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March, 2023

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Rant about big boulder

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karakoniares
Posts: 7 - Karma: 106
big boulder in pennsylvania has gone to shit. if any of you have been there before, you know how cool and fun it used to be. now it's essentially a bunny hill with 4 features. it's so sad to see what it has turned into. all of the comments on their instagram are complaints but they don't ever acknowledge them. they deleted the big boulder instagram as well. as someone who kinda just got into park skiing last year, i got a pass for it this year and it was not worth it at all as they have 10 features on both mounatins combined. there has not been one jump on either mountain the whole season. the mountain and its sister mountain jack frost are overrun with npcs and people who go once a year. both mountains are severely understaffed with lift lines being so long (they don't even scan for tickets) and there's one tiny place to get food inside when there used to be 3. i just don't understand where all of the money from the expensive epic passes are going because it is certainly not going back into the mountain. they also cut the hours after people bought tickets and often have only one lift open. i'm just so mad and there's nothing i can do. its just so annoying. vail might be nice for the west, but it has ruined every mountain in the east. just feel scammed (even though i probably should have known i just had hope).

:(((

**This thread was edited on Feb 27th 2022 at 10:07:17pm
Feb 27 2022 10:06PM
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KilaTsunami
Posts: 1809 - Karma: 16,001
I feel this 100 percent. Big Boulder was like my home mountain for years purely because of the variety in the terrain park, certainly not for the vertical lol.


Every week you’d pull up and the features were all different than last week so it never got stale, and the kickers on love park were literally perfection. Even when the conditions were complete shit, they always made the most of it and everyone always had a blast. Shit ain’t right man, I wish another one of these small mountains would pick up where BB left off and embrace terrain parks again
Feb 27 2022 10:29PM
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ski_salmon69
Posts: 1601 - Karma: 24,054
there’s still four features 😬 wtf

im bummed i never got to may day when that was still a think at boulder and that it’ll never happen again :(
Feb 27 2022 10:46PM
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MaimHelp
Posts: 1577 - Karma: 12,383
Go to roundtop, they’re keeping it alive and strong there.


yeah boulder was my home mtn, went to springs this szn. Depressed cause boulder was so good
Feb 28 2022 12:32AM
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Rparr
Posts: 4796 - Karma: 32,118
Vail did the same thing to my tiny home hill in Ohio. obviously our parks were never as good as boulder's, but it's followed basically the same trajectory.
Feb 28 2022 4:57AM
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switchlip2
Posts: 1473 - Karma: 18,663
Resorts don’t make money from us, they make money from the kooks who drop 50 dollars in the lodge cafeteria and a 150 day pass and rentals and ski for 2 hours
Feb 28 2022 10:25AM
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Whackson
Posts: 382 - Karma: 3,179
switchlip2Resorts don’t make money from us, they make money from the kooks who drop 50 dollars in the lodge cafeteria and a 150 day pass and rentals and ski for 2 hours

Boulder managed to do this while still having opening weekend tickets for 20$. Actually, when they were doing toy drives you could get a free ticket by donating. They kept Jack Frost for the jerries (even tho One Park was sick as well) but kept the community tight at boulder. Also random but i miss the burrito bar at boulder lodge heavy rn...
Feb 28 2022 12:13PM
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eheath
Posts: 60092 - Karma: 107,745
If there isn't enough staff to run the resort, what makes you think they're gonna have anyone to run a park?



Vail has a huge staffing issue at all of their resorts and it has nothing to do with Vail's money, people don't want to work for such low wages.
Feb 28 2022 12:19PM
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Jems
Posts: 5985 - Karma: 70,634
eheathIf there isn't enough staff to run the resort, what makes you think they're gonna have anyone to run a park?



Vail has a huge staffing issue at all of their resorts and it has nothing to do with Vail's money, people don't want to work for such low wages.


solving their wage issue sounds so fucking simple but I guess it's not to them
Feb 28 2022 12:24PM
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Rparr
Posts: 4796 - Karma: 32,118
eheathVail has a huge staffing issue at all of their resorts and it has nothing to do with Vail's money, people don't want to work for such low wages.


Vail thinks that they can dictate local labor markets. The arrogance is laughable.
Feb 28 2022 12:33PM
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GreezyBastard
Posts: 489 - Karma: 1,874
eheathIf there isn't enough staff to run the resort, what makes you think they're gonna have anyone to run a park?



Vail has a huge staffing issue at all of their resorts and it has nothing to do with Vail's money, people don't want to work for such low wages.

people don’t want to work period.
Feb 28 2022 12:33PM
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TOAST.
Posts: 6742 - Karma: 25,757
eheathIf there isn't enough staff to run the resort, what makes you think they're gonna have anyone to run a park?



Vail has a huge staffing issue at all of their resorts and it has nothing to do with Vail's money, people don't want to work for such low wages.


A lot of people quit or didn't come back because Vax mandate by vail. For seasonal employees wages nearly doubled from the previous season, so even though wages have gone up everywhere I don't think that's the issue at this point, at least for JFBB. This isn't huge resort areas like out west, it's random rednecks and high-school/ college kids that keep the mountains running.
Feb 28 2022 12:35PM
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weatcoast
Posts: 5181 - Karma: 54,744
TOAST.A lot of people quit or didn't come back because Vax mandate by vail. For seasonal employees wages nearly doubled from the previous season, so even though wages have gone up everywhere I don't think that's the issue at this point, at least for JFBB. This isn't huge resort areas like out west, it's random rednecks and high-school/ college kids that keep the mountains running.


Then vail dumb as fuck for having a vaccine mandate when it’s not doing anything right now lmao
Feb 28 2022 12:44PM
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eheath
Posts: 60092 - Karma: 107,745
Jemssolving their wage issue sounds so fucking simple but I guess it's not to them

I mean they can't just start paying people more, they already went up to $15 and they will probably continue to raise it until something changes. When you're working with so much money and so many assets with a board of execs and shareholders to please, spending more profits is a tough thing to.
RparrVail thinks that they can dictate local labor markets. The arrogance is laughable.

Its been working for years, the change is finally happen
GreezyBastardpeople don’t want to work period.

Also this, big time.
Feb 28 2022 12:48PM
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Lelslalsksjdjdhe
Posts: 103 - Karma: -756
yeah. Hopefully seven springs doesnt become the same way.
Feb 28 2022 2:52PM
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first_rodeo
Posts: 2377 - Karma: 7,718
im still waiting for mount snow to get rid of carinthia entirely.... they already built a fancy jerry lodge and are charging $30 to park there.
Feb 28 2022 3:58PM
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Elimitch
Posts: 163 - Karma: 1,441
I always remember seeing wild footage from big boulder and their setups always looked amazing. Really sucks to see a park that suck go downhill
Feb 28 2022 4:01PM
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TOAST.
Posts: 6742 - Karma: 25,757
first_rodeoim still waiting for mount snow to get rid of carinthia entirely.... they already built a fancy jerry lodge and are charging $30 to park there.

They will probably slowly remove one park at a time until the builder(s) get sick of it and quit, then it will be dead. They will probably continue to have sick parks until then.
Feb 28 2022 4:03PM
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Level1
Posts: 120 - Karma: 27,861
eheathI mean they can't just start paying people more, they already went up to $15 and they will probably continue to raise it until something changes. When you're working with so much money and so many assets with a board of execs and shareholders to please, spending more profits is a tough thing to.

you say this like it’s an excuse, instead of the root problem that it is. It’s almost like Vail’s decision to go public in the pursuit of bigger profits has been a driving macro force behind some of the biggest problems in our industry...
Feb 28 2022 5:34PM
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eheath
Posts: 60092 - Karma: 107,745
Level1you say this like it’s an excuse, instead of the root problem that it is. It’s almost like Vail’s decision to go public in the pursuit of bigger profits has been a driving macro force behind some of the biggest problems in our industry...


Not an excuse, just the truth. Everyone seems baffled by what Vail does but most of the time is profit focused and I'm not sure why anyone would think otherwise.

Im not defending Vail, but when they can't even staff their lifts, how are they gonna have a park staff? How are they going to keep staff without increasing wage? How are they going to increase wages while their shareholders and execs want to maximize profits?

The issue is Vail and their business model, but so many people just think Vail can snap their fingers and change everything, but thats not gonna happen, at least not anytime soon. Until it starts to hurt their bottom line, why would they change? It's an inevitable truth about resorts owned by Vail and other resorts owned by large corporations.

Vail doesn't care about ski culture, they care about dollars, what are we supposed to do about that? it sucks but in the end, we can only hope vail makes positive changes for their employees and customers alike.
Feb 28 2022 6:16PM
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TOAST.
Posts: 6742 - Karma: 25,757
weastcoatThen vail dumb as fuck for having a vaccine mandate when it’s not doing anything right now lmao


I would be willing to bet that it won't be a thing next year, there internal mandate expires in May. Boulder is done tho, damage is done, I will be surprised if they can get a good builder again with just love park and plaza.
Feb 28 2022 6:38PM
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propjeff
Posts: 5 - Karma: 25
was planning on going over this weekend to ski BB park. Disappointed to hear it's not the vibe now. Is there anywhere else nearby that is better? Blue mountain?
Mar 1 2022 11:01AM
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jompcock
Posts: 1138 - Karma: 8,528
Profit optimization algorithm go brrrrrr
Mar 1 2022 11:08AM
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karakoniares
Posts: 7 - Karma: 106
propjeffwas planning on going over this weekend to ski BB park. Disappointed to hear it's not the vibe now. Is there anywhere else nearby that is better? Blue mountain?


blue is alright, pretty expensive for a one-day lift ticket. they have two parks and some nice jumps. i also heard bear creek parks are nice this year, but the vertical of that mountain (hill) is like ten feet. so if you want to ski other stuff besides the park i'd go with blue. blue's lift tickets are 50-110 depedning on the day and bear creeks is 30-80.

hope this helps!

:)
Mar 1 2022 11:17AM
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propjeff
Posts: 5 - Karma: 25
karakoniaresblue is alright, pretty expensive for a one-day lift ticket. they have two parks and some nice jumps. i also heard bear creek parks are nice this year, but the vertical of that mountain (hill) is like ten feet. so if you want to ski other stuff besides the park i'd go with blue. blue's lift tickets are 50-110 depedning on the day and bear creeks is 30-80.

hope this helps!

:)


Good intel. Thanks
Mar 1 2022 11:41AM
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Level1
Posts: 120 - Karma: 27,861
eheathVail doesn't care about ski culture, they care about dollars, what are we supposed to do about that?


Stop buying passes to Vail resorts. Vote with your dollar.
Mar 2 2022 9:20PM
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Twinjibber77
Posts: 6227 - Karma: 2,299
The only good thing that came out of this shit show is the Big Boulder Parks IG page
Mar 2 2022 9:44PM
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