PE’s role in ruining ski towns

[Meadow Skipper]

As goes Montana…

I guess it’s not just ski towns, but all this makes me kind of glad I’m not young now. The way things were is not how they’re going to be.

[Letter from Big Sky] Slippery Slope - How private equity shapes a ski town

Bunion? Harry?

[raisingarizona13]

Same.

Get it while you can.

[mcski]

PE is ruining EVERYTHING. Ski towns are a sore point but it’s a huge problem when PE acquires a company, saddles it w debt while siphoning cash, then declaring bankruptcy and leaving a trail of unemployed people wondering what happened

Guillotine time

[jackstraw]

Alterra 60% PE owned

https://coloradosun.com/2024/04/24/c...-smith-skiers/

[evdog]

PE is ruining EVERYTHING.

This ^

[Trackhead]

PE is ruining EVERYTHING.

They are ruining healthcare, too.

Big Sky = puke

Yeah the skiing is great, but everything else about that place is nauseating.

[stuckathuntermtn]

PE is ruining EVERYTHING. Ski towns are a sore point but it’s a huge problem when PE acquires a company, saddles it w debt while siphoning cash, then declaring bankruptcy and leaving a trail of unemployed people wondering what happened

Guillotine time

This.
And it's not just PE, imo. It seems like many large corporations are being run no differently than PE firms. Cut costs, buyout competition or sell off sections, break unions, all that matters is endless growth and next quarters stock price. Companies like Boeing and GE have addressed problems with their product and workforce by doing stock buybacks. Stock buybacks used to be illegal. Nursing home neglect, planes that fall out of the sky, giant trucks with huge blindspots: This shit is killing people!
And don't even get me started on property investors.

[Bunion 2020]

That article has been out about a week. It is very well researched and pretty easy to follow and from my POV, damn accurate. (except that Lone Peak is NOT a long dormant volcano).

Buddy of mine is quoted in reference to Tim Blixeth, “very much a chode”.......

[Buster Highmen]

Since many seasonal workers do not vote, Roundy wasn’t exactly surprised when he was trounced...

...private interests to gradually take hold of local democratic processes....

[skaredshtles]

That article has been out about a week. It is very well researched and pretty easy to follow and from my POV, damn accurate. (except that Lone Peak is NOT a long dormant volcano).

That was the 1st thing that I noticed... I should have been an editor.

[stuckathuntermtn]

The particular geography (geology?) of the Big Sky/Bozeman/Yellowstone area is also somewhat isolating. Not like the way Whitefish just kinda bleeds into Kalispell after a while. That may have something to do with it too. Big Sky is a cutout from Nation Forest in an offshoot from a long canyon that inconveniently separates it from Bozeman, so it's very much its own insular little place. It's hard for me to even think of it as a town. It seems like more of a ski resort with runaway development surrounded by mostly undeveloped mountains in designated Wilderness area. I know it's not far from Bozeman or West Yellowstone, but in many ways, it's a world away.

[Meadow Skipper]

…from my POV, damn accurate. (except that Lone Peak is NOT a long dormant volcano).

Heh, I caught that, but the author regained cred as I kept reading.

[Ted Striker]

It's called the ring of fire for a reason.

[fomofo]

PE is ruining EVERYTHING. Ski towns are a sore point but it’s a huge problem when PE acquires a company, saddles it w debt while siphoning cash, then declaring bankruptcy and leaving a trail of unemployed people wondering what happened

Sounds like that would make for an intriguing film.

Oh, wait...



Oliver's takes on Putin aren't aging so well, but almost 40 years down the road that one is still right on the money!

[stuckathuntermtn]

Heh, I caught that, but the author regained cred as I kept reading.

It's called the ring of fire for a reason.

I think I read something like it once was a volcanic vent, but so long ago as to make little difference.

[skaredshtles]

I think I read something like it once was a volcanic vent, but so long ago as to make little difference.

"The mountain's rock is igneous in nature, but its magma did not reach the surface, so it is considered the laccolith rather than a true volcano."

-Wikipedia

[stuckathuntermtn]

Well, there we go.
Although it doesn't mention how gnomes sharpen all the rocks over the summer.

[byates1]

Fortunately there are tons of podunk towns and podunk hills w surprisingly good skiing. PE can't ruin everything

[lifelinksplit]

Fortunately there are tons of podunk towns and podunk hills w surprisingly good skiing. PE can't ruin everything

Yeah but unfortunately since the BIG money is buying up the most desirable areas now in certain smaller "podunk" places there is a newish phenomenon where one single ultra rich individual is buying up every piece of available land. And then also inserting themselves(or their people)into positions of power within local government to make regulations more friendly towards them. Enjoy everything now that you still can but don't go peaking behind the curtain or you might not like what you see..

Ok time to go fishing with the dogs and not think about such things.

Sent from my SM-S236DL using Tapatalk

[byates1]

I'll just go xc skiing on national forest. That can't take that

[Bunion 2020]

"The mountain's rock is igneous in nature, but its magma did not reach the surface, so it is considered the laccolith rather than a true volcano."

-Wikipedia

Was my 3rd year at Big Sky and the trail map did claim Lone Peak was the remains of an ancient Volcano. But we had hired this smart ass guy named Andy who had a real Geology degree. During a meet and greet he called the head of Marketing (now COO) out on that by informing him "Ummm Lone Peak is actually a Christmas Tree Lacolith" and went on to describe the erosion process that created what we now see. Taylor was polite and the next season there was no more mention of Volcano's.

[Buster Highmen]

I'll just go xc skiing on national forest. That can't take that

Yes, they do. It's called land swaps. Read the article.
As long as the electorate supports or soft peddles them, the wealthy will fuck the rest of the country as hard as they can.

[fomofo]

Fortunately there are tons of podunk towns and podunk hills w surprisingly good skiing. PE can't ruin everything

Yea, but now there is also this...

MBA grads are increasingly exploring entrepreneurship through acquisition (ETA). These aspiring entrepreneurs want to purchase small businesses and update various processes with basic technology to spur growth.

Looking to Sell Your Business? There's a New Class of MBAs Looking to Buy

For every newly minted MBA/CEO wannabe who "grew up in the county" and wants to settle in with a long term investment in a local business, I wonder, similar to the "promise" of private equity, how this phenom is actually going to play out?

[Buster Highmen]

Yeah but unfortunately since the BIG money is buying up the most desirable areas now in certain smaller "podunk" places there is a newish phenomenon where one single ultra rich individual is buying up every piece of available land. And then also inserting themselves(or their people)into positions of power within local government to make regulations more friendly towards them. Enjoy everything now that you still can but don't go peaking behind the curtain or you might not like what you see..

Ok time to go fishing with the dogs and not think about such things.

Sent from my SM-S236DL using Tapatalk

Go up to Rock Creek lake for me and pour out a Green Death (Rainier Ale) for me and my deceased friend whose family lost the cabin their grandfather built up there.

This shit has been going on for ever and soft peddling it just supports it.

[yeahman]

Years ago I thought about buying into Big Sky, but I'm glad I didn't because the place has a lot of issues. I'm happy to ski there 30-40 days a year as a tourist with a gold pass, which IMO isn't very expensive when you consider the value I get out of it ($2,187 including tax for next season, after cashing in my rewards). It's nice to ski a couple days a week and then GTFO.