmaking and keeping LM is great shape. I don't see tight wad Nutting and his Rasputten, Eric Mauch slotting above Vail. Could Vail do better....yes, absolutely. Could they invest more in LM/7S/HV.....yes. Do you get to ski at 40 other resorts on the Epic Pass.....yes. How many resorts could we ski when Nutting owned us?? And the ski pass basically cost the same.
I skied at Breckenridge last April and had a fantastic experience. The year before I skied at Mt. Snow, Okemo and Sunapee and had a fantastic experience. Can we bellyache about investments in our beloved LM/7S/HV.....absolutely. But....the liftees are great, they make snow and provide a decent ski product. I will say the restuarants suck, just as they did when Nutting owned it (same management people). They are fixing up the HV ski lodge. I think we need to pressure Tim Harris....what/when are you going to invest in our resorts???
I will agree with you insomuch as your post is a long way of saying Vail's ownership has been nearly the same as Nutting's. Next to no investments or improvements of any kind. I will also agree the mountain manager at LM has been a welcome change, it gets much better treatment than HV as far as snowmaking etc.
The upside I saw to Nutting was that at least he lived and died on the success of 7S/HV/LM. They weren't feeder resorts for him, they were the only resorts.
My experience at Breck was that I stayed at their premier ski in ski out lodging (one ski hill place) and it was falling apart, even though it's quite expensive. On the mountain, they were in the middle of their ski patrol/liftie fiasco and they were having call offs etc and pulling people from other resorts to try to cover things, but strategically closing certain lifts or only opening half of the lift lines for any given lift. The employees who were there were stretched thin and disgruntled. If I owned it (just like HV), I would have been embarrassed about the experience I was providing to someone spending a lot to be there.
I didn't like Nutting as an owner at HV. Buncher was the last good owner, and at this point that's way in the rear view mirror. Kettler's meant well, though weren't perfect owners either. But I just really don't see how it's improved under Vail, in the sense of on the mountain locally where I do most of my skiing.
snowsmith wrote:
What did Nutting improve at HV? The lodge, conference center and sports center have been abandoned by Nutting. The deck on the slope side of the lodge was in danger of collapse when Nutting sold to Vail. Same with the old 'Outback Lodge'. I will say Vail has not invested much in HV. But last year at LM, they did a great job of snowmaking and keeping LM is great shape. I don't see tight wad Nutting and his Rasputten, Eric Mauch slotting above Vail. Could Vail do better....yes, absolutely. Could they invest more in LM/7S/HV.....yes. Do you get to ski at 40 other resorts on the Epic Pass.....yes. How many resorts could we ski when Nutting owned us?? And the ski pass basically cost the same.
I skied at Breckenridge last April and had a fantastic experience. The year before I skied at Mt. Snow, Okemo and Sunapee and had a fantastic experience. Can we bellyache about investments in our beloved LM/7S/HV.....absolutely. But....the liftees are great, they make snow and provide a decent ski product. I will say the restuarants suck, just as they did when Nutting owned it (same management people). They are fixing up the HV ski lodge. I think we need to pressure Tim Harris....what/when are you going to invest in our resorts???
Nutting did things to reduce liability, like the paved walkway from the parking lot to the lodge, and the trees planted that protect skiers from gardner traffic on rambler side.
Vail - another liability - a deck about to collapse.
I'm not sure what other improvements Vail is doing at the lodge (there are many possible improvements I could suggest), but feel free to enlighten me. Not being sarcastic, I may not know - even though I'm there frequently.
Also, agreed, by virtue of scale, you are getting better value with NE Value pass, better value than you had before with straight highlands pass.
snowsmith wrote:
What did Nutting improve at HV? The lodge, conference center and sports center have been abandoned by Nutting. The deck on the slope side of the lodge was in danger of collapse when Nutting sold to Vail. Same with the old 'Outback Lodge'. I will say Vail has not invested much in HV. But last year at LM, they did a great job of snowmaking and keeping LM is great shape. I don't see tight wad Nutting and his Rasputten, Eric Mauch slotting above Vail. Could Vail do better....yes, absolutely. Could they invest more in LM/7S/HV.....yes. Do you get to ski at 40 other resorts on the Epic Pass.....yes. How many resorts could we ski when Nutting owned us?? And the ski pass basically cost the same.
I skied at Breckenridge last April and had a fantastic experience. The year before I skied at Mt. Snow, Okemo and Sunapee and had a fantastic experience. Can we bellyache about investments in our beloved LM/7S/HV.....absolutely. But....the liftees are great, they make snow and provide a decent ski product. I will say the restuarants suck, just as they did when Nutting owned it (same management people). They are fixing up the HV ski lodge. I think we need to pressure Tim Harris....what/when are you going to invest in our resorts???
Also agree that LM staff has done a great job to keep that gem the gem that it is, just need maybe a little more snowmaking.
I think the main issue is that the 3 highlands resorts have a lot of automatic newbie/casual traffic every year (less so for LM). If the numbers look decent at each resort it may or may not translate to improvements / investments from a corporation managing from a distance. That sucks if you're a homeowner or a seasoned skier who just enjoys those ski areas.
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