EpicSki is now owned by Vail Resorts

[HighAngles]

I think that the value of the domain name (with "Epic" in there) and the "installed" user base is probably where VR saw the value.  My beef is that the value in the site was in the content provided by community, but the community does not directly benefit from the commercial aspects of the site or this sale.

I still maintain that I enjoyed the site more when it was on the VB platform before the influx of the advertisers, etc.  I like a lot of the people I've met through the site and the social aspects have always been a plus.  I just wish that the conversation was permitted to be more "open" and as long as laws aren't being violated then let the conversation follow it's natural course.

[jim-ratliff]

................... .........

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

John:
I turned down Vail's October offer to buy our URL.  They have their Peaks card and wanted to use "Peak Skier Zone" for their new web presence.  I really wanted to maintain our little community and they weren't willing to meet my 6 figure price, so I guess they decided to settle for EpicSki.

http://www.snow.com/peaks/peaks-rewards.aspx

That's my story, and I may stick to it.

Jim


PS. We have about 20 people that log in on a regular basis -- not all post, obviously.

[jbotti]

Nice!!

[HighAngles]

Jim - your last post really gave me a chuckle - very creative.

If you guys haven't kept up with the original thread up on Epic regarding the sale, then you should really check it out.  The "natives" are restless (to say the least).  Note that many of the Epic staff are running "damage control" across the Internet on other ski forums.

I find it quite comical that some are just "realizing" now that EpicSki is a business.  I had that realization when Epic moved to the Huddler platform and littered the site in advertising and "sponsored" content (and really started pushing ESA).  That's when I stopped posting significant content that would drive more hits to the site - clearly I wasn't profiting so why should I provide content?

[jim-ratliff]

HA:  Thank you.

There really isn't much new under the sun.
For years newspapers and magazines charged subscribers for content, but their real asset was their subscriber base, and selling access to that asset is where they made their money.  Content was merely the hook, the people were the fish. The ultimate trolling?  That remains the business model of most social media sites; it's all about coming up with the newest "bait" to hook the fish, and then selling access to that asset. Newspaper ad prices were based on the number of readers. The price of super bowl ads is based on the number of viewers, and ad space on EpicSki was probably based on the number of readers.

FWIW, remember that PeakSkierZone has a similar business focus for SMFNEW.  They host the website for free not out of the generosity of their heart, but because they get whatever money they can make selling access to us in the little advertising banner at the top of each screen. But at least the ad banner takes a small percentage of the screen and to me, at least, is not intrusive.

[jim-ratliff]

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:

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

Max:
I have to say that you and John seem to have completely missed the point of Phil's "visit".  See HA's post above.  Phil was just doing a bit of damage control on our site, successfully i might add. We ceased discussion of the purchase of EpicSki and went back to the same old stuff.   Maybe the silver lining in the purchase will be that the EpicSki / PMTS history will truly be history?
Phil: Excellent job of calming the waters around the uproar of the purchase by diverting focus.

[jim-ratliff]

By the way Phil, can you confirm PMTS sources that, off-the-record, indicate that Harb Ski Systems is the actual source of the investment money for this purchase, as part of  an agreement signed last September to "augment" PSIA instruction at the entire family of Vail resorts, "one little mountain at a time"?

[jim-ratliff]

Ok, I got started, so will go ahead and share a bit more of what Lynn and I heard.  I assume there are others on this forum with this same information, but they may have been required to sign formal non-disclosures, so don't expect them to say much. Unlike them, I don't have official or first-hand knowledge, just an interesting conversation in passing.
The "Premium Camps" won't be called PMTS, they will be branded and owned by Vail Resorts under license to HSS. They have an initial 20 current instructors at BC and 20 at Vail they plan to invite,  with the intent to have 3 5-man teams at each resort ready for next year, but I'm unsure if any of those 40 have been contacted.  I also believe that the plan is to compensate these "Premium Camp" instructors up to 30% more to jump start the transition, and in recognition of the time investment expected of the "Premium Camp" qualified staff. That's year one.
I think year 2 is where they plan to tighten and formalize lower parts of the ski school curriculum at Vail and BC while rolling out the Premium Camps to Heavenly and Breck, and I believe that the 'formal curriculum' revision is where the role of Epic Ski becomes apparent.

[midwif]

Uh Oh, just wait for the cease and desist order from VR .

On the other hand, now everyone  knows what goes thru  your mind at 1:30 am!

And yes, Phil is brilliant.
He was able to derail this most important thread with a single sentence.

 

[jim-ratliff]

Lynn, I don't think we have anything to worry about. We didn't sign any non-disclosures, we haven't breached any contracts  explicit or implicit.

It's like a DoD security clearance. The person with the clearance signs a contract with the government to observe certain guidelines. If they disclose classified information to a non cleared individual, it's their butt and the person they talked to has no responsibility (unless, like Petraeus biographer, she also has a clearance. Then she has a responsibility to safeguard AND to report him).

[ToddW]

I''m guessing that VR didn't know that Fischer Ski Babe's modeling was part of the "Peak Skier Zone" deal.  Otherwise, a 7 figure sale and a seat on the VR board of directors would have been forthcoming.

[jim-ratliff]

Damn!!  Yeah, at least 7.  That should have been part of my presentation.

[jim-ratliff]

A pattern will emerge from this.  As a Vail Resorts season pass holder (Epic Pass) I just received an email advertisement from them.  The following word pairs were all emphasized 36 point font in the message, so I have to assume that this is their 2013 branding (and it shouldn't be a surprise to anyone here).  So I have to ask, what one phrase is missing from this ski focused advertisement promoting the Epic Life?
NOTE: Their document obviously looked much more professional than my cut and Paste hack job.


Hint: The missing phrase is not PMTS, because you can't mention that on Epic.   
But maybe it's Epic Instruction, or maybe it's "Epic Ski Camps" - the essentials of skiing.



 

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[HeluvaSkier]

Hmmmm. I guess I will have to check out this "epic ski" everyone is talking about. Given all the hype you'd think I would have heard of it before.

I did hear about a skiing website where over-equipped gapers, Internet ski coaches, and middle-aged unemployed ski bums attempt to force others into creating content so they can drive ad revenue to line the pockets of a select few that have been happily spat out by the rest of the ski industry. That can't be the same place though.

[jim-ratliff]

  over equipped gapers on "pedestrian skis" no doubt.   
You better check it out soon. I hear it has a cancer and it's odds of survival aren't that good. Cancer of the pocketbook may be what someone said.
I used to visit that site as a lurker,  but then a lot of fun people left and my dial up connection took 15 minutes to load the pages because of all of the advertising, so I gave up. I heard some guy named SCSA livened things up for a while, however?

And, by the way, Gary and I may be over equipped, but it's only because we are trying to stimulate the economy. If only Obama could share his checkbook with us.