to take the COO position at Northstar. What do you guys think? Personally I think Bill was the start of everything going south at Snowshoe, but a lot of people liked him.

How long was he there? I suspect a lot of things happened before his watch. My impression of how ski areas get into trouble is that they see their future in building condos, overbuild, and do not appreciate the flat or slowly declining skier population. They are then stuck with a lot of debt and a shortage of people to fill up those units and pay it off. How many times has Snowshoe gone bankrupt in the past? How do you make a small fortune in the ski business? Start with a large fortune.

Not sorry whatsoever. As a homeowner, his action or inaction made possible the quadrupling of utility bills on the mountain. As well, cutting the marketing department and decline of the summer programs, with a resulting decrease in year-round rental business. Then we have the gutting of volunteer programs such as the Courtesy Patrol, leading to mass resignations of volunteers from this extremely worthwhile program and the decrease in civility on the slopes, enforcement, and ultimately, customer enjoyment at Snowshoe. And for several years, some of the property owner councils boycotted payments to the resort. There's a lot unsaid. Perhaps there will be a new chance for a fresh start. Snowshoe is an incredible mountain and with the proper management, it could be an unbeatable place. It has the weather, the snow, the terrain and the infrastructure. It just hasn't had the leadership.

In retrospect, having skiied the shoe for nearly 30 years several truths are very evident. First, it has the most untapped potential of any area in the East. The property is massive, holds a decednt elevation and could be developed into a mega resort as intrawest has been attempting. They saw it as a diamond in the rough when purchased and have poured millions into improving annemities. Second, the mountain has destination written all over it for the occasional skier which is who they market to. Check it out on any given weekend and you will see more people from the southern states and midwest than any other eastern resort and they are spending money on their annual ski excursion. Groups, although important, are not the bread and butter of cash flow as they are in other ski areas. Third, and this is the most limiting and biggest hurdle the shoe has confronted is the infastructure needed to make it accessable to the metro areas it draws from. If it took only 5 instead of 9 hours to get there, folks may consider it their destination more often or may even buy a place there to use. I just don't think any one person is to blame for problems they have encountered. The economy has been in the tank for three years now, the banking industry self destructed and unemployment as a by product of the first two has slowed down discretionary spending. Give things time
and they will change. Most folks are impatient and that's the biggest problem facing not only the ski industry but out country as a whole.

Lou, I remember this happening back 15-20 years ago as well during the years leading up to the purchase by the Japanese consortium. Things may be running smoothly, then some half brain comes in, has ego problems, and half-asses the managemnt of people and resort managed properties. That's a big reason why I never bought at the shoe back in the early 90's when I could have picked up properties for as low as $20k.

Kwill, I think this is actually a bigger issue. I first skied the Shoe in high school in the 70s. Nothing on top but the original lodge. I agree is still has so much potential, but the access remains troublesome, even for those of us in the DC area.

But there is another aspect of issue that I have experience with, and that is many I know have abandoned trips to Snowshoe, and even Canaan, because of cheap flights and better conditions out west. No one could afford to take a family of 5 to CO or UT in the 70s and early 80s. Today it is well within reach of the traveling family.

I sure hated the increased Mtn Assessment. My water tastes the same but cost a lot more in 2010.

Bill Rock "resigns"...it's an early Xmas for Snowshoe and coal in the Northstar's stocking! LOL I for one (and may be speaking for most owners) will be breaking out the champagne!

Maybe we can bring SS back to the resort it used to be.

The first thing to a nice garden = clear out the Rocks!

Wow, I'm surprised by the POV's and impressed by DCski not deleting a thread because they are scared of not getting free lifties anymore, uh skinc. Bill's arrival at Snowshoe was shortly preceaded by Fortune purchasing Intrawest in 2005, so they can be to blame as much as him. When he showed up I was the terrain park manager and bought in to his "I'm a rider speach" just like everyone else. Three months later after seeing how he made decisions about slopes and other things, and asking all my employees how many times they had seen him on the slopes (3) I turned in my notice as I was not going to be a part of the destruction of our local snowboard community. In the years since, I've seen so may key people to the resort let go, and the promotion of people who do not ski and treat people they are in the military. No wonder the customer service is so poor, it would be hard for me to be in a good mood when treated like poo for $8 an hr. When I was there I can honestly say IMO we had the best parks and grooming in the region. Having rode 9 local resorts last year, I will now say they have the worst park of any resort I went to that had one, and second to worst grooming only behind Blue Knob, PA (but I think they only have one groomer, Snowshoe has at least 5).

Bruce, You're right on point. Still, he destroyed the 4-seasons lure of the resort and treated it as a cash cow. As well, there were countless people who volunteered every year in so many aspects of the resort - to great savings for the business end, and they got their face slapped with everything from onerous restrictions to eliminating comp tickets. The Adventure Center was another of the things which got gutted and today, is a shadow of what it used to be.

I just came back from the Shoe from getting my condo ready for the season and virtually everyone is cheering for Snowshoe and at the same time, feeling sorry for Northstar. At least I'm not interested in Tahoe anymore...

While I would agree that there were many cuts, etc. at Snowshoe during Bill's tenure, I am not sure how much was his doing, vice being forced to make more dollars for the cash starved larger Intrawest company.
The Colonel

Were that the case, among many other things, he would have endeavored to strengthen the volunteer programs which, at a nominal cost, provided incalculable benefits and profits for the corporation since these were unpaid volunteers, courtesy patrol, ski patrol, event hosts and hostesses, and guides. As it was, he was the prime instrument in gutting them. No other ski area in the East has done that, but instead have built up their volunteer programs to make up for revenue shortfalls and the whims of current day ski industry. And no other ski area has had as counterproductive results from doing that as Snowshoe has.

Another case in point, a sister thread to this has a prospective family going to the resort and they need child care. Well, this was also a volunteer activity until BR managed to shoo away volunteers. So nowadays, the mountain has little or any ways for child care.

Good riddance.

Obviously my error in judgement.
I surrender. May the new manager improve things...I guess there is nowhere to go but up!!!
Happy Thanksgiving to all DCSkiers!
The Colonel

Well, if he went to Northstar, then Vail Resorts hired him. Vail bought Northstar earlier this month.

Vail tends to like execs that are good at real estate, and Vail really doesn't care about anything else.