Crystal Mountain closing = BS Email Boyne Inc.

Takeaway so far is that several other areas have a "different" appreciation of the role of the skiers in their corporate outlook, than does Boyne Inc. I skied Crystal today - the last day - and the hill looked as good as it did in Jan/Feb. As I skied alone, I had several interesting conversations re: closing. There is a lot of vague talk about forest service, elk, tribal, and other issues, and their impact on the closing date. Most people have heared that all or some of the above may have something to do w/ closing, but are fairly sure that hubris and greed are the prime movers behind the decision to close. The elk are calving down below the snowline, I saw one newborn calf today, and USFS regs have no force and effect until May 15. (Props to everyone for their input. JP did a great job of establishing exactly what the substantive nexus is between USFS and Crystal)

One still-skiing child-of-the-sixties told me on #6 today that, "you know some old a-holes sittin around a big desk somewhere, made this decision without a thought for you, me. or any of us." I think he kind of nailed it.

Boyne Inc. views us as a captive market w/ little ability to take our business elsewhere, and to a certain extent they have a point. Crystal has great terrain and if you live in Olympia, as I do, there are no equivilant options within a similar driving distance. That said, the market is responsive to some degree. I will bring Crystal my business when the Avalanche dragon keeps me out of the bc, and only then. As I've said before I'm going to send Boyne Inc. and Crystal an accounting of what I would have spent at Crystal every time I go off piste or to Baker, Alpental, Mt. Hood Meadows, or Steven's from now on, begining next weekend. If even a dozen of us did such, I susspect Boyne Inc. might sit up and take notice. They carry their gross revenue statements right next to their nuts.

It is pretty sad that we closed today with waist deep snow in certain area but on the good side I have spoken with a very reliable source who has worked with Crystal for years and here is the scoop Summer sking will happen this year with a opening date of June 30th and it will end sometime in August they are keeping hush hush about it but I thought I would let everyone know about the good news

I wouldn't get my hopes up too much about August. Even during the glory years of the early 70s Crystal's lasted closing was July 25th.

I just don't understand some of the comments here. Crystal is a BUSINESS,businesses make a profit or go bust. If you invest capital and risk it , you are entitled to make a profit and should. If the price you charge is to high, people won't  come. Much of what I read above is typical anti- business BS and the comments directed at Crystal and Boyne just retoric.

I am am not privvy to Crystal's balance sheet but I suspect there reaches a time when the cost of running the area is in excess of the revenues gained. Most people, normal people , not the ski lunatics on this site( I  include myself in the lunatic fringe), have given up skiing and are running around in shorts with goosebumps on their legs trying to convince themselves summer is here. Most of the normal recreational skiers and snowboarder I know gave up skiing a few weeks ago and where surprised to hear that it was still open.

I think Crystal did a great job this year, I enjoyed my skiing, they worked hard to open the North and South( the real gem at Crystal) and I gladly paid my fees. I will be back for more next year.

Good work Crystal and Boyne INC.
Scotsman,

Scotsman,
You are exacly correct in that you "don't understand." You miss point of these postings, as well as the meaning of "rhetoric." Rhetoric is the art of persuasion through language. Its best known proponent, Aristotle, was of the opinion that it was the natural product of an intellectual, democratic society. Whenever any of us post here we are engaging in rhetoric, so welcome to the club my friend.

I am all in favor of sharing ideas and opinions, but please go back and carefully read the postings. The question is not whether or not Boyne Inc. is a business w/ a concern for the bottom line. The issue is the tension between Boyne Inc.'s business cancerns and fairness. People have listed numerous other WA ski areas, which are remaining open in one form or another, in order to support the position that Boyne Inc. is responding to the "bottom line" in a way that differs significantly from Crystal's competitors. The argument is that Boyne Inc. is treating their clientle less fairly than, say Baker or Mt. Hood Meadows which are remaining open.

Additionaly, last year, when Crystal had a "bad snow year" season pass holders had to eat their losses. OK, that's part of the gamble of buying the pass. A good snow year, such as this year, means lots of posssible days to ski and maximize the potential return on one's investment in a pass. THIS is where Boyne Inc. is not playing "fair." Under Boyne Inc.s rigged rules, when the snow is bad we, the skiers, are expected to "share the pain." During a good snow year, we should understand Boyne Inc.'s "percieved need' to MAXIMIZE profits on the backs of the same skiers who "shared the pain" last season. AND Crystal offered a MUCH smaller break to those pass holder who got screwed last year, than did other Northwest ski areas. Hence the unfairness.

To label the sort of debate in these postings as "typical anti-business BS" fails to stand up under analysis.

Furthermore, the status of the North/South backcountry as a "gem" is of no moment re: the issue being discussed. The "backcountry" in the pants of Crystal skiers, and the way in which Boyne Inc abuses it, is the issue.

I think everyone is agreeing that it's a business-based decision (when to stop operating). It seems the area of difference is whether it was good business or bad business judgment. I'm not sure where "fairness" comes into it, unless they made some sort of guarantee to pass holders that they've not made good on. If not, then folks who are upset about the closing date can vote with their wallets next season, and let Boyne know they're doing so, as folks have suggested above.

I too have wondered at the early closings here compared to places like Killington and Sunday River which do extensive grooming to be able to compete for the title of "latest closing day of the season" each year. But then I see how few people are on the lifts even on a great day with tons of fresh, such as this past Saturday, and I can appreciate the hard decision facing all the ski area owners in Washington. Sunday River always had a line-up at the lifts even in mid-April when we had to ski slim ribbons of snow through mud patches to get onto the lifts, whereas we skied onto the lifts all day Saturday at Crystal (OK, we had to wait maybe for 4 parties ahead of us to get on at peak moments) and were getting regular face shots. So clearly it pays for Sunday River and Killington to stay open as long as possible.

I bet Boyne has done some good math to figure out how many folks they'll lose long term with this closing date and they figure they're still coming out ahead of the game. Maybe they're right, maybe they're wrong in their assumptions, but I think that any business owner on this board would at least use similar logic, if not the same assumptions about customer loyalty etc.