Greetings,
It is good to see such lively discussion in response to my recent introduction of “Take 60” on this blog.
I’d like to address a few questions and hopefully clear up some confusion.
As with any resort, we are constantly evaluating our business practices and trying to find ways to improve our guests’ experience while improving our business enterprise. “Take 60” is not an alternative to “Try Before You Buy.” It is replacing “Try Before You Buy.” There will be no free hour of skiing and riding during the first hour of operations, as there has been in the past. Although Okemo’s “Try Before You Buy” has been popular with many skiers and riders who enjoy skiing for free, our intent was to invite trial use as an incentive to provide purchase confidence.
This transference is not something that happened overnight. We realized it a few years ago and made a decision, in 2003, to cancel “Try Before You Buy” outright. We learned from that experience, and we are looking at this transition away from “Try Before You Buy” differently; Thus the introduction of “Take 60” as a more complete solution for our skiing and riding guests.
We are confident in the snow quality and surface conditions that Okemo offers skiers and riders. We work hard to provide you with the best possible on-snow experience every day of the winter season, and we empathize with you when Mother Nature interferes with our best efforts. “Take 60” is a more flexible program that appeals to a broader group of our guests – not just those who can coordinate their arrival with the start of lift service each day. It also allows us to better maintain the program’s intent: giving our guests the ability to return another time if they are not fulfilled with their experience on a given day. While we are taking something away, we are providing a more equitable solution for those who accept there is a cost associated with skiing and riding at Okemo.
Our intent was never to inconvenience any of our guests, but we do realize that although change is never easy, it is often necessary. Several people have expressed a concern about lines. We do have lines at our ticket windows and at Resort Services on some busy days. We do our best to maintain appropriate staffing levels to minimize the wait time and we do offer a number of direct-to-lift season pass products for those who find waiting in line to purchase a lift ticket objectionable. In fact, we offer a variety of options to make the overall experience more convenient and economical for frequent skiers.
Thanks for speaking up. We value your input and we do our best to serve you while sustaining a business to be enjoyed by generations to come.
Think Snow
Bruce Schmidt
Vice-President and General Manager
Okemo Mountain Resort
