EpicSki is now owned by Vail Resorts

[HighAngles]

http://www.epicski.com/forum/newestpost/116473

Just about to head out for this evening's festivities, but happened to catch this news bite before heading out. 

[jbotti]

Funny. A site that continues to maintain that it is a neutral and unbiased site, has first banned all mention of PMTS and now has taken the money to be owned by the advertising arm of the worlds largest ski resort company.

I am the last person to give anyone a hard time about doing things that will turn into profits but this neutrality concept is a complete joke.

What do you think, with our 11 regular posters might Facebook want to buy us

[Svend]

Funny. A site that continues to maintain that it is a neutral and unbiased site, has first banned all mention of PMTS and now has taken the money to be owned by the advertising arm of the worlds largest ski resort company.

I am the last person to give anyone a hard time about doing things that will turn into profits but this neutrality concept is a complete joke.

What do you think, with our 11 regular posters might Facebook want to buy us

Probably not.....but Head Skis might be interested....   

[jim-ratliff]

I can see this as a no-brainer for Vail. 
They are emphasizing the "epic" phraseology, the have the Epic pass, having rights to "epicski" is a logical connection.

But I will be very interested to see if they actually leave EpicSki as it is (even though it clearly makes sense to say so at this time).  I could easily understand them migrating their whole web branding from "www.snow.com" to "www.epicski.com".

Which is a way of saying that I am doubtful they bought EpicSki for the content; I figure they are ultimately just buying the domain name. I hope they got at least $50k for it.

[ToddW]

I wish the new owners well.  It will be interesting to see how the forum portion of their media/advertising empire evolves.  The Nolo-BB Epic had a quite different vibe than AC's forum.  I expect larger changes this time.

[Philpug]

Funny. A site that continues to maintain that it is a neutral and unbiased site, has first banned all mention of PMTS and now has taken the money to be owned by the advertising arm of the worlds largest ski resort company.

I am the last person to give anyone a hard time about doing things that will turn into profits but this neutrality concept is a complete joke.

What do you think, with our 11 regular posters might Facebook want to buy us

John,

You have received very biased info. it wasn't so much PMTS talk, it was the unwillingness of a few zealots, one who you are close with, that were unwilling to have two sided conversations.

[midwif]

Really Phil??
Did you have to?

Old news, old story.
Each side has its strong point of view.
Bottom line....PMTS isn't allowed to be discussed on EpicSki.
Epic ski gets rid of people they find annoying, even if they broke no rules.
End of story.
It's a privately held site and that's their prerogative.

Ultimately, it's JUST SKIING!
Not exactly the fiscal cliff issue or the cure for cancer.

[max_501]

Now you have the 2nd Epicski moderator posting on this site in an attempt to rewrite history.

The fact is PMTS was banned from mention on Epicski nearly 3 years after the banning of the members to which Phil refers. So the banning of any discussion of PMTS, any PMTS phrases, or HH must have been for other reasons. What possible motivation would Epicski have to ban discussion of PMTS (arguably the most discussed ski teaching method prior to the banning)? Here is a quote from Cirqerider (an epicski moderator) that provides one possible answer:

The owner of the only banned progression was actually extended an invitation in writing, and refused to accept Epicski's commercial policy.

e.g. - Harald refused to pay Epicski money so they banned discussion of PMTS.

[jbotti]

Bottom line....PMTS isn't allowed to be discussed on EpicSki.
Epic ski gets rid of people they find annoying, even if they broke no rules.
End of story.

Ditto!

[LivingProof]

Lynn,

Phil's entitled to his point of view, and, John did choose to open the PMTS door with his perspective. Two very diverse opinions are OK by me. I do think it's safe to speculate that Epic was not bought because of the intrinsic value of it Instructional Forum. 

I do wince when Epic is painted in a very negative tone due to issues associated solely with it's instructional forum. Epic is much more diverse; into gear and social skiing aspects. Other than the instructional forum, it's a lot like our forum on a much bigger scale. Not sure I'd sign up to moderate there. Personally, I've had great experiences at the annual Epic Gatherings, and, have made many, many lasting friendships from Epic. I know it's changed my life for the better.

I would agree with Jim that the rights to the Epic Ski domain name provides value to Vail Resorts. In addition, Google searches regarding skiing, gear especially, result in that forum being at or near the top of of websites. My understanding is that Epic is owned by a single majority shareholder who decided to sell rather than own a business, no big deal. I doubt it's a golden parachute, plus. there's no workforce to lay off.

I would not expect significant change in the short term, if it changes much, Peak Skiers may get some additional traffic.

"Before it all changed, things were different"

[LivingProof]

Mod hat on:

I see no point in continued public discussion of old issues, both real and imagined, between two websites that are not affiliated with Peak Skiers. Move it to the PM section because future such discussions will be deleted.

[midwif]

Yeah, I didn't wear a mod hat to this one
Just expressing my personal view point.

Lynn

[jbotti]

Mod hat on:

I see no point in continued public discussion of old issues, both real and imagined, between two websites that are not affiliated with Peak Skiers. Move it to the PM section because future such discussions will be deleted.

Getting dangerously close to censorship Mike! I hope you see the irony in that.

[Philpug]

Lynn,

Phil's entitled to his point of view, and, John did choose to open the PMTS door with his perspective.

Thank you Mike.

[max_501]

LP, with all due respect, the facts are public and indisputable.