Perspective and Views...

Best ideas of 2015: tubing lanes, conveyor de-icing, load-here mats.

THE QUESTION: CAN I GO SLEDDING OFF TO THE SIDE SOMEWHERE WITH MY YOUNGEST CHILD WHILE MY OLDER SON IS SKIING?

Raise your hand if you’ve ever changed someone’s performance with a performance review. Keep it up if the change was positive and permanent. Yeah, me neither.

“This weekend, we expect a winter storm to impact the area, leaving behind several inches of snow, so everybody should plan to hunker down and not leave the house unless absolutely necessary.”

When it comes to ticket scams, most resorts have seen it all. Scammers have long taken numerous routes to avoid paying full price—or pay anything at all—to ski or snowboard. Resold tickets, split tickets, dates whited out, child tickets on adults, borrowed season passes, Photoshopped passes, counterfeit tickets, skiers hiking past scanners at the bottom to ski the upper lifts, or just “sliding on by” without a ticket hoping they will not get caught.

Freestyle terrain is entering into adulthood, and we are faced with the reality that the terrain park has outlived its “fad” status. Just getting by and offering a cordoned off area on the outskirts of the resort isn’t acceptable to our guests anymore, and the protractors are coming out to try to pinpoint the magic recipe for building sweet features.

PEAK RESORTS ACQUIRES HUNTER MOUNTAIN On Nov. 30, Peak Resorts entered into an agreement to purchase Hunter Mountain, N.Y., for cash consideration of $35 million plus the assumption of two capital leases estimated at approximately $1.8 million. Hunter generates approximately $27 million (unaudited) in annual revenue. Shortly after the acquisition, Peak added Hunter to its unlimited Nor’easter Pass, which includes all of its Northeast properties. Hunter Gold Pass holders were given the option to upgrade to a Nor’easter for $299. Peak Resorts portfolio now consists of 14 ski areas.

Faces and Places...

Superstars everywhere you look The start of a new year is a time to take stock of the past and look to the future. Here’s to those leading the way.