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New business models abound. This is the internet, after all. To wit: MAD RIVER GLEN TO BUY STOWE Parkers Gore, NH (Ski Press News) – Mad River Glen Ski Cooperative will be buying Stowe Mountain Resort from the near-bankrupt American Insurance Group (AIG). Officials at the ski cooperative’s summer corporate headquarters made the surprise announcement this morning, but revealed few details. “Mad River is delighted to announce that we will be returning home to Stowe,” said spokesman Eric Freidman. “It’s time to reclaim Vermont’s highest mountain for the sport of skiing.” Sources close to Mad River management described a series of immediate changes for the vaunted ski area. These are reported to include the limiting of snowboarders to the spruce peak area, the replacement of the high speed quad with a single chair, circa 1941, scrapping of most other lifts and a large portion of the snowmaking system, sale of the grooming fleet, and the dismantling of the new base lodge. “Skiing is not about having a mountain amusement park,” added Freidman, although he refused to confirm the specifics of Mad River’s plans. He did confirm that coop members would be entitled to ski for free at Stowe (although they would still have to pay for passes at Mad River), while season pass prices for anyone who had ever previously purchased a Stowe season’s pass would be raised immediately to the early season rate of $10,040. In a related development, the Stark Mountain Foundation announced plans to retrieve the ashes of Mad River and Stowe founder Roland Palmedo and sprinkle them over the eastern flanks of Mount Mansfield. “At long last, this great man will have a final resting place on the slopes of the mountain he loved,” they said in a news release. Plans to exhume the body of AIG founder C.V. Starr and place him at the very back of the line for the new Mansfield single chair could not be confirmed at press time. On Fri, 15 May 2009 07:07:43 -0700, Denis Bogan <[log in to unmask]> wrote: >Now that I am retired I have more time to read newspapers, between ski trips, and before going out for my daily bike ride. Yesterday I read this very thought provoking article. > >http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/05/13/AR2009051303015.html > >The thought now occurs that maybe it is time for the ski industry to define success down. The business model that Jay Pesci mentions is indeed flawed. Perhaps the biggest flaw is building condos, hotels, real estate, directed toward a goal on the distant horizon of having steady reliable profit. The past 2 decades or more show that the horizon is never reached. Instead following this business model puts one on an endless treadmill leading to a deeper and deeper hole. Much as I would love to see an MRG style Coop at Stowe, that successful business model depends upon a fanatically loyal niche customer base that is by its very nature too small to support an operation the size of Stowe. Still the thought warms my heart. > >- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - >SkiVt-L is brought to you by the University of Vermont. > >To unsubscribe, visit http://list.uvm.edu/archives/skivt-l.html > - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - SkiVt-L is brought to you by the University of Vermont. To unsubscribe, visit http://list.uvm.edu/archives/skivt-l.html