EdBacon

Place is bizarre. They've had some really bad snow years since I was in high school, but every time I go back there its just so dead. I remember it being much more crowded as a kid. Say the mid/early 2000s.

edit: I want to find some numbers. The best I can show is that mountains on mega passes saw something like 8-9% of visits using those passes (not as a local season pass). But its hard to say that those numbers are a total increase since visits increase y-o-y in any case, and you have to assume none of those using the mega pass wouldn't have visited without. So there is an increase but its not a huge influx of people. Anyway here is some data: comparing Sugarbush which is on the Mountain Collective/Max/Ikon Pass system, and MRG which as you know is totally independent. Skier visits between the two pretty much track the same, and seem to be more weather dependent than anything.

I need to go find the statistics. But there isn't any evidence beyond anecdotes to show multipasses increase ridership in any significant manner. People still ride their local mountains and maybe divert vacations to resorts that are now on their pass. The point of these things is to spread risk around. The more season pass holders Vail or Alterra or whoever can suck up, the better. It means they have another revenue stream if there's a bad season somewhere else. Why buy JFBB, or any Mid-Atlantic mountains? I have no idea. We always have bad seasons. But I think from Vail's point of view that's another chunk of Epic pass holders they've acquired. They didn't so much buy the physical plant as they bought the JFBB passholders. What that means for us I don't know. I know that's an exaggeration that Vail literally does not care what happens to the mountain. Obviously they have to keep things running to keep those passholders around. But what I'm trying to express is that Vail doesn't see the mountain itself, just the passholders as a commodity which can often mean the people running the business lose touch with the different communities on each mountain. I'm not stoked on the outlook when I'm comparing their first year running things to previous years. Granted, this year the weather has been some of the worst outside the 2011/2012 season. Still, the relatively slow pace of opening terrain, and only having two terrain parks built at BB, a mountain literally nobody cares about except for the park rats is just not a good look. We don't know how much the lift issue was deferred by Peak either.

Basically Vail just cares about how many passes are sold in total. If JF never opened again, and Vail considered that an acceptable loss to funnel more people onto Epic cards then they would do it.

I can't speak to the lift issues, but as per the passes increasing visits: these big conglomerate multi passes aren't meant to boost visits at each area, they're meant to spread, and thus minimize risk. If resorts in one part of the country are having a bad snow year, its now offset by business elsewhere. Basically, the more season passes Vail sells to *all* resorts the more insulated they are from bad seasons in one part of the world or another, hence their desire to expand their portfolio. JFBB season pass holders aren't going to buy into a system where Vail invests in JFBB, they're just subsidizing their system and hedging Vail's risks elsewhere.

Didn't CBK always have bumps up on Marje's Day Out? Or whatever that run is called?

If PASR pitched in to by Frost we could all ski and eat there for free. Think about it.

Big Snow Indoor Ski Resort sounds like what somebody would call their cocaine party.

It isn't just the lifts. I'm not a park rat but I have noticed Big Boulder is lagging far behind where they normally are this time of the season in their park build out. They should have features on all their parks, but so far they only have Freedom and a partial build of Tbaum. Hell, they aren't even fully open with only 11/16 trails. That is inexcusable considering how quickly they moved to open historically. It really feels like they're doing the bare minimum. Something is up. This year feels different.

As per JFBB facebook page A lift at Jack Frost will be down for the remainder of the season. Just saw this post as an official response to a question on their page. Not sure if this was known already or not.

Good day. 40 degrees in Philly. Started snowing on the way up the turnpike as I got up into the Poconos. Snowed all morning then on and off snow and some breaks of sun starting around noon. Groomers were fun, soft snow but some ice scraped off here and there on the steeper bits. No woods in play. Blow over from the guns mostly melted out so runs like Happyland were bony. You could bag a couple turns here and there but not top to bottom. They only probably picked up about 4 inches. But it looked nice and improved conditions on the groomers. Trees were all rimed up too which looked cool. Very crowded with the A lift down.

I'll look into the edibles idea. Thanks. I like that a lot more than xanax. Personally I'd rather just do one flight than have to get on and off planes and wait longer to do the whole thing.

Completely serious. I'll hit up a psychiatrist for some xanax then.

Great. And its got a hospital too I see. Thanks!

Isn't Dr Phil the one that tells you to drink juice if you have cancer and shit? I already said I don't want to medicate myself. A psychologist I'd talk to for therapy/behavioral modification shit. I can go see a psychiatrist but they just exist to give you meds. Not something I'm keen on doing. I have a fear of flying, not fucking schizophrenia. Jesus. So I'd rather just fly straight up but I don't want to get locked in an aluminum tube for 4.5 hours my first go around. But whatever dude I'll just get hammered beforehand or something.

I was looking there. Is there stuff to do at night?

You know how inconvenient that is? My insurance doesn't cover therapy, and those sessions are expensive. I'd rather go on vacation. I can see a psychiatrist, but I don't need a guy to just prescribe me xanax, again.

Hey all. I need to take a vacation. I haven't ever had a vacation in my life, unless you count the times my folks took me to the shore when I was a kid. I'd look for pieces of glass under the boardwalk, sometimes find a syringe or a finger. We'd pick fresh fish right out of Raritan Bay. They were hardly even dead longer than a day. It was great. But then my aunt would show up and fight with my dad and we'd go home early. Anyway that was 15 years ago we last did that in any case. So I need to take a fucking vacation as an adult, which I've technically been for 11 years now. I can't fly on a goddamn plane yet. I tried for a business trip a few years back and ended up screaming about how we were all going to die the whole way to Chicago. Medication is an option. Or booze. Honestly I want to just fly without mind altering substances so I'm trying to train myself via exposure to shorter flights first. Also, putting a nice big reward at the end should help. My plan is to fly up to New England to get acclimated to being on a plane, then next year making a bigger leap, maybe to Colorado or something like that. So, for the East Coast, my main conflict is between Vermont where I can fly into Burlington, have a decent range of stuff to occupy me in town, and several resorts within 1 - 1.5 hour drive time. However flights to Burlington are expensive, and so are lift tickets in that neck of the woods. New Hampshire wins on cost: $100 flight round trip to Manchester, and my Peak Pass (RIP) is good at two White Mountains areas (Wildcat and Attitash) which saves a good chunk of change on expenses. The problem being, where the fuck do you stay up there? And what do you do? So does anyone have any advice on places to stay/eat/drink in the White Mountains? I plan on spending like a week-ish up there. So enough distraction during the evening and night that I don't just watch fucking wheel of fortune in my hotel room. I mean, Vanna White still looks great at 62 (and she's single) but some more stimulation would be great. Thanks and God bless. And happy new year.

I live in Philly and I've never gone. One day I'm making a point to go, just because.

Kinda bummed they are still only open with Freedom and that one short beginner slope. Although they're saying 100% open by next weekend. Plus Jackson Frost is opening Friday.

Goatsville.

Makes Palmerton look like part of the wild west there. Nice.

AZ is less active than it was years ago.

I've always wanted to check out Whitefish.

Ohio has tons of meth though.