Posted November 01, 2015
HAVE YOU HEARD ABOUT THE BIG
El
Niño?
Have you heard it's supposed to
mean great snow for this coming season at some of your
favorite mountains? Right? I'm sure you have heard something
about it by now. The marketing minions at some of your
favorite resorts are hard at work whooping it up! But, a
funny thing happened on our way to El Niño GRANDE… seems
even while boasting about the potential for BIG El Niño
snowfall (before they even open) many resorts are already
planning on closing earlier then last season! Huh? Say What?
Yep…its true.
With a slow start to the season in
Colorado
and other destinations it looks like it could be an even
shorter season then many El Niño shedders are anticipating.
Last year OCT 18
Colorado
began skiing and riding, but this season snowmaking had
shredders waiting until OCT 28 with limited terrain. So it's
looking like a much slower start to this season. But what
about the BIG El Niño? Well, don't go cray
cray… but if you look at the closing dates last season and
compare them to the planned closing dates this season you'll
see many plan to close earlier than last year. And, it
wasn't a BIG, bad El Niño year! So what gives? The same
thing as always. MONEY.
Lodging, Lift Tickets, Retail, and Food & Beverage sales are
the most important thing to BIG city corporate bean counters
once the season is underway. The bottom line is profits
first and people second. Many "anonymous" resort employees
have repeatedly said "After the Easter holiday rush the
season is over" not enough visitors come and they believe
"locals and season pass holders don't spend enough money" to
make it worth being open. In addition, after Easter many
resorts begin cutting costs by reducing services and the
number of employees regardless of snow conditions or
scheduled closing dates. But, not lowering their prices
though.
Plain and simple most big corporate resorts do not care
about the local residents and season pass holders beyond
getting what money they can from them in advance before the
season. These folks pay the same pass price regardless if
there is a good snow year or not… fair minded people with
common sense might think that means longer seasons when
snowfall is abundant and shorter seasons when it is not… And
you'd be wrong! Once the season begins resorts shift their
focus to charging their highest prices of the season to
their wealthier visitors and vacationers.
Local residents, resort employees and season pass holders
who looked forward to taking advantage of skiing or riding
early and late season have seen those benefits shrinking
year after year. As resorts continue cutting costs to save
money they increase the negative impacts on local
businesses, workers and economy is apparent. The later then
scheduled openings, limited terrain and reduced staff and
services means reduced hours and pay for local workers.
Second laying off seasonal workers after Easter not based on
planned closing dates directly impacts the ability of people
to eat, pay rent and bills while the resort is still
charging top dollar.
So while you're waiting on the BIG El Niño to blanket your
favorite mountains with snow, remember somewhere big city
corporate bean counters are looking for even more ways to
exploit it. Ask any well-run local ski town business if they
are making money when the mountain is closed? Ask any
workers at a major resort if the "employee discount" makes a
difference when you're not open, not getting a pay check or
living on unemployment during the off-season? And god forbid
anyone utter the T word… but what about the sales, lodging,
F&B and other tax revenues that are diminished by late
openings, reduced services, early lay-offs and closings.
No matter the corporate PR messaging, local government
double talk or big city media spin… the optics is awful and
most skiers and riders are already talking about how this
looks bad and smells even worse!
Ultimately, perception
is reality.