Ski season is right around the corner...about 2 months out hopefully. I was surfin' some of the local mid-a resort sites and checkin' out opening dates, upgrades, prices, etc. Some resorts seem like they are ready to go with online packaging and deals available for folks looking to book online for winter vacations or simply getting people stoked about their product, while some resorts don't even have current web sites up and running at all(but most have some kind of links to winter pricing, etc).
I noticed snowshoe's web site packed with info and marketing for the upcoming season w/ an opening day scheduled for November 27th---I think they made a typo though---it says that holiday day ski tickets are $89, that can't be right...Canaan has a new web site up for their new lodge and summer amenities, but nothing about the ski side of things(hope that is not an indicator of priorities and the ski side of things)...oddly enough t-line seems to have pulled the winter site they brought on line last season---the only winter site I could find for the t-line was a 2012 winter site w/ the next event being presidents day(they do have some season pass rates info on the summer web site, but nothing else about the upcoming season)...of course white grass has its always colofully scenic pics where its easy to see the fall season starting to trickle into pre-winter...
Tucker wrote:
I noticed snowshoe's web site packed with info and marketing for the upcoming season w/ an opening day scheduled for November 27th---I think they made a typo though---it says that holiday day ski tickets are $89, that can't be right...
That was no typo
At our HOA meeting last March, Frank DeBerry said these exact words to a roomful of us at Mtn Lodge
"you do not want to buy lift tickets at the counter next year. The $199 pass was a gift"
Well I guess if someone wants to put themselves through the abuse of skiing mid-a lift service on the holdiays then they probably don't know any better anyway...
I was looking some more at the Canaan Valley Resort new web site---it looks pretty professional actually. The lodge rennovations page shows some of the new lodge improvements---they report to have opened a section or 2 with the complete opening to follow shortly...from the pics, the rooms look pretty fancy and up to date...
I also noticed that Canaan Valley Resort has a fairly active Facebook page with nice pics and timely correspondance from the Resort...
https://www.facebook.com/canaanvalleyresort
Maybe the new improvements and now apparent attention to marketing signals a change in the status quo at the resort...
Tucker, your comments are not quite fair. While I understand how one can gag at a $89 Holiday single day lift ticket at a Mid-Atlantic ski area, I doubt very few will buy such a last minute ticket.
Look at Snowshoe web site ticket prices and notice all the specials that mean much lower costs, especially if lift ticket bought just one day in advance, on line, even for holiday periods. And multi day tickets even provide a better bargain.
The Colonel
The Colonel wrote:
Tucker, your comments are not quite fair. While I understand how one can gag at a $89 Holiday single day lift ticket at a Mid-Atlantic ski area, I doubt very few will buy such a last minute ticket.
Look at Snowshoe web site ticket prices and notice all the specials that mean much lower costs, especially if lift ticket bought just one day in advance, on line, even for holiday periods. And multi day tickets even provide a better bargain.
The Colonel
Colonel,
Please put down that cup of Snowshoe Koolaid you've been drinking. Do you really think a kids weekend lift ticket at $70/day or even a three day weekend kids pass for $52.50/day is a bargain?
My kids can ski at WISP for $45/day or $39.50/day for a two day weekend pass that includes Friday night. Or I could head to Tline where my kids can ski for $38/day or $34.50/day for a two day weekend pass (last years rates).
Should we compare midweek prices or ski/board rental rates?
Did I mention that both WISP & Tline are almost two hours closer for me than Snowshoe?
Plus, at Tline if the kids ski down to the silverqueen and decide they want to ride the orange triple instead---they can just take the zipline down to the other lift...
Did they install the zip at TL?
The Colonel
unless it was done in the past 10 days, no.
Just two big piles of dirt on Saturday. They are still going to do this, grrrrr. Also noted three grave sized holes that were dug to locate and repair leaks in the snowmaking water piping. Seems they can't blow the mice out until these are fixed.
uderstood that they are installing more hydrants so they can use all the sticks.
..it appears that tline has their winter website up and going again w/ new rates for the upcoming season..
TL has a Holiday lift ticket rate of $71 this coming season!!!!!
i guess the big Zipline improvement was real costly?!
The Colonel
The Colonel wrote:
TL has a Holiday lift ticket rate of $71 this coming season!!!!!
i guess the big Zipline improvement was real costly?!
The Colonel
Must be. Snowshoe is $89 for comparison sake.
Marketing strategy or just awkward?
"What am I doing? Truth be told? Building business, doing business. Hand-outs are for the government. May we all create a place in West Virginia where the entire world wants to do business." -Fred Herz
Midweek skiing prime season:
T-Line: $40
Blowshoe: $79
I guess the Zip Line is not operating midweek. But the Blowshoe one-arm bandits operate round the clock.
Marketing strategy or just awkward
Party foul. Strategy and T-Line should never be mentioned in the same sentence.
...something makes me think that this season in the valley will be more special than most...however, I really don't understand the strategy of not releasing/promoting/marketing a "tentative" opening day for the ski season...everyone knows that it is dependent on weather, so resorts don't loose anything by not hitting a tentative opening date, but if you don't announce when you plan on opening you are simply not marketing for potential sales or worse you are loosing xmas week business because folks are planning/booking vacations at other resorts...
Tline has some of the most inovative marketing around, they have created the Unseason. The unseason is the period between the early season and the Holiday season. Based on Tline's .pdf Rate sheet, Tline is either offering super special rates during the unseason or they are closed on December 25 & 26, 2013.
JohnL wrote:
Midweek skiing prime season:
T-Line: $40
Blowshoe: $79
I guess the Zip Line is not operating midweek. But the Blowshoe one-arm bandits operate round the clock.
Liftopia is our friend. Snowshoe, midweek, Tues Jan 7, 2013. $38.99
Who pays ticket counter rates these days?
SCWVA wrote:
Tline has some of the most inovative marketing around, they have created the Unseason. The unseason is the period between the early season and the Holiday season. Based on Tline's .pdf Rate sheet, Tline is either offering super special rates during the unseason or they are closed on December 25 & 26, 2013.
Need a like button for this...
Again I say, look at Snowshoe ticket bargains on their web site: lots of much lower cost daily tickets if just purchased on-line up to day prior to skiing!
The Colonel
David wrote:
Marketing strategy or just awkward?
"What am I doing? Truth be told? Building business, doing business. Hand-outs are for the government. May we all create a place in West Virginia where the entire world wants to do business." -Fred Herz
what do you suppose the message/intent is? is it a shot at Canaan Valley Resort and their improvements or just a general bashing of the liberals inside the beltway? either way its got to be a marketing strategy if it is posted on a resort media outlet?...I am curious, but seems that this statement has the potential to offend and maybe even deter a portion of customer/potential customer base...Im no marketerer but I will go out on a limb and say expressing political views as marketing strategy may not be a good idea???
Tucker wrote:
David wrote:
Marketing strategy or just awkward?
"What am I doing? Truth be told? Building business, doing business. Hand-outs are for the government. May we all create a place in West Virginia where the entire world wants to do business." -Fred Herz
what do you suppose the message/intent is? is it a shot at Canaan Valley Resort and their improvements or just a general bashing of the liberals inside the beltway? either way its got to be a marketing strategy if it is posted on a resort media outlet?...I am curious, but seems that this statement has the potential to offend and maybe even deter a portion of customer/potential customer base...Im no marketerer but I will go out on a limb and say expressing political views as marketing strategy may not be a good idea???
Tucker, you are not Fred. Maybe, just maybe, he has an idea what he means.
Tucker wrote:
David wrote:
Marketing strategy or just awkward?
"What am I doing? Truth be told? Building business, doing business. Hand-outs are for the government. May we all create a place in West Virginia where the entire world wants to do business." -Fred Herz
what do you suppose the message/intent is? is it a shot at Canaan Valley Resort and their improvements or just a general bashing of the liberals inside the beltway? either way its got to be a marketing strategy if it is posted on a resort media outlet?...I am curious, but seems that this statement has the potential to offend and maybe even deter a portion of customer/potential customer base...Im no marketerer but I will go out on a limb and say expressing political views as marketing strategy may not be a good idea???
It is a strange message, Mr. Herz often has inscrutible quotes. I doubt anything like this would keep anyone away, though. It's not too inflammatory and not really offensive to anyone in particular, just a little off key.
What happened to my post? I will try to remember my point...... oh what was the context for his statements, were they just miscellaneous ramblings or was he tryingt o respond to a comment?
...looks like Canaan Valley has an improved web-cam...I wonder if these new fangled webcam things will be useful marketing tools...
WOW. I am sure "doing bidness" will be all ov er this, eh?
CVR is spinning the Wiess lift. Is it for maintainance, or maybe a photo op for their website? I bet a well placed donation of some sort will get you to the top.
Tucker wrote:
...looks like Canaan Valley has an improved web-cam...I wonder if these new fangled webcam things will be useful marketing tools...
Cool. Looks skiable. Afraid i Have missed first tracks for this year. I'm in Boston for a family get together. Visited Fenway yesterday afternoon just to soak up the vibe. Watched the game on TV from a friends house. Ave. ticket price is $770. For that kind of $ I insist on being a participant. If I pay, I play. I dont pay that kind of money to watch somebody else play.
I hope some of you will get out there and make some turns for me.
Speaking of Marketing
To answer Tucker's yearly question "Which resort will blow (first)"...
Snowshoe wins!
..damn it...snowshoe blows so hard that they even beat me to posting the thread...from the marketing I have seen for job fairs it looks like local resorts in the valley don't even hire their snowmakers until late November...I heard a rumor that this year Whitegrass isn't even gonig to hire snowmakers...
Looks like timberline got a webcam up and going yesterday...doesn't seem like the link to the webcam from the timberline "website" works, but you can access it from a link on their facebook page...it seems more and more that timberline is using the facebook as their go to marketing outlet...
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Timberline-Four-Seasons-Resort-Official-Page-WV/162195150518076
Snowshoe is still blowin hard.......................
Has links to the cams at CVR, TL, WP, and the Shoe, as well some the of resorts in NC.
jimmy wrote:
kwillg6 wrote:
eggraid wrote:
jimmy wrote:
WOW. I am sure "doing bidness" will be all ov er this, eh?
Boy am I ever confused.
Concussion.... will do that.
Wassa matta your jimmy/english decoder wring broke?
"doing bidness" = fred
this= new fangled web cam
all over = when we get around to it
Thank you, I forgot to download that app
Forget about snowmobile racing, Tline should talk with the people at Red Bull. http://www.foxnews.com/leisure/2014/01/10/off-road-racing-trucks-hit-slopes-in-maine/?intcmp=features
Shhhh, don't give them any ideas that do not include improvements to lifts and snowmaking.
Wonder how many more slopes would be open had the Zipline cost been invested in improved automated snowmaking?!!!
The Colonel
Wonder how many more slopes would be open had the Zipline cost been invested in improved automated snowmaking?!!!
Zipline financed/constructed entirely by a third party. Doesn't affect snowmaking this year, except at the base.
Watching web cams definitely indicates considerable more sliders at Snowshoe than most other Mid-A resorts, especially true on ultra lousy weather days. It will be interesting to see how the marketing move for low cost season passes sold at end of 12-13 season pans out on overall bottom line! And for future marketing and construction of a 6 pack Ballhooter lift and moving of present 4 pack Ballhooter to replace Powder Monkey (proposed for 14-15 season). And the considerable yearly improvements to snowmaking!
The Colonel
The Colonel wrote:
Watching web cams definitely indicates considerable more sliders at Snowshoe than most other Mid-A resorts, especially true on ultra lousy weather days. It will be interesting to see how the marketing move for low cost season passes sold at end of 12-13 season pans out on overall bottom line! And for future marketing and construction of a 6 pack Ballhooter lift and moving of present 4 pack Ballhooter to replace Powder Monkey (proposed for 14-15 season). And the considerable yearly improvements to snowmaking!
The Colonel
Of all the Mid Atlantic areas, Snowshoe is the highest traffic destination area (i.e. very few day trippers.) So if someone spent $$$ for a weekend vacation there, they'll be showing up regardless of the weather. And most of their customers have had a long drive to get there, so they want to get something for the long drive. So, more skiers on the slopes on rainy days.
I'll be curious to see if they repeat the discount pass deal next year (and at what price.) Anecdotaly, I think it has affected the volume of T-Line's business so far this year. If has created some buzz among the non-hard core skiers. If they repeat the offer, I think it will have a greater affect next year and other ski areas will have to adapt to keep up.
But like the weather, things change rapidly around the Mid Atlantic.
JohnL wrote:
Anecdotaly, I think it has affected the volume of T-Line's business so far this year.
I wonder whether economics is the only factor. Could the less than stellar snowmaking in the Valley in Dec. plus the lack of a natural base cause lower visitation? Hard to drive past 90-100% open lowland resorts this year for what the Valley has offered in the past month.
I just don't know the SS versus TL customer dynamics well enough and need some schoolin. Seems to me that:
TL=DC, local and regional WV, hard cores from all over (south and midwest), tele crowd, Boy Scouts
SS: DC, South, Mid-West (split with Holiday Valley).
Also and just my impression, the local resorts have not been that crowed (with the sole exception of the weekend after Xmas) compared to the amount of DC snowfall and cold temps this year.
I can give an anecdote about my family. We usually take a couple local trips each year. More often we go to Snowshoe once and Timberline once, usually for 3-4 days apiece. Last year, we bought season passes for the whole family from SS during the sale. So this year, we are not visiting Timberline, just Snowshoe. I prefer to go to different resorts, but this year going to Timberline for a few days would cost our family almost $600 in lift tix that we don't have to pay when we go to SS because we've got the season pass. I would guess we are not the only people making that decision. We have even added a couple extra trips out there on top of what we usually do, the season pass has encouraged us to go more often than we ever have. Keeping our fingers crossed for a long, snowy season!
JohnL wrote:
Of all the Mid Atlantic areas, Snowshoe is the highest traffic destination area (i.e. very few day trippers.) So if someone spent $$$ for a weekend vacation there, they'll be showing up regardless of the weather. And most of their customers have had a long drive to get there, so they want to get something for the long drive. So, more skiers on the slopes on rainy days.
To your point - We had long standing plans this past weekend to visit Snowshoe with a group of 20 + family and friends. Our relatives from Western NY drove almost 7 hours and spent hundreds on lift tickets to join us. We skied both crappy days in the rain for the exact reasons you mentioned.
The US has many "little cousins" ---- the Euros. Perhaps worth mentioning, the Euros have been pricing their lift tickets at very affordable rates - because "they" know that everyone is looking at prices. This has been going on for well over 20 years, and the truth is that:
1) there is money in lift tickets
2) there's a lot more money in everything else - associated with skiing / boarding
More precisely, a family of 4 will (often time) have to rent a house ($500 income to a realty company like www.T4sr.com) - and will eat for 3 days ($500 income to a Resort company like www.Timberlineresort.com) and will rent stuff (here goes another $200), etc...
Take a little loss on a lift tickets (great marketing SS - BTW) and it looks like another Euro resort making money on everything BUT ski lift tickets. There are lots of other factors involved, but for the most part, you probably get the idea. In fact, the future may look like this:
(man talking to his wife)
" Honey... we already have our season passes... can we just go over there again (and give them more money)?"
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