Interesting article about Timberline owner Doc Reichle in the Charleston Gazette: "Ski resort founder tends to his brainchild" Credit to the White Grass Daily Report for the link.

Tom

Thanks for sharing a wonderful article. Makes the reader understand the TLine operation a bit better. I appreciate all that Doc Reichle has done for mid-Atlantic skiing and I wish his family well running the resort. Now if they could only get to the better lifts portion of their vision.
The Colonel

OHH YAHH??! Well let me tell you the real story......AHHHHHH FO GET A BOUT IT......Ain't worth the grief!

tgd, thanks for posting, I enjoyed that too. Who among us if we somehow came across a small fortune wouldn't want to try for a very similar dream??

Great Article. It explains a lot. We all like the romantic idea of waking up power ball winners, buying a ski resort and living out our days running it. But is shows that the romantic idea is really a lot of work.

Sadly I think T-line has really just grown to big for this management model. If we really want to see the improvements that a lot clamor for on this site. Then the romantic idea needs to go out the window. If a strong ski management company with experience in low volume resorts (say Peak Resorts) moved in and bought T-line. The improvement would be huge.

The romantic model these day probably only works farther north were there is better natural snow, longer season and closer population base. However for T-line understanding what it really is makes you enjoy it more!

Neat article, and I agree with oldensign that the management approach is charming but may be running out of steam. Though I hate to say it, the resorts that are taking big strides in recent years are the ones backed by big money. It's a tradeoff to be sure, because a lot of the big-business resorts lose character. But in the end, I guess the ultimate measure of success is how they deliver to the customer. I much prefer the TL charm to the Snowshoe mega-corporation feel, but I can't argue that Snowshoe is delivering quite an impressive ski experience these days.

Maybe the ultimate measure of success for the skier, but if Doc and Fred are happy who are we to claim it's not a success? Can we take our money elsewhere? Sure - that's our option. Can they not give a damn? Absolutely. I know I can be vocal with my criticism, but I do that so that if anyone over there is reading this board (and I hear some are) I just want to be totally honest with them before I take any drastic action (i.e. stop buying a season pass). I could take my money and go away without saying a word, but that wouldn't help them or me.

I appreciate comments with a little backbone & Clay & others deliver...Its tough to show tough love amongst all the Bleeding hearts here at DCski....
I look at it like this..We have a couple of Happy Crooks holding the Valley Hostage!...Mafia type who make themselves feel better about their evil deeds by "giving back" to boyscouts & the needy...as long as they are up to date with the Church dues...its all good!

i kinda look at it as a tradeoff. for a private owned ski area to have money to upgrade lifts, etc, they need a ton of money. having a ton of money means having a ton of customers. a ton of customers means a crowded mountain and longer lift lines, etc. I can honestly say, i can't recall ever waiting more than a few minutes in line at tline, even on a holiday weekend. since mid-atl ski runs are so short to begin with, i like not having to waste time standing in line to ride a lift. keep tline the way it is, in a month when it starts dumping, everyone will be raving about how great it is again

Crunch,
I did not think you old enough to suffer from memory loss. I can certainly remember many trips to Tline (most all on a weekend) when I stood in line 15-30 minutes to ride up the slooooow main triple. Now, maybe recently the lines are shorter...perhaps because people are talking with their feet (er skis and boards) and going elsewhere.
The Colonel