I sympathize with you repeat pass holders but want to thank you for bringing the first timer's special to light. My wife and I and two sons have been CVR season pass holders but I'm jumping ship this season. You can't beat $866 for a family of four. I was paying ~ $1160 over at CVR and then we'd pop over to TLine and the Shoe intermittently throughout the season. It looks like we'll be doing TLine as our primary this season with the periodic visits to CVR & the Shoe.
Again, I feel for the repeat TLine pass holders, but they are targeting ship jumpers like myself as do phone companies, satellite service providers, banks, etc...All those great deals are usually offered to entice new business. Yeah, it's frustrating that the loyal customer gets nothing other than continuation of service at the same rate but the people running these specials are going on the assumption that the veterans having subscribed to their services (whatever they may be) for the past 3, 5 , 8 years are pleased with the service and rates as-is otherwise they would have switched providers long before implementation of these come on deals. Seems a screwey way to look at things but it's a very commonplace marketing practice and is not just TLine trying to screw its patrons. As far as the $50 bump this year and prior year, I don't see any outward manifestation of significant improvements in the TLine infrastructure to warrant it aside from the forecasted additional dedicated blowers on the new trail and the increased fuel/man-hours required for grooming of said trail. We'll see what the 05/06 season brings. Think positive; the added assets may result in more aggressive snowmaking, enhanced grooming operations and maybe some small scale improvements to the antiquated lodge. Those of you that are running in that mindset, please PM me as I have some incredible acreage in Louisiana (albeit a little marshy). I'll let it go cheap to the right person. Keep smilin'....

BS...If my cable Co is running a special for 1st time cust I'll be the 1st to call them & demand somthing in return for bieng a loyal cust! Ive done it before & will do it again.They will offer free HBO for six months or somthing similar.If you don't wine you will not dine!!

PS...It has dropped below freezing above 5000' in the NC Mtns....SNOW!!!!

Glen while i have you on your soap box the BS was in no way directed at you or your post.It was just a general BS...actually directed at TL.Chill dude! another low brained type of comment(the word "chill") I feel you owe me an apology for bieng so quick,& quite aggressive I might add in jumping all over me.Split lip?? Are you one of those people you speak of that loses thier inhibition when behind a computer? You are just too smart I think to COMPREHEND simple talk.Now I will take a deep breath & go back & read your original post.I hope to be educated.

OK Glenn_C I see why you thought i was directing my comment to you..because it says in REPLY to you.For that I am sorry! It was meant as a general reply to the group.This problem might need Scotts attention. How do we just make a general comment on a subject without having to reply to someone?

I'm trying to figure out why there seems to be some Boy Scout bashing on this forum from time to time. Could they be jealous because the Boy Scouts get to stay at the luxurious bunkhouse? My son (who is a Boy Scout) and I (a former Boy Scout) got to stay at the Ritz (bunkhouse) during the Snowy Luau weekend. The Ritz was fully booked, the Boy Scouts had one room, while church youth groups had the remaining 5 or 6 rooms. So if you're bashing the groups at the bunkhouse, make sure you include these church groups in your bashings.

I understand why some people want to bash these groups of newbies, but for a lot of these people this is their only ski trip of the year and many of them couldn't afford to ski without these discounts. We need to share our love of the sport with these people.

It's only good business that T-line would try and attract these large groups. Offer big discounts and pack them into the bunkhouse. T-line gets to collect their $, no matter what the conditions are like, or whether they show up or even ski. By collecting $ from these people, it keeps the cost of lift tickets down for the rest of us. Most of these people in these groups don't like to ski when its cold and snowing, which leaves the freshies for the rest of us.

It would also be good business for T-line to offer discounted season tickets for first timers and repeat season pass holders (loyal) customers. Everyone who runs a business knows that you have to attract new customers and take care of your best customers. Keeping your loyal customers happy is the best and cheapest marketing you can do.

I am not actually offended by the bad mouthing of the Boy Scouts, because I got to ski for two days with my son very economically. I also know that we weren't in anyones way and we were skiing safely. I also paid an extra $15 for an upgraded lesson, which ended up being a private level 3/4 lesson for my son. So as far I as I'm concerned it was a win-win situation.

Timberline is trying to cater to a high-low mix of skiers: beginners and first-timers with very limited skills and advanced skiers. For experts, this region really offers slim pickings: a trail here and a trail there but very little tree skiing off the marked system. Tree skiing depends on natural snowfall and only Timberline can consistantly deliver the goods in this regard, season after season. It generally does not happen until late Feb and early March but when it does, it's an incredible boon for experts. OTW and Drop are not the hardest trails in the region but if allowed to bump up correctly, they are loads of fun on powder days. They hold snow much better than Lower Shays, and also receive much more natural snow because of their higher elevation. It's the powder days at Timberline that are priceless, and that's the big draw.

Timberline's strategy of building another easy blue with a grade that never exceeds 25 percent is actually a huge benefit for experts because it will keep the low level skiers off the harder terrain.

I'd echo the sentiment that the boy scout and church groups are often times a hazard on some of the slopes and tend to detract from the overall ski experience for the intermediates and experts however, those youths have parents with money. It's hoped that church and boy scout ski trips will inevitably spur a spark of love for the sport which will in turn involve parents spending money for follow on family trips to see what the hoo-hah is all about. In the end, all benefit. The money flows to the resorts, it's hoped that skills improve for the scout and his/her friends and family and eventually this leads to perpetuity and expansion of the sport. The more popular an activity becomes the larger the base of providers (supply & demand) which equates to more resorts, better amenities, etc....

So next time you spot that scout boarder sitting on his a** in the middle of OTW chatting with his friends, think of him as a misguided banner carrier for future skiers. I certainly throw a courteously delivered advisal on slope etiquette but I do so in an effort to enhance the ski experience not to scare them off the slopes. It's hard to do sometimes as some youths can be amazingly thick headed but you do what you can when you can.

It's a great sport...the more the merrier.

Snowboarders advertising for future skiers?? Where'd you get that?

None of us ever plan to influence people to go skiing. Snowboarding, yes... Skiing no.

And fyi... we're not that great of business for resorts... we tick-off their customers, don't pay for tickets, and act like the goofy bunch of locals we are.

All this talk of snow makes me really want to go ride... but that'll have to wait until July.

C-Man if i lived close to the TL slopes I'd probably be trying to ski this late april snowstorm!! Judging the latest radar & sat obs it must be snowing pretty good up at the valley! GOT SNOWMOBILE???

With the Timberline cam removed and the forrest service cam non-functioning, does anyone have pics from the last 12 hours at canaan/TLine??

Canaanman
Hah--I'd agree with you about ticking off customers. Boarders can be frustrating for skiers and vice versa, however, my analogy of the new boarder perpetuating the sport (both boarding and skiing) stands. I was not speaking in terms of snow discipline specifics. Boarding and skiing all equates to resort revenue. And whether that kid on the board intends to or not, once he gets his first taste on the church or scout outing and he gets home and talks his parents onto the hill for the follow on trip, the majority of first timers over 30 are starting out on sticks. Hence the point that regardless of your chosen discipline the sport is largely perpetuated by those youth groups. Like them or love them, a large percentage of those newbies are going to come back again and again.

"Not paying for tickets?" have you been poaching rides? Speak slowly and clearly into the microphone please...

Boy scouts will always be CHEAP....They are THRIFTY!! We need money for a high speed quad!!!!!! See ya on the slopes split lip!

John,

I agree with you, the woods at T-line are sweet. I have been very lucky to be able to hit T-line on some of the best days they've had in the last couple of years. President's day in 2003, closing weekend 2004, and March 11, 2005. I've skied a bunch of other days at T-line, but these days were epic.

President's Day weekend 2003, T-line said they got between 40-50" out of the storm. Fresh tracks on every run on Sunday. The lifts on Monday didn't open until 12noon because they had to dig out lifts and there was a 2 1/2 story snow drift covering the deck and lift ticket windows. Guess who dug out the lift ticket windows? The Boy Scouts.

T-line has the best tree skiing south of Vermont!

Believe me... I've already spoken into the microphone... several times.

Not really poaching the lift... more like the park. Resorts: Don't put your parks near the base... they will get hiked.

Ever wonder about those new signs at Snowshoe, "You MUST have a ticket to enter this slope system"?

bawalker:
Take a look at the Wisp cameras! Yesterday morning they were still majorily green snow-alternative .. look at them now! ... http://skiwisp.com/winter_webcams.htm ... better not wait until too late ... its now appx 7:45 Monday morning ...

Why must we be tortured so!