powderfreak Posted January 29, 2015 Share Posted January 29, 2015 No, I don't market for them. They do a lot of things that make me scratch my head at times, believe me. ... If you've been following my ski thread posts over the years, you'd know that I often am critical of the place. I'm probably as passionate about my local hill as powderfreak is about stowe. But you accuse me of "marketing, " but not him? Fyi, that's pretty much what he does at stowe, and his posts are a direct reflection of that. ...but I'm the one being accused of this? Why? Skiers are a passionate bunch, always have been and always will be. My story is interesting as I was not planning being in the ski industry or at Stowe. I've always been taking photos of skiing since I was in high school (heck I'm only in my 20s so not too long ago) and posting them to the intrawebs. I have posts on the Ski Vermont listserve going back to 2001. I was doing the same thing back then that I was doing now...going skiing with friends and taking photos of it. Once I went to UVM and started skiing at Stowe 4 days a week (classes on Mon/Wed/Fri, skiing on Tue/Thur/Sat/Sun), I continued doing what I still do now, which was go skiing with friends and post photos of it all over the place. I wasn't being paid or had any affiliation with Stowe. I just fell in love with this mountain immediately. From BTV, it sits there right in your face all day long. The big hulking ridgeline, and after growing up near Albany skiing at Brodie and Jimminy Peak, coming to a place like Stowe was eye opening. Like you can easily get yourself into terrain that can kill you in the backcountry. 100+ foot cliffs, 5-8 foot snowpacks, over 2,000 vertical feet of just steep, straight skiing. I'm passionate about Stowe, but let me be clear, it all starts with Mansfield in my opinion. I don't care what the name of the resort is on this mountain, there's just no other mountain I would ski day in and day out. Anyway, back to the story... I used to post photos and trip reports after each ski day on the ski vermont list, and after a while, had a pretty big following that always new they could get some awesome ski photos every Tuesday/Thurs/Sat/Sun evenings, lol. Then by chance I got on the chairlift here one day with an senior level employee at Stowe who as it turns out, loved seeing my photos and commentary 4 nights a week online. Since I was already doing it on my own time because I was passionate about it, I then was able to create a job out of it...just because of a chance chairlift encounter and years of posting on online forums. So yes, I know folks know I work at Stowe, but I've been doing this for a long time...creating media content and photos of skiing on Mansfield. I can show posts from 5-8 years prior to my actually working here, where I'm doing the same thing I do today. Post photos from Stowe about great ski days. in fact, J.Spin would know as he and I have known each other online for probably 15 years, well before I worked at any ski area. We both love to post great ski shots online. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoolMike Posted January 29, 2015 Share Posted January 29, 2015 PF: I though you were also involved with snow measuring and reporting? Do you help with operational forecasts as well? It seems like you landed a cool job doing what you enjoy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
subdude Posted January 29, 2015 Share Posted January 29, 2015 ok, so i'm looking for some suggestions on where to go to get fitted for a ski boot...i have a hard foot to fit...i need at least a 104 Last, but i also have a good arch...so i need something that is wide, but also has good height/depth so it doesn't put to much pressure on my arch...I went to the ski loft in Leominster...yea, that was a debacle...the manager put me in a pair of Dabello's...said it was his widest boot, and that it would be perfect for me. I knew right away it wasn't my boot. It squished my arch and cut circulation to my toes just in the few minutes I had the boot on in the store. I told him it wasn't going to work, and asked to try on something else...we went back and forth for about 5 minutes, and then he lost his cool and accused me of being a ski bunny who was looking for something as comfortable as a pair of Uggs, and then said ski boots weren't something you wore around your kitchen to cook dinner in... yeah, so I'm still in the market for a pair of ski boots. If you can get to Worcester....go to Strands. They're the best in MA for boot fitting IMO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Professional Lurker Posted January 29, 2015 Share Posted January 29, 2015 Skiers are a passionate bunch, always have been and always will be. My story is interesting as I was not planning being in the ski industry or at Stowe. I've always been taking photos of skiing since I was in high school (heck I'm only in my 20s so not too long ago) and posting them to the intrawebs. I have posts on the Ski Vermont listserve going back to 2001. I was doing the same thing back then that I was doing now...going skiing with friends and taking photos of it. Once I went to UVM and started skiing at Stowe 4 days a week (classes on Mon/Wed/Fri, skiing on Tue/Thur/Sat/Sun), I continued doing what I still do now, which was go skiing with friends and post photos of it all over the place. I wasn't being paid or had any affiliation with Stowe. I just fell in love with this mountain immediately. From BTV, it sits there right in your face all day long. The big hulking ridgeline, and after growing up near Albany skiing at Brodie and Jimminy Peak, coming to a place like Stowe was eye opening. Like you can easily get yourself into terrain that can kill you in the backcountry. 100+ foot cliffs, 5-8 foot snowpacks, over 2,000 vertical feet of just steep, straight skiing. I'm passionate about Stowe, but let me be clear, it all starts with Mansfield in my opinion. I don't care what the name of the resort is on this mountain, there's just no other mountain I would ski day in and day out. Anyway, back to the story... I used to post photos and trip reports after each ski day on the ski vermont list, and after a while, had a pretty big following that always new they could get some awesome ski photos every Tuesday/Thurs/Sat/Sun evenings, lol. Then by chance I got on the chairlift here one day with an senior level employee at Stowe who as it turns out, loved seeing my photos and commentary 4 nights a week online. Since I was already doing it on my own time because I was passionate about it, I then was able to create a job out of it...just because of a chance chairlift encounter and years of posting on online forums. So yes, I know folks know I work at Stowe, but I've been doing this for a long time...creating media content and photos of skiing on Mansfield. I can show posts from 5-8 years prior to my actually working here, where I'm doing the same thing I do today. Post photos from Stowe about great ski days. in fact, J.Spin would know as he and I have known each other online for probably 15 years, well before I worked at any ski area. We both love to post great ski shots online. Out of curiosity, what kind of camera/lens/bag combo do you haul with you on the mountain? I'd be terrified of taking a thousand dollars or more of camera/glass on the snow! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoarfrostHubb Posted January 29, 2015 Share Posted January 29, 2015 If you can get to Worcester....go to Strands. They're the best in MA for boot fitting IMO. Strands has a great reputation Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
powderfreak Posted January 29, 2015 Share Posted January 29, 2015 PF: I though you were also involved with snow measuring and reporting? Do you help with operational forecasts as well? It seems like you landed a cool job doing what you enjoy. Yes to all. I do a variety of things (no one at any ski area just does one job, haha) from Snow Reporting, weather observations and forecasting for mtn ops consulting, social media supervisor, staff photographer (just means a photographer on the payroll), things like that. If you want to put a face to the name... Meadhead Films and Ski the East produced this video of what my mornings are usually like. http://www.skitheeast.net/the-snow-report-art-and-science/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
powderfreak Posted January 29, 2015 Share Posted January 29, 2015 Out of curiosity, what kind of camera/lens/bag combo do you haul with you on the mountain? I'd be terrified of taking a thousand dollars or more of camera/glass on the snow! I always ski with a Dakine Heli-Pro backpack and I just keep it in there. I'm not using a very high-tech camera... just a Cannon DSLR with a standard 18-55mm lens and a 55-250mm lens. Nothing overly expensive (relatively speaking) though the whole rig probably costs around $1500. I have friends who ski with camera gear that totals between $3,000-$5,000. But they usually use camera specific packs that have easy entry and lots of padding. Lowe Pro makes some great camera packs, so does Dakine and most backpack companies. They have padded slots for lenses and the camera body, plus great organization so its easy to find everything. If I ever expand to more camera gear, I'll likely buy a specific pack for it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mreaves Posted January 29, 2015 Share Posted January 29, 2015 Yes to all. I do a variety of things (no one at any ski area just does one job, haha) from Snow Reporting, weather observations and forecasting for mtn ops consulting, social media supervisor, staff photographer (just means a photographer on the payroll), things like that. If you want to put a face to the name... Meadhead Films and Ski the East produced this video of what my mornings are usually like. http://www.skitheeast.net/the-snow-report-art-and-science/ I love the fact that you mentioned measuring on picnic tables. Did you throw that in just for Coastal? lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eyewall Posted January 29, 2015 Share Posted January 29, 2015 I snuck in a few runs this afternoon and you couldn't ask for better weather temp wise. There was a bit of wind but it wasn't horrible. On a side note I think someone got hurt pretty bad on the Wilderness side of Bolton as when I skied the lift was suddenly stopped and blocked off and there were a bunch of snowmobiles at the bottom. I saw they had someone in the sled off in a secluded side area completely wrapped up (so I couldn't see the extent of it). Either way it scared me that perhaps the person didn't make it but I hope I am wrong. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Professional Lurker Posted January 30, 2015 Share Posted January 30, 2015 I snuck in a few runs this afternoon and you couldn't ask for better weather temp wise. There was a bit of wind but it wasn't horrible. On a side note I think someone got hurt pretty bad on the Wilderness side of Bolton as when I skied the lift was suddenly stopped and blocked off and there were a bunch of snowmobiles at the bottom. I saw they had someone in the sled off in a secluded side area completely wrapped up (so I couldn't see the extent of it). Either way it scared me that perhaps the person didn't make it but I hope I am wrong. Sucks. I've seen people get seriously hurt skiing. Scary stuff. Even with ski pants and a coat, it can get pretty cold laying immobile on the snow. ... And if it's a potential spinal injury, ski patrol has to take plenty of time and care to move and then secure the injured in the sled. ... often times ski patrol will completely cover somebody up to the point that it looks like a bodybag. I'd have to say that most times it's not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Professional Lurker Posted January 30, 2015 Share Posted January 30, 2015 Berkshire East just made the decision to get rid of $15 Thursday nights due to issues that they've had lately with the wrong crowd coming in. ... shows you that they're not in it for the money. Sucks, though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoarfrostHubb Posted January 30, 2015 Share Posted January 30, 2015 One way to cut back on dumbasses can be raising prices/cutting special deals like that, but it sucks, because most of the people are pretty cool and laid back, especially there. Of course you can have a bozo who pays $100 at some high end resort acting like a doofus, too I can't remember if it was posted on here, but some guy at a resort laid into a ticket salesperson because he did not have an avalanche kit or something https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sH-2f4n92Qw Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Professional Lurker Posted January 30, 2015 Share Posted January 30, 2015 That video is very tame compared to what went down last night there. I won't get into exactly what happened, but let's just say that the $15 night skiing attracts way to much of the wrong crowd. It's a shame. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SJonesWX Posted January 30, 2015 Share Posted January 30, 2015 That video is very tame compared to what went down last night there. I won't get into exactly what happened, but let's just say that the $15 night skiing attracts way to much of the wrong crowd. It's a shame. is it the local college kids that cause the troubles? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eyewall Posted January 30, 2015 Share Posted January 30, 2015 Sucks. I've seen people get seriously hurt skiing. Scary stuff. Even with ski pants and a coat, it can get pretty cold laying immobile on the snow. ... And if it's a potential spinal injury, ski patrol has to take plenty of time and care to move and then secure the injured in the sled. ... often times ski patrol will completely cover somebody up to the point that it looks like a bodybag. I'd have to say that most times it's not. That makes a lot of sense and of course you want to immobilize and prevent hypothermia as quick as possible. I hope whoever it was is going to be ok. Fortunately today was nothing but a blast in the pow and I didn't see any scenes like that Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoarfrostHubb Posted January 31, 2015 Share Posted January 31, 2015 Took mini-me to the local bump this evening. Winds were a beotch. Had trouble keeping up speed...so we bailed after a few dozen runs. That stinks about what happened at Berkshire East Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Professional Lurker Posted January 31, 2015 Share Posted January 31, 2015 Yeah, it does stink. I think that they're just taking time to regroup and come up with a new plan. Unfortunate they're pissing a lot of good customers off with this move, but they have no other solution ready to implement, and they can't have another night like last night. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alex Posted January 31, 2015 Share Posted January 31, 2015 Tried night skiing at Shawnee peak tonight. Impressive setup for night skiing, I was pleasantly surprised. Pretty epic conditions. Got windy later in the evening but that meant first track on every run lol... Was actually very cool Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoarfrostHubb Posted January 31, 2015 Share Posted January 31, 2015 If anyone is not a football fan, Wachusett has some night skiing tickets for Sunday online for $20. Nice deal, but only 30 left attm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoarfrostHubb Posted January 31, 2015 Share Posted January 31, 2015 Berkshire East is doing the $15 Thurs night thing again Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baroclinic Zone Posted January 31, 2015 Share Posted January 31, 2015 Tried night skiing at Shawnee peak tonight. Impressive setup for night skiing, I was pleasantly surprised. Pretty epic conditions. Got windy later in the evening but that meant first track on every run lol... Was actually very cool Nice. I learned to ski there and no that mountain in and out. Hidden gem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baroclinic Zone Posted January 31, 2015 Share Posted January 31, 2015 Strands has a great reputation That place was where I bought all my equipment the last time I did, some 20 years ago. Great place. All the other places are gone that i used to go to. Ski Market. Ski Town. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
powderfreak Posted January 31, 2015 Share Posted January 31, 2015 Yeah, it does stink. I think that they're just taking time to regroup and come up with a new plan. Unfortunate they're pissing a lot of good customers off with this move, but they have no other solution ready to implement, and they can't have another night like last night. I'm curious what a $15 lift ticket rate does to attract the wrong crowd... but I completely understand you can't go into details on the interwebs. I know that deal. If you can though, is it attracting people that shouldn't be skiing? Or people expecting too much? Usually drugs or alcohol is involved along with general stupidity when something like that happens at a ski resort. But I'm just curious as to how they pin-pointed the ticket rate as being the cause. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
powderfreak Posted January 31, 2015 Share Posted January 31, 2015 One way to cut back on dumbasses can be raising prices/cutting special deals like that, but it sucks, because most of the people are pretty cool and laid back, especially there. Of course you can have a bozo who pays $100 at some high end resort acting like a doofus, too I can't remember if it was posted on here, but some guy at a resort laid into a ticket salesperson because he did not have an avalanche kit or something https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sH-2f4n92Qw Nah, some people are just like that. Price doesn't matter. All higher prices do is raise the expectation. If you are paying X amount of dollars you expect a certain type of experience. You can sell at those high price points if you can deliver. But no matter what price the product is (for any industry), there'll always be those folks that just like to complain about something. But customer service at a ski resort is probably one of the hardest jobs I can think of. People are just downright mean to their fellow human beings sometimes. But those same people will complain about everything everywhere... like those folks who go to the Market Basket customer service desk to complain because they had to wait in a checkout line for 5 WHOLE MINUTES because 4 of the 10 checkout counters were closed. "If you had all 10 lanes open all the time I'd never have to wait in line!" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TauntonBlizzard2013 Posted January 31, 2015 Share Posted January 31, 2015 I'm curious what a $15 lift ticket rate does to attract the wrong crowd... but I completely understand you can't go into details on the interwebs. I know that deal. If you can though, is it attracting people that shouldn't be skiing? Or people expecting too much? Usually drugs or alcohol is involved along with general stupidity when some people go skiing. IMO, cheap deals like that tend to attract the wrong crowd in a number of settings. More people, more chance for conflict and poor behavior.As an example, we used to have dollar pizza at a local restaurant on a night during the week. They stopped it after a while, and I'm willing to bet a lot of it had to do with the crowds that were being drawn. Its really a damn shame too, as it was a great time. Most high school and college kids can't afford to eat out like that otherwise, so once it stopped, so did going there basically. Its a shame a select few ruin it for everyone Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
powderfreak Posted January 31, 2015 Share Posted January 31, 2015 I snuck in a few runs this afternoon and you couldn't ask for better weather temp wise. There was a bit of wind but it wasn't horrible. On a side note I think someone got hurt pretty bad on the Wilderness side of Bolton as when I skied the lift was suddenly stopped and blocked off and there were a bunch of snowmobiles at the bottom. I saw they had someone in the sled off in a secluded side area completely wrapped up (so I couldn't see the extent of it). Either way it scared me that perhaps the person didn't make it but I hope I am wrong. It would've been on the news if it was fatal. Usually its just a comfort thing on a night like last night...bundle and package them up before transport. If the lift was stopped it might have been a lift incident with injury resulting (like hit in the head or something), which VT Tramway codes say any injury involving a lift needs a full investigation by the resort, usually prior to reopening the lift. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
powderfreak Posted January 31, 2015 Share Posted January 31, 2015 On another note... there's some seriously great skiing out there right now in the Northern Greens. Here are a bunch of shots from the past couple days: Chistopher Tower credit... Mansfield/Smuggs backcountry. Dalton Harben credit...Smugglers Notch Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobbutts Posted January 31, 2015 Share Posted January 31, 2015 Just a small group of drunk idiots? Seems really weird at B-East. It's been a long time, but I went there quite a bit in the 90's and it was about as quiet and laid back as any ski area I ever went to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Professional Lurker Posted January 31, 2015 Share Posted January 31, 2015 I'm curious what a $15 lift ticket rate does to attract the wrong crowd... but I completely understand you can't go into details on the interwebs. I know that deal. If you can though, is it attracting people that shouldn't be skiing? Or people expecting too much? Usually drugs or alcohol is involved along with general stupidity when something like that happens at a ski resort. But I'm just curious as to how they pin-pointed the ticket rate as being the cause. Basically, at $15, people don't have much to lose if their pass gets yanked, so they're more apt to do stupid sh!t.Also, I'm pretty sure that it was a straight $15 ticket, and even though it was billed as a family night, anybody could buy any quantity, even just 1 ticket. ... so what was happening was a ton of unsupervised punk kids would show up, get wasted on outside alcohol, and generally wreak havoc on the the mountain, the staff, the property, and their customers. It was building for a while and just finally became to much this past Thursday. Now, I know that I don't have the world's best brain/mouth filter, especially when I'm pissed. ... but I find it very unprofessional that they would do what they did by cancelling it in a very unprofessionally sounding Facebook post, making the comment replies that they did, and then going back to their old policies based on customer feedback. To me, they should have anticipated the negative reaction and actively searched for a better solution to their problem. I'm afraid that potential customers heard the cancelation of the deal through the grapevine, but will never hear that it was reversed. ... These customers could be lost forever! Of course, I'm venting because these PR gaffes are something that I'd never do, and when I was looking for a marketing job with them.... Well let's just say that i didn't get it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Professional Lurker Posted January 31, 2015 Share Posted January 31, 2015 Btw if the Pats win, Monday is half price lift tickets at the b'east. Half price powder day! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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