Answers to Snowgirl's Questions

Rather than hijack the Ski-Hypo thread, let's answer her here. Good job asking, Snowgirl, and again , kudos on making the lift-loading adjustments as a result of these (and likely other) conversations. If indeed you and John and Scott are REALLY interested in the answers and not offering lip service, this is indeed appreciated.

Here are my thoughts FWIW.

For me, as a family guy who really does love to ski Crystal with my family, the MOST important change you could make is to bring back the deeply discounted seasons passes for kids. You and I have discussed this when the policy was suddenly changed though I was using my real name then.



There are many of us who are doing OK, but not wealthy and we love to ski and want to pass our passion on to our kids. As I've stated ad nauseam in this forum, I spend a ton of money at your establishment. I could go elsewhere but choose not to so my kids can participate in CMAC and enjoy the great terrain that the mountain offers. Charging kids under 10 $500 and up for a season's pass is incredibly mercenary and I don't believe that it's in the long-term best interest of the area. Indeed, it offers some cash, but it's hard for me to imagine that the number of young kids with season's passes will ever make or break your margins in a given year.

What it does do is force some of us to make choices about how we spend our resources and where. It also creates unhappy customers in those who have to make those difficult decisions. Kids who grow up skiing at Crystal with happy parents will be lifelong customers and will buy higher priced passes, parking, concessions etc. long into the future.

If I have to pay that kind of money next season it could make the difference between whether we are your customers or someone else's next year. Now, I know there are many who will make comparisons to other destination resorts and once again remind 'how good we have it', but Crystal - even with its lofty aspirations - is and always will be a local hill. Be kind to your local customers and let them know you're interested in them and creating long term relatioinships with them. Take care of the kids (and their parents) who love to ski there and help us love it even more.

The revenue I bring to your hill will not make or break you either I know, but from my perspective it's a sizable investment. It's not a stretch to suggest that between passes, tickets, food, the occasional refreshing beverage and goggle lens purchase a family of five is spending upward of $7500 there in a season. That may not mean much to a big corporate entity (or to some of your customers) but it means a lot from this angle. Treat me as though you understand and are empathetic to that and most of all appreciate it. Don't take us for granted.

My customers have many choices about with whom they do business (a problem you are fortunate not to have) and I have to be very careful about making sure each of them are appreciated and told so regularly. Just because you don't HAVE to do that to stay in business doesn't mean you shouldn't anyway.

The jacking of the kid's passes and things like turning the summit house into a fancy-pants place both send a message that Crystal is more interested in attracting a different customer base and pretty much blowing off us 'normal' skiers. Which brings me to.....

Summit house. We used to go in there all the time. It was a wonderful place to take the cold kids for a hot chocolate and warm up for a few minutes and head back out. My kids are strong skiers so we don't spend a lot of time on the lower hill so we no longer have a place to go for such a break. If possible, make it a place that is drop-in-able perhaps before and after peak lunch hours so that those of us who don't need a snazzy meal can enjoy that wonderful spot as well as the rest. I know, that's small potatoes for most, but you asked.

Next, answer questions posed to you in any way - email, phone, snail mail - in a timely manner and with real answers. Sure there are lots of them and some are probably silly, but all are worth your consideration in some way. Perhaps you could assign an underling to the task of filtering them for you to do some triage. You still haven't answered the Big Sky question!

To encapsulate:

Bring back the cheap kid's tickets and passes. Seriously. At least for a pre-season opportunity of which passholders are made aware.

Act like you care about your CUSTOMERS (they keep you in business by the way). All of them.

Don't try to be Vail or Whistler or Aspen. While you certainly have terrain akin to some major destination areas the restrictions of your relationship with the forest service and others likely mean you will never be a major destination area like that. That's fine with most of us! Instead of trying to compete with those places by being expensive and offering fine dining and preferential parking at a steep price, why not be the very best, coolest and most wonderful local hill ever (ever been to Whitewater?). Welcome families, be affordable, appreciate the business you get (it will bring you more and better business to do so) and the people who bring it to you.

The answer to the Big Sky question is quite obviously: "we're waiting until it's a moot point." I'm sure the language for next year's pass will be much clearer. Management is obviously assuming, probably correctly, that it's too small of an issue for anyone to challenge them legally.

The answer to the Big Sky question is quite obviously: "we're waiting until it's a moot point." I'm sure the language for next year's pass will be much clearer. Management is obviously assuming, probably correctly, that it's too small of an issue for anyone to challenge them legally.

While an official announcement would have been great, the word, posted at www.turns-all-year.com/skiing_snowboardi...dex.php?topic=7715.0

(the next to the last post) is that if you purchased your season pass prior to May 31, you will receive your 10 free days of skiing at Big Sky.

Ok, offpiste, for starters children 6 and under actually ski for free! Kids 7-10 are $28/day or $475/season (which was tier 3 pricing). It was considerably less if you bought in the Spring ($50) or before 9/15 ($375).

In regards to the Summit House, it may look "Fancy" (which is a nice change) but you can sit down and we'll serve you a homemade bowl of soup with warm bread and a glass of ice water and it will only cost you $.50 more than it did last year. The prices are VERY reasonable up there considering the quality of food. If you want something cheaper try the gourmet hot dogs at the espresso stand or get a grilled cheese sandwich at the Cascade Grill. You are not being forced to eat at the Summit. It rounds out the food options on the mountain. I know change can be hard to swallow sometimes but in this case the change is good and many agree.

The Big Sky answer is on the website and has been since May 31. To recap, it was a decision made by Big Sky after we started selling our passes in the Spring. You can still ski for free but you have to stay at a Big Sky lodging property. It’s a move to try to generate some revenue while still allowing you to ski for free. If you bought your pass in the spring prior to the change you are exempt from the lodging requirement this winter and we are happy to write you a letter stating that.

If I answered every single email that was sent to me I would spend every minute of every day hitting the reply button. I do my best to answer emails or at lest forward them to someone who can.

We are not trying to be a Whistler or a Vail. We are however trying to fill the demand to have a more rounded ski area and offer some of the services like the bigger guys do.

I don't understand why you think we don't care. Maybe because you're not getting what YOU want. I'm sorry but we do the best we can to take care of our customers and if you're not happy then go ahead...Ski Hypo.

And lastly, I think everyone needs to cut patrol some slack. Considering all the snow we’ve received recently (over 10 feet in just 2 weeks) they have done a fantastic job of getting the mountain open on a regular basis (except when Mother Nature interferes with wind and other factors like rising freezing levels that are out of our control). We don’t save it for the weekend. Remember Friday with 30” of untracked up top? Wow, everything but Southback was open by 11am. Due to high avalanche danger and patrol having their hands full inbounds, Southback did not open until Sunday afternoon.

Thanks for sharing your comments.

I have skiied Crystal since 1968. I have seen many changes, some good and some horrible.

I personally think Crystal did a good job giving us options at the summit house. My wife and I have eaten there every saturday, the food and service are excellent and reasonably priced. Halibut crusted with pesto on a bed of wild rice for 15 bucks does not seem out of line to this schoolteacher. Having a table by ourselves in a place that does not smell like wet dog is nice as well.

I used to be a dirtbag climber who skiied all day with a ham sandwich in my pocket. Sometimes I still do. But Crystal provides me with the option of a fine meal with a fabulous view and a great price. The only problem is that the hike out to morning Glory Bowl directly after such a repast can be a bit gut-wrenching.

It's a ski resort!

[Edit: cleaning up thread and making it appropriate for this forum. --Charles]

"children 6 and under actually ski for free! Kids 7-10 are $28/day or $475/season (which was tier 3 pricing). It was considerably less if you bought in the Spring ($50) or before 9/15 ($375"

Quote from Snowgirl

Thank you for the clarification. You show you care about the customers by responding in this forum. You don't have too, but you do.

Early season pricing is a good way for us frugal people to save money. Thank you and keep it up.

In my earlier posts, I mentioned not changing a thing. I'd like to edit that statement. You should continue with your improvements passed on your Masterplan that you guys spent millions on.

P.S. How about sending out some well wishes to John>

[Edit: cleaning up thread and making it appropriate for this forum. --Charles]