Crystal Mountain Becomes Alterra

[Buster Highmen]

I'm here for you too W00dsy. Welcome back, missed you in these heah pahts.

How Alterra deals with this pass discrepancy may be indicative of how management style could change. In the interest of my Crustal associates, I hope they get more than hats or a few $8 beers.

Oh yeah, bring back the Northway shuttle!

[Norseman]

Cut the soup line

[Buster Highmen]

Cut the soup line

Can't. It's in the Campbell Basin.

[Buster Highmen]

Oh yeah and East Peak chair, East Peak chair...hopefully.

[Greydon Clark]

Apparently, new shit will come to light...

If you already have a pass at Crystal don't worry -- we don’t know yet exactly how the Crystal Mtn pass will be added to the Ikon pass family until after the acquisition is complete, but we’ll know more towards the end of the month. Stay tuned!

Crystal Mountain Guest Services

[PNWbrit]

Apparently, new shit will come to light...

"If you already have a pass at Crystal don't worry -- we don’t know yet exactly how the Crystal Mtn pass will be added to the Ikon pass family until after the acquisition is complete, but we’ll know more towards the end of the month. Stay tuned!

Crystal Mountain Guest Services"

To twist their old marketing line

"we're not as close to knowing what we should have already known"

[BFD]

Is this issue big enough for the return of Scotsman50?

[PNW_Skier206]

Oh yeah, bring back the Northway shuttle!

That’s all we really need...


Sent from my iPhone using TGR Forums

[PNWbrit]

WHY JOHN KIRCHER DECIDED TO SELL CRYSTAL MOUNTAIN

So what changed? Why a year later did Kircher suddenly decide to sell and become part of that trend? One major thing happened: In June, Vail Resorts bought Stevens Pass, Washington, a direct competitor to Crystal Mountain, making Stevens Pass part of Vail’s collective Epic Pass. “My plan was to own this mountain long-term, to the end of my career and keep it as a family business,” he said this week. “But that changed with Vail getting involved in Stevens Pass. The Epic and Ikon passes have become much more of a factor in the business than I ever imagined. The companies that offer these multi-resort offerings are at a major advantage.”

Kircher said when he imagined Seattle-area locals or destination travelers choosing between Crystal and Stevens, Crystal now wouldn’t be able to compete, since it wasn’t on a collective pass. Whereas, Stevens now shares access with all 14 Vail-owned resorts. “If you own a large-to-midsize ski area that’s not on a collective pass, that’s a problem,” he said.

Mmmmmm.....

[Norseman]

What's the relationship between Boyne and Alterra?

Did JK outsmart the Boyne fam, seeing the group passes as addl revenue, to flip xtal for a buck? Or did he arrange this with Alterra before that?

[Buster Highmen]

WHY JOHN KIRCHER DECIDED TO SELL CRYSTAL MOUNTAIN

So what changed? Why a year later did Kircher suddenly decide to sell and become part of that trend? One major thing happened: In June, Vail Resorts bought Stevens Pass, Washington, a direct competitor to Crystal Mountain, making Stevens Pass part of Vail’s collective Epic Pass. “My plan was to own this mountain long-term, to the end of my career and keep it as a family business,” he said this week. “But that changed with Vail getting involved in Stevens Pass. The Epic and Ikon passes have become much more of a factor in the business than I ever imagined. The companies that offer these multi-resort offerings are at a major advantage.”

Kircher said when he imagined Seattle-area locals or destination travelers choosing between Crystal and Stevens, Crystal now wouldn’t be able to compete, since it wasn’t on a collective pass. Whereas, Stevens now shares access with all 14 Vail-owned resorts. “If you own a large-to-midsize ski area that’s not on a collective pass, that’s a problem,” he said.

Mmmmmm.....

????
Puget Sound ski areas are like religions.

The Protestants smile and nod politely at the Presbyterians and Lutherans, but smugly coddle themselves in their theosophical superiority.

Similarly for the Presbyterians and Lutherans.

But very few ever actually jump pulpits.

So, obviously, if there were pulpit jumping, the marketability in the Puget Sound for a religion that doesn't draw as many people is a difficult task.

[PNWbrit]

So, obviously, if there were pulpit jumping, the marketability in the Puget Sound for a religion that doesn't draw as many people is a difficult task.

I wonder if there was something he saw in the season pass sales this year that gave him the willies? I find it difficult to believe that their could be such a big jump in them... given Steven's current crowding, parking and traffic issues.

When did Steven's get bought by Vail? Would it have showed up in previous years sales too?

I'm sure plenty of people will love the whole Ikon deal and it's vacation benefits... it's not very attractive to me right now. And how it's been communicated is shameful... and I still think borderline illegal if they don't make more than right for those who've now overpaid.

I'm sure there will be some humps in the road with new management... maybe some existing humps will be smoothed out - a functional management structure would be a start. Also curious who will take over as head of patrol.

.. and... Hopefully our new corporate overlords won't put the squeeze on the Alpine Inn/Elk ownership group. I don't want that place run by a ski mega corp and have it Disneyfied.

[CrystalMountainSkier]

What's the relationship between Boyne and Alterra?

Did JK outsmart the Boyne fam, seeing the group passes as addl revenue, to flip xtal for a buck? Or did he arrange this with Alterra before that?

The Boyne fam is the Kircher fam. John's brother Steve probably had 33.3 percent and sister the other 33.3 percent until the first Crystal sale. Steve runs the company now and partnered with Alterra for all the Boyne resorts to be on Ikon. Crystal was already gone from Boyne by that point. John's piece doe$n't addre$$ why he didn't just partner with Alterra like Boyne, Jackson, Alta, Snowbird, Revelstoke, Sugarbush, Sunshine, Taos, etc.

[ridinshockgun]

Does this mean the lift lines at Baker get even shorter?

[Zeedashbo]

Best news of the year!

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using TGR Forums mobile app

[PNWbrit]

Best news of the year!

You going to visit?

Good news.

[GoldMember]

WHY JOHN KIRCHER DECIDED TO SELL CRYSTAL MOUNTAIN



Mmmmmm.....

What doesn't balance in his statement, though, are other strategic alliances that are possible. Schweitzer, which I hope doesn't sell into the consolidation but likely will at some point, is part of the Powder Alliance and has been for a number of years. You don't necessarily have to sell out in order to create greater value for customers.

[PNWbrit]

What else could Mr. Kircher have as motivation to pull the lever?

He just beat cancer a few years ago.. only just.

I know he loves the place and he still shovels the patio, picks up garbage ,bumps chairs and slings pizza..

There might just come a time where running a business that every customer thinks they could do better, or bad mouths his wife gets too much.

Maybe ease off on the personal stuff norse.

....And I doubt Mr & Mrs Alterra will ever stop at the bottom of the Blvd and pick up 410 hitchhikers. Let alone know, care or be interested where you got good turns.

I for one will miss that part of his ownership.

[snoqpass]

Trying to run a profitable ski area these days is a lot harder than most people think

[Norseman]

Edited my post... had a drink last night and got mean. Apologies

I got no beefs against JK himself. I, too, appreciate seeing him on the slopes and in the Elk and generally seeming stoked to be there. Never had a negative interaction with him directly. Others in his entourage have left sour tastes but whatever.

Please don't take my naive questions about the sale of the place as know-better rhetoricals.

That being said... with all these for-profit resorts surfing the crazy corporate wave, bouncing around the reefs and cliffs, I increasingly appreciate the Bridger Bowl model of Community Non-profit.

Carry on

[jackattack]

It's interesting to me that even the prospect of competing with Stevens post-acquisition was daunting enough to lead them to cash out.

[Bunion 2020]

That being said... with all these for-profit resorts surfing the crazy corporate wave, bouncing around the reefs and cliffs, I increasingly appreciate the Bridger Bowl model of Community owned, huge profit that gets plowed right back into the area in ways that really do make sense and benefit all the users.

Carry on

FIFY......

I know it can't be easy to replicate but that model really does work, took me about 28 years to realize it.

[Buster Highmen]

I wonder if there was something he saw in the season pass sales this year that gave him the willies? I find it difficult to believe that their could be such a big jump in them... given Steven's current crowding, parking and traffic issues..

ditto. Maybe there's some nuance to the marketing regarding local versus nonlocal, e.g. the Crustal tack was to target vacationers? Stevens has been untenable for years for us due to US2 fustercluck, parking, etc.

On the other hand, there have been a number of customer service fumbles @ Crustal, including the changes in under 11 passes and a variety of other individual situations that could have been handled with more aplomb.

When did Steven's get bought by Vail? Would it have showed up in previous years sales too?

Announced in June, closed August 15, 2018.

http://news.vailresorts.com/corporat...spassclose.htm

I'm sure plenty of people will love the whole Ikon deal and it's vacation benefits... it's not very attractive to me right now. And how it's been communicated is shameful... and I still think borderline illegal if they don't make more than right for those who've now overpaid.

How they handle the pass price discrepancy will be telling. It won't be hard to improve on customer relations.

I'm sure there will be some humps in the road with new management... maybe some existing humps will be smoothed out - a functional management structure would be a start. Also curious who will take over as head of patrol.

.. and... Hopefully our new corporate overlords won't put the squeeze on the Alpine Inn/Elk ownership group. I don't want that place run by a ski mega corp and have it Disneyfied.

I hope that the new boss understands the value of diversity. My hopes are not high, but let's see what they do.

[PNWbrit]

For some reason I thought the Vail/Stevens deal was earlier than that.

Difficult to see there could be any sign in the numbers yet then.

Marketing Crystal to vacationers seems like it'd be only small $ benefit at best. Given the lack of accommodation and non skiing activities. Boom town Puget Sound is their market and an easy one, I'd have thought. Better customer care, consistency would go a long way and is easy, cheap... they've definitely not helped themselves recently with that.. for instance the on and off again spring skiing really pissed off a lot of people.

[Buster Highmen]

For some reason I thought the Vail/Stevens deal was earlier than that.

Difficult to see there could be any sign in the numbers yet then.

It may have been, but June is the earliest announcement I could find. Yahwah knows how long it's been in the works.
But yeah, I'm not following the rationale presented and by this time, I feel a little justified in being a little skeptical of brand rationalizations.

fwiw, I have had first hand very poor customer relations where my request was met with literally having a customer comment sheet thrown at me. I am not alone in this type of experience.