Mountain Creek Files for Bankruptcy

trackbiker

Surprised no one posted this yet. Are you Jersey people all at the beach?

flbski

it’s the shore, not the beach

lotsoskiing

first i had heard of it. Would not surprise me. Really limited skiing product (terrain) and crowded slopes on key weekends, coupled with horrendous weather. 

joshua_segal

<blockquote class=“Quote” rel=“lotsoskiing”>first i had heard of it. Would not surprise me. Really limited skiing product (terrain) and crowded slopes on key weekends, coupled with horrendous weather. </blockquote>

Really? 30 miles out of Manhattan? Lines all the time?  They are to NYC what Wachusett is to Boston.  If it’s not a gold mine, it can only be due to mismanagement.

lotsoskiing

I meant the terrain is very limited for even modest crowds. Never said ‘lines all the time’. Their terrain is not even close to that of Wachusett’s.

trackbiker

<blockquote class=“Quote” rel=“flbski”>it’s the shore, not the beach</blockquote>

Sorry, “ Were you’s guys all down the shore?”

The tab for posting a link to the article wasn’t working.

NJSki

<blockquote class=“Quote” rel=“trackbiker”><blockquote class=“Quote” rel=“flbski”>it’s the shore, not the beach</blockquote>

Sorry, “ Were you’s guys all down the shore?”

The tab for posting a link to the article wasn’t working.

</blockquote>

If you are going to insult us, please use proper improper verbiage.YOUZ GUYZ: Improper way of saying “You Guys”.  Mainly used by people from the East Coast of the US.Sgt. Egan said to the whole office “Hey Youz Guyz, clean up my snackbar”     

NJSki

<blockquote class=“Quote” rel=“joshua_segal”><blockquote class=“Quote” rel=“lotsoskiing”>first i had heard of it. Would not surprise me. Really limited skiing product (terrain) and crowded slopes on key weekends, coupled with horrendous weather. </blockquote>

Really? 30 miles out of Manhattan? Lines all the time?  They are to NYC what Wachusett is to Boston.  If it’s not a gold mine, it can only be due to mismanagement.</blockquote>

Yup, 40 years of it. Lots of dirty politics up there. Everything is done half-assed, and there are no corners that have not been cut. So much potential that has been squandered away, leaving an entire generation with a bad impression of the place no matter who the owners are. Intrawest was the only good thing to happen up there, but they picked up the place for a song, but most of their plans were squashed by the local politics and then the crash of the real estate market.

rickbolger

Really? 30 miles out of Manhattan? Lines all the time?  They are to NYC what Wachusett is to Boston.  If it’s not a gold mine, it can only be due to mismanagement.</blockquote>

Joshua is correct in his assessment. It is a gold mine, from time to time holistically speaking it is mismanaged, usually in regards to hotels, failed cabin timeshares, etc. But make no mistake the on-mountain skiing product is keenly managed and profitable.

 I respectfully disagree to some extent with the “Everything…half-assed” comment above. While it is indeed frustrating to have such a large and pretty darn good ski area suffer from a series of bad decisions, they run a top ski school (no corners cut there), the new lodge is one of the best in the business for moving people to the slopes and is very attractive and spacious, and the snowmaking is excellent.  Bill Benneyan is the guy who runs the place, he’s a pro.

Yes they’ve closed trails (agree lots of corners cut!!!) and the cabriolet is not ideal and the parking is terrible and there are too many rude people and misbehaved kids. Biggest problem is a history of really bad moves in terms of financing and real estate, (agree 100% with NJSki on that part) including stock fraud in the 80s, a poorly conceived and ultimately failed timeshare cabin complex back in the 90s (Great American Recreation) , and the absolute failure of an Intrawest Potemkin Village in the 00s resulting in a hideous, ridiculously placed hotel with empty store fronts. But the skiing part – considering where they are and what they got, they do a good job.

" the company blames the filing on a lack of liquidity based due to a combination of warmer winter temperatures, litigation, and the lingering impact from the residential real estate crisis."

Sounds nice but…. If you dig deeper, the municipality has an exorbitant sewer bill due to the county utilities authority, and Mountain Creek has the lion’s share of that bill. $65 million I think, but don’t quote me on that. I really think this is mostly about that; it’s just the way big money real estate people do things as a way of doing business. They don’t want to pay the crazy sewer bill, plain and simple.  

This is Jersey.  Trash and sewage are the bulk of our GDP.

Anyway, the correct spelling is “youse”,  except in second person past perfect tense it is “yuz”

example, “Did yuz take those subs to the shore?” 

Another thing we say in Jersey is “I know a guy.”  I looked at the filing and said exactly that 

;)

obienick

From what I’ve read they’re trying to get out of their sewer bill. Previous ownership wanted to expand housing. Town needed to expand sewer. Ownership agreed to pay 65% of costs. Current ownership sees no massive expansion on the horizon and wants to get out of its obligation.

What I want to know is who the heck rents condos at a place 30 minutes from a megalopolis?  No local will rent. And if you are traveling up from the south there’s got to be better places to stay with more après-ski activities to do.

newman

To a lot of people from Queens, Brooklyn, Statten Island and even places like Bayonne, Vernon is a million miles away. To the real city folk Vernon is what the northern White Mountains are to SJers. Far away quiet country.

NJSki

</blockquote>

You are correct Rick. I used too broad a brush to paint the whole operation. I have not used the ski school in decades, so I cannot relate to how things have been lately, so I should not comment on it. The new lodge is beautiful and well designed. Unfortunately, it took nearly a decade of dealing with the “temporary” bubbles to get this done. I guess if the village had been built out, the issues with the hotel and parking might make a little more sense. For a place that packs em in on weekends, they should be expanding the trail count, not decreasing it like they seem to do on a yearly basis.And don’t get me started with that Cabriolet, and the way they ruined Great Gorge South with that den of denizens.

z1000307470

Unless Mountain Creek has moved, it is still over 50 miles from Manhattan and, if you are lucky and hit all the lights, 1:30 of travel time.  This MC ownership group is very similar to the ownership group that ran it into the ground before Intrawest. Vernon is going to get stuck with a big bill, although, maybe they deserve it.

njskibabe

This is left over debt from when Gene Mulvihill owned the resort.Mountain Creek cannot expand the trail count because it is surrounded by State Land.  This is not the first time that Great Gorge, Vernon Valley/Great Gorge, Mountain Creek has filed for bankruptcy.The new lodge is nice - but it is not big enough. Not enough seating. The Schuss bar upstairs should also be much bigger. But it doesn’t matter since everything closes down at 9:00PM every night.Taking out all of the lifts that gave skiers and boarders options of where to go was a huge mistake - everyone is funneled to the top of the slopes where some of them have no business being there because they can’t handle the terrain. All of the mid stations and sectional lifts were taken out by Intrawaste.  Two lifts at South make horrible lines. There is NO control over them either.  Two lifts on the Vernon side are also no good. Especially when the Cabriolet is constantly NOT running because of wind, etc…. That leaves 1 lift to get to the top - the Triple.Need more lifts.Need people who know how to do their job.Hopefully it doesn’t close for good.  I don’t want to add it to my lost list of NJ ski areas.  That would only leave us with 2 ski areas. 1 public and 1 private.  Public one: Campgaw Mountain - Mahwah, NJ.  Private one: National Winter Activity Center - Vernon, NJ.3 sporting goods stores are also closing this year:  Heino’s Ski & Bike - closed April 30th. Dover Sports Center - closing by the end of the year. Neal’s Sports Emporium - closing soon.

lotsoskiing

Seems like could be room for terrain on Granite (the middle one), or is it too steep/rocky to be worthwhile?

NJSki

<blockquote class=“Quote” rel=“njskibabe”>Mountain Creek cannot expand the trail count because it is surrounded by State Land.  Taking out all of the lifts that gave skiers and boarders options of where to go was a huge mistake - everyone is funneled to the top of the slopes where some of them have no business being there because they can’t handle the terrain. All of the mid stations and sectional lifts were taken out by Intrawaste.  Two lifts at South make horrible lines. There is NO control over them either.  Two lifts on the Vernon side are also no good. Especially when the Cabriolet is constantly NOT running because of wind, etc…. That leaves 1 lift to get to the top - the Triple.Need more lifts.</blockquote>

I am going to have to disagree with you on these points. The trail count can be expanded within the current borders of the ski area. It could be expanded/increased by reopening and reworking some of the many closed trails. I believe mid-stations are a thing of the past due to increased insurance rates for areas that have them. They are disappearing. The two lifts at South are both high speed quads, and can easily move more people than the three fixed grip doubles that they replaced, so lines should be better than in the past. I agree with the lack of control though. This is a direct result of the skier/boarder demographic that frequents the resort these days. The Cabriolet is a disaster that should have never happened. I wish they would have swapped it with another Intrawest high speed lift when they had the chance. I don’t think they need more lifts, just more efficient use of what they have. I also believe with the current crowded trail situation, adding more lifts will be dangerous.

lotsoskiing

Is wind the issue with the cabrio? Or its capacity? Loading/unloading issues? Only ridden one and that was the transfer lift at Tremblant. Pretty meh.

newman

More mechanical issues than wind closers. It was originally planned to be cabins in summer and hsq chairs in winter. I’m not site what ever reason changed things with that. The quad on Granite Peak is designed to convert from fg to hs, if they ever wanted to.

JMaul

<blockquote class=“Quote” rel=“njskibabe”>…… Intrawaste.  ……..</blockquote>

ciscokid

I had 2 nieces (twins)and their brother all High Point students had season passes as Christmas gifts. My brother said under $300 each. Said the 3 of them went at least 25 times this past winter driving themselves so he said it was a great year there.

I just live off GG VV memories.