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Vail Resorts has recently purchased its 17th resort (Park City) adding to its growing monopoly within the Ski Industry for $182 million. This massive corporation is changing the very idea of skiing and making it harder and harder for the general public to access. I am worried that as with any company they are starting to lose the values that we as a community hold and completely falling away from what skiing should be. Creating these massive resorts where people go to simply hang out in the lodge and party. They have flooded the industry with billions of dollars to simply increase lift line waits and lift ticket prices. Why have they done this? To sell an experience, one that is not about skiing, but going to a massive resort in the mountains where you might get to take a couple runs on the ski hill. This is not what skiing is about. Skiing should be something that you go and do with your friends and family. Getting out into the mountains and learning how to ride down them were some of my best memories as a kid. I learned a lot of valuable lessons about respect, decency and the outdoors riding these beautiful mountains and now instead there is thousands of rich people from the cities coming out to these places I love. They do not respect, or learn to respect, skiing for what it is and are destroying the community that has taught me so much. Vail is making it harder and harder for us true ski bums to enjoy the sport that we love and if we do not change some things it will only get worse.
Vail bought Park City in 2014... you decided to make this thread now? They did recently acquire Crested Butte, Okemo, and two other resorts, but you are just realizing this now?
Even though you seem to have been living under a rock for 3 years, vail is not ruining skiing, if anything it makes it cheaper for ski bums to buy a pass to multiple resorts and travel around...
For the truly poor ski bums the travelling part is the biggest expense
eheathEven though you seem to have been living under a rock for 3 years, vail is not ruining skiing, if anything it makes it cheaper for ski bums to buy a pass to multiple resorts and travel around...
But the issue Vail is going to run into, and already has, is an employee issue. Trying to find enough $10/hr slaves to run their ships is getting next to impossible. Especially in this economy and the markets they are in.
But the issue Vail is going to run into, and already has, is an employee issue. Trying to find enough $10/hr slaves to run their ships is getting next to impossible. Especially in this economy and the markets they are in.
Time to automate the lifts and burger lines.
That's what they have J1s for. They are raising their minimum wage to around 12$/hr. Not that that makes much difference in a resort town.
Theres about 481 operating ski areas (according to the NSAA stats page here http://www.nsaa.org/media/303993/1617_Areas_per_state.pdf), Vail owns a majority of the larger resorts, sure, but that still gives you hundreds of other places to go skiing, and probably pretty affordable too.
Im personally not a fan of the work culture there and how you simply aren't valued as an employee under Vail rule, but I can also you know, go ski/work elsewhere
Some win, some lose. You get a pretty solid pass as long as you get a season pass, and they pass the expenses on to the irregular skiers who come from out of state and fork over $190 for a lift ticket. The problem is Vail resorts raises property values and local lodging pricing which makes it relatively expensive to actually conveniently use the pass around different resorts unless you go some place like Park City and stay in SLC or are very resourceful. We went to Whistler this year and holy shit that lodging was so expensive even a doctor would be like "I can't afford this shit". Buying food at a Vail resort sucks too. When friends come from out of town, we venture to a more local resort since I wouldn't wish a super expensive lift ticket on anyone
Simple Math Problem:
College Student Epic Pass: $450ish
Individual Day pass to A Basin: $80+
Individual Day pass to Break: $100+
I skied about 20 days at the basin and another 10-12 at Breck and one at Keystone
I dont care if Vail owns every resort on this damn planet I'm still saving stupid amounts of money by purchasing an epic pass.
LivingDaLifeThat's what they have J1s for. They are raising their minimum wage to around 12$/hr. Not that that makes much difference in a resort town.
All visa programs are hard and expensive these days. And with a flick of el asshole Trumps pen, they could go away.
They also treat their visa employees like shit. They have no idea where to live or how to live. They are sent here clueless. And Vail doesn’t care if they live 12 to a room, just care if they can scrub the shitter or flip the burger.
theLiquorWe went to Whistler this year and holy shit that lodging was so expensive even a doctor would be like "I can't afford this shit". Buying food at a Vail resort sucks too. When friends come from out of town, we venture to a more local resort since I wouldn't wish a super expensive lift ticket on anyone
honestly whistler was about the same before vail anyway, it's always been very expensive. i'd assume it's harder to get discounted tickets now, but that comes with more people having the pass.
I ski at big sky but i still buy an epic pass because i know im going to some vail place at least once a year. They have done wonders for Afton Alps, making it a half plausible hill to consider going to, (last season it was the best place to ski at during winter break)
