Vail Sucks 2021/20??

rickbolger

obienick;c-52756 wrotehttps://www.conwaydailysun.com/news/local/tough-early-sledding-for-vail-at-attitash-wildcat/article_58feff4e-6e62-11ec-b4a8-2bf8fe1a096d.html

there is a "snowjournal" mentioned in that article :p :o :D

NewEnglandSkier13;c-52767 wroteHere's a good read about the issues with Vail: https://coloradosun.com/2021/12/31/labor-shortage-vail-resorts-ski-areas-understaffed-omicron/

and one of the points I tried to make in the Crotched thread is repeated in the Colorado Sun article:

“It’s not that there are not enough talented people. There is a shortage of people who will get duped into working for $15 an hour,” the Breckenridge patroller said of Lynch’s assessment. “This is about communities running out of cheap labor. People are realizing they are worth more and their quality of life is worth more than an extra dime an hour or whatever.”

TomWhite

Liftblog.com has several articles with links about Vail:
Vail Resorts officially takes ownership of Seven Springs, Laurel Mountain and Hidden Valley.
Vail faces a mountain of criticism for operational struggles from Colorado to Washington, Ohio, New Hampshire and beyond.
Vail slashes operating days and/or hours at Crotched Mountain, Hidden Valley, Snow Creek, Boston Mills/Brandywine/Alpine Valley and Mad River Mountain due to employee shortages.
Stevens Pass rope evacuates two chairlifts in one day citing power outages.
Park City Chief Operating Officer Mike Goar sits down for an extended interview to explain some of the issues facing Vail.

conrad

"Idle Lifts, Bare Slopes, Stunted Operating Hours: Vail Must Do Better"
https://www.stormskiing.com/p/idle-lifts-bare-slopes-stunted-operating
(Storm Skiing Journal)

FlyingZ

more bad news for vail. A chair fell off the beginner snowcat lift at wildcat with an injury was reported. let's hope it's not serious.

ski_it

ADKskier;c-52765 wroteAnother reason why Vail sucks perhaps.....this looks rough!

When I 1st saw that I thought it had to be CGI. When & which chair?

conrad

Apparently of the three Ohio resorts supposed to open yesterday, only Boston Mills is open (M-F: 3:30pm-9:30pm and Sat-Sun: 9am-5pm). Brandywine and Alpine remain closed, but will open "as soon as possible."

lotsoskiing

conrad;c-52834 wroteApparently of the three Ohio resorts supposed to open yesterday, only Boston Mills is open (M-F: 3:30pm-9:30pm and Sat-Sun: 9am-5pm). Brandywine and Alpine remain closed, but will open "as soon as possible."

They are making snow like crazy at BW. Don't know about AV

trackbiker

Wall Street is taking notice of Fail.
https://vaildaily.com/news/wall-street-taking-notice-of-vail-resorts-issues/

rickbolger

photos and videos of the lift lines coming out of Park City are pretty grim

Now the Park City ski patrol is threatening to walk out, what's the plan B if they do?

z1000307470

There are rumors that Hunter West will not open this year. That is a huge fail.

Brklynskier

z1000307470;c-52950 wroteThere are rumors that Hunter West will not open this year. That is a huge fail.

That would be unbelievable, especially after the current cold snap.

One of my big gripes with Vail before the buying frenzy is that they seemed to discourage the use of their expert slopes. We've had mountain ambassadors at Breck not give us directions to double black trails when asked. They would only suggest blues.

Similar issues at Canyons / Park City where I'm told that I don't want to go down a trail because it's steep, narrow, and has trees on it. They wouldn't relent when I said that's precisely the reason that I wanted to go down it.

I may be wrong, but it appears that the pattern of lift and trail openings out east, plus the cutbacks in terrain parks seems to be a conscious choice to cater to beginner intermediate skier / boarders at the expense of experts. There may be an insurance / liability issue at play here.

lotsoskiing

Brklynskier;c-52951 wrote
z1000307470;c-52950 wroteThere are rumors that Hunter West will not open this year. That is a huge fail.
That would be unbelievable, especially after the current cold snap.

One of my big gripes with Vail before the buying frenzy is that they seemed to discourage the use of their expert slopes. We've had mountain ambassadors at Breck not give us directions to double black trails when asked. They would only suggest blues.

Similar issues at Canyons / Park City where I'm told that I don't want to go down a trail because it's steep, narrow, and has trees on it. They wouldn't relent when I said that's precisely the reason that I wanted to go down it.

I may be wrong, but it appears that the pattern of lift and trail openings out east, plus the cutbacks in terrain parks seems to be a conscious choice to cater to beginner intermediate skier / boarders at the expense of experts. There may be an insurance / liability issue at play here.

like everything else: That's where the money is.

z1000307470

Hunter still has not opened Lower K27, Upper Crossover or Racers Edge. Hunter is at 49% open and just 10 miles away, Windham is at 74% open. It will be a big bummer for Vail if this Sun-Mon storm hits and they have to open Hunter West.

ski_it

z1000307470;c-52950 wroteThere are rumors that Hunter West will not open this year. That is a huge fail.

Why won't it? Because they don't want to make snow on it? It's only January 12th so pretty early to throw the towel in on mother nature, so it must be staffing?

z1000307470

ski_it;c-52957 wrote
z1000307470;c-52950 wroteThere are rumors that Hunter West will not open this year. That is a huge fail.
Why won't it? Because they don't want to make snow on it? It's only January 12th so pretty early to throw the towel in on mother nature, so it must be staffing?

Historically, some of the first trails they open after some of the main face is open is on Hunter West. This allowed them to run the Zephyr HSQ and spread the crowds. The 2 are Way-Out, a blue/black trail that is off the Belt Parkway and Claire's Way, a top to bottom mostly double diamond.

Brklynskier

Historically (pre North) they opened Way Out early to take some traffic off of Belt Parkway and the A lift / Flyer. Opening Claire's Way's was also a priority to take traffic off of the front side as well.

On the main mountain not having Racer's Edge open is a huge loss for a holiday weekend. With it open, you could do laps on the D lift and avoid the crowds on the upper mountain. Lower K-27 has been an afterthought for awhile.

It really looks like they want to open as few lifts as possible and could give a hoot about the expert terrain.

ski_it

Non-Refund Update:
So far the new claims company for Vail Resorts, Inc. is turning out to be just as incompetent as the first. Well, Vail shareholders must think the opposite.

12/01/2020 Initial claims filed.
2020 - Many, many phone calls & emails to Vail & ACM. Claims closed without comment or said we did not provided additional info, which we did.

12/11/2021 BBB complaint filed. AG complaints sent to CO, VT and MA.

All communications from 12/16/2021 on:
12/16/2021 Vail Resorts, Inc said they would resubmit our claims to the new claims company and we could submit additional info & they would respond in 5-8 days.
12/22/2021 We sent all the previous info plus additional info.
1/5/2022 Sedgwick said, "In the days following 11/1/2021, you will receive communication from the Sedgwick Specialist assigned to handle your refund request, which will include their direct contact information as well as a reminder of what information is still required from you to allow us to proceed with the handling of your refund request.”
1/12/2022 Sedgwick said, "I am writing to update you on the status of the refund request you submitted 60 days ago. Unfortunately, all requested documentation has not been received; therefore we are closing your refund request at this time. If we receive the documentation listed below, we will reopen your request, review the documentation, and provide you with an update. I have not received the following information:"

There is nothing listed under that.
It hasn't even been 30 days...
They haven't requested ANYTHING.

Sounds like a scene from The Office. (Actual not, because they have not said they will fix our problem.)

Meanwhile:
The Colorado AG sent a nice fraud report form letter reply saying in summary "Sorry Charlie" along with some helpful links to such as a list of lawyers in CO, the BBB, etc...

"As a result, we will keep the information obtained from your complaint as part of our ongoing efforts to identify businesses that may engage in patterns of deceptive practices in Colorado. Although we cannot take direct action to resolve your individual concerns, you may also wish to file a report with the Better Business Bureau (BBB)"

NewEnglandSkier13

I drove by Wildcat on the way back from Black today around 4:45. It was 19 degrees at the base, and they had zero snowmaking going on. Even Black had already started up their snowmaking by the time the lifts closed. Are they even trying to expand terrain at Wildcat at this point?

rickbolger

NewEnglandSkier13;c-53091 wrote Are they even trying to expand terrain at Wildcat at this point?

Last year they opened a WROD and stalled, moved a few guns around, and generally killed time waiting for natural snow. Eventually it snowed. People complained but they sold more passes in spite of it.

Today it is snowing

Chuckstah

Happy to see MTN stock down below $288, a big fall from a fairly recent high of $376. Hopefully, this will be a wake-up call that things need to improve. Shorts are happy right now 😉

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