Mt. Waterman and Snowcrest/Kratka Ridge

Tom Moriarty":1fqh83pv said:
Very well said Mike!

I know a letter was received from the Forest Service about possibly not being open long enough that was obviously in response to complaints from members of the public who are probably the ones posting negatively on this forum. It is so easy for us to sit here on our computers and voice an opinion on what should or should not be done when it is not our money. The mountain needs a lot more money put into it to get it ready for what will hopefully be a full season of snow next year. Rick now knows what it takes to run a ski area and will be the first to admit mistakes were made. He will learn from those mistakes and make next year bigger and better and I for one support his decisions 100%. If anyone out there is interested in investing some cash I'm sure he would love to talk to you.
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What's wrong with a little constructive criticism (which is what a lot of the "negativity" has been) from Waterman's best PR source outside of a couple of newspaper articles (and who reads those anymore :wink:)? I mean, really, Admin, no one's fooling with the thread views?
 
I think forums such as this are precisely the place to voice critiques and suggestions for improvement. I would strongly discourage complaining to the Forest Service or other bureaucratic authorities, who have given the new owners a hard enough time (kitchen requirements for skiing???) as it is.

Thread views are accurate...and continue to amaze me.
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Not necessarily, but on a decent forum a questionable view is likely to draw fire, and most of the time the debate will push the end product in the direction of accuracy.
 
Seriously, whoever is complaining to the forest service pretty much sucks at life. What purpose does that serve? Honestly...

Kudos to Waterman for the effort in getting open this season. Obviously there's plenty of room for improvement, but when resuscitating a ski area most people wrote off as lost forever, things will not be peachy right off the bat.

That said, the first thing to improve on is communication with the public. Go to Waterman's site right now, and you'd be led to believe the place is still open. That needs to change ASAP. Saw a post on the Mt. High forums about it recently (someone saying MW was closed, someone else replying "no, the website says it's open").

Hope next winter is snowy enough to really get the place up on its feet.
 
Aukai":329ykvjt said:
That said, the first thing to improve on is communication with the public. Go to Waterman's site right now, and you'd be led to believe the place is still open. That needs to change ASAP. Saw a post on the Mt. High forums about it recently (someone saying MW was closed, someone else replying "no, the website says it's open").
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Absolutely true. MW needs to get its public relations act together.

At least the snow phone is somewhat up to date; I called today, and there is a message on there from March 28 which does say that it's closed for the rest of the season. Not updating it on the web site as well is confusing and is very poor PR.

Looking forward to next year!
 
Team, let's think this through. Did somebody contact the Forest Service?

P.S. Admin, can you block the Forest Service's IP from connecting to your site? LOL.
 
I agree, the website needs to be fixed and I am going to call Rick right now and tell him I am hearing complaints on that issue. The problem is that the owners have jobs down in San Diego mostly that made them the money that it took to reopen Mt. Waterman and they have to keep working those jobs until Waterman can make enough money which will probably be never unless they get snowmaking and I don't see that happening. Constructive criticism is a very good thing as is learning from your mistakes, I'm just saying keep it to these forums and not to the Forest Service. What if the FS agrees with the complaints and pulls the permits? Remember they were ready to pull the lifts and tear down the buildings until giving the Metcalfs the chance to make it work.
 
Tom Moriarty":1qd2emah said:
I agree, the website needs to be fixed and I am going to call Rick right now and tell him I am hearing complaints on that issue. The problem is that the owners have jobs down in San Diego mostly that made them the money that it took to reopen Mt. Waterman and they have to keep working those jobs until Waterman can make enough money which will probably be never unless they get snowmaking and I don't see that happening.
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Now, as the principal behind FTO I've certainly been as supportive as anyone else regarding Waterman's revival, but this is an easy fix. Some kid doing Waterman's website as a school project is a cheap way to keep the website up (and for all I know is how it came to be). A simple form-based structure using a database backend and CMS front-end would allow anyone possessing login credentials to update conditions and lift status by spending 30 seconds typing into an HTML form much like the one used to create this post and hitting a "submit" button.

I, too, have to keep a "day job" so I'm empathetic. This issue is just such an easy fix.
 
Tom, you're way too sensitive to feedback and aggressive to defend. I've read this 21 page thread and I think the later comments about the recent opening have been constructive and valid criticism said in a professional tone. It's not negativity, it's instead your customers telling you what they expect and want.

Also, the view count on this thread is a little misleading. This thread is 21 pages and if a user in a single sitting views all 21 pages the iews count goes up 21 times despite the fact it was only one user. If you go back a page and or two it adds an extra view as well for each time you do that. The number is in part so high because this appears to be one of the only threads with so many pages. I'm not trying to discount the fact that there is interest in Mt. Waterman because their is.
 
Just to keep the Waterman stoke alive in the off-season, I wonder if anyone has heard anything about plans for next season?

Reason I ask is that this "downtime" is a perfect opportunity to do some grassroots work (PR, relationship building) for next season. No doubt Waterman could use all the help they can get. I admire the mgmt for their work in getting the ball rolling, but sometimes it's harder keeping up, especially after the giant hurdle of re-launch, and it seems like MW needs a couple of strong seasons under its belt to stabilize.

Is anyone working on the hill right now? Like Rusty1TO, I'm also curious about the prospects of biking this summer. I don't know about the operating costs, but it would seem that at least scenic rides & food service at the top could help draw some people once the snow melts, and at the very least build greater awareness/rapport with the local ski community for next winter.

Counting the days til the next winter opener!

--cranbo
 
A music festival is a bad idea and let me tell you why.

One of the main activities at music festivals is the consumption of alcoholic beverages. The problem is Angeles Crest Hwy and alcohol do not mix well. This lesson should have been learned several years ago when those teens died in that tragic accident coming home from a concert/rave or some music event at Kratka Ridge. The last thing the new owners need to do is repeat the mistakes of the past.

Besides that parking is an issue for large crowds.

I think they are better off focusing their efforts on the sports aspect of Mt. Waterman and Kratka Ridge. Skiing and riding in the winter. Scenic rides, hiking and mountain biking in the summer. The money and effort spent in getting these activities going benefits both seasons and summer operations are great way to let summer tourists now that we're here, alive and well and operating when the snow flies in the winter too.

Just so everyone knows I'm not opposed to alcohol that is consumed and enjoyed in responsible ways, but mountain roads and drinks do not work.
 
I don't think the plan would be Rave's like in the past and would be music of interest to an older crowd than those kids who launched off the highway. As for liquor, neither Kratka or Waterman have a license right now for that although Newcomb's could cater the event and have Beer & Wine available. Just like any bar the bartenders would have to cut people off if getting intoxicated and no outside liquor should be allowed on the site to keep control.
 
Hey Russell!

I don't know, I have left working at Newcomb's due to the unethical circus called ownership and management there. Therefore I am off the mountain and no longer involved up there.

Tom
 
I know that many of you visit Mt Waterman in the Winter. Now you have an opportunity to visit in the Summer. On Saturday August 9 and 10, we are hosting hike of the Mt Waterman Trail and overnighting at the top and view the Persied Meteor Shower. Spoke with the owner and Rick is excited about us coming up again. We did this first last August and it was a wonderful weekend. There was lots of food, drink, stories and singing shared by everyone that evening and people were up for most of the night and early morning to view the meteor shower. We will make arrangements to have vehicles carpool equipment to the top of the mountain. Let me know if you are interested in joining. Tom, I hope you can make it. The event is posted on:
http://www.outdoorsclub.org
Would like to know if you are coming as want to manage the event. Email me at:
mikegunning@verizon.net
Mike
 
Interesting development at Newcomb's Ranch. The FBI raided the City of Angels Hospital concerning a Medi-Cal & Medi-Care scam with the homeless. They were taking the homeless off Skid Row and admitting them into City of Angels through Dr. Fred Rundall's office in City of Angels. Rundall is the owner of Newcomb's Ranch. So far the owner & CEO of City of Angels has been arrested with more arrest coming. Dr. Rundall has been named in a suit by the City Attorney office and hopefully this scumbag will be arrested soon.

Be fun to see how this plays out. If you want to read about it just Google City of Angels Hospital and the stories will come up.
 
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