Down 15% nationwide

Down 25% in the Rockies

That's what low snow will do

vaildaily.com

Everything Vail is closed but Camelback continues

 Not only buy the guns, but commit to running them.  HV is reasonably well positioned to quickly make a larger volume (relative to skiable area) of pretty good manmade snow, and there were (literally) countless times I was there this year that conditions were suitable and either no guns were on, or just a few.

I hate to always seem negative but I do believe it's just Vail.  They aren't going to spend more than the minimum on investments OR operations, especially at "feeder" resorts.

snowsmith wrote:

What concerns me is resorts like Timberline and even banana belt resort Massanuten can get their resorts 100% open before 7S, HV and LM. Our resorts have similar operating seasons as North Carolina ski resorts! There needs to be a major investment in snow making. And since they can’t even do a paint job on the HV ski lodge, I don’t see that happening. Yeah , they buy a few snow guns each year.  They need to make more snow to offset climate change. 

Stephen wrote:

One issue is that even if there is snow many people stop skiing in the spring.

 At the same time, if a resort can keep an interesting run or two open then there are people who will show up.  Especially if lift tickets are not full price.  Seems to be working for Jay, Killington, Camelback, and Boyne Mountain.  Note that all three are 4-season resorts.  Green season operations start in May.

There are far fewer people skiing after the first week of April in the Rockies, both locals and travelers.  But there are a few ski areas that stay open, even as terrain becomes more limited.  I'm not thinking about destination resorts like Park City.  Brighton is the only mountain that has stayed open with 7-day operations in the last few weeks in LCC/BCC.  Brian Head also kept a few lifts running.  In both cases, a longer season was an opportunity to entice people to buy some sort of season pass for the upcoming season.

Camelback lift tickets were $50 when there was just the one long trail open from the top.

Boyne Resorts has understood the value of spring skiing for decades.  For that matter, it was the revenue from the 365-day chairlift in TN that provided seed money to build up their Michigan ski resorts initially.  Brighton day tickets have been $49 during late spring season, or someone could get a Spring Pass for $149 that started March 27, or someone could get a 2026-27 season pass as an early bird and use it during April and into May.  Boyne Mountain tickets in Michigan are $29 for the final May weekends to ski the "glacier" run.

Where resorts can make money on sunny spring weekends is with F&B, especially the bars.  Doesn't take that many people to run one lift.  A 4-season resort has the advantage of having more year round staff than a ski area/resort that doesn't have much, if any, revenue-generating operations during the summer.  I know of ski patrollers at Massanutten who become mountain bike instructors or bike patrollers during the green seasons.  Lifties can work at the golf courses or elsewhere on resort at one of the summer outdoor activities such as the Adventure Park.

Vail Resorts grew up based in Colorado and Tahoe.  The rules for the use of U.S. Forest Service land didn't allow building structures such as an alpine slide until after the law was changed in 2011.  Took a few years for the process to be developed for submitting plans for approval for summer stuff.  So it's only been a decade since VR has had revenue-generating outdoor activities at their resorts in the Rockies.  People don't usually book accommodations at a luxury hotel just to go hiking on national forest land.

Operators on private land in the midwest, southeast, and northeast have been running 4-season resorts for 50+ years.  Looking at Montage during the summer, if someone doesn't know what a chairlift is for they wouldn't have any idea about the steeper trails because they are below the main base that is at mid-mountain.  The base area of Montage becomes a water park.  The big flat area right in front of the main lodge hides a Lazy River during the winter months.  There is a large wave pool at the other end of the base area.

Montage, August 2021

 When HV snowmaking is rolling full bore, they can cover those hills no problem - it's not a big area. The techno alpins do crank. (1 or 2 weeks of sustained snowmaking lays it!)

They could use a couple more well placed guns I agree.  Even on "natural" runs with no fixed machines, they used to whip out the polecat portables - haven't seen much of that lately.

They are hamstrung by management, telling them what to do and when to use the restroom.

And even though many children learn to ski there (think future of ski and "ride"), most focus is on food and beverage sales while the season is in mid swing, which is what it is - have no doubt.

Many people stop skiing in the spring for sure. Apr 1 in NE people are essentially done. Forget die hards like perhaps those on this forum or myself.

It's cool in some ways that a large entity buys a small entity - but if the large entity doesn't make an honest effort, which do you gain?

In terms of actual nature - Cold start (not enough snowmaking in the cold snaps) - some natural, but nothing to write home about - the cold and wind held for most of the season until it hit a wall rather early.  Fair enough.  But this was a "snowmaking year" - a colder winter than the last few for sure ... weak response from operations.

snowsmith wrote:

I think at one time HV was well positioned to make snow. However, look at the gun spacing at Liberty, Roundtop, Timberline, Masanutten and Appalachian Ski Mtn. I would say these mountains have twice the number of guns. How can Masanutten get 100% open before any Laurel area ski resort. At this point from what I’ve seen over the last 2 years, Laurel Mtn seems to be able to make a lot of snow. They have a lot of snow guns. And they use them effectively. At HV and 7S,  It seems like Vail makes just enough snow to keep these resorts open thru a meltdown or two. Come March, post Presidents week, they seem happy to close the resorts. They’ve made their money.

 Agreed, LM makes good snow on the core sections of the mountain, pretty much every year.  However, they don't have snowmaking everywhere, and do not really have a consistent spread of snowmaking across all those sweet little connections there.  (And I'd argue nor should they.  What makes Laurel Laurel is good natural over all those other areas - that's what makes Laurel the special place that it is).  Places like 7S and HV, where the infra. was ultimately built to host snowmaking almost everywhere, you'd expect a decent effort from guns and hoses.

snowsmith wrote:

I think at one time HV was well positioned to make snow. However, look at the gun spacing at Liberty, Roundtop, Timberline, Masanutten and Appalachian Ski Mtn. I would say these mountains have twice the number of guns. How can Masanutten get 100% open before any Laurel area ski resort. At this point from what I’ve seen over the last 2 years, Laurel Mtn seems to be able to make a lot of snow. They have a lot of snow guns. And they use them effectively. At HV and 7S,  It seems like Vail makes just enough snow to keep these resorts open thru a meltdown or two. Come March, post Presidents week, they seem happy to close the resorts. They’ve made their money.

 Props... - a major player taking advantage of "late" snowfall.  Good on them, because it's been a really oddball season.

bob wrote:

A Basin had extended it's season again -- now ends a week from today- Fri - Sun only. This week's big snow made all the difference.