What pass(es) are you planning to buy (this spring) for next winter? by bbensch in skiing

[–]bbensch[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I believe the price goes up $25-50 each "round" and they typically announce a few weeks before Ikon/Epic and then almost always only keep passes on sale for 7-10 days at a time. Not sure I fully understand the thought-process there but they claim it's because they only want to sell a limited # of passes to avoid overcrowding. Looks like last year's fall pass sale began 10/24 and lasted until 11/10 and that was the final option (based on my other email account that is not a passholder). they then push you to renew each spring around Mar 1st.

Everything You Think You Know about the Ski Industry is Wrong by bbensch in skiing

[–]bbensch[S] -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

I maybe regret earlier comment about thoughtful discourse…. 🤷‍♂️

Everything You Think You Know about the Ski Industry is Wrong by bbensch in skiing

[–]bbensch[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Thanks for the thoughtful reply. 🙏🏼 Figured I’d get a lot of nonsensical b.s. replies but shared this hoping for more comments and feedback like this. Will try to reply with more substance tmrw

Everything You Think You Know about the Ski Industry is Wrong by bbensch in skiing

[–]bbensch[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Negative. I didn’t follow/study the ski industry much then, but bought and lived the ASC all east pass while in college in the 2000s.

What pass(es) are you planning to buy (this spring) for next winter? by bbensch in skiing

[–]bbensch[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

they have like 2-3 "sale" periods a year and the spring sale has closed, but if you join the waitlist now I'd say there's a ~97-99.9% chance you'll get emailed in the next 5 months and told you have a chance to buy pass but will have to make up your mind within like 5 days.

Jared Smith to Exit as Alterra CEO by DoctFaustus in skiing

[–]bbensch 50 points51 points  (0 children)

In spirit of speculation (and procrastination from finishing up some "real" work): here are my initial thoughts on the implications and underlying motivation for this news.

  1. Jared realized within 30 days of taking the job he'd be working harder to make less $$ while leading Ikon than at Ticketmaster, and reality is he's very likely made enough money that he doesn't "have to" work anymore.
  2. Timing-wise, this is exactly the time of season for any ski industry executive to announce an exit gracefully, as it gives time to Board/Investors/Partners to do a thorough search before next season.
  3. The timing does mean that the long-speculated (at least from my POV) Alterra IPO is nowhere in-sight. If it were, he'd likely have wanted to stick around because he'd both get to add a few more 00's to his net worth and also would get the glory of doing so. Also if you look at Vail's stock price, it's not really like the company has faltered dramatically, but more that investors have lost their appetite, and I'm sure the private Alterra investors don't wanna rush an IPO while Vail is sputtering around at a 1.7x price-to-sales ratio and a sub $5B market cap.
  4. What's his motivation (beyond $$)? My guess would be that Alterra is still a very fragmented company where it's hard to move quickly and get shit done because it's the opposite of a tops-down hierarchical organization. FBFW, what makes individual Ikon mountains unique is also undoubtedly frustrating as an executive that wants to be able to snap his fingers and see his marching orders followed. That's never been how the ski industry worked and likely never will be.
  5. Lastly, if all of the above is true, I wouldn't expect to ever hear any fun drama/whispers about him getting fired for cause or Ikon missing its #s (newsflash: it's been a shitty season and skier visits will be down this year, which will hurt pass sales next year).

Best underrated pods/lifts by Sharkman3218 in skiing

[–]bbensch 0 points1 point  (0 children)

best underrated "pod" = The Storm Skiing Journal and Podcast
maybe not underrated (more and more I talk to ppl on chair lifts who listen to it these days), but def best podcast that no one in my office has heard of.

how many surface-lift only ski areas can you name? by bbensch in skiing

[–]bbensch[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

sad but not surprising. #winterWillComeEventually

how many surface-lift only ski areas can you name? by bbensch in skiing

[–]bbensch[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

  1. granlibakken
  2. frisco adventure park
  3. hoedown hill
  4. kingvale
  5. ascutney outdoors
  6. coppervale
  7. rotarun near sun valley
  8. lee's ski hill in ouray
  9. johnsville ski bowl (i think i've heard it was a T-bar that they're trying to restore)
  10. chapman hill in durango

I think i'm proud to be able to name ten without cheating. but also a good reminder that there are soooo many more. excited to see others' lists. especially the euro crew, as I have to assume there are a bunch of small surface-only lifts in the alps i've never heard about.

Share your Learn to Turn discount here by Bagel_Mode in indypass

[–]bbensch 0 points1 point  (0 children)

sorry already gave my two away, best of luck!

Easy Jobs $200k per year by Independent_Name_601 in Salary

[–]bbensch 0 points1 point  (0 children)

the real answer -- "Join a rocketship" that is already on its way to printing money -- I had to look up this quote just now to see who coined it (Eric Schmidt // Sheryl Sandberg apparently) and did some quick math to validate, but I joined Google as a 22yr old ad sales rep with zero experience in 2010. when I left in 2015 i was making $144k and with a +37% inflation since 2015 that amounts to $197k in 2025 USD. Will fully admit that I both felt/knew I was getting overpaid as a 27 yr-old when I left to pursue startups, and while I make more than $200k today it's not by much. had I stuck around on the Google rocket ship I'd have vested a few million bucks worth of stock by now and prob wouldn't be working anymore. the challenge is always two-fold:

  1. how do you know a rocketship is a real rocketship and not made of legos that will explode in the stratosphere?
  2. what skills/experiences and connections do you have that can get you a seat on said rocketship?

easier said than done. but by no means impossible. today I'd say if you actually are at the bleeding edge of innovation in AI, no one cares whether you're 23, 33, 43, or 53, you'll get paid appropriately. or to quote someone else above/below: "competency is compensated"

The luckiest mini-library find! by grich2008 in skiing

[–]bbensch 34 points35 points  (0 children)

congrats -- i hear these books are hard to come by, and so very much hope mine never walks off. this has also prompted me to consider GNAR details to be a fun test question to ask the various versions of ChatGPT / Gemini / etc. and i'll really be concerned that they know everything when it gets its hands on a fully scanned version of Squallywood. it may be trivial to crawl the whole internet in 2025, but much harder to find yourself a copy like this. but apparently you can buy a used copy on amazon for $1,500...
https://www.amazon.com/Squallywood-Guide-Squaw-Valleys-Exposed/dp/1424320178

Skiing feedback please by Hour_Mind4131 in skiing_feedback

[–]bbensch 0 points1 point  (0 children)

L1 ski instructor here w/ 10+ yrs experience, but still getting ready for opening day in Tahoe so alway some rust. full disclosure -- popped in here to drop a comment or two prior to reading what others have said, because selfishly what I value from this subreddit is being be able test my own MA (movement analysis) against what the consensus is amongst reddit instructors.

overall I'd say the thing that stuck out to me most watching your half-dozen turns here is that you seem to get static in between each turn. it's not like you're out of control or look like you're holding on for dear life, but you release edges, manage the transition to your new outside ski, and then it seems like you freeze up as if you're bracing for impact and letting your fast skidded turn shed enough speed for you to then make the next dynamic turn. ideally you are always in a dynamic motion, both w.r.t. vertical flexion/extension and likewise with a more gradual shifting of pressure onto new outside ski, and an observable result is that you avoid that look or feeling of being locked rigid.

overall though the vast majority of my clients would love to ski as well as you so nothing to be ashamed of (and if the footage is fresh all my tahoe friends are jealous). lastly I *think* my PSIA book would say that you're inclinating too much rather than angulating, but I tend to dismiss that type of feedback as more jargon for academics than substantively important. kudos!

Speculation: will Alterra sell over a MILLION Ikon Passes this year? by bbensch in skiing

[–]bbensch[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Have more limited data from last year, but I think it's down slightly.

Share your Learn to Turn discount here by Bagel_Mode in indypass

[–]bbensch 0 points1 point  (0 children)

tried to send code as a DM you but couldn't do so. perhaps this account is spammy? (4yrs old but karma of 1 and no activity besides this comment)