The conversations that you used to overhear while perched on a bar stool under a taxidermied buffalo head are now taking place in the giant echo-chamber of the Internet. As the news that Vail Resorts had purchased Kirkwood Mountain Resort hit the Tahoe Basin, message boards, social media sites and online newspapers lit up with questions, opinions, and predictions on what the purchase means for Kirkwood and Tahoe. This won’t replace the pleasure of leaning back from the bar and eavesdropping on a crowd of dirtbag Kirkwood locals as they hash out what the Vail buy-out means to them, but here’s a trip ‘round the Internet since Kirkwood became a Vail property.
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Kirkwood’s Facebook Page
Jump onto Kirkwood’s Facebook page, and you will find a little bit of the vibe of the resort seeping through the Internet to you. Kevin Cooper, known simply as Coop, regularly signs off with admonitions like ‘stay thirsty my friends’ and posts up Grateful Dead video recordings in between energetic snow reports.
As the news broke, one commentor pleaded directly to the long-haired Coop: DON’T LET THEM CUT THAT HAIR.
Others referred to Hollywood caricatures of big-money out-of-towners buying up family ski areas: Coop, I can’t say I’m all that stoked that Kirkwood is starting to follow the plot of Out Cold exactly. Will you be organizing a ragtag group of locals to save the day at the last minute?
There was sarcasm: Can Vail purchase us some snowfall? Surely with all their money…
There was humor: ‘Yea! Does this mean we will get T.P. in the women’s bathroom again? To which Coop responded, Yes Janet! We can all enjoy the fresh T.P once again!
And there were emotional posts: I love you Rare Earth! No matter what ‘they’ call you or who says they ‘own’ you.
But among all the pessimism, optimism and confusion expressed on the page, one commentor summed it up simply and succinctly: Please don’t change Kirkwood.
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Unofficial Squaw
Unofficial Squaw, a site that has become a regular read for Tahoe skiers and riders, posted up a story as the news broke, and soon had 78 comments from readers. Some referenced the growing number of buyouts by Colorado-based resort operators:
• One step closer to being completely Tahoerado
• Firing up the sticker press to create ‘Don’t Coloradize The Sierra’ stickers.
• Tahoe still has Sugar Bowl and Mt Rose left to preserve from the corporations, just sayin’
And some mixed optimism and realism:
• If I was a Kirkwood passholder I would be pumped. Vail does some bad stuff, but also some good stuff….
• Last time I bought a pass to Kwood was the 09/10 season, and from what I recall there was no shortage of luxury real estate. Hell — on Kirkwood’s own site they have their 2003 development master plan (much of which they still haven’t completed). Does that make them evil big brother too?
Others saw no good in the change:
• Goodbye small mountain vibe, cheap tickets, hostels, empty slopes. Hello on-slope Starbucks, squaw village shopping, investor-first public relations, and new hotel construction. Vail doesn’t buy properties because it sees existing efficiency, it buys properties for growth and profit.
• What’s going on right now is a land grab, plain and simple.
And others saw the sale as a simple case of economics winning out:
• Companies like Vail/Rock Resorts that have deep pockets and have been able to stay cash positive are snatching up resorts that are struggling in a down economy at a steep discount.
• Look at all the resorts that have been sold in Tahoe alone in the last year or two. Squaw, Alpine, Northstar, (Homewood?) now Kirkwood. All mountains that were struggling to bring money in, or over-extended themselves through expansion that couldn’t be supported by a down economy.
• Everybody seems to be getting on [Vail] like they’re strong-arming people into selling or making them an offer they couldn’t refuse. Fact of the matter is, these resorts killed themselves. Vail didn’t build the village at Northstar. Vail didn’t introduce Kirkwood’s 2003 master plan for development. They just picked up the pieces when other people failed. Get over it.
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Mountain Rider’s Alliance Blog
Jeremy Evans, author of “In Search of Powder: A Story of America’s Disappearing Ski Bum” and Kirkwood snowboarder, took to the Mountain Rider’s Alliance website to comment. Here is a excerpt of what he had to say:
With the deepest snow in the Lake Tahoe area and terrain that rivals Squaw, Kirkwood has the skiing part down; the industry part of the equation, however, wasn’t measuring up. Vail is undoubtedly going to reverse that trend for Kirkwood and, in time, create a product that reflects the needs of tourists. Because, let’s face it, there is no Kirkwood or Squaw or Heavenly without tourists.
My only hope is that, along the way, Vail does a better a job of connecting with both tourists and locals than it has at its other properties, and perhaps even expand its role by eliciting input from both groups since they are integral to keeping shareholders happy and retaining the soul of a ski resort — a winning combination that other ski industry acronyms haven’t achieved and which surely would increase your bottom line in the long-term.
~ For information on the Vail Resorts Purchase of Kirkwood straight from the mouth of Vail Resort’s co-president Blaise Carrig, visit this Kirkwood.com Q and A.
