Crystal Mountain closing = BS Email Boyne Inc.

In regard to the capitalism argument:

Crystal and Stevens operate on our land, and profit greatly. Profit is ok. Risk is involved with the significant investment. However... consideration and service to the public landowners needs more emphasis by the leaseholders of USFS land.

One factor that hinders more demands from the USFS is the history of several bankrupt/ closed ski areas back in the 70's, so there is this fear in the USFS of making demands that cause a ski area to fail. However, the situation has gone far in the other direction. Harbor used Stevens Pass profits to finance frickin' real estate ventures such as Harbor Steps in Seattle. It is likely that a greater amount of Stevens Pass ski area profits have funded projects other than at the ski area. The thing is that disclosure to USFS is not required, just the 'car count' that is multiplied, I believe by 3, to get a skier visit total for the fees to the USFS.

In regard to remaining open or any business venture, is not a matter of profit for Stevens (I know with certainty) and probably Crystal- it is a matter of relatively large profit margins. The other areas demonstrate that one may operate a ski area later in the season at a small profit.

Capitalism, yes. Capitalism that is given for a tiny cost a very limited resource to exploit for the purpose of private profit.

Sunday, April 23rd, Skinned under chair 4/quicksilver on this bluebird day.  There is lots of snow left.  But I noticed that Crystal had their snowmakers setup out in the base area....

Could they be trying to preserve the base area for something?  ha ha...

Larry, You are a better man than I. I wussied out and went up to Baker. It was beautiful.

Very interesting observation re: Crystal's snowmaking. We can only hope. While at Baker I saw several groups of Crystal skiers; identifiable by face recognition, Crystal logo gear, and/or lift tickets.

The Baker skiers I rode the lifts w/ were shocked that Crystal was closed. Almost every one of them responded with "Crystal has plenty of snow, doesn't it" or words to that effect.

Hope you are right about Crystal making use of that man-made snow. Though Baker was beautiful, and it's always nice to go visit another hill, I kept wishing Crystal were still open.

Below is my reply to Boyne Inc.'s first email to me explaining cost benefit analysis when buying a season pass as opposed to my request for a reply which dealt w/ the issues I raised re: Crystal's closing date. The folks at Boyne Inc. have clearly been going to school on the Bush Administration's stlye of response. I believe that if they had replied several days later I would have been told that Crystal was closing because "I'm the decider."

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Sent: Tuesday, April 18, 2006 5:24 PM
To: Crystal Mountain Executive Office
Subject: RE: For Crystal Mountain's Mountain Manager re: Closing date?????



Wow, yourself! Please address the issues I raised. The "worth" of the pass is relative to the cover during any given year. Wow, its contextual!



I did the math, as it were, prior to buying your pass. I exceeded the threshold number of days skied necessary for me to realize an economic benefit. Wow!

So far as pass holder's knowledge "that they got their money's worth this year," you might want to reconsider that assumption. According to the thread I began on "Turns All Year: Year Round Backcountry Skiing," www.turns-all-year.com/skiing_snowboardi...dex.php?topic=4489.0



there are plenty of skiers who understand both economics, and basic fairness and equity. Furthermore, they are aware that other ski areas in WA treat their clientele differently than does Crystal/Boyne Inc., and I belive a reasonable person reading those posts would detect more than a little consternation with Boyne Inc. We, collectively, are aware of the economics which inform a ski area's decision regarding their closing date. The underlying question implicit in the debate is Boyne Inc.'s attitude toward their target market's reaction to such decision against the background of other WA ski areas remaining open. That is the issue.



The question then becomes Is Boyne Inc. aware of the reactions of the skier's - upon whome Crystal relys to remain profitable, so as to continue to contribute to Boyne Inc.'s interests as a successful corporate entity - who experienced an aweful season last year, to the decision to close prior to other WA ski areas in a year with a superior snowpack, and if so do they care?



I love skiing Crystal Mountain. I have had nothing but positive experiences with all the many Crystal employees I have interacted with. Ultimately, however, I believe that Boyne Inc. made an ill-advised decision to close the hill when other WA ski areas remained open completely, or at least for weekend skiing throughout the month of April. It is said that "all politics are local." Similarly, all decisions - regardless of where the decision making body resides - are "local." It is my opinion that the "local" effect of Boyne Inc.'s decision to close Crystal Mountain, while other WA ski areas remained open, was less than politically astute as well as economically questionable when considering the potential of generating significant ill-will among their market share.

If someone within Boyne Inc. is able and willing to provide me with a sincere attempt - as opposed to that included below - at an analytically defensible argument distinguishing Crystal Mountain's position relative to the other WA ski areas remaining open beyond Crystal's closing date I will be glad to forward and post it on the above referenced website, as I intend to post your non-response to my initial email there.

Sincerely, Dan

HERE IS BOYNE INC.S RESPONSE! THEY ARE BASICLY TAKING THEIR BALL AND GOING HOME IF I'M GONNA KEEP ASKING QEUSTIONS FOR WHICH THEY HAVE NO ANSWER. IT IS PRICELESS!!

Dan,

You are welcome to your opinion. Have a nice summer.



Sincerely,

Crystal Mountain, Inc.

BTW, Alpental is open through April 30th.