ORDA's Biggest Wins

[MarzNC]

Why is Belle so much less? Their snowmaking crew seems to be good.

My guess is location and the direct competitors that are relatively close by. Farther drive to Gore from NYC/NJ but still easier to reach for a day trip or weekend trip than comparable mountains in VT. People who do that more than once a season are likely to get some sort of pass or multi-day deal. Even more so for active seniors willing to make the drive midweek.

 

[D.B. Cooper]

It may not be another win yet, but it's the 2 minute warning with a significant lead. I'm talking about The Notch, the new chair.

I've been following the progress. I'm hopeful that they will have it open before Christmas. I've seen a couple of lift replacements before and usually they're fighting to get the new installation going as the snow is flying and people are on the hill. Although I think there were more pressing replacements, I'll take this improvement.

 

[raisingarizona]

Yup.
50% off (M-Th) midweek & they give discounts to old farts.

Seems the prices for online lift tickets varies by venue.
Example (65-69 YO) as of now:
WF $56 (M-Th). “Weekend” (F-Su) is $75.
Gore $53 M-Th). “Weekend” (F-Su) is $71.
Belle $41 (M-Th). “Weekend” (F-Su) is $60.

Why is Belle so much less? Their snowmaking crew seems to be good.

Location I imagine. The target audience is from the Tri-State region and they mostly don't want to driver further than Belle.

 

[tirolski]

Location I imagine. The target audience is from the Tri-State region and they mostly don't want to driver further than Belle.

Both of "the boys” live ~2:15 away from an ORDA Mtn.
For one it’s ~2:15 to Belle, the other ~2:15 to Gore & ~hr between the 2. They’re both beautiful rides with hardly any traffic.
Gotta go ~45 min to get to both of their places. It’s a day trip but a longish one.
They’ll be chasing best conditions & what’s open.
It’s always fun to ski with those boys.

 

[Harvey]

Why is Belle so much less? Their snowmaking crew seems to be good.

How does the quality of the snowmaking crew relate to the price of a lift ticket?

 

[raisingarizona]

How does the quality of the snowmaking crew relate to the price of a lift ticket?

A better product? Usually better products cost more if people are in the know.

 

[Brownski]

I wonder which hill has a bigger payroll and overhead. Do you think operating costs have anything to do with ticket price for ORDA hills? Are they just indexing off competitors?

 

[tirolski]

How does the quality of the snowmaking crew relate to the price of a lift ticket?

I’ve not been to Belle yet. But read and heard good things about their recent snowmaking improvements.
Maybe the lift ticket prices are somewhat correlated with size. (not counting horizontal)

It takes a lot of snow to get Gore all open.
There’s also a lot of facets at Gore, which is nice.
Letitsnow.

 

[tirolski]

I wonder which hill has a bigger payroll and overhead. Do you think operating costs have anything to do with ticket price for ORDA hills? Are they just indexing off competitors?

The NYS owned golf courses have somewhat different rates. The ones I’ve played were good deals.

 

[Harvey]

I wonder which hill has a bigger payroll and overhead. Do you think operating costs have anything to do with ticket price for ORDA hills? Are they just indexing off competitors?

I'm guessing the later.

Belle is opening terrain quickly because:

A huge capacity upgrade in the last 3-5 years
You can open the top without blowing any connectors