Hi all, happy middle-of-the-summer;
Here's hoping that management reads this, (I have a sneaking suspicion they do).

The wife and I have decided to go another season with passes. We were going to jump ship and try Okemo/Stratton, but the gas prices have made us rethink and stick closer.

That said:

Here's hoping that "they" don't spend all the grooming/snowmaking bucks on the new terrain. While I'm certainly looking forward to it, I don't want to see other stuff left as orphans.

Here's hoping that the snowmaking crew stops leaving the guns in one spot, creating the ubiquitous snow-whales that they try, with something less than success, to flatten out into a smooth ribbon of snow.

Here's hoping that "they" open access to the highpeaks/north side during the week for us that can get up there then. I've said it before and I'll say it again; it's akin to being able to only play the front 9 at the club after you've paid for the whole enchilada.

Here's hoping "they" don't leave out Fairview from the rotation. Last year's opening was an afterthought at best.

Here's hoping for a great season!!!! Have a great rest of summer everybody and please try not to crucify me too badly on this. I've been skiing for almost 50 years and have learned a few things on how a ski resort should operate, (and have also become kinda picky in my older years). Indulge me!!

Being a mostly mid-week skier I hear ya loud & clear about the north side not being open.. especially when we get a few inches of freshe snow during the week only to see the lift not runnin...bummer

I'd imagine that the new trails are being buit with new, integrated snowmaking technology that makes snowmaking on them more efficient than snowmaking on other trails . . . This is not backed up by any fact, just an assumption.

Plus, with the new trails being accessed by a high speed quad, they might need comparitively more snow because it will be skied off quicker.

PLUS, screw the North Side . . . I want to try the new trails. The North Quad is old and slow, and the trails SUCK in comparison . . . Powder Pass?!?!?! Give me a break . . . Topridge any day!!!

Yup,opinions vary.....I knew this was coming, just surprised it took this long .

Did I say Powder Pass?; I don't think so. Besides, I like variation and it still bothers me that a good portion of the hill is closed weekdays. If you are satisfied with doing laps on the same few trails, good for you.

I'll stick to my opinion in that it's a great mountain, albiet poorly managed.

Peace!

Funny thing is that when I read Cliff's original post, I looked past the North Side part and only saw the High Peaks reference. Clearly it's expensive to open the whole mountain on a weekday. On minimum days I think they run the Gondi, Topridge, Straightbrook and something beginner like Sunway.

If you could only have 4 chairs which would you choose? IMO 5th should be High Peaks. It's probably not realistic to think High Peaks would open before SB.

One thing that has been cool is the preservation of fresh snow for the weekenders because of lift closure. Obviously locals won't like that. I wouldn't. But on the other hand, without weekend skiers the mountain wouldn't be a viable "business."

I think they have done a pretty good job at Gore recently. But when I'm skiing on a weekday and High Peaks is closed, I get cranky too.

And remember you can always earn your turns if you want it badly enough.

I actually kind of like the way they sometimes keep the High peaks trails (hullaballo, steilhang, etc.) open, but don't open the high peaks lift . . .

This forces you to take Wood Out, ride up the North Chair, go down to the Gondi, ride that, then ride Straightbrook to get back to the top. Talk about a long lap . . . That's powder preservation at its finest. . .

I don't think the mountain is poorly managed at all, except for my well documented desire for more bump runs (At the very LEAST, Hawkeye, Rumor, Topridge and Fairview should always be bumped), and a little more attention to the parks.

If I could only have 4 lifts?

Gondi, Straightbrook, High Peaks, and New High Speed Quad.

Gorey-Gully, Old Red Gondola, Snowtubing tube pull, and Old Showcase yellow double chair. That's my 4.

And perhaps the j-bar on weekends to help thin out the crowds.

Poke fun if you want, it's all in good fun, and certainly I have broad enough shoulders to take it. The bottom line is I'm 62 years old and not about to rip bump runs anymore!! Just can't, so the occasional Sleeping Bear or Tahaws as a warmup or especially after lunch is a great break for me. Indeed my favorites are Topridge, Lies, Upper Darby, (when available), Hullabaloo, etc....I just can't do steeper stuff all day like I did 30 years ago. This is only one reason why I bitch about the North and High Peaks not open during the week.

The other reason is that they're really hosing us by not giving us access to the whole mountain. I don't care whether the reason is "saving it for the weekend", saving on electricity, salaries, or whatever they want to call it, it just ain't right. As Matt said, if the North Quad is open, then you can still ski the High Peaks stuff, even though it's a long lap back. At least it's doable if you want. As for the "earning the turns", I revert back to my opening, I'm just too freakin' old with too many joint issues to walk back out. It really hurts to walk up hill, let alone with skiboots on!

I'm not looking for any sympathy here, just stating that as you get older, folks, some things change.

At the end of the day, I think they could do better.

Cliff wrote:

Poke fun if you want, it's all in good fun, and certainly I have broad enough shoulders to take it. The bottom line is I'm 62 years old and not about to rip bump runs anymore!! Just can't, so the occasional Sleeping Bear or Tahaws as a warmup or especially after lunch is a great break for me. Indeed my favorites are Topridge, Lies, Upper Darby, (when available), Hullabaloo, etc....I just can't do steeper stuff all day like I did 30 years ago. This is only one reason why I bitch about the North and High Peaks not open during the week. The other reason is that they're really hosing us by not giving us access to the whole mountain. I don't care whether the reason is "saving it for the weekend", saving on electricity, salaries, or whatever they want to call it, it just ain't right. As Matt said, if the North Quad is open, then you can still ski the High Peaks stuff, even though it's a long lap back. At least it's doable if you want. As for the "earning the turns", I revert back to my opening, I'm just too freakin' old with too many joint issues to walk back out. It really hurts to walk up hill, let alone with skiboots on! I'm not looking for any sympathy here, just stating that as you get older, folks, some things change. At the end of the day, I think they could do better.

Great post Cliff.

In part, I'm teasing about earning turns as I've ridden lifts 90% of the time the last 3 years.

Not sure if you've ever done any tele. It does make icy steeps harder, but it sounds like you've given those up for lent. For me, tele also makes earning turns easier. And I really like Tahawas or Twister trees... they are tons of fun. All of the trees really.

I'd love to see the whole mountain open every day. All my favorite chairs except Straightbrook are the ones they close.

My question is...HOW MUCH would my pass cost if those chairs were open every day? Or maybe Weds-Fri? Plus powders days.

Unlike Matt...I'm not able to clearly imagine how much I'm going to like Burnt Ridge. It does look like there will be some Darkside style rocks to huck over there.

Hi Harvey;
Interesting thoughts......hmmmmmm.

It seems to me that Gore, owned by the State, should have deep enough pockets to keep pass prices in line even if they should open some more stuff weekdays. I'm not saying it should be a charity case or anything, just keep it real.

If you look the "major resorts", (VT, CO, etc), you''ll find that they have some really great deals on passes if you buy early, (like we do), and you can access all the terrain, (maybe not all lifts, but all the terrain). The Colorado pass is so cheap that it makes me sick to hear about it!! Let's face it, Gore ain't no Breck, Keystone or Vail! If they can do it with all their overhaed, why can't our hill open a chair or two? Maybe I'm missing something that only management is privy to.

If you look at the off-the-street ticket prices, Gore & WF are starting to approach the VT areas, (and I think those folks are really sticking it to the average guy, (they really cater to the wealthy down-state crowd with lots of bucks to spend).

Still love to ski, there's nothing like it!

Cliff wrote:

Let's face it, Gore ain't no Breck, Keystone or Vail! If they can do it with all their overhaed, why can't our hill open a chair or two? !

When you average 300 inches of snow, and never get rain, you can save a lot of cash on snowmaking and grooming.

Cliff wrote:

It seems to me that Gore, owned by the State, should have deep enough pockets to keep pass prices in line even if they should open some more stuff weekdays. I'm not saying it should be a charity case or anything, just keep it real.

So you want NYS taxpayers to subsidize Gore to operate at a loss?

Seems like a tough thing to push forward at a time when the state is scrambling to cut costs any ways they can . . .

1) Breck, Keystone and Vail all make a lot of snow, especially early. They groom every blue, every green every day at Breck. Vail has the most grooming in NA.

2) If it was run right, Gore wouldn't have to dip from the txapayers. They should be making money hand-over-fist!!

Peace.

Cliff wrote:

2) If it was run right, Gore wouldn't have to dip from the txapayers. They should be making money hand-over-fist!! Peace.

Word!!!

Cliff wrote:

2) If it was run right, Gore wouldn't have to dip from the txapayers. They should be making money hand-over-fist!!

Okay, I'll bite . . .

What would be the "right" way to run Gore?

What ideas would you implement to improve the bottom line?

Is the idea to open more lifts and terrain on the weekend really going to help this? Or is it just something that you want for yourself? (Because if it's the second case, then I wholeheartedly agree with you)

How would Gore make money "hand over fist" when a lot of other eastern areas are in flux, with closings, ownership changes, and flat skier visits?

Gore has improved skier visits substantially in the past few years . . . Is more skiers the "right" way to run Gore? Or do you think that Gore should maintain a core component of locals and regulars, and just dip occasionally into bigger markets on Holiday Periods?

Looking forward to your answers . . .