Kelly’s Blog: Quality Trumps Quantity
n the 90’s I was a quantity consumer. Probably because my kids were little and we made weekly trips to the store for diapers and formula. As the kids got older the diaper and formula money went to “anything princess” and Lego’s. I am happy to say that our family has moved into a more composed consumer mode where quality plays an important role.
For many, the holidays involve gift shopping so I thought I would share some of the quality brands that my staff and I recommend for a promised value.
When it comes to durability and comfort, Smartwool is top of the list. I know most of you own Smartwool socks – aren’t they the best? At our house we have two sock bins and when the socks come out of the dryer they are tossed in the bins. There are socks that sink to the bottom of the bins and there are those that are plucked off the top immediately. Smartwools are highly sought after and never stay in the bin for more than 48 hrs. Smartwool socks last for years, even with the frequent use and washings. Gift hint – if you have a hard-to-shop-for person buy a pair of Smartwools socks, take them out of the packaging and fill them with some candy and little stocking stuffers. If this person is not a skier or if they have never tried Smartwool, they will remember you for years to come. Something about Smartwool – it is love at first slip on!
If you haven’t purchased any Smartwool garments, I highly recommend it. Over the years, I bought several base layers and they are my “go to” garments for the busy days. They wick moisture, breathe, fit a woman and her curves and I throw them in the washer and dryer and they have held up for years – like 7 years. And just because they say Smartwool, don’t think they feel like itchy wool on your skin. There is no itch to be found.
I asked Karl, at Mount Snow Sports at the Grand, to recommend a product and his choice was the Smith IOX goggle. These goggles are good looking, versatile and appropriately priced at $170. That may sound high but wait for the pitch. What I love about this goggle is that they fit over most glasses and they come with two lenses, that are easy to change (yes, even I can do it.) And let’s face it, in Vermont, there are some less than bluebird days. In fact, many days start off sunny and by the afternoon you are trying to deal with flat light. Thanks Karl. I am getting a pair of these!!!
Over at Backside I asked Justin and Billy to help me on my quest to find quality gifts for the younger and hipper people on my list. Justin showed me The Fix Skullcandy ear buds (how appropriately named.) You can plug these into your smart phone and pause, skip, and adjust the volume on your playlist. You can also answer your phone so you no longer have to ski around with your phone shoved in your helmet! These run at $40 and have a lifetime warranty if you save your receipt. Justin – you just sold a pair of these – I am hooked!
I was telling Billy that I needed to pick up a pair of Burton Party socks for my son. They are the cushiest socks around, which is nice for all the park folks who could use a little extra cushion on their landings. Billy showed me the Stance socks and told me not to rule them out because the price point was a little lower yet the graphics and cushiness (my word, not Billy’s) are just as strong. So…I will grab a pair of those too!
Billy also reminded me that the best value going if you are looking for a new board or skis is to try “before you buy.” A demo runs $50 and you can try several boards or skis. If you decide to purchase a new set up, the $50 goes toward the price. On Saturday, Dec 15th you can try for FREE, during our annual Demo Day. Backside will host a Burton Demo – check in right in front of their shop. To demo skis, check in at the Cape House on Main St. Please bring your license and credit card for deposit.
And to add value, there are a few shop specials running this week:
The Cupola: Receive a FREE lift ticket with the purchase of a 2012/13 hard good. Lift ticket is valid for any day during the 2012/13 ski season
Backside Snowboards: Take 20% off ANY helmet / goggle combo.
Mount Snow Sports @ The Grand: Get $50 off 2012/13 skis or snowboard when you turn in your old ski/snowboard.
Cannot be combined with any other offers.
This Christmas I am lucky that I will be able to spend some time with family and friends, which is the greatest gift of the holidays. Thanks to my dad for buying me a season pass each Christmas when I was growing up. Those passes enabled me to spend my winters on the hill, falling in love with a sport that introduced me to my husband, provided me with a career, offered me a wholesome environment to raise my family and enabled me to live in a ski town where I have made lasting friendships.
So, tell me – what products are a “must have” when you are heading to the mountains?
Tiny URL for this post: http://tinyurl.com/by8jzdn
Why isn’t the Bluebird lift running today?
Question for Kelly (or anyone else on staff) from a season pass holder: The holiday crowd is 12 days away from showing up en mass, and mother nature has finally cooperated by giving us snowmaking friendly conditions – WHY ISN’T EVERY SINGLE SNOWGUN TURNED ON RIGHT NOW? I’m aware that the currently open terrain needs to be resurfaced, but improving the trail and lift count should be a priority before the busiest week of the year, correct?
Dude, they are making snow on Freefall right now. Im no snowmaking expert thats for sure but I HIGHLY doubt they can turn on all the guns at once. The temps look good going forward and i’m sure they will have a few new trails open by the holiday week.
Show some patience. Without any significant snowfall between now and then you are probably only looking at 2 or 3 more new trails by then anyway. You dont get 75% of the mountain open with snowmaking its simple as that.
Luckily, there is a LOT of snow in the forecast for the next 2 weeks. Yeah!
Agreed, nothing beats the real thing. And perhaps “every single snowgun” is wishful thinking due to power, air pressure, and water constraints. The point is that all of Southern VT is subject to similar weather constraints, yet Killington, Okemo, and Stratton have opened 34, 26, and 35 trails to date, respectively, and looking at their live webcams, there is was a whole lot more snowmaking activity happening (across multiple trails both open and closed) right now. I’d like to know from management if the perceived low capacity snowmaking effort is strategic, a budget issue, a chemistry / physics issue, an incorrect observation etc.?
Curious to get an answer to Jonathan’s question. Put another way, if Mt Snow focuses on making on the 4 open trails truly awesome, and we get 10 inches naturally, are we still left with 4 trails because 10 inch natural isnt enough to open bare trails? versus going skinny on, say 5-10 more, and ending up with 20 open trails in a week?
Since temps dropped on Tuesday, Mount Snow has been making snow at full capacity. That is generally maxed at how many gallons per minute you can pull from your water sources. So, our competitors could be making more snow if they can pull more water…..and some can.
We started by resurfacing all existing trails and they are skiing very well – great recovery. Now we have moved on to expansion and as mentioned in the daily snow report we are making snow on Freefall and River Run (North Face.) The plan is to add the North Face this weekend. We are finishing up Lodge/Exhibition and plan to have that for the weekend also. We are also making snow on Cooper’s Jct and hope to add that trail and the Tumbleweed lift this weekend (Sundance Base Lodge will not be open this weekend.) We are also working on the tubing hill every time we have spare water as we prepare for the holiday and want to offer families multiple options. Over at Carinthia our plan is to build out Nitro and the Gulch to their full sizes by Christmas and Grommet will continue to get a little snowmaking here and there. Also at Carinthia we will make snow on Inferno and it will NOT have any features – we are just starting the process and it will be a ski trail for the holidays.
Now that we have resurfaced existing terrain we are in expansion mode. Sleepy Bear, normally it takes about a foot of snow to get our natural trails open.
Jonathan – I think most of what you are seeing is perception. I watch the competition very closely and ski it also. My limited experience is that some resorts may have a little more acreage but our snow surfaces have been at the top of the list. And remember that Mount Snow counts its trails very differently than our northern neighbors. At Mount Snow a trail is a trail. If you start at the top of a trail, for the most part you end on that trail too. We don’t have upper, mid and lower and count it as 3 trails. So when I am looking at other ski areas and their trail count, I usually cut it in half to get an apples to apples comparison to Mount Snow. As I mentioned above, we can only fire up as many guns as we can supply water to. So….it is impossible at Mount Snow to have every single gun making snow simoutaneously. Finally, this is not a budget issue. The number one priority in our company right now is making snow – period. As of 11 am on Thursday, we have taken down most of our lower mountain snowmaking as the temps are on the rise. They will go back on line when the temps dip. And come on mother nature – send us some white love this week!!
Thanks for the thorough response Kelly – much appreciated.
Thanks for the info Kelly. Here’s a question we are curious about. Why River run? That is mostly an access trail it seems to me. Why not skip river run and make snow on say Chute instead? Just curious about it is all.
River Run for 2 reasons. It offers you a short cut to the North Face from the top of the Canyon Express. It also works well when we are making snow in that area, system-wise. And we head to Chute tonight.
Fair enough Kelly! You folks really have it going now. See you on Thursday.