trackbiker

ski: I believe you on the prices you got. After the delay in the closing the new owners must be running around like a bunch of one armed wallpaper hangers trying to get ready for this season! I'm sure that the caps will be on sale in March anyway! I appreciate the information that you have provided to keep us all up to date on the progress of the sale and can't wait to hear more about the progress they are making with the snomaking, etc. Also, last year you were very informative when I posted a cocky question about what was going on at Montage. As a result of your posts, my son and I skied there last Pres. Day Wknd., had a great time, avoided the crowds we would have experienced at other areas, and; most importantly had a chance to see the potential of the mountain. Let's all hope for a lot of snow this year, or at least some cold weather to make it, and successful first year Sno Mountain.

Ski: I understand that you are being supportive of Sno Mountain and wish them success; as do I and most others on this forum. But anyway you slice it, that cap is WAY over priced. And it is listed as a "Special". I happen to have first hand experience purchasing promotional items. Of course volume plays a part, but if you buy at least one gross (144) of those hats you can get them for under $5.00 each (good quality, 100% cotton). Four color embroidery for that logo is at MOST another $5.00 per cap. Design fees are negligable today with CAD. I couldn't find any caps from Stratton or Stowe, the two priciest resorts in the east, but here's one from Okemo It has 2 color embroidery. Two more colors would not add $12.45 to the price. "Outrage" is not the correct word. I think the price is ridiculously high by any standard. If they did pay the prices in your quote above, they need to find someone else to purchase their merchandise. If Sno Mountain is going to succeed, they need to listen to feedback from customers. They're already behind schedule, through no fault of their own, and they need to draw new people to the mountain. A "special" $29.95 cap does not give a good impression before they have made a flake of snow. Maybe a "free hat day" like the baseball teams do would be a better idea once they are 100% open. JMHO.

The site says, "Internet Special, Sno Mountain Cap: $29.95" WOW! $29.95 for a $5.00 cap! Some "Special"! What's the "regular" price, $49.95? OK. I could see paying $10 - $12.00 for it considering "resort pricing", it's a new place, etc. But if that is the "special" price, how much is a burger, fries, and a drink going to cost? I can see it now; Sno Mountain VALUE MEAL! ONLY $59.95! PLUS you get a free toy!

Under the "Ticket Prices" the hours are listed as 8:30am to 10:00pm. Don't know if that is accurate; or maybe the 8:30 opening is just for weekends and holidays?

Montage Cleared For Sale Sounds like Speicher is just a whiny loser. His deal for $5 mil. plus a $5 mil mortgage would likely have left the mountain bankrupt in a few years. Like ski said, Sno Mountain has Real Money and will make a $20 million investment in the mountain. A much better deal for the county and it citizens!

Washo Says He Will Not Appeal Now if that Speicher guy will agree to not appeal, like today, instead of dragging his feet, it appears that things can move forward quickly.

Here's the story from todays paper: Washo's Suit Denied It'll likely will take a day or two to clean up the mess and move forward. e.g. Washo will not appeal if Sno Mountain drops their suit against him....etc.

GOOD NEWS! JUDGE SIDES WITH SNO MOUNTAIN! There's a message on their web site here: Sno Mountain Web Page

Here's the latest: From the Trib Based on the judges final statement, I'd be surprised if this can be resolved before Sept. 30. But let's hope so. My guess would be that if the sale does not go through this year, the net result will be that the county losses even money on the deal! Here's hoping it closes soon enough to get those snow guns in this year!

According to todays Morning Call a developer is proposing a new ski area a few miles east of Blue. Details are sketchy but it appears to be more of a private resort because "hundreds of houses" and a golf course are also proposed. Heres's a link to the article: http://www.mcall.com/news/local/all-1skiju...0,7503197.story

I heard from a reliable source that BC is installing a second Fixed Grip Quad for next season. Anyone hear anything about this?

Hey, I won't tell anyone what to do. I bought my Volkl's and my sons Volkl's on ebay for about 50% off of even the end of season sales at the local ski shops. But please remember, that the local ski shops have more overhead because they have to pay for the store, the lights, heat, etc. So they aren't "ripping you off" when their prices are higher. If you don't support them, they won't be around in the future. Then where will you go to compare prices, get advice on the right ski or board, get service, etc. I know that there is a lot of young people on this board who don't have a lot of money and are looking for the best ride for the best price. I am too. I'm a single father who is making less money than I could because I have to take care of my kids. But do support the local shops when you can or they won't be around too much longer.

Miller Lite is beer? I thought that that was what you got after pissing out a good Yeungling, Heineken, Becks, or some other real beer .

It's free because they want people to use it. They had a problem with people stealing mainly boards two years ago and they were getting a bad rep. Anyone remember the rent-a-cops they hired at first to watch the ski racks? Of course that didn't work so they went with the free ski check. That's great management if you ask me. I've heard from several sources that Mountain Creek has a BIG problem with thefts. Have they done anything about? Lock your boards and skis if you go there!

You can always heat the women back up and it is just as good! When you heat the food back up it isn't always as good! Always go for the hot food first!

Hotlanta,GA has the best looking girls in the clubs plus the best food. Unfortunately, the skiing sucks there.

Every stripper (er sorry, dancer) I ever met was "working her way through college". Of course most of 'em don't even have a GED.

The best place after Blue is the Brass Rail off of the Lehigh St. exit of Rts. 309/78. Exit 57. They have a great Allentown cheese steak that often gets there before your beer. It's not a Philly cheese steak, but after skiing all night, it sure is good! Plus, where else is open till 1:00am after skiing on Fri. or Sat. night where you can get some food and some beer? The Brass Rail RULES!

Right now there is the Quad and the Challenge Chair. That's 6 seats on that side of the mountain. They are replacing the Challenge Chair with the 6-pack. That plus the Quad is a total of 10 seats vs. the current 6. 10/6 = 166% of what is there now. A detachable lift has the same uphill capacity as a fixed-grip lift per seat. The detach runs at 800fpm, the fixed-grip at 400fpm but there are twice as many chairs. They each load and unload every 6 sec.

So, you if you're not affected by long lift lines, you don't have any ideas how they could better spend the money to make things better for you?

If there are 66% more at the top, where are they going to go? They can't ride the lifts back down. You can't get to that side of the mountain from the 2 doubles by Main Street. You now have 6 seats going to the top on that side. After the 6-pack you will have ten seats. That's 4 more at full capacity. How are you figuring?

1. Sure wouldn't cost $5 million! 2. Cost almost Zero 3. What, 5 grand if they make it and install it? 4. Zero Dollars! Just move the signs. (Although I disagree on this one. I like skiing Lazy Mile fast.) 5. Zero Dollars. 6. They'd make money on that one. The vendors pay commissions of 50%. 7. See #6 above. 8. Midweek unsold nights the cost would be nominal. 9. What, Turkey Hill or Sheetz isn't good enough? 10. $1000 to rent the cage? Doug, you're a cheap date man. You've still got the $5mil to spend if you figure that commissions on #'s 6&7 will pay for the other items! How about granite markers for trail signs purchased from Doug at 100% commission?

A HS 6-Pack cost about $5 million IIRC. How do you think that Blue Mountain could better spend that money to improve the skiing and boarding experience for their customers and why. Please indicate if you are skier or boarder in your reply. Here's my opinion: Skier 1. Install a handle tow in the lower terrain park like Elk did in theirs. This will allow the lower level boarders to stay in the park, which is the only place a lot of them want to be, improving their experience and at the same time lowering the lift demand to the top and conjestion from them skiing to the top of the park, which is where they wanted to be in the first place but didn't want to walk back up so they took the quad lift. 2. Make the new base lodge the main lodge. This will better utilize the beginners slopes there and keep first time skiers/boarders from falling all over Burma Road and stopping the two double chairs at the bottom. As it is now, they ski the Vista lift once or twice then head for Burma Road before they are ready. 3. Finish the new trail under the HSQ before installing another lift. 4. Install a HSQ in place of the two doubles by Main Street. Then relocate those lifts to some new expert only terrain farther east on the mountain. What do you thinkthey should do?

Well, where else do they go after they get off the lift?

A 6-Pack will increase skier traffic on that part of the mountain by +66%! Even with ONE new trail, it will be like skiing on the Schuylkill Express Way during rush hour on busy days. They'll have to keep a Medivac helicopter parked permanently on the pad with one hovering to take care of all the collisions. Make sure you wear your helmet and full body armor on busy days. Another HSQ would be better. Plus if you think boarders don't like riding a full quad, wait till they try to load&unload six novice boarders on a 6-Pack. And that's the lift the boarders will take because it's closer to the park. That will be stopped more than it is running on busy days. It won't affect me because I don't ski there on weekends or holidays. And they will only run the HSQ OR the 6-Pack during weekdays because the demand is not there for both. What a waste of money that could be better spent on A LOT better on more needed improvements. The lodge is a good idea. It will give better access to beginners to use the beginner triple area instead of going to the upper lodge and then falling all over Burma Road and stopping the two chairs by Main Street. FYI: High Speed lifts provide no more capacity than fixed grip lifts when they are operating at capacity on busy days. They both have the same uphill capacity/hour. They are great when there is no lift line because you can do some quick laps. But when there is no lift line they won't be running both lifts anyway. My take on the 6-Pack is that it is 100% a marketing thing. They don't need it. They just want to be able to say that they have the most vertical (yeah, they also have the most flat runout! )and a 6-Pack! I can hear the commercials on the radio already. "Ski Blue Mt.!.....the most vertical and THE ONLY 6-PACK IN EASTERN PA! What it should say is, "The most CROWDED slopes in eastern PA!...You thought Camelback was bad on weekends! You haven't seen ANYTHING yet! No need to worry, with 66% more skiers on the trails, it definitely will get tracked out much quicker!