Stuart talks to Alterra CEO (IKON)

[Milo Maltbie]

Friends of mine still in the Jackson area say that the Village is starting to feel like a private resort now. They are definitely squeezing out the ski bums there.

I was in Jackson in 1993(?) and I got the feeling that the ski bums had already been squeezed out to Wilson or Driggs.

mm

 

[Benny Profane]

Wow, job openings for groomers are going to double in SLC soon.

Alterra Mountain Company Announces Major Expansion of Deer Valley Resort, UT - Ski Area Adding 16 New Lifts & Doubling in Size - SnowBrains

Denver, CO, August 24, 2023 – Alterra Mountain Company, the world’s premier mountain operating company, has announced a major terrain expansion of Deer Valley Resort that will add 3,700 acres of terrain to its world-renowned, ski-only destination located in the Wasatch Mountains in Park City...

snowbrains.com

 

[TomCat]

I just cannot see how mega passes encourage new skiers/riders. Just the opposite.

I agree, but if your business objective is to get as much cash out of the resorts over a 10-15 year period then what’s going on makes sense.

Tom

 

[x10003q]

Wow, job openings for groomers are going to double in SLC soon.

Alterra Mountain Company Announces Major Expansion of Deer Valley Resort, UT - Ski Area Adding 16 New Lifts & Doubling in Size - SnowBrains

Denver, CO, August 24, 2023 – Alterra Mountain Company, the world’s premier mountain operating company, has announced a major terrain expansion of Deer Valley Resort that will add 3,700 acres of terrain to its world-renowned, ski-only destination located in the Wasatch Mountains in Park City...

snowbrains.com

It looks like Alterra bought the Mayflower Resort or at least the skiing. The resort got built due to some weird connection to the Military Installation Development Authority (MIDA) for the Military Conference Hotel. This hotel has somehow made this no snow ski development move forward. This is a huge real estate play and Extell has been working on Deer Valley taking over the skiing since they broke ground.

The bottom of Mayflower faces East, is at low elevation, and has a hard time holding snow. The upper stuff looks decent.

 

[raisingarizona]

It looks like Alterra bought the Mayflower Resort or at least the skiing. The resort got built due to some weird connection to the Military Installation Development Authority (MIDA) for the Military Conference Hotel. This hotel has somehow made this no snow ski development move forward. This is a huge real estate play and Extell has been working on Deer Valley taking over the skiing since they broke ground.

The bottom of Mayflower faces East, is at low elevation, and has a hard time holding snow. The upper stuff looks decent.

It may not be perfect terrain for Utah but it does better than just about every ski area out east or in many other places. The majority of tourist skiers don’t know the difference really anyways.

 

[Benny Profane]

I agree, but if your business objective is to get as much cash out of the resorts over a 10-15 year period then what’s going on makes sense.

Tom

Thus, major improvements to Steamboat and Deer Valley.

 

[Benny Profane]

It looks like Alterra bought the Mayflower Resort or at least the skiing. The resort got built due to some weird connection to the Military Installation Development Authority (MIDA) for the Military Conference Hotel. This hotel has somehow made this no snow ski development move forward. This is a huge real estate play and Extell has been working on Deer Valley taking over the skiing since they broke ground.

The bottom of Mayflower faces East, is at low elevation, and has a hard time holding snow. The upper stuff looks decent.

Yeah, I was wondering about that. Mayflower just opened. It's not as though this expansion is starting from scratch.
Mayflower also gets them much easier access from Rt. 80 than the DV base.

 

[takeahike46er]

This looks to be the largest expansion of marginal terrain in several decades.

16 new lifts? 3,700 acres? That’s like adding all of the acreage and lifts of Blackcomb to DV (and then some). Except, make most of those acres low elevation and completely dependent on snowmaking most years. Nice. Just what the skiers are clamoring for.

 

[Harvey]

Generally mountains don't expand upward. The original peak is often the tallest, snowiest terrain around. There are notable exceptions, like Big Sky 1995 added vert at the top.

If you want to expand these days* (3700 acres!) generally it's lower elevation or something like Gore where you have separate peaks and lots of whining about traversing. I mean if you are taking a bus to another part of the ski area, is it really the same ski area?

*Gore's early expansions went upward. North Chair, then Straightbrook and High Peaks.

 

[Peter Minde]

Generally mountains don't expand upward. The original peak is often the tallest, snowiest terrain around. There are notable exceptions, like Big Sky 1995 added vert at the top.

If you want to expand these days* (3700 acres!) generally it's lower elevation or something like Gore where you have separate peaks and lots of whining about traversing. I mean if you are taking a bus to another part of the ski area, is it really the same ski area?

*Gore's early expansions went upward. North Chair, then Straightbrook and High Peaks.

Sovereign Lakes [xc] in British Columbia expanded upward.... climate change affecting their trails at ~5500 feet.