Ride Delaware ? Posted May 2, 2017 Report Posted May 2, 2017 Today was Cinco de Uno at Sugarbush, and subsequently was also closing day. I accomplished a long time goal of mine today and I have finally ridden in 8 calendar months in one year. I decided to patrol today in order to see some friends before we all disperse for the summer. Sugarbush opens weekdays at 10 during spring hours, so I got to sleep in. The weather was quite nasty when I woke up, and was a dreary combination of rain, fog, and wind. It rained heavily overnight, but was clearing up as I made my way to the mountain. The mountain had lost a ton of snow overnight, especially on Stein's. They had groomed Coffee Run, Snowball, and Spring Fling. I trail checked Stein's first thing, and found a trail barely holding on. There was mud in the troughs and some sections had to be shoveled to stay connected. It was sticky snow that hadn't had the chance to soften up. I then hit Snowball/Spring Fling and was treated to the complete opposite. Coverage was near perfect. The groomers put together a 12" deep track to Spring Fling, that still covered over 50% of the trail. There were no bare spots and it was clearly the run of the day. After taking a break via snowmobile at Allyn's Lodge, I headed over to finish some jobs before the mountain closed. Stein's, while thinner, had softened and was much more fun. Spring Fling had really corned up and was great hero snow. By the last run, we had stopped shoveling, the sun had come out, and a crowd had gathered at the top of the lift. Last chair came up and we all went down. There were some thin spots forming on Snowball, but there was too much fun to be had to complain. Solid end to a solid season. 3 Quote
GrilledSteezeSandwich Posted May 2, 2017 Report Posted May 2, 2017 Nice report!!! When I was in college sugarbush would stay open until May 1 and they used to just run the chair above the Mall..a few years way back like late 90s steins stayed open until Memorial Day. Back then the base was funky 70s and 80s style lodges not that fake farmhouse vibe that was added in the early 2000s. Quote
Ride Delaware ? Posted May 2, 2017 Author Report Posted May 2, 2017 Some years we are t2b, it just depends on the snow year and late season weather. 2 years ago we were t2b on 17 trails with wall to wall coverage on May 7/8. The goal is to open the Wednesday before Thanksgiving and close the first weekend in May. Given that the last weekend in April was the 29/30 this year, they decided to get their May Day on the first. It was a good call, because we wouldn't have made it until next weekend. Lastly, say what you will about the fake farmhouse vibe, but Win saved the mountain. He runs it like a business. He cautiously took EB-5 money to build out the base and create a bed base. Without that new base area, we would be dead in the water. It may look cheesy, but it is nice and suits our needs well. I don't know how they operated out of just the Valley House for all those years. Quote
moe ghoul Posted May 2, 2017 Report Posted May 2, 2017 Sweet. Looks like they timed the closing perfectly, lotsa dirt on display. No May turns for me this season. Quote
Johnny Law Posted May 2, 2017 Report Posted May 2, 2017 What is EB-5 money? Immigrant investor program. You and a spouse can get a green card if you invest a million or 10 jobs but I could be wrong about the specifics. Quote
GrilledSteezeSandwich Posted May 2, 2017 Report Posted May 2, 2017 Immigrant investor program. You and a spouse can get a green card if you invest a million or 10 jobs but I could be wrong about the specifics. Oh yeah that was the deal with Jay peak as well. Most of the immigrants in Allentown are poor as fuck. 1 Quote
Ride Delaware ? Posted May 3, 2017 Author Report Posted May 3, 2017 It's $500k in certain geographic areas characterized by poverty, but still the equivalent of 10 full time jobs. Jay and Sugarbush both qualified under that I believe. Sugarbush only took $40m (?) I think. Win has been very forthcoming and said that half of them have been paid off, and as they sell condo units in Rice Brook (sold out) and Gadd Brook, that he would pay off more. He also said that he can't figure out how Jay ever intended on paying back $450 m (appears they didn't intend to). He basically said that the program has its purpose and that he wouldn't have been able to do the base area renovation without it. He used that as part of his overall financing package. Luckily, he comes with a sound financial background and runs the mountain as such, even if we don't like all the moves he makes. Most approachable boss I've ever had. Stein's was rough. It poured last night, so I bet it's really rough now. Quote
GrilledSteezeSandwich Posted May 3, 2017 Report Posted May 3, 2017 Couldn't sugarbush have gotten a $40 million bank loan Quote
Ride Delaware ? Posted May 4, 2017 Author Report Posted May 4, 2017 Sugarbush.jpgI don know when that was taken, but I'm going to venture early season last year since the new quad is in. We operate late season off the valley house, not Super Bravo. However, the closing day setup looked similar. The Waffle House has been down by the Gate House lodge near the Gate House Express since I have been there, which has been 4 years.Couldn't sugarbush have gotten a $40 million bank loanMy understanding is that they took out a sizable loan in addition to that. However, the EB-5 money is classified as an investment, not a loan. Therefore, it doesn't have priority over a bank foreclosure and doesn't HAVE to be repaid. Therefore, they could use that money as a down payment of sorts to start the project and use that to make the project more feasible for the bank. Quote
GrilledSteezeSandwich Posted May 4, 2017 Report Posted May 4, 2017 Sounds like corporate welfare. Same shit that's happening in the NIZ zone in Allentown. Quote
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