On Thu, 14 May 2009 13:12:51 -0400, Kevin Broderick
<[log in to unmask]> wrote:

>I would, of course, hope that *any* new owner was cognizant and
>concerned enough to preserve the historical connections and
>traditional draws of skiing on Mt. Mansfield, both because I don't
>want the skiing screwed up and because any owner that pays full value
>for Stowe and fails to recognize the traditional brand strengths will
>quickly find themselves with a decreased-value ski area and, quite
>possibly, some difficulty making the ink stay the right color.

Great post overall, Kevin.  This last paragraph though is dead on though.  I
usually associate the sale of a ski area with a flailing ski area that some
previous owner ran into the ground.  Thus, modest to large changes are
usually in store when that new owner comes in because whatever model was
previously being used is usually not working.  With Stowe and AIG, its more
of a problem with the later rather than the former as far as I know.  Thus,
new owners wouldn't necessarily need to come in and make big changes.

Hank Lunde did the leg-work for "the new Stowe" which included the Over Easy
Gondola over RT108, two new HSDQ at Spruce Peak, massive increases in
snowmaking including two ponds, the latest PistonBully grooming machines,
new golf course, SML, townhouses, etc.  Had a new owner bought Stowe in the
90s, this would've been their challenge but now, it seems like its pretty
much on cruise control.  The major on-mountain improvements like snowmaking,
new grooming fleet, new chairs at Spruce, and a connector lift have already
been made and the base area improvements are well on their way to being done.

I do have to say that while Powdr did piss off quite a few people with their
actions at Killington when they arrived, that Kevin is not the first person
to tell me that their decisions were actually very sound business decisions
that might have saved that mountain to some extent.  Granted we're only a
couple years into that ownership, but I have heard some good things about
them within the industry.  I still think they could've handled some of the
PR stuff better when they first arrived, as it appeared they made no real
attempt at wooing the local crowd.

And as far as Les Otten goes, as long as he realizes this isn't Sunday
River, he might be a decent owner.  I've heard first hand stories of him and
Sunday River back in its heyday and it actually sounded like a pretty fun
place to be at the time.  Being involved in something exciting like that ski
area boom time would have been awesome.  I've also heard that some of Skip's
snow reports from back then at Sunday River were legendary... "good morning
skiers, hope you sharpened your edges because its as slick as a greased up
doorknob out there..."   That would've been a fun time to be involved in the
industry.

-Scott

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