Website...

[g15]

I was just looking at the website and wondering, if you could redesign the website, or at least change stuff on it...what would you do? Maybe if we throw some ideas out there Sno will make an effort to make some changes?

 

-Danny

[Switchsideskier.]

Website is just horrible...Most of the links are broken...pretty much 3 different versions of the page are flying around on it. Never gets updated. Photography sucks. etc.

[trackbiker]

I can't believe that they haven't got it yet. The website is the most important advertising venue that they have. After any other advertising catches someone's attention, the first place they are going to go before going to Sno is their website. After seeing their amateurish website....they likely won't go. So the initial TV or radio advertising was a waste. They obviously just don't get the importance of the website.

Fire the nephew or whoever is doing the site and hire a professional.

If they don't get the importance of their website I don't have much hope for them surviving. Hopefully, Peak Resorts or Snowtime will keep those fan guns running after they go belly up. They spent a boat load of money that someone with marketing skills will take advantage of at a fire sale price.

How are those lights coming to SIGNIFICANTLY increase the night skiing experience at a RELATIVELY LOW COST?

[RidgeRacer]

They need to do something about that trail map.

[Santa Clauss]

Best website I've ever seen! Broken links just add to the adventure! I love being suprized so when they don't update the conditions it's like a little suprize every day! But seriously... Just get over it. I have and I'm the biggest prick here. If you want to show them is a big deal show them by not going to the mountain, shorter lift lines for me.

[Santa Clauss]

I've come to realize that the 15-20 people who complain on pasr (includeing me) are not going to put a dent on their business nor force them to make any significant financial investment. It's a ski resort, as long as there is snow and lights I'll be a happy camper...

[librider]

Best website I've ever seen! Broken links just add to the adventure! I love being suprized so when they don't update the conditions it's like a little suprize every day! But seriously... Just get over it. I have and I'm the biggest prick here. If you want to show them is a big deal show them by not going to the mountain, shorter lift lines for me.

 

 

I've come to realize that the 15-20 people who complain on pasr (includeing me) are not going to put a dent on their business nor force them to make any significant financial investment. It's a ski resort, as long as there is snow and lights I'll be a happy camper...

 

Shitty thinking. Positive criticism and feedback from a customer is always a good thing for a buisness. I really dont know how they expect anyone to take them seriously with that website. They really need to do something about it. If enough people say something about it esp in person something is bound to change. Has anyone asked them in person about it?

[Santa Clauss]

look, I'm sure that these owners know a little something about business and if they think that the website is costing them a considerable amount of money in rev then i'm sure they would have a better website, I know they know we complain about it, we've been complaining about it for the past couple years, yeah it blows but they do have decent commercials on the radio.

 

I'd bet 95% of there business is local scranton area people who go because its super super close, not because of the awesome terrain park or the "seriousness" of the resort! fact is that the park is nice but it isn't boulder and I'm sure you all know that. Until they have something fucking amazing what good is a website gonna do besides disappoint?

 

The website looks like shit, but it does its job, it lets you know pass prices, their location, hours of operation, basic conditions, local lodging, etc...

 

Like I said, as long as there is snow and lights that WORK I'm satisfied, i'll be giving them my $580 tomorrow regardless of there shitty website, have any of you guys decided to buy a pass to a different mountain based on there website? have any of you said ahh, I was gonna go to sno this weekend but the website just wasn't cool enough?

 

Just let it go and just enjoy the SNOW, last time I checked this sport wasn't about amazing websites. your wasting your breath, this isn't positive criticism...

 

 

Edit: trackbiker, you have some good points but like I said, most of there business is local because of close location to the city, believe me, I'd love to see a new website thats updated frequently, but there has to be a reason why they haven't made a good site yet, maybe there hurting for money and are cutting costs any way they can idk...

Edited November 27, 2009 by Santa

[trackbiker]

Edit: trackbiker, you have some good points but like I said, most of there business is local because of close location to the city, believe me, I'd love to see a new website thats updated frequently, but there has to be a reason why they haven't made a good site yet, maybe there hurting for money and are cutting costs any way they can idk...

 

Like you, I'm more concerned with the lights and snowmaking.

My whole point is that they spent a boat load of money and are going to need some return on that investment to keep the lifts spinning and make improvements to the ski area.

I drove past Montage for years before I finally ever went there for the first time the year before it was sold. I'm sure most of their business is local but they are going to have to convince some people to drive past the Poconos and Camelback to be profitable enough to add new lifts and trails. That website is not gonna help make that happen.

[stever2003]

Their website has always looked like something I could put together by typing my own HTML code when i was 11 years old...and no, that's not a good thing.

[method9455]

I'm sure most of their business is local but they are going to have to convince some people to drive past the Poconos and Camelback to be profitable enough to add new lifts and trails. That website is not gonna help make that happen.

 

For real. Don't spend any money are marketing until the website is fixed. The people on PASR are MORE likely to go than the general public because we have more info. If I hear a radio commercial that says come to Sno and my next action is to check out that website, I'm ending it there. Why would I go? Compare it to any other PA mountain and it is a liability.

[Santa Clauss]

Ohh yeah well how many pasr members are there? How many of them are sn

[librider]

Ohh yeah well how many pasr members are there? How many of them are sn

[stever2003]

260 people with passes doesn't compare with the 5000-10000 people who come to a place like camelback or blue mountain or jfbb on a busy weekend. people down here in philly don't even know about Sno Mountain. If they are going to drive past Blue, CB, or JFBB, they're headed to Elk. If there were sufficient advertising here in Philly, reactions would be exactly as librider put it. Hey, here's a new place, maybe I'll check it out. I wonder how much it costs, how big it is, what the trail map looks like, how to get there. Hmm, where might I find this information...THE WEBSITE. If I never heard of a place and have to go out on a limb to try it out instead of the places I am familiar with, a website that looks like it was made by a 10 year old would probably turn me away. Why would I want to visit a place that doesn't take their business seriously enough to spend $10,000 on a good website?

 

I'm not saying that we should want 5000-10000 people to visit Sno Mountain on any day. However, we certainly want their business to prosper. I'm not impressed by 260 passes...assuming they all paid full price, I don't think the $176k of revenue those passes brought in is paying for the millions that have been spent on that place in the last few years, let alone a few months of operations costs. Sno needs a steady stream of customers, and they'll need to draw them by every means necessary. I don't understand how, in this day and age, anybody could make a valid argument that having a website would not benefit a business. For a business like Sno, a website is key to providing information to the public.

[Brian]

I agree with Santa fully.

 

The opinions of us who post daily on PASR are of a very specific target audience. We're computer nerds.. we love the Internet. I may be exaggerating, but I swear half of us posters work in the IT field. It feels like the majority of those who have complained about the site have offered to recode it themselves.

 

So really our opinions don't reflect the mass majority of skiers', although we'd like to think so.

 

 

 

I agree that their site doesn't help bring in the buses from Philly. It doesn't educate those who've never skied Sno/Montage before on all that Sno has... but so what. Sno doesn't have flashy 6-pack high speeds. It doesn't have terrain parks featured in ski films. It doesn't have the most verticle longest runs steepest trails.. blah blah blah. It has great snow, no lift lines, and excellent prices. Those who know and appreciate that sort of thing aren't the ones planning their 3-day vacation around how groovy the trail map looks.

 

So I don't believe that Sno loses current business, or the opportunity for new business just because of their craptastic site.

 

 

 

 

One final comment, I've never been overly impressed with Blue's, Camelback's, or Boulder's flashy professional sites. If anything, I can't even remember what they look like. The only sites that I can remember what they look like are Sno's (I may be partial since it's my home mountain) and Elk's. I think having a basic (Elk), or flat out bad (Sno) site helps set a site apart from all the others that seem to look the same and have the same exact features. So if anything, it has us all talking about Sno Mountain.

[Brian]

I think a better poll would be for those who don't call Sno their home mountain.

What brought you to Sno when you skied there recently?

 

You'll get a million different answers. Obviously not one of them will be the site. So try the other way around... what brought me to Elk, Camelback, Blue (or any other with a superior web site) last year? Wasn't their sites.

 

Elk - friends

Camelback - 2-for-1 special on tix.

Blue - race league.

 

Am I saying that there aren't peeps out there that plan trips to ski mountains SOLELY on web sites? No.. I'm sure you may find one here or there.

 

But it's not the deal-breaker peeps here tend to think it is.

[Brian]

LOL, I hear ya. I'm not arguing that it's ok that their site is toddler quality.

 

 

I'm just saying that your average NEPA skier or snowboarder most likely ranks driving distance, price, snow quality, lift lines, terrain, park features, opening-closing dates, food, lodging, hell... even what band is playing in the bar as more important than web site quality when deciding on where to go on a weekend.

 

Would you personally refuse to come to Sno because of their shitty site? Do you choose to ski Blue because of their professional site?

 

Websites.. while they ARE important, their value in deciding where a skier goes a particular weekend is over-rated.

[Schif]

I could see the website making a world of difference to someone trying to plan a weekend away. In general people are pretty dumb, shiny vs. dull is what they see. Its like trying to sell a house. Should the pictures on the wall and the way the furniture is arranged help to sell a house that will be completely empty when you move in? No, but we'll all agree that it can be the difference between selling or not, and and at what price.

[Melissa]

I hate the website. It provides very little information. It would be one thing if it were a simple website that was updated frequently and had no broken links. But not only is it shoddy, the info is outdated and half of it doesn't work.

 

We just had a website built for an organization of which I am a member. It wasn't that expensive (think it's under 5k) and looks super professional and includes updates (events, etc.). Why they can't do that, I have no clue.

 

Websites are important because they convey information. I like going to Camelback or Blue's or JFBB's website and reading about new specials or events. It makes me consider going there to check it out. Likewise, if I had advanced knowledge about events at Sno, I could tell some friends (or post on here) and have people come up for it.

[Santa Clauss]

GrilledSteezeSandwich, you think the lifts are slow? yeah they are but go here any weekend during the day and you'll never stand in line more than 3 min, yeah the lifts are slow but when you take into consideration how long the lines would be and the crowded slopes at a more popular mountain its not as bad as you think and have you ever been to Sno? I mean, I don't really go any where else so I stay off other mountains topics because frankly I don't have the time to get into there business, but look at your self, If you frequently go to another mountain with no real aspiration of going to sno, coming on here bitching about there website? Get a fucking life dude!

 

I'm not arguing that the website sucks balls, It absolutely does! But most of you guys really don't get sno's demographics and to be honest, its doing good with the locals because of the short lift lines and un crowded slopes, if the place was packed all the time I'd drive some place else...

 

Really, trashing the website from this point on just makes you look like queer looser IT douche bags. You guys really don't get it, the mountains great because ^ Short lift lines and location. I don't want a thousand city fuckers coming to my mountain every weekend! I've worked in the hideout and I can't stand those people! But hey! maybe sno's owners do do want them here, so if they do I say they should defiantly make a new better kick ass flash website so all you douche bags can jerk off to the amazing graphics and pictures of whatever...

 

I stopped caring... completely

 

Why the fuck would anyone go to sno mountain let alone NEPA for a weekend ski trip any way?

 

If you think that the website being lame means they don't deserve your $ then please, don't go... I don't like you.

 

To be completely honest arguing about the website like this is probably the best way to get a new fucking website... Your Fucking welcome.

[Santa Clauss]

I took my xnanx now I'm fine. But seriously...

 

Yeah I didn't edit that shit.

 

Most of it didn't make sense when I read it again.

 

Ohh well...

[librider]

GrilledSteezeSandwich, you think the lifts are slow? yeah they are but go here any weekend during the day and you'll never stand in line more than 3 min, yeah the lifts are slow but when you take into consideration how long the lines would be and the crowded slopes at a more popular mountain its not as bad as you think and have you ever been to Sno? I mean, I don't really go any where else so I stay off other mountains topics because frankly I don't have the time to get into there business, but look at your self, If you frequently go to another mountain with no real aspiration of going to sno, coming on here bitching about there website? Get a fucking life dude!

 

I'm not arguing that the website sucks balls, It absolutely does! But most of you guys really don't get sno's demographics and to be honest, its doing good with the locals because of the short lift lines and un crowded slopes, if the place was packed all the time I'd drive some place else...

 

Really, trashing the website from this point on just makes you look like queer looser IT douche bags. You guys really don't get it, the mountains great because ^ Short lift lines and location. I don't want a thousand city fuckers coming to my mountain every weekend! I've worked in the hideout and I can't stand those people! But hey! maybe sno's owners do do want them here, so if they do I say they should defiantly make a new better kick ass flash website so all you douche bags can jerk off to the amazing graphics and pictures of whatever...

 

I stopped caring... completely

 

Why the fuck would anyone go to sno mountain let alone NEPA for a weekend ski trip any way?

 

If you think that the website being lame means they don't deserve your $ then please, don't go... I don't like you.

 

To be completely honest arguing about the website like this is probably the best way to get a new fucking website... Your Fucking welcome.

 

LOL wow

[Brian]

GSS, we agree to disagree with you.

 

You and that huge, untapped Philly market can choose to spend your money at mountains with awesome Flash intros, zero broken links, and the most accurate snow report...

 

If you think Sno isn't aware their site is awful, you're fooling yourself. But they're continuing to keep their attention focused elsewhere. Once they solve all of Sno's problems (which they have many.. you even listed 1 in particular which is keeping you from coming to Sno, and it wasn't their site)... perhaps they'll address the site.

[trackbiker]

Those of us who have been on this site for a while know that some people feel dis'd when anyone says anything negative about their home ski area.

No one dissing the website is dissing the mountain. In fact we're making constructive criticism of the website.

I love that I can go to Sno on a weekend night and the snow is still good and there are no lift lines. I even drive farther and pay tolls to get there. But I've been around long enough to know that they aren't going to be able to keep those fan guns cranking every night unless there's more butts in those chairs.

They planned to have the water park open last summer. They barely got it open this summer and Santa was the only person who responded to my thread who had been there. From his pictures and report I don't think they were raking in the dough there either. Check out his report and pics here Sno Cove Thread How many of you "Sno's website doesn't matter" supporters went to the water park and told all of your friends and family to go?

It's nice to have a ski area like Sno in your backyard but if you think that they are going to keep the fan guns cranking out snow and the lifts spinning with crowds like that you may want to study math a little more.

I think the owners/investors may be getting ready to learn the old adage;

Question: "How do you end up with a million dollars in the ski industry?"

Answer: "Start with ten million dollars!!!"

The cheesy video games in the lodge aren't going to make up for all the lift tickets they aren't selling.

[Brian]

Good points. But keep in mind the following:

No one here is saying the website doesn't matter. Personally I'm saying that it doesn't matter as much as people here, a very specific avid web surfing demographic, are saying it does. Sno has plenty of problems, trying to pretend that they'd get X amount of revenue, or X amount of people from the Philly market, or X amount of anything if only they'd make a real web site is a little beyond what we're capable of.

 

Also, I see a lot of people here commenting on how Sno's in the red, or if they did something different like whatever, THEN they'd make money. Maybe they caught a peek at Sno's books (yeah right).. or maybe they're just assuming their finances are in shambles because of the very public issues Sno had with payroll. There are many sides to this story. The payroll issue can be explained by assuming Sno's not making enough money to pay its employees..... or it can be explained by assuming Sno's just a brand new company formed the day they bought the mountain, and things didn't go smooth enough that month when it was balancing its books.

 

None of us have the answers we like to think we have (myself included).

 

 

 

 

 

No one is going to say the site is anything more than awful. This poll is kinda silly in my opinion. I believe the 2 positive votes given for the site were just peeps trying to cancel out some of the haters. But until the day comes and Sno fires the 12 y/o VP of IT and Web Marketing.... it'd be nice if peeps across the board would stop coming here and acting as if the sucky site is anything new... is anything Sno doesn't realize is sucky... and is the #1 concern or main reason Sno isn't the most popular PA ski mountain.