VT Digger found a news tidbit about what companies have visited Jay since it went on the market earlier this year. Apparently Vail Resorts hasn't shown any interest while Alterra and Pacific Group have visited. Pacific Group owns Wisp and Wintergreen.
https://vtdigger.org/2019/09/05/vail-showing-no-interest-but-competitors-eye-jay-peak-as-sale-process-presses-on/
Would having Jay as a perk for a Wisp or Wintergreen pass be of any interest? Or would Ikon be a bigger draw for Mid-A folks? With Ikon, would be possible to drive up and ski at Stratton and/or Tremblant during the same trip. Certainly would make Ikon that much more interesting to people in Québec.
Having found a good source for the history of Jay Peak, it reminds me of Taos Ski Valley. Essentially a great mountain from a snow and terrain perspective, but hard to access by people lilving in a big city who could be enticed to travel for a ski vacation, pay for lodging, food, lift tickets, and be willing to take lessons for a week. TSV survived and thrived in the 1960s because of overnight trains between Taos and Chicago or LA. Jay eventually grew because a couple access roads were built. Both Jay and TSV brought over a ski instructor from Europe to teach Americans how to handle the terrain based on lessons for a week. The big difference is that the Frenchman who joined Ernie Blake (German Swiss) at Taos is still there. The Blake family managed to hold on to private control until relatively recently and Taos is still privately owned. Jean Mayer still owns and operates the St. Bernard for Ski Week enthusiasts. The Austrian who brought early success to Jay was gone by 1968. Walter Foeger encouraged the move from local ownership to a corporate owner as a way to get funding for major capital projects like the tram at Jay. But that ultimately backfired.
Camelback and Jack Frost/BB had ski schools based on Foeger's Natur Teknik.
https://www.jaypeakhistory.com/early-days/main-article/
Lots of good info about Jay in the other thread:
http://www.dcski.com/forum/97933
Looks like Jay has been working with Snow Operating. Makes sense to me. Snowshoe was one of Snow Operating's first clients. They offer consulting services to ski schools that go far beyond guidance on how to build features that help give first-timers a fun experience during their first lesson. For a location that's not easy to reach, having a strong ski school makes a difference in encouraging families to develop an annual vacation habit.
