Ah, just think if the marketing dept ever got word out of the North Country that Spring conditions are good! Ski in a t-shirt, leave your long johns and dace mask at home, don't forget the sun screen! Oh yeah, right, why would anybody want to do snow sports when it's warm; they're just for mid-winter when you can't do anything else, right, anonymous? <BR> <BR>The marketing genius of Killington was to extend the ski season so it began immediately after foliage season, and overlapped golf & bike & hike season in the Spring; eliminating the two "mud seasons" that kill tourism for months in most Northern New England Ski Towns every year. <BR> <BR>As soon as the foliage drops, all the B&Bs and restaurants around here shorten their hours & days of operation, layoff the kitchen & waitstaff, and wait for "the holidays" to begin at (or after) Thanksgiving. Then about Easter, they all shut down again, until at least Mothers Day, and most wait until Memorial Day to re-open. Because every Flatlander thinks there's nothing to do in the North Country in late Fall or Spring. The hiking & bike trails are too muddy, the greens haven't dried out, might as well stay down South. <BR> <BR>Do the stupid math, and No, there is not enough direct ticket revenue to offset the direct labor & utilities expense of early Ski season opening & late Ski season closing. <BR> <BR>But Killington figured out that it fills hotel rooms, fills dining rooms, generates retail sales in an otherwise flat time of year. And it fosters the image of a "4 season destination resort", which generates real estate sales, and increased season ski ticket sales, day skier visits, and during the three months of bad skiing, increases greens fees, bike trail fees, etc. <BR> <BR>Don't tell me, I know, that was the old SKI Killington marketing model. These days, it's a different corporation, and ASC has probably given up filling those rooms at off-season rates in the Grand Summit Hotels, and probably cut back the restaurant hours, etc. The real estate ASC hoped to capitalize on has been sold to pay off their debt. No point anymore in luring second home buyers to a 4-season destination resort with the longest ski season in the East, if some Texas holding company is going to reap the profits. Might as well throw money in the river. <BR> <BR>Bretton Woods is now taking the old SKI marketing approach. I'm sure they are "throwing money in the river" as far as the balance sheet on early- and late-season ski operations. I doubt the two Cog Railway trains each weekend in late Fall and Spring are generating enough ticket revenue to pay for the coal the engines burn. Nor will the Cog Railway Ski Train to Waumbek Tank turn an operating profit. But they are filling hotel rooms at the Mount Washington, Bretton Arms, and their motel. They're filling the dining rooms at their hotels, and Fabyans. They're generating sales at their gift shops, and greens fees on their golf course. <BR> <BR>Hey, BW certainly doesn't have the terrain of Killington Peak, or even of the NH 4000 footers (Cannon, Wildcat, Waterville), but they are generating year-round tourism without a cataclismic shutdown twice a year "between seasons". So far, it's working for them. And it works for me, because it means a ski area is spinning a lift early in November and late in May. <BR> <BR>CD said it, "Kmart is just another ski area now", and I don't think I'll miss it. If they aren't going to open earlier, and stay open later, than any other ski area, then I'm probably not going to be skiing at Killington much, if ever. I'll either be hiking for the best turns on Mt Washington, or resting up for the next hike by riding the BW quad.
