F Vail

saratogahalfday said:
There's an easy solution to that: bring your own everything. I know I do.
Click to expand...
How many ski areas do you think could survive if all the customers never spent a dime on Food & Beverage? I'm thinking about not just destination ski resorts, but also small mountains. There needs to be a way to make a profit. Lift tickets and season passes might cover expenses but that doesn't leave much for long term capital projects or enough of a profit that makes a bank feel comfortable lending money for a new lift or lodge renovation. Losing F&B revenue in 2020-21 was a big deal for all ski areas/resorts, even those that actually had plenty of people on the slopes.

Becoming a 4-season resort, if not already, is also required for business survival. The biggest advantage that the southeast ski areas have is that most were started as 4-season resorts. They make enough money during the summer season to have the financial resources to make improvements over a decade or two for the slopes that are only open for about 3 months. That wasn't true of VR locations in the west before about 2012 because of Forest Service rules for summer operations.
 
Harvey said:
Anybody... why did Katz resign as CEO and become a member of the board?

What was the reason given? What was the real reason?
Click to expand...
Good question. Rob Katz is 53. He's still the one doing interviews, not the new CEO. He's not really an operations guy. He didn't want the job of CEO to start with.

Way too soon in this transition period for the entire industry to guess how things will shake out in the next year or two. Does feel like the emphasis on spending big bucks on new lifts might not be the best approach for the post-pandemic period.
 
As for the resort food, if the prices were a bit more reasonable , people would buy more instead of complaining and feeling ripped off. Here is made river beating Vail at the hot dog game by $3.
Screenshot_20220214-112712~2.png
 
Flying Z said:
As for the resort food, if the prices were a bit more reasonable , people would buy more instead of complaining and feeling ripped off.
Click to expand...
Conversely, if the price is relatively high but the food is good . . . and hot . . . and delivered with a smile, then people don't complain either. The comparison in my head is from Taos last week. There aren't too many food options at the main base. A combination of resort-owned food service and a few independent food options. Locals bring their own food. Some travelers staying slopeside don't buy lunch everyday.

I had a hot dog off the grill on the St. B porch that was $8. No line at noon. Dog was hot.

For the first lunch my ski buddy noted that buying a burger outside was $13 or $16 indoors (could eat indoors if had proof of vaccination, plenty of seats indoors and outdoors). I opted for the big square of fresh pizza for $5 that I took to eat on the porch with tables where my friends were already at a table.

The independent ice cream and smoothie shop was charging $7 for a single scoop (big, homemade) and $8 for a smoothie. Didn't feel like a ripoff at all.
 
Betty wasn’t a snowmaker, but:
"Beth Mueller, age 55, resides in Wildwood, Missouri, was Peak Resorts’ senior director of corporate reporting before the merger, and continued to serve as Vail’s senior director of corporate reporting until retiring from the company in October 2020. Her husband was a Peak Resorts senior executive."
emphasis added
Sometimes folks don’t catch all the fish at once, big or small.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
© Copyright 2008 - 2025 NYSkiBlog
Join | Subscribe | Advertise | Privacy
NYSkiBlog is for the rest of us: regular people with a sense of adventure, who love to ski.
We zig when they zag. To connect with us, follow us:
NYSkiBlog Facebook.
NYSkiBlog Twitter.
NYSkiBlog Instagram.
NYSkiBlog RSS.
Back
Top