Montage getting in on the hotel game

[enjoralas]

Blue better get their shit together!

 

https://www.thetimes-tribune.com/news/business/owners-planning-hotel-at-montage-mountain-ski-resorts/article_78342468-ade9-5bc0-9f4c-327f7e5c2a5a.amp.html

 

 

Edited March 23, 2021 by enjoralas

[Schif]

If that rendering is any indication they are about 74 years from this actually becoming a reality. 

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

That is radical. 

[toast21602]

Very cool. I wonder if this will be done before the 2018 opening of Blue's Vista Lodge Residency Club?

[pcklein31]

Agreed,, I'd they accomplish that, think would be the first ski tunnel in PA.

Would be very unique

[Schif]

They have at least a 18 months to two years in design time ahead of them on this project. Don't expect to be sitting in a rooftop hot tub at Montage any time soon. 

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

51 minutes ago, Schif said:

They have at least a 18 months to two years in design time ahead of them on this project. Don't expect to be sitting in a rooftop hot tub at Montage any time soon. 

About a year for construction?  

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

800 hotel rooms at the base of Montage already is major.  I wonder what the occupancy rates are like at those hotels. I also wonder what kind of rates Montage would charge for this hotel. 

[Schif]

This hotel at Montage would be 100% sold out for all concerts at the mountain and they could probably charge a ton for those nights. Since there's no public transportation up there it can be assumed that any hotel guest would need a car which would not really make an expensive slopeside place a lot more appealing than a much cheaper option 5 minutes away. 

[PSUFrankenstein]

Montage owns at least one of the hotels on montage mountain road...or at least they did.   Even that hotel was expensive when I stayed there for a concert so I'm sure this would give them the ability to charge a pretty high price on concert weekends.  Not sure how high of a demand there will be for ski season rooms 

[abe]

montage turning into dang camelback amusement park

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

1 minute ago, abe said:

montage turning into dang camelback amusement park

Because of a hotel? And they already have a waterpark and use the mountain for hippie concerts. 

[abe]

Well I guess the view could be good from there but as you said, pretty radical spot to cram a hotel/ski tunnel.  Certainly would change the vibe of phoebe snow pod.

Good for them though I guess, they definitely could use the skier traffic if this will generate some. More skier traffic=better lifts, better snowmaking, less probability of going bankrupt every few years

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

2 minutes ago, abe said:

Well I guess the view could be good from there but as you said, pretty radical spot to cram a hotel/ski tunnel.  Certainly would change the vibe of phoebe snow pod.

Good for them though I guess, they definitely could use the skier traffic if this will generate some. More skier traffic=better lifts, better snowmaking, less probability of going bankrupt every few years

Maybe they’ll put in some lifts built in the 21st century...Montage is one resort that would benefit from a two stage gondola and perhaps a fishing pond. 

[abe]

If they could figure out how to cut a green or blue trail to the bottom I could see a high speed long haul be justified

Maybe they can do something like the Greek Peak "express" where they have a loading carpet and crank up the speed of a fixed grip if they can't get the skier traffic down there to justify a proper detachable.  But yeah for having 1000ft vert there it is pretty hard to lap all of it given how long flat and slow the long haul liftline is.

I do hope that their cheap $35/$40 ski for all stays around for a while though, it is a great place to bring people who need rentals, but of course they will charge what the market says they can once they get a hotel in - not sure what the effect would be on skier traffic.

It does seem like a fair number of people from further south take Montage/Elk overnights, I guess if Montage had a slopeside hotel they would get more of that vacation $$$ seeing as they seem to have a hard time attracting Philly/NY crowd

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

I thought there’s a top to bottom blue on the far skiers right?  Also $35-40 lift tickets you’re dreaming.  Scranton is gonna tap into more of the NY market and you’ll see Tesla’s and Range Rovers in the lot.  

[abe]

There are two runs that are blue on upper half and black on lower half, and the final drop down they make by the long haul lift is a little bit steep for a blue run in PA.  They shouldn't be encouraging PA intermediates to go to the lower mountain unless there is a way to grade a new trail down there.

And yeah the $40 midweek ski for all/$35 college day tickets are fantastic, 9am-9pm ticket + rental + group lesson (pre 'rona) at one of the largest ski areas in the state.  Used to be $25 before they upped it.  Sadly that upward trend will likely continue.  Montage seemed to be busier than expected this year which is good news for infrastructure improvements/its continued existence but bad news for mega cheap uncrowded big time PA skiing.

College day vibe at Montage is definitely a time.  Flyers jerseys jeans and beanies, parking lot full of beaters, heckling from the lifts, lots of spectacular wipeouts.  good times.

Edited March 24, 2021 by abe

[toast21602]

3 minutes ago, abe said:

There are two runs that are blue on upper half and black on lower half, and the final drop down they make by the long haul lift is a little bit steep for a blue run in PA.  They shouldn't be encouraging PA intermediates to go to the lower mountain unless there is a way to grade a new trail down there.

And yeah the $40 midweek ski for all/$35 college day tickets are fantastic, 9am-9pm ticket + rental + group lesson (pre 'rona) at one of the largest ski areas in the state.  Used to be $25 before they upped it.  Sadly that upward trend will likely continue.  Montage seemed to be busier than expected this year which is good news for infrastructure improvements/its continued existence but bad news for mega cheap uncrowded big time PA skiing.

They definitely seem to be doing something right. I haven't heard bankruptcy talk or anything about this place since the new ownership took over years ago after the Snö debacle. 

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

How long are people only able to ski Blue runs in PA? Like four days.  Sheesh. Most beginners and low intermediate skiers ski single blacks.  

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

How long are people only able to ski Blue runs in PA? Like four days.  Sheesh. Most beginners and low intermediate skiers ski single blacks.  

 

Also @abe welcome to PASR

[abe]

A lot of people only ski 1-2 times per year/every few years, throw in a bunch of kids learning, and when you offer $35 ticket/rental/lesson its a good portion of the people there.  Tried to go down to lower mountain on a rented snowboard there which was a bad idea lol that last drop is steeper than it looks

and thanks for the welcome!  I have been lurking here for a while, decided I should make an account.

[indiggio]

9 hours ago, abe said:

A lot of people only ski 1-2 times per year/every few years, throw in a bunch of kids learning, and when you offer $35 ticket/rental/lesson its a good portion of the people there.  Tried to go down to lower mountain on a rented snowboard there which was a bad idea lol that last drop is steeper than it looks

and thanks for the welcome!  I have been lurking here for a while, decided I should make an account.

Welcome!

[Schif]

Back in the day at Montage they had huge orange banners up on poles that stretched the whole width of the trail, probably 20 feet in the air that said something along the lines of "Expert terrain only beyond this point" to try and turn people before they went down lower runaway and lower fast track.

It would take a herculean effort to cut a blue trail down to the bottom of Montage, the mountain just naturally takes a nosedive down there and there are some major rock formations and cliffs off to the far skiers right that would make it very tough to add a mellow trail out there. I love Montage but at the end of the day it's 4 little mountains all tied together since each lift skis like its own little pod. 

Welcome @abe!

[enjoralas]

11 hours ago, abe said:

Good for them though I guess, they definitely could use the skier traffic if this will generate some. More skier traffic=better lifts

I bet they could find a used high speed quad pretty cheap

[toast21602]

12 minutes ago, Schif said:

Back in the day at Montage they had huge orange banners up on poles that stretched the whole width of the trail, probably 20 feet in the air that said something along the lines of "Expert terrain only beyond this point" to try and turn people before they went down lower runaway and lower fast track.

It would take a herculean effort to cut a blue trail down to the bottom of Montage, the mountain just naturally takes a nosedive down there and there are some major rock formations and cliffs off to the far skiers right that would make it very tough to add a mellow trail out there. I love Montage but at the end of the day it's 4 little mountains all tied together since each lift skis like its own little pod. 

Welcome @abe!

Would need some sort of trail like lower sidewinder that has multiple switchbacks to mellow it out. I miss Montage. I was hoping to get up there on a Tuesday in February but it kept snowing and Blue was so damn good.