We would like to thank all of our guests that came this year – it was a record number of bookings for us. Our surveys show that 97% of our guests come as a result of referrals from others. We very much appreciate the support!
We had a lot of things to celebrate this year:
The Excellent Snowpack
Snow started to fall early in the mountains around Crescent Spur. Our New Year’s week saw great skiing with very good coverage on all of the terrain. The snow continued to fall regularly throughout the winter, with relatively mild temperatures. Our coverage was excellent on the glaciers and there were no alders to be found at the bottom of any of the runs. That alone opened up some of the fun runs like Plastikos, Walter James, Big Dog, and Scared Piglet plus numerous lines in the Blackwater area that are reserved for big snow years. It also allowed us to ski new lines in the East Twin and Blackwater. With all of the snow, we still experienced only 3 down days total for the season. This is due to the choice we have with terrain in two mountain ranges. Two mountain ranges with different weather patterns allow us to choose the area with the best snow and the best flying conditions each day.
This, along with easy access to our prime tree skiing areas results in fewer down days in a snowy winter.
Our Great Guests
Jake & Garry (aka Hans & Franz) received their 10 trip two piece ski suits by Arcteryx this season – the Arcteryx Theta AR jacket and Minutueman Bib Pant. Jake and Garry are two of the greatest, most fun guests we could have, so having them 10 times has meant 10 times the fun for us! Aside from being great skiers, they are equally well known for their exceptional comedic talents in the lodge. They are now on their way to their 15 trip gift and their 20 trip free week!
In addition to the 2 ski suits, we were very pleased to present 33 guests with their 5 trip Epsilon AR jacket.
We have a big order in for next year as well as we have 2 guests up for their 10 year suits and over 35 guests eligible for their 5 year gift. These numbers are encouraging to us as they indicate the level of repeat guests that we have. We are extremely appreciative that our guests choose to return to Crescent Spur year after year. Our appreciation doesn’t hinge on how much vertical they ski but rather that they continue to choose to ski with us at Crescent Spur.
Ascent Helicopters
Trent Lemke has been flying for us for 9 years now, with a variety of helicopter companies. It was a dream of his to someday own his own helicopter. This year his goal became a reality with the formation of Ascent Helicopters. He brought his Bell 212 to Crescent Spur this winter and is currently working on building a Bell 205. Congratulations Trent!
Our Staff
We feel very fortunate here at Crescent Spur to have such a dedicated, fun staff. We look forward to having many of them return for next season.
We would like to extend a special thanks to Adam DeVita, a senior guide with Crescent Spur. The 2007 season was his 10th season with us. He first came to us as a trainee guide, and is now an accomplished full ski guide who, with Mark, coordinates our heli ski program. In the off season, he lives on his rural property in nearby Dunster. He plans to spend part of his summer working on finishing a log home on the property. With that in mind, Mark and Regina presented him with a miter saw, router and drill kit to help him in his building projects.
A Couple of Statistics
• This was our biggest year ever for bookings: we had a 70% return rate of previous guests, and a record number of new guests.
• We have seen an increase in the number of couples skiing with us and also families. This year we skied with a number of father/son and father/daughter combos. It is awesome to see parents sharing this vacation with their adult and teen kids.
Cancellation Insurance
We touch on this subject every newsletter, but it bears repeating each time. As we have said before, many people don’t think of cancellation insurance until they get hurt or something happens that prevents them from coming on their vacation. This is a natural tendency as everyone, when booking a vacation, comes from a positive direction that this will be a great time, “can hardly wait” type of thinking. And that’s great – we like that! But, the reality is that IF that unfortunate event occurs that prevents you from coming on your trip or cuts your trip short, you are left having paid for a full trip that is by that time non refundable. This is necessary for us to state as we commit to many expenses
that don’t change just because we have an empty seat in the helicopter. By the time someone cancels, we are rarely able to fill the spot on such short notice.
So, what is the solution? After many discussions, we have decided for your convenience to offer cancellation insurance as an add on to the package price. This will be offered at the time of final payment. It will be easy and will remove the extra step you have to take to insure yourself. IF, however, you truly want to take the chance to not insure, you can opt out. In this case you are not covered, and NO refund will be issued should you be unable to take your holiday with us, or if your holiday is interrupted due to injury or any other cause that would have been covered by the insurance company. (You may of course also purchase your own insurance. ) In the case you refuse to have CS purchase coverage on your behalf, you will be charged just the final payment amount without insurance cost.
We hope that you will take advantage of this convenient way to insure your holiday.
And Now, the Results of our Guest Satisfaction Survey!
This is the second year for our guest satisfaction survey. It has been immensely helpful for us to hear both the good things (who doesn’t want to hear that?!) and the constructive ideas for us to consider. Last season we acted on some of your ideas such as menu redesign so that repeat clients have a totally new menu (this will happen for next season too!), new hot tub, hooks in the rooms, larger dry room, wireless internet, more guest phone lines. This year we will work on such things as new wardrobes in the bedrooms, and sound mitigation in the dining room (your #1 suggestion this year).
When you filled out the on line survey you had the option of remaining anonymous on the survey, but still letting us know on a separate page that you filled it out, or you could sign your name to the bottom of the survey. Either way, your name was entered into our draw for one of 3- $500 gift certificates, our way of thanking you for taking the time to let us know what we are doing right, and what we can do to improve the holiday for you.
The three winners were: Andre Granzotti, Keith Gostlin and Blake van Meter. Congratulations!
The 2008 Season
Bookings for the 2008 season have filled a majority of our weeks and we are nearly at last season’s numbers already. Check our web site for available space. Don’t forget New Year’s Family week – this will be a great week. Give us a call for details!
The 2009 Season
Remember that guests currently booked into our 2008 season have priority booking privileges for the 2009 season until November 30, 2007. On December 1, we open up all remaining spaces for general booking. Please mark your calendars so that you don’t miss out booking for 2009!!
Our New Online Brochure
Every year we send our new brochure to our guests and others on our mailing list. We are increasingly aware of the paper that is produced in running a business. In attempt to run a “greener” office, we have decided to experiment with an on-line brochure. This brochure will be sent as an attachment to an email that you will receive in June. We invite your feedback on this new initiative.
We hope you all have a great summer. Feel free to drop us an email or phone at any time – we enjoy hearing from our guests! And for those who haven’t booked yet for the upcoming season, we hope you take a look at our space availability and consider joining us for another week of great skiing and camaraderie!
Cheers!
Mark, Regina, Bryna & Jessica
Click here to view last years newsletter!