Website?

[trackbiker]

What's with Montage's website? Do they roll out of bed around noon then update their site? I can never get it to load in the AM.

Their latest update on Snowcountry.com is about 5 days old.

I was thinking of going on Fri. but how much do they have open? Are they making snow? Are they trying to get any new trails open?Wonder how much business they are losing to the other PA resorts that update their sites every morning. Guess I'll go to Elk.

[Ski]

What's with Montage's website? Do they roll out of bed around noon then update their site? I can never get it to load in the AM.

Their latest update on Snowcountry.com is about 5 days old.

I was thinking of going on Fri. but how much do they have open? Are they making snow? Are they trying to get any new trails open?Wonder how much business they are losing to the other PA resorts that update their sites every morning. Guess I'll go to Elk.

 

It's just Montage's way of reducing lift lines. 1800GOTSNOW is generally pretty accurate and updated like most snow phones.

[adrian]

i hate that website.

[Schif]

i hate that website.

It is pretty bad but it serves the purpose (sometimes)

[Sno Mountain Skier]

It would be nice if it were a real website with a picture of the day, and a webcam and recent updates.

[trackbiker]

It would be nice if it were a real website with a picture of the day, and a webcam and recent updates.

 

I saw that they updated it around 11:19. Wow, that's great if you live 40 min. from the mountain or less and can jump right in the car and go. People who aren't pass holders there are probably already skiing somewhere else!

The "Conditions" sections was obviously not designed by a skier. You have to keep hitting buttons to see the Lifts; then the BD Trails; then the BS Trails; then the GC Trails, instead of having all of that info and a trail map on the same page.

Their top to bottom lift is not even open. Camelback, Blue, JF/BB, and Shawnee are all 100% open. I think that the extra drive to Elk is in order. Seems like it would be the thing to do even if we had 12" of powder based on their customer friendliness.

[Sno Mountain Skier]

I saw that they updated it around 11:19. Wow, that's great if you live 40 min. from the mountain or less and can jump right in the car and go. People who aren't pass holders there are probably already skiing somewhere else!

The "Conditions" sections was obviously not designed by a skier. You have to keep hitting buttons to see the Lifts; then the BD Trails; then the BS Trails; then the GC Trails, instead of having all of that info and a trail map on the same page.

Their top to bottom lift is not even open. Camelback, Blue, JF/BB, and Shawnee are all 100% open. I think that the extra drive to Elk is in order. Seems like it would be the thing to do even if we had 12" of powder based on their customer friendliness.

Thank you for keeping out of my way and keeping our lift lines a second shorter.

[adrian]

the top to bottom lift isnt that great anyway. phoebe holds it down.

[Sno Mountain Skier]

I saw that they updated it around 11:19.

They open at 12, and the office workers dont come in till about 10:30 am so sorry it wasnt updated at 8am.

[Wolverine21]

its opening at 10AM anymore, today it did atleast

[trackbiker]

Thank you for keeping out of my way and keeping our lift lines a second shorter.

 

Obviously a lot of people are staying out of your way! In fact, if they keep losing money, no one will be in line and you'll have to walk back up.

[Sno Mountain Skier]

Obviously a lot of people are staying out of your way! In fact, if they keep losing money, no one will be in line and you'll have to walk back up.

Actually if you knew what you are talking about, they havent lost money the past 5 years, or something along those lines. Just wait for ski999 to get back he knows what it exactly is.

[trackbiker]

They open at 12, and the office workers dont come in till about 10:30 am so sorry it wasnt updated at 8am.

 

They must have a brilliant marketing department! You can't even look at their website until they decide to stroll in and turn on the server. In the mean time, all of the people who may have tried it out are skiing somewhere else. People with money to spend on lunch, drinks, etc. They'd rather gear their site to all of the locals who already bought a cheap season pass and aren't going to spend a dime extra on anything else. That's a great way to fill all those empty chairs on weekdays and to maximize profits!

I wonder how much money they will lose this year?

Does the snowmaking and grooming crew come in at 10:30 as well? No wonder they don't have any snow while Blue Mt. is 100% open!

[Sno Mountain Skier]

No wonder they don't have any snow while Blue Mt. is 100% open!

or maybe because they have dont have 100% snowmaking. Wait that could be a reason. Sorry the all mighty blue mtn is 100%. But montage only has tower guns on the northface, and then the rest of the slopes the use portable fan guns. So since they dont have nearly enough guns for the whole mtn, then they cant open those slopes.

[trackbiker]

Actually if you knew what you are talking about, they havent lost money the past 5 years, or something along those lines. Just wait for ski999 to get back he knows what it exactly is.

 

Just proves that you don't know what you're talking about. They lost over $60K last year. They're trying to sell the place and can't give it away. Looks like you may have to start skiing at a place that gives a s#it about their customers.

From the horses mouth: Article from the NE PA Business Journal

[Sno Mountain Skier]

Just proves that you don't know what you're talking about. They lost over $60K last year. They're trying to sell the place and can't give it away. Looks like you may have to start skiing at a place that gives a s#it about their customers.

From the horses mouth: Article from the NE PA Business Journal

if you re read my thing it says something along those lines, i said i wasnt sure about that but ski999 knows, wait for him.

Also they cant give it away because the fact that it is overpriced by the commisioners. Its worth 5.5 million at most, and they have it at 9million something.

Edited January 26, 2006 by montageskier

[adrian]

montage claims 100% snow making and could be more open but doesnt have the employee power.

[Sno Mountain Skier]

Also , F*ck it, i could care less what you think and you should do the same to me, i am finished with this topic.

[trackbiker]

or maybe because they have dont have 100% snowmaking. Wait that could be a reason. Sorry the all mighty blue mtn is 100%. But montage only has tower guns on the northface, and then the rest of the slopes the use portable fan guns. So since they dont have nearly enough guns for the whole mtn, then they cant open those slopes.

And how do they get the money to buy to buy the snow guns?

Hint: They are going to sell two less lift tickets this Friday. Plus they going to lose a locker rental and food for two people. That's not going to help them.

[VTmark]

i would say still check montage out. i manily go on holdilys. 'cuse their's never a lift line even then and the snow is so much better then bears or blues.

[Ski]

I've actually read the budget reports for the last seven seasons and Montage lost money three seasons ago, but has made money six out of the last seven---since they installed the snowtubing park.

 

The $60,000 loss is tied into the vendors with the Lackawanna Stadium. They had budgeted money from the ski resort to pay off baseball season vendors, so it shows up as a shortfall. The profit they made last season was spent on upgrades inside the lodge. They purposely disposed of profits so the baseball stadium vendors didn't get them instead.

 

There's no dispute that Lackawanna County is a horrible ski resort owner. The upside to County ownership is that they feel a responsibilty to employees, so they will continue to operate at a small loss. Do you know of any parks in your town that operate at a profit? The guys that mowe, clean up, patrol, etc...all get paid.

 

The downside is the incredible slowness at any change or upgrade.

 

They spent thousands of dollars for a website that I would have done for free. For having so little money to spend, they sure seem to find a way to throw it away. Like spending $20,000 to advertise in US Today and the Wall Street Journal for twice the appraised value.

 

So we are at the brink of either a great company like Snow Time (which owns Round Top and Windham) coming in and sprucing things up...or closing.

 

But WTF? Why worry? Tomorrow seems okay...so does this coming weekend and the one after that.

 

In the meantime, Montageskier and the rest of us get the use of an absolutely deserted mountain with tons of snow on the North Face.

 

I never took the Long Haul lift...I'd take Phoebe Snow to Iron Horse, then skate over to Upper Fast Track or Runaway. I miss those runs, but spent 95% of my time on the North Face anyway.

 

So if Shannon Elizabeth says she'll be your girlfriend for two weeks, would you take her up on it? Or would you bitch that her hair isn't cut just right and that she was eventually gonna leave?

 

I say just have fun and her while she's around.

[trackbiker]

I've actually read the budget reports for the last seven seasons and Montage lost money three seasons ago, but has made money six out of the last seven---since they installed the snowtubing park.

 

The $60,000 loss is tied into the vendors with the Lackawanna Stadium. They had budgeted money from the ski resort to pay off baseball season vendors, so it shows up as a shortfall. The profit they made last season was spent on upgrades inside the lodge. They purposely disposed of profits so the baseball stadium vendors didn't get them instead.

 

There's no dispute that Lackawanna County is a horrible ski resort owner. The upside to County ownership is that they feel a responsibilty to employees, so they will continue to operate at a small loss. Do you know of any parks in your town that operate at a profit? The guys that mowe, clean up, patrol, etc...all get paid.

 

The downside is the incredible slowness at any change or upgrade.

 

They spent thousands of dollars for a website that I would have done for free. For having so little money to spend, they sure seem to find a way to throw it away. Like spending $20,000 to advertise in US Today and the Wall Street Journal for twice the appraised value.

 

So we are at the brink of either a great company like Snow Time (which owns Round Top and Windham) coming in and sprucing things up...or closing.

 

But WTF? Why worry? Tomorrow seems okay...so does this coming weekend and the one after that.

 

In the meantime, Montageskier and the rest of us get the use of an absolutely deserted mountain with tons of snow on the North Face.

 

I never took the Long Haul lift...I'd take Phoebe Snow to Iron Horse, then skate over to Upper Fast Track or Runaway. I miss those runs, but spent 95% of my time on the North Face anyway.

 

So if Shannon Elizabeth says she'll be your girlfriend for two weeks, would you take her up on it? Or would you bitch that her hair isn't cut just right and that she was eventually gonna leave?

 

I say just have fun and her while she's around.

 

Thanks for your informative reply.

This is only my 3rd ski season back in the area and I drive by Montage several times a year on the way to Elk and/or Greek Peak. Never hear much about Montage. Had planned to try it out this year. But then I can't get their website to check conditions, whats open, etc. I see that they don't open 'till noon on weekdays when everyone else opens at 9:00.

Something else I didn't mention is that they are owned by the freaking county and they dropped out of the PA recreational department discount voucher program this year. I can buy a discount voucher to almost every other area in PA except Montage, and they are owned by the county? How much business has that cost them?

I think that you are right, they need to be bought out or managed by a private corporation like Snow Time or Peak Resorts(who JF/BB hired to manage their ski areas this year.)

I run a small business and jump through hoops to please my customers! Which brings me more customers. It ticks me off to no end to see a potentially profitable place run by what seems to be a bunch of drone managers. I'm sure that there are employees there who would like to kick the place up a notch, but a business can't be run by a beauracracy. So they decided not to open until noon (now 10:00, but no one knows it!) Make it some one's responsibility to post the ski report early!

I love the idea of no lift lines. That's why I ski a lot at night or midweek. Never in PA on a Sat./Sun. day, except for Elk. But no liftlines "weekends and holidays" is also a sign that we may not be skiing there at all in the future. And it doesn't seem like anyone is doing anything to improve the situation.

My post were really intended to invoke a response of "why I should ski Montage?"

Based on your post, I may try it out on my way to Elk, Greek Peak, or Plattekill (where the owner is doing everything he can to make a go of the place!) on a Fri. night once they are 100% open.

I realize the weather has not been great this year, but it's been the same for everyone. Here's hoping that we get lots of snow in Feb!

[Ski]

We co-own a small, private community ski area in the Poconos---one double chair, one surface (and now a tubing hill)...we'd love to be open seven days, but we'd only get four or five people during a weekday afternoon and a handfull of kids at night. So we have a Friday night through Sunday evening schedule, including holidays. The same schedule as Eagle Rock, which you'd mentioned.

 

Very few people skied Montage weekday mornings. If you cut CB's skier visits by 90%, they'd start opening at noon, as well. Just business.

 

We specifically picked Montage as our home hill, though, because we hate crowds. After several years of having to be at CB every weekend (my oldest raced for the CATs), I couldn't wait to start buying season passes at Montage. The busiest weekend day at Montage is emptier than the slowest weekday at CB or Blue. What trails that are covered by snowmaking, still have corduroy marks sometimes open to close.

 

Not to harsh on Blue's amazing success, but I've been skiing there Thursday nights and often have to stand at the top of a diamond for 10 minutes just waiting for an opening to be able to ski fast for a small section...then I have to hold up and wait again for another opening. This entire season, I haven't waited behind more than two people in a lift line. And I ski all the lifts, because of my 5yr old.

 

So Montage may be the worst 6 lift, 21 trail resort ever---but it's the best 5 lift, 15 trail place I've ever skied. Elk may claim to have the best snow, but I've never seen perfectly groomed corduroy there at 4pm.

 

Right now, there's a real tradeoff for a family to ski at Montage. The upper mountain lifts are really slow and the terrain is limited. But it's also totally safe to bring little kids and give them some space because of the lack of crowds.

 

Is it Montage's fault that people aren't skiing at Montage? Yes, but at the same time it's people's own laziness that has them missing out on a little gem. It's there, it's open, and people drive right by on their way to long lift lines and crowded slopes. Their loss.

[adrian]

montage is mind enhancingly awesome.

[Ski]

I just got back from Blue, Brother Skitzo, and I'm still a little shaken from all those people. People were happy that the lift lines were only 10 minutes for the quad! And when the line traffic cop walked away, there was madness and chaos.

 

How do people live like that?