Bluetiful Morning 12/22/20

[AtomicSkier]

Who the fuck cares what they charge?  We all have season passes.  I wish they'd charge more.  People will still pay it.

[Kyle]

It’s fucking Groundhog Day on this board sometimes. 

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

Eaf is just a miserable fuck...he does post good reports from Europe and he has a sweet accent. 

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

Blue should have charged a lot more money for today. They are leaving money on the table.  

[saltyant]

33 minutes ago, AtomicSkier said:

Who the fuck cares what they charge?  We all have season passes.  I wish they'd charge more.  People will still pay it.

@eaf, @Ski2Live Live2Ski, and @RajeevGuptaSucheeta don't have season passes..

[AtomicSkier]

Just now, saltyant said:

@eaf, @Ski2Live Live2Ski, and @RajeevGuptaSucheeta don't have season passes..

Their loss.  No sympathy. 

[eaf]

56 minutes ago, GrilledSteezeSandwich said:

Hows the weather for 1/4??  I thought you had a season pass. 

Used to be good, now that I have rebooked, all bets are off. I have a pass, the tickets are not for me.

[Schif]

Buy a pass. pretty simple. You can still buy one and if you plan on skiing a lot this year it still makes sense when you add it all up and carry the cocoa. 

[theprogram4]

Its pretty easy to spot the gapers in Blue’s comment section by whoever brings up Vermont.

 

Random douche bag: These prices are bullshit!

Rational person: Why didn’t you simply purchase a pass on a payment plan with 0% interest like everyone else did?

Random douche bag: Blue isn’t worth a season pass.  Have fun riding groomers, I’ll be riding waist deep powder in Vermont!!!!!!

[eaf]

Just now, Schif said:

Buy a pass. pretty simple. You can still buy one and if you plan on skiing a lot this year it still makes sense when you add it all up and carry the cocoa. 

While I do have a pass, this "buy a pass, it will pay off in 4 days" attitude is a shitty one. These passes are exactly what makes skiing here so expensive. People first get scared by the idiotic window prices and then start buying $1K bundles talking themselves into believing that they've actually got a deal. WTF can I just go to the window any time and get a regular $50 day ticket on a vast resort in Europe, and here I have to buy a cat in a sack a month in advance to keep the price reasonable or commit to a pass to a single mountain?

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

24 minutes ago, saltyant said:

@eaf, @Ski2Live Live2Ski, and @RajeevGuptaSucheeta don't have season passes..

Wait Eaf doesn’t?  I guess the only thing he passes is gas wow 

[saltyant]

3 minutes ago, GrilledSteezeSandwich said:

Wait Eaf doesn’t?  I guess the only thing he passes is gas wow 

I was wrong, he has a pass. I thought he didn't because he was talking about getting a refund for a ticket tomorrow. He clarified that it's for someone else.

[saltyant]

21 minutes ago, eaf said:

While I do have a pass, this "buy a pass, it will pay off in 4 days" attitude is a shitty one. These passes are exactly what makes skiing here so expensive. People first get scared by the idiotic window prices and then start buying $1K bundles talking themselves into believing that they've actually got a deal. WTF can I just go to the window any time and get a regular $50 day ticket on a vast resort in Europe, and here I have to buy a cat in a sack a month in advance to keep the price reasonable or commit to a pass to a single mountain?

I agree with you but we're in the minority as people in the US will spend a lot for lift tickets and deal with the reservations. So unless there's a mass exodus due to these changes, expect them to become permanent.

Edited December 23, 2020 by saltyant

[eaf]

8 minutes ago, GrilledSteezeSandwich said:

Wait Eaf doesn’t?  I guess the only thing he passes is gas wow 

Somebody watched Borat recently...

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

16 minutes ago, eaf said:

While I do have a pass, this "buy a pass, it will pay off in 4 days" attitude is a shitty one. These passes are exactly what makes skiing here so expensive. People first get scared by the idiotic window prices and then start buying $1K bundles talking themselves into believing that they've actually got a deal. WTF can I just go to the window any time and get a regular $50 day ticket on a vast resort in Europe, and here I have to buy a cat in a sack a month in advance to keep the price reasonable or commit to a pass to a single mountain?

Skiing is super affordable here if you’re smart and savvy about it.  If you’re just a casual one or two time a year person skiing is expensive on a per day basis but they still aren’t putting thousands of dollars into it like many of us.  How much does a day at an amusement park cost vs a season pass at an amusement park.  

 

Before you needed like 8-12 days to breakeven on a season pass at Blue depending on what session you skied and if pass was purchased early bird. Now it’s as little as 4 but more likely 6 or so. Instead of selling season passes to only those who were planning on skiing 15-20+ days now they’re selling season passes to people who were only planning to ski 5-10 days which means they sell a heck of a lot more season passes and people who ski 50 days at a resort benefit the most but those who ski a lot are loyal to the mountain and bring plenty of people who pay $50-100++ for a few hours of skiing.  

 

You can’t compare the poconos to Europe just like you can’t compare dorney Park to Disney world.  Would be sweet skiing in the alps this morning but they don’t even have WaWa over there and Salty said that you have to pay to go to the bathroom at a rest stop.  

 

Eaf have you ever been a businessman?  People who talk themselves into getting a good deal is what capitalism is all about...the best salespeople know exactly how to extract as much johnny cash out of a customer while leaving them feeling like they left with a great or at least fair deal.  

 

The people who own and operate ski areas especially in places that rely on snowmaking put a ton of money into the place every season with no guaranteed return..so now the sun is shining so they need to make hay...

[eaf]

4 minutes ago, saltyant said:

I agree with you but we're in the minority as people in the US will spend a lot for lift tickets and deal with the reservations. So unless there's a mass exodus due to these changes, expect them to become permanent.

I'm not even talking about 2020, I'm talking about ski industry and the proliferation of passes in general. Why is it completely not affordable to ski ad hoc, and why do I need to start committing to various combinations of "2 days there, 3 days here" in spring of the previous season??

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

10 minutes ago, saltyant said:

I agree with you but we're in the minority as people in the US will spend a lot for lift tickets and deal with the reservations. So unless there's a mass exodus due to these changes, expect them to become permanent.

When the pandemic is over they’ll go back to selling as many freaking lift tickets as possible and filling every quad and six pack..also selling tickets at ticket windows or at least kiosks..filling the lodge with hungry and thirsty skiers...the lodge will once again smell like feet, French fries and urine as opposed to the inside of your mask and sanitizer.  

Edited December 23, 2020 by GrilledSteezeSandwich

[toast21602]

omg.

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

4 minutes ago, eaf said:

I'm not even talking about 2020, I'm talking about ski industry and the proliferation of passes in general. Why is it completely not affordable to ski ad hoc, and why do I need to start committing to various combinations of "2 days there, 3 days here" in spring of the previous season??

Because the ski industry is utilizing big data to run more efficiently.  Why don’t they use paper lift tickets anymore??  You used to be able to buy a morning ticket at Blue and ski until 2pm or even later as long as you didn’t go back in the lodge and get scanned..now with Gates they’ve cut down on theft of services.  

 

Way back in the day you could pump your gas first and then go inside and pay.  I last saw that about 12 years ago in Vermont. 

[eaf]

2 minutes ago, GrilledSteezeSandwich said:

Because the ski industry is utilizing big data to run more efficiently.  Why don’t they use paper lift tickets anymore??  You used to be able to buy a morning ticket at Blue and ski until 2pm or even later as long as you didn’t go back in the lodge and get scanned..now with Gates they’ve cut down on theft of services.  

 

Way back in the day you could pump your gas first and then go inside and pay.  I last saw that about 12 years ago in Vermont. 

And like in Europe they still stand with a handgun and scan everybody's hanging ticket before allowing to board? That must be why it's cheap there.

You talk like you own one of these resorts: how to squeeze more money out of customers. I'm saying that I dislike the model where I'm literally forced to go down the pass route, have to do pass shopping way ahead of trip time, have to shrug at buddy passes that they add to sweeten the deal, but which are completely useless for me if I go on a solo trip, and also have to plan a number of such trips to justify the price. All these bundled lodging discounts, food vouchers, even airline credits, ugh! It's like dealing with a mafia that owns everything.

All instead of just boarding the plane, going somewhere and then buying tickets for the day when I want to ski and where I want to ski that day. Why is it possible in Europe, and so complicated here?

Even for local skiing it's a nightmare. There are Pocono Cards that can only be acquired through ski clubs. There are ORDA cards that make totally no sense. They give 25% and 50% savings and cover first day of skiing if you buy them in advance. So why make everybody jump through the hoops to buys these cards instead of just lowering base prices? Oh, yeah, business model. Well, I hate it.

 

[Schif]

I've never skied in Europe so hopefully someone can enlighten me, but the general impression I get is that there is less infrastructure there. Fewer lifts, most likely much less snowmaking and fewer lodges and buildings. If true this would streamline operations a little and you wouldn't need as much in terms of daily revenue to make up for it. 

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

4 minutes ago, eaf said:

And like in Europe they still stand with a handgun and scan everybody's hanging ticket before allowing to board? That must be why it's cheap there.

You talk like you own one of these resorts: how to squeeze more money out of customers. I'm saying that I dislike the model where I'm literally forced to go down the pass route, have to do pass shopping way ahead of trip time, have to shrug at buddy passes that they add to sweeten the deal, but which are completely useless for me if I go on a solo trip, and also have to plan a number of such trips to justify the price. All these bundled lodging discounts, food vouchers, even airline credits, ugh! It's like dealing with a mafia that owns everything.

All instead of just boarding the plane, going somewhere and then buying tickets for the day when I want to ski and where I want to ski that day. Why is it possible in Europe, and so complicated here?

Even for local skiing it's a nightmare. There are Pocono Cards that can only be acquired through ski clubs. There are ORDA cards that make totally no sense. They give 25% and 50% savings and cover first day of skiing if you buy them in advance. So why make everybody jump through the hoops to buys these cards instead of just lowering base prices? Oh, yeah, business model. Well, I hate it.

 

Yeah but you love skiing so you deal with it.  It’s not that complicated for me...and when I venture away from Blue mountain I’ll figure out the ins and outs of other resorts Covid-19 protocal and will adapt as needed.  Eaf you’re in the very minority most are happy as a clam to buy advanced tickets for whatever activity they wanna do(reservations) and have a fun time doing it.  If you ever came into my office to purchase from me, I would add a 15% PITA surcharge. 

[Benm]

40 minutes ago, GrilledSteezeSandwich said:

Skiing is super affordable here at blue if you’re smart and savvy about it.

a 429 season pass truly cannot be beat.

i remember first looking at options before starting back up last season and JFBB wanted like 1K. I said haaayylll naw, are you for real.

Edited December 23, 2020 by Benm

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

2 minutes ago, Schif said:

I've never skied in Europe so hopefully someone can enlighten me, but the general impression I get is that there is less infrastructure there. Fewer lifts, most likely much less snowmaking and fewer lodges and buildings. If true this would streamline operations a little and you wouldn't need as much in terms of daily revenue to make up for it. 

Also you are responsible for your own rescue if you get hurt.  They sell insurance for that.  Things aren’t so sue happy over there.  A small chunk of lift tickets here go to liability insurance..

[saltyant]