Podcasts about Christmas Eve

It's Festive Friday with a terrifying Christmas Eve thriller!ABOUT HE KILLS AT NIGHTOn Christmas Eve, a mother desperate to reconnect with her estranged family is abducted by a Serial Killer and forced to help him flee the country.AIR DATE & NETWORK FOR HE KILLS AT NIGHT2025 | StreamingCAST & CREW OF HE KILLS AT NIGHTDirector: Thomas PickeringWriter: James PickeringCast:Levi Heaton as MarieRoger Bingham as DonaldIsabella PercivalBRAN'S MOVIE SYNOPSISIt's September 22nd. A woman pulls into a parking garage and is waiting for the elevator when someone starts to whistle. She starts looking around and the lights go off. When the lights come back on, she's gone and only her shoe remains.Cut to the holiday season, a radio show is taking calls about a serial killer who is on the loose. It's December 24th and a girl is driving her car, listening to Christmas music. She stops on the side of the road to pee. When she gets back into the car, she sees someone is in the backseat. She tries to run, but he stops her. He tells her to start the car. Turns out, her keys are outside. This gives her time to light her jacket on fire and throw it on him but it doesn't work out too well and he ends up killing her and putting her in the trunk. He uses that car to make another car stop and forces this new woman to drive him somewhere but won't tell her where.Throughout the movie, we see other women that were murdered.This dude is trying to get out of the country and she's like let's go to the river and you can leave that way. When they get there, she takes him down and then it's revealed that she's actually the serial killer, not him....I think. I gotta be honest, I'm not sure. Watch the show on Youtube - www.deckthehallmark.com/youtubeInterested in advertising on the show? Email bran@deckthehallmark.com Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Eagles Grounded by Bears 27-7 on Monday Night | Postgame Reaction   The Eagles flew into Soldier Field undefeated and left with their first loss of the season, a 27-7 Monday night beatdown. Case Keenum, starting in place of Caleb Williams, put together the game of his night while Philadelphia shot itself in the foot.   In this episode:

On Christmas Eve 1945, the Sodder family home in Fayetteville, West Virginia, burned to the ground. George and Jennie Sodder escaped with four of their children, but five others were supposedly trapped upstairs. When the ashes cooled, however, investigators found something the family couldn't understand: no identifiable remains of the missing children. Then came the questions. A missing ladder. Trucks that mysteriously wouldn't start. A telephone line that had apparently been cut. Strange threats before the fire. And, decades later, a photograph that George and Jennie believed showed one of their missing sons as an adult.Tonight, we explore the disappearance of the Sodder children and the mystery that left one West Virginia family asking the same question for the rest of their lives: did five children really die in that fire? Tales from the Shadows Weekend in Lancaster PA CONDEMNED links - https://linktr.ee/CondemnedYouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@HauntedAmericanHistoryTikTok - @hah_podcasthauntedamericanhistory.comPatreon- ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.patreon.com/hauntedamericanhistory⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠HAH DISCORD - https://discord.com/invite/bJdbpH3hQm Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

On Christmas Eve 2010, Lori Erica Ruff died by suicide outside her in-laws' home in Texas. Afterward, her family found a box of documents revealing that “Lori” had built her life on the identity of a child who had died years earlier. Even her husband had not known her real name.Investigators traced the paperwork back to 1988, when she obtained identification as Becky Sue Turner, then legally changed that name to Lori Erica Kennedy. She later married and had a daughter, but the documents offered no clear path to the person she had been before.In 2016, genealogist Colleen Fitzpatrick used DNA and family records to identify her as Kimberly McLean, who had left her Pennsylvania home at 18. Her mother's DNA confirmed the match. Kimberly's identity was finally known; why she chose to erase her past so completely remains uncertain.

Retired FBI agent and criminal profiler Candice DeLong explores the disturbing case of Scott Peterson, the California man convicted of murdering his pregnant wife Laci on Christmas Eve 2002. On the surface, Scott Peterson had everything -- a beautiful wife, a home, and a baby boy on the way -- and none of the red flags that typically appear in a killer's past. Candice explores what was hiding beneath Peterson's flawless exterior, and how unchecked psychopathy, narcissim and indfidelity culminated in one of America's most notorious crimes.Audible subscribers can listen to all episodes of Killer Psyche ad-free right now. Join Audible today by downloading the Audible app.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In this episode, we talk with award-winning playwright Tom Dugan about Irish Goodbye, the first installment of his Jersey Pub Trilogy. Set in a small New Jersey pub on Christmas Eve, the darkly comic play follows a disgraced cop and an ex-beauty queen who take shelter from a winter storm and form an unexpected connection. Joining the conversation are Broadway veteran Mel Johnson, who serves as moderator, and actress Anica Petrovic, who originated the role of Sandy in the Los Angeles premiere. Together, they explore Dugan's play and the people who bring this funny and heartfelt story to life. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It's a pop emergency! Mutya Buena, Keisha Buchanan and Siobhán Donaghy AKA Sugababes have announced the release of their long-awaited new album, and with it a brand new single, Ghost. The self-titled album, and the ninth under the Sugababes moniker, has been a long time coming, and marks the first Sugababes album since 2010's Sweet 7 (which featured neither Mutya, Keisha or Siobhán as part of the band when it was released), and the original line-up's first album together since 2000...WELL, that's not entirely true, of course. The Lost Tapes, surprise released on Christmas Eve 2022, collated the tracks MKS had worked on between 2011 and 2013, including the single Flatline. We went track by track through the album on Patreon for our first our first album of 2023, and now we're sharing it everywhere while we're on a major Suga high.Let us know your thoughts on the album and the episode @trackbytrackuk on Insta/Threads, or email us hellotrackbytrack@gmail.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hour 3 (09.25) Tim makes his case for Karen Bass over Nithya Raman in the LA mayor's race. Plus: two-time Kentucky Derby-winning trainer Doug O'Neill and Sammy Long's NFL picks. 8:05 – Christmas deals are already out, and Christmas Eve is three months away. Almost half of shoppers start in October or earlier. Did you ever dig through your parents' closet looking for your presents? 8:20 – The best holiday bike story you've ever heard. Doug O'Neill won the Kentucky Derby with I'll Have Another in 2012 and Nyquist in 2016, and he's won graded stakes races at every level. More at DougONeillRacing.com. 8:35 – Sammy Long of "Not Quite Ringside" on AM 570 LA Sports (@thesammylong on X) went two-for-three last week. His picks for Sunday, at Friday's lines: Ravens-Cowboys under 52.5, Chiefs -10.5 at Miami, Bucs +1.5 at Minnesota, Texans-Colts under 42.5, and Broncos +2.5 vs. the Rams. 8:50 – Mayor Karen Bass faces Councilmember Nithya Raman in the Nov. 3 runoff. Tim admits Bass has had her troubles but says she's still the move, and Raman's record on policing is where he draws the line. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Trans-Siberian Orchestra has become a staple of the holiday season over its 30 years on the road, entertaining audiences of all ages. This year, they're coming back to Worcester on November 28th to perform their rock opera, "The Ghosts of Christmas Eve". It promises to be an impressive show with lasers, pyrotechnics, dancers, a compelling story, and, of course, amazing music. Jeff Plate, the band's drummer who's been part of the lineup since day one, returns to the show to talk about TSO's history, the vision of founder Paul O'Neill, their efforts to give back to local charities, and the upcoming tour.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On Christmas Eve, 1945, the Sodder family's home in Fayetteville, West Virginia, burned to the ground. Five of the ten children were never found. No remains were recovered, and the case was closed almost as quickly as it was opened. For decades, their parents refused to believe their children had died that night. This is a preview from Deadly Intent, Carman's true crime psychology podcast. Every episode goes beyond what happened to ask why: what was going on in someone's mind that let them do the unthinkable, and what the evidence still leaves unanswered. New episodes of Deadly Intent drop every Wednesday. Search "Deadly Intent" wherever you listen, hit follow, and start with the full episode on the Sodder Children. Because intent doesn't lie. People do. FOLLOW DEADLY INTENT: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2LklHsNIa8p0ZFOwKE1SLD EXPLORE MORE SPINE-CHILLING CONTENT: Freaky Folklore: https://www.eeriecast.com/podcasts/freaky-folklore Destination Terror: https://www.eeriecast.com/podcasts/destination-terror Carman's Crypt (Original Horror): https://www.carman-carrion.com/ Eeriecast Network: http://eeriecast.com/ SUBSCRIBE & REVIEW FREAKY FOLKLORE: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0uiX155WEJnN7QVRfo3aQY Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/freaky-folklore/id1550361184 SUPPORT THE SHOW: Buy Me a Coffee: https://buymeacoffee.com/carmancarrion Your support helps bring you more terrifying tales. CONNECT WITH CARMAN: Website: https://www.carman-carrion.com/ YouTube (Carman Carrion): https://www.youtube.com/@CarmanCarrion YouTube (Freaky Folklore): https://www.youtube.com/@FreakyFolklore Twitter/X: https://x.com/CarmanCarrion Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/carmancarrion/ MUSIC CREDITS: Music and sound effects provided by ElevenLabs Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It's Grand Final time!!! Barra was in studio with Macca to share his predictions ahead of a wet game at the MCG. Also the latest on the Lachie Neale decision, Barra's memories of Angry Anderson and the Wallabies play the Springboks at Optus Stadium Sunday. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Alleigha Botner's testimony in the Caleb Flynn trial laid out a months-long series of ultimatums. She said her texts through November and December 2025 repeatedly told Caleb to leave his wife, Ashley Flynn, before Christmas or lose the relationship with Botner.Christmas Eve passed. Botner testified that she gave Caleb another deadline: January 11. When that date arrived, she said she sent a message saying the deadline was over and she was moving on. Caleb responded January 12 that he was sorry and understood it was over, according to her testimony. On February 3, Botner said Caleb contacted her again with lyrics from a song he had written for her.Caleb has pleaded not guilty to charges including aggravated murder in Ashley's death. Prosecutors allege he killed Ashley and staged a home invasion; his defense maintains the home invasion was real and investigators focused on him too quickly.For jurors, these messages establish a timeline of pressure, separation and renewed contact. They also give both sides something concrete to argue about: what Caleb's return to Botner meant as February 16 approached.Listen Anywhere You Get Podcasts: https://pod.link/1655749292Want to comment and watch this podcast as a video? Check out our YouTube Channel.https://www.youtube.com/@hiddenkillerspod?sub_confirmation=1Join Our SubStack For AD-FREE ADVANCE EPISODES & EXTRAS!: https://hiddenkillers.substack.com/Instagram https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/Tik-Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspodX Twitter https://x.com/tonybpodThis publication contains commentary and opinion based on publicly available information. All individuals are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Nothing published here should be taken as a statement of fact, health or legal advice.#CalebFlynn #AlleighaBotner #TrueCrimeToday #AshleyFlynn #CalebFlynnTrial #OhioTrial #MurderTrial #CourtroomTestimony #TrueCrime #TippCity

Alleigha Botner told the Caleb Flynn jury that by late 2025, her message to Caleb had become consistent: leave Ashley Flynn, or the affair was over. Botner testified that she first set Christmas Eve as a deadline, then extended it to January 11, 2026.On January 11, Botner said she texted Caleb that the deadline had passed and she was officially moving on. The next day, she testified, Caleb replied that he was sorry but understood their relationship was over. Then, on February 3, she said he reached out again and sent lyrics to a song he had written for her.Caleb Flynn has pleaded not guilty in the murder of his wife, Ashley Flynn. Prosecutors allege he killed Ashley on February 16 and staged their Tipp City home to resemble a burglary. The defense says an intruder killed Ashley and investigators rushed to blame Caleb.The timeline matters because the jury is now hearing how the affair moved from repeated ultimatums to an apparent breakup - and then, less than two weeks before Ashley's death, contact started again.Listen Anywhere You Get Podcasts: https://pod.link/1655749292Want to comment and watch this podcast as a video? Check out our YouTube Channel.https://www.youtube.com/@hiddenkillerspod?sub_confirmation=1Join Our SubStack For AD-FREE ADVANCE EPISODES & EXTRAS!: https://hiddenkillers.substack.com/Instagram https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/Tik-Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspodX Twitter https://x.com/tonybpodThis publication contains commentary and opinion based on publicly available information. All individuals are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Nothing published here should be taken as a statement of fact, health or legal advice.#CalebFlynn #AlleighaBotner #HiddenKillers #AshleyFlynn #CalebFlynnTrial #OhioTrial #MurderTrial #CourtroomTestimony #TrueCrime #TippCity

Send us Fan MailA doctor walks into the station leader's office in Antarctica and asks a question no one wants to answer during a pandemic: “How would we evacuate someone right now?” With flights effectively off the table, scarce ships in the region, and weather as the ultimate gatekeeper, David Knoff faces a leadership test that turns crisis theory into cold, hard logistics.We talk through the Christmas Eve 2020 medevac that required international coordination from China, the USA, and Australia; runway construction, and contingency plans for everything from aircraft issues to overland rescue access. David breaks down what actually kept the team steady: a shared purpose everyone could understand, a deliberate decision to put key people on rest so they could peak when it mattered, and a practical approach he calls “delegating the worry.” Instead of one overwhelmed leader carrying every fear, clear roles and ownership turn anxiety into action.We also zoom out to the systems that make a response like this possible. David explains how monthly incident management drills create muscle memory, including training for secondary roles when the leader or doctor is off station. Then we shift to the human side: repatriation back to Australia after 18 months away, the culture shock of COVID-era airports and rules, and the quiet burnout that can hit when you're finally “off duty” after a long stretch of responsibility.Along the way, we discuss David's book 537 Days of Winter, why writing it was cathartic and unflinching, what he's watching (yes, Alone), and how he's researching his next leadership-focused book on operating in extreme environments. If you lead teams through uncertainty, you'll leave with concrete lessons on crisis leadership, incident management, resilience, and recovery. Subscribe, share this with a leader who needs it, and leave a review with your biggest takeaway.Find David's book and connect with him via LinkedIn or his website, David.Knoff.com#crisismanagement #crisisleadership #crisiscomms #antarctica #resiliency #crisistraining #537daysofwinterSupport the showWe'd love to hear from you.  Email the show at Tom@leadinginacrisis.com.

What do you do when your product solves a real problem, but your advertising isn't generating the growth you need? For Kevin Cost, founder of Mudplugz, the breakthrough came from an influencer demonstration that helped turn an unfamiliar product into something homeowners around the world wanted to try.In this episode of The Harvest Growth Podcast, host Jon LaClare sits down with Kevin to explore how a Christmas Eve idea became an innovative drywall repair product and a growing business. A finish carpenter by trade, Kevin taught himself CAD and 3D printing, turned his kitchen into a product development lab, and brought Mudplugz from concept to first sale in roughly one year.When his early Meta and Google advertising efforts fell short, Kevin found traction through creators who understood the frustration his product solved. One launch video generated approximately 40,000 views in its first 30 minutes, eventually reached millions, and brought in orders from around the world. Kevin shares why authentic product demonstrations, trusted creators, and personal relationships became central to his influencer marketing approach.Kevin also opens up about nine years in recovery from alcoholism and how he uses his businesses to create opportunities for others rebuilding their lives. His story offers practical lessons in product development, marketing on a limited budget, and building a business with purpose.In this episode, you'll discover:How Kevin developed a new consumer product without prior experience in CAD or 3D printing.What made an influencer launch video generate millions of views and international orders.Why showing a product solving a familiar frustration can help turn attention into sales.How genuine creator relationships helped Mudplugz gain exposure on a limited marketing budget.What Jon's experience working with Billy Mays reveals about persuasive product demonstrations.How Kevin creates work opportunities for people in recovery while growing his business.The spending lessons Kevin carried from his carpentry business into his product launch.Visit Mudplugz.com to learn more about Kevin's drywall repair solution, or search for Mudplugz on Amazon. Explore the brand's social media to see the product demonstrations discussed in this episode.Ready to launch your product or grow your brand? Visit HarvestGrowth.com to book a free consultation and learn about the Perfect Launch Blueprint, a process designed to clarify your audience, messaging, offer, and marketing strategy before you invest in media.Subscribe to The Harvest Growth Podcast for more founder interviews and practical strategies for product launches, video marketing, and business growth.

Will Humphreys, CEO of Rockstar Global and host of the Will Power Podcast, opens up about the year he spent under FBI investigation, the Christmas Eve he found out his clinic had $5,000 left and $10,000 in bills, and the mindset shift that took him from one physical therapy practice to multiple multimillion dollar companies.In this episode you'll learn:How a college research study turned into an FBI investigation and a year long fight to clear his nameThe exact moment he realized his business had become a job he couldn't quitWhy he believes the greatest leader in any room is the one who loves the mostHow to actually get a mentor without sending an awkward cold DMThe one question that fixed his business focus for goodHow solving his own staffing problem turned into the company he runs todayWhy he sold a thriving five location practice and took six months off with his familyThe foundation he built to bring physical therapy and speech services to orphanages in AfricaSubscribe to the Will Power Podcast for real conversations with practice owners and entrepreneurs about building a business that doesn't cost you everything else.Connect with Will Humphreys: LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/will-humphreys-ba599918 Instagram: @willhumphreys_ TikTok: @willhumphreysofficial Facebook: facebook.com/willhumphreysofficialSend us Fan MailRockstars specialize in helping support or replace all non-clinical roles.Learn how a Rockstar can help scale your physical therapy practice.Subscribe here to our completely free Stress-Free PT Newsletter for your weekly dose of joy. 

[BONUS] We resume our bonus coverage of Buffy the Vampire Slayer's third season... where an accidental wish plunges the town into a dystopian alternate reality, an ancient evil torments Angel on Christmas Eve, a betrayal by Giles leaves a powerless Buffy to face a psychotic vampire alone, and a sidelined Xander must quietly find his own inner strength to stop an explosive zombie plot... And we have two guests to help us explore these four episodes: literary writer Sophie Cadden and Bite Club member and Buffy super-fan James Duffy...

Brought to you by the English Programme. Featuring news, politics, popular culture, celebrity trivia, quizzes, book readings, and a whole host of fun.Support Our Rescue Cats | Our Blog | Get New Episodes By Email | Rumble | X | YouTube | NewsK365 on Spreaker | Get New Blog Posts By Email | Throne Wishlist |

Brought to you by the English Programme. Featuring news, politics, popular culture, celebrity trivia, quizzes, book readings, and a whole host of fun.Support Our Rescue Cats | Our Blog | Get New Episodes By Email | Rumble | X | YouTube | NewsK365 on Spreaker | Get New Blog Posts By Email | Throne Wishlist |

Brought to you by the English Programme. Featuring news, politics, popular culture, celebrity trivia, quizzes, book readings, and a whole host of fun.Support Our Rescue Cats | Our Blog | Get New Episodes By Email | Rumble | X | YouTube | NewsK365 on Spreaker | Get New Blog Posts By Email | Throne Wishlist |

Brought to you by the English Programme. Featuring news, politics, popular culture, celebrity trivia, quizzes, book readings, and a whole host of fun.Support Our Rescue Cats | Our Blog | Get New Episodes By Email | Rumble | X | YouTube | NewsK365 on Spreaker | Get New Blog Posts By Email | Throne Wishlist |

This week on Two Parents & A Podcast, happy Friday!! TATE IS OFFICIALLY TWO

Jeff Lukich looked like the model husband, father, and professional. But beneath the surface of a seemingly perfect life, a quiet drift pulled him out into an ocean of isolation for forty years. He never stopped believing in God, and he never stopped whispering prayers, but internal shame and subtle excuses convinced him he was simply broken—too far gone to belong again. Then, on an ordinary Christmas Eve, an unmistakable Holy Spirit nudge drew him into a sanctuary. Sitting in the back, gazing at the altar, Jesus met him right in his mess, lifting four decades of shame in a single instant. If you are terrified you've been gone too long, let this conversation remind you: God's reach is always longer than your drift."All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out."— John 6:37#WhereIsGod #ComingBackToChurch #ChurchShame #ProdigalSon #SpiritualDriftFor more information about this ministry go to the website: www.thecallwithnancysabato.com

Anthony Cousins joins Nasty Neal, Terrible Troy and Tara Hutchison to reveal The Kentucky Goblins, his new Christmas found-footage creature feature set within the expanding Frogman Universe!Anthony discusses the film's Kickstarter campaign, the terrifying Kentucky Goblins legend, practical goblin puppets and transforming a family's 1989 Christmas home video into a feature-length horror movie. He also takes us behind the scenes of Frogman, Frogman Returns and his plans for a larger cinematic world of cryptids.Support The Kentucky Goblins on Kickstarter:https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2025997571/the-kentucky-goblinsWritten and directed by Anthony Cousins, The Kentucky Goblins follows a family whose Christmas Eve celebration is interrupted when violent tremors awaken an ancient evil beneath the Kentucky countryside. The production is a collaboration between Shock Treatment Productions and Womp Stomp Films and will feature full-size practical goblin puppets. Kickstarter | Bloody DisgustingHosted by Nasty Neal, Terrible Troy and Tara Hutchison of the Without Your Head Horror Podcast.

The Storm Skiing Journal and Podcast is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.Welcome to the Storm's short-form, news-focused podcast. Don't worry, I still write long-form newsletters. Paid subscribers can leave a comment in the article below, or by joining The Storm's chat (also below). I'll respond to some comments in the next episode, which is scheduled for Wednesday, Sept. 16.Transcript updateFollowing up on yesterday's feedback, there are now two transcripts available for each podcast:* Substack's transcript: This transcript is auto-generated when I upload the podcast file to Substack, which is the platform that hosts stormskiing.com. This one is cool because you can click on any block of text and the audio will jump to that point in the conversation. Click the “transcript” button above to access. * Zoom's transcript: Zoom automatically generates this transcript as I record. It should be more or less identical to Substack's transcript, but with names attached to each quote block. The downside of this transcript is that you can't teleport to that point in the pod by clicking on the text block, as you can with Substack's. Another downside: the timestamps are off, since I typically start recording prior to the start of the podcast. I'll work on cleaning this up.So until the robots get smarter, we're stuck with two different transcripts. Both are auto-generated, and I don't proofread either one, as that would be the fastest way to make sure my quick-turnaround, up-to-date podcast turns into a slow-turnaround, out-of-date one. My hope is that Substack will soon hire or invent or weld from raw iron a robot that's smart enough to know who's speaking when. I'll just keep following the robots around and using their hyper-intelligence until they decide to kill me.The Zoom transcript (click “transcript” above for the Substack transcript, which will zoom to any point in the video when you click on the associated text block; timestamps below DO NOT MATCH THE VIDEO)Stuart Winchester: Welcome to The Storm! I'm your host, Stuart Winchester. It is Tuesday, September 15th, 2026, and I am very excited today to bring you a conversation with the General Manager of Monarch Mountain, Colorado, Chris Haggerty. Now, I've never featured Monarch either on the long-form pod or on the short-form pod.00:09:57.000 --> 00:10:11.000Stuart Winchester: There's never really a reason behind that, other than this is just kind of when it happened. If you run an area, a ski area anywhere in America, I do want to talk to you. I've just never had the opportunity to feature Monarch before, so we will talk about Monarch in just a little bit here.00:10:11.000 --> 00:10:27.000Stuart Winchester: Part of the reason why we're talking about Monarch is because they were one of two Western Mountains to this year join Snow Operating's Snow Pass. Now, the Snow Pass, if you missed the news, it works a lot like the Indy Pass or the Mountain Collective Pass, where you get two days each.00:10:27.000 --> 00:10:37.000Stuart Winchester: at a set number of ski areas. In this case, it's planned to be 14 ski areas for the 2026-27 ski season. And…00:10:37.000 --> 00:10:45.000Stuart Winchester: That product went on sale last Tuesday. I had Snow Operating CEO Joe Heschen on the podcast to talk through it with us.00:10:45.000 --> 00:11:01.000Stuart Winchester: Couple days later, I got an email from Snow Operating saying, Hey, guess what? Our first round of Snow Operating and Snow Triple Play, which are two different products, and I'll explain the difference in a moment, sold out. So we're taking it off sale. We're putting it back on sale next Monday, September 21st.00:11:01.000 --> 00:11:13.000Stuart Winchester: at 10 a.m. Eastern. It will be $349.99 for Snowpass, and $184.99 for Snow Triple Play. Still a pretty good deal. Those products at full price.00:11:13.000 --> 00:11:24.000Stuart Winchester: the prices that Snow Partners gave me, and they anticipate selling both products through Christmas Eve, December 24th, just like they did last year with the first season of the Triple Play.00:11:24.000 --> 00:11:40.000Stuart Winchester: They, the final prices they anticipate will be 3 99 99 for snow pass and 1 99 99 for snow triple play. So you get a nice little discount, particularly with the snow pass, $50 off if you buy it in the next round. So let's talk a little bit about the snow pass because.00:11:40.000 --> 00:11:43.000Stuart Winchester: When this product debuted.00:11:43.000 --> 00:11:53.000Stuart Winchester: I… I've been saying for years, there's 4 national ski passes, right? There's obviously Epic and Icon, and those have some season pass unlimited tiers at certain mountains.00:11:53.000 --> 00:12:08.000Stuart Winchester: And a limited number of days at other partner mountains. And then you have Indian Mountain Collective, which essentially worked the same way, 2 days at each ski area that is on their roster. Uh, Mountain Collective is more expensive, tends to be your bigger, more high-end resorts, Snowbird, Jackson Hole.00:12:08.000 --> 00:12:23.000Stuart Winchester: Uh, Sun Peaks up in Canada. And Indy tended to be the lesser-known ski areas, but still some really dynamite stuff there, and a lot more ski areas. Mountain Collective always has around 30, and Indy is more like 250, not counting their cross-country.00:12:23.000 --> 00:12:36.000Stuart Winchester: ski areas. So, I always thought there was probably room for a fifth national pass, but I wasn't sure, and as time went on, and more and more mountains joined multi-mountain passes.00:12:36.000 --> 00:12:37.000Stuart Winchester: I…00:12:37.000 --> 00:12:41.000Stuart Winchester: I thought, okay, maybe there's not room for a fifth national pass. Maybe everyone who's…00:12:41.000 --> 00:12:44.000Stuart Winchester: who wants to join a pass has, because I know Indy, uh.00:12:44.000 --> 00:12:58.000Stuart Winchester: Now, I'm not saying they don't have standards, but they'll let just about anybody on the pass just to help them get that exposure and that national marketing. But Snow Operating, the outfit that owns Mountain Creek in New Jersey and the indoor big snow ski area in New Jersey, they launched.00:12:58.000 --> 00:13:15.000Stuart Winchester: their Snow Pass, and it's a pretty good roster. Here, I'm gonna share my screen for those of you watching on video, and if you're not watching on video, don't worry, I'm gonna talk through it. So, here's the Snow Triple Play East roster, and here's the Snow Pass roster. Now, the Snow Pass has 14 ski areas on it.00:13:15.000 --> 00:13:18.000Stuart Winchester: And you get 2 days at each ski area.00:13:18.000 --> 00:13:22.000Stuart Winchester: The Snow Triple Play has…00:13:22.000 --> 00:13:27.000Stuart Winchester: 23 total ski areas on it, and you get 3 days total.00:13:27.000 --> 00:13:43.000Stuart Winchester: across all 23 ski areas. That's why it's so much less expensive. The most days you can use at any ski area is 2, so you can't buy this as a 3-pack Force A Gore Mountain, alright? So, that's the first important.00:13:43.000 --> 00:13:59.000Stuart Winchester: distinction is that Snow Triple Play is a much more limited basket of days. You also don't want to assume that they have the same roster. Just because something's on Snow Pass doesn't mean it's on Snow Triple Play, and vice versa. Snow Triple Play right now has a pretty…00:13:59.000 --> 00:14:15.000Stuart Winchester: Big roster that I wish was on the, uh, Snow Pass, because it has Jiminy Peak in, uh, Massachusetts, and also Cranmore in New Hampshire, which is jointly owned. It has Platykill up in the New York Catskills.00:14:15.000 --> 00:14:30.000Stuart Winchester: It has all these summit ski areas around Quebec. It has Bromont, one of the great eastern townships ski areas. Uh, so that's Snow Triple Play. Snow Triple Play does not have anything in the west. It's all east. It's all east coast, either eastern Canada or eastern New York.00:14:30.000 --> 00:14:45.000Stuart Winchester: Uh, Snow Pass has… it's a pretty interesting roster, and it's a great roster for a very particular type of skier. Now, it does have two ski areas in the West, uh, Snow King, which has been controversial, I'm gonna set that aside, and Monarch, which we'll talk about in a moment.00:14:45.000 --> 00:15:00.000Stuart Winchester: The core of the Snow Pass, and the reason why it makes sense, is because of the south to north line of ski areas that it offers. So if you buy the Snow Pass, again, goes back on sale for $349.99 next Monday, September 21st.00:15:00.000 --> 00:15:05.000Stuart Winchester: You would get two days each at Bel Air, which is in New York's Catskills.00:15:05.000 --> 00:15:07.000Stuart Winchester: Gore.00:15:07.000 --> 00:15:16.000Stuart Winchester: higher up in the Adirondacks, and Whiteface, which are all owned and run and operated by the state, all fantastic ski areas. So it's 2 days at each of those, that alone would be worth $350.00:15:16.000 --> 00:15:33.000Stuart Winchester: Then you add in the fact that you get two days at Mountain Creek, which is right there in New Jersey, uh, two days at the indoor snow dome, big snow American dream. Uh, if you have kids, two days at Butternut and two days at Mount Southington in Connecticut. Uh, Butternut is in Massachusetts. They're both day drive distance from New York City.00:15:33.000 --> 00:15:42.000Stuart Winchester: Let them wander around, let them explore. They're both, uh, especially Butternut. It's very up-to-date, very modern lifts, very, very well-run ski area. So…00:15:42.000 --> 00:15:45.000Stuart Winchester: You have a really great little, you know.00:15:46.000 --> 00:16:03.000Stuart Winchester: 5, 6, 7 ski areas that really make sense. Now, Ski Martok doesn't really make sense. It's all the way up in the middle of nowhere in the, in the Atlantic provinces in, in Canada. Uh, and, and Pleasant Mountain makes less sense. It's, it's up in Maine and, uh, harder to get to from, from the folks who would likely buy this as.00:16:03.000 --> 00:16:13.000Stuart Winchester: But what you have to ask yourself is, okay, the snow pass, that's a pretty good deal, right? It's $349.99 for 2 days each of 14 mountains. Then you look at Indy.00:16:13.000 --> 00:16:16.000Stuart Winchester: And Indy Pass is 254.00:16:16.000 --> 00:16:34.000Stuart Winchester: uh, alpine ski areas, and it just went off sale for $429 for the base pass. So, it would be 2 days each at all of these, and the… the plus pass, the ND plus pass, was $469. It had no blackouts. Now, the other thing to know about Snow Triple Play.00:16:34.000 --> 00:16:50.000Stuart Winchester: and snow passes, there are a lot of blackouts, okay? So, a lot of these are holidays, you probably expect that. Uh, you know, here I see Big Snow, Oak Mountain, Plattekill, a lot of holiday blackouts, Butternut holiday blackouts, Gore, uh, Bel Air. Bel Air, though, you want to stop.00:16:50.000 --> 00:17:06.000Stuart Winchester: Bel Air is blacked out every Saturday and Sunday. That's a big deal, because when do you probably want to go to Bel Air if you're someone skiing around with your little kids? Probably on a Saturday or Sunday. So, you want to be really careful and really look at these, uh, these blackout dates before you pull the trigger.00:17:06.000 --> 00:17:09.000Stuart Winchester: on the snow pass. So…00:17:09.000 --> 00:17:14.000Stuart Winchester: So if you have a snow pass, I I'm calling it.00:17:14.000 --> 00:17:18.000Stuart Winchester: A national pass, kind of, uh…00:17:18.000 --> 00:17:24.000Stuart Winchester: out of anticipation, right? It's more of a, I think they'll get there, sort of designation, because right now.00:17:24.000 --> 00:17:40.000Stuart Winchester: it's not really a national pass, right? You have one small skier in Wyoming, one small skier in Colorado. Is someone who lives in New York's metro really going to travel to Colorado just to ski that because they have a snow pass, right? Because it's not cheap to get up to Colorado.00:17:40.000 --> 00:17:56.000Stuart Winchester: And there's a lot of much bigger mountains out there. So… so I think that Snow Pass, much like Indy did when it started in 2019, will grow into a national… a true national pass. Uh, for now, just based on the reputation of the operators, uh, the fact that I think that they will be able to grow this thing, the fact that I…00:17:56.000 --> 00:18:11.000Stuart Winchester: know their relationships with folks all around the country, and how much folks like working with them, I am assuming that this pass will grow up, and if it does, Monarch will be the OG Western partner. So, let's talk more about Monarch now, and I'm gonna bring.00:18:11.000 --> 00:18:13.000Stuart Winchester: Chris Haggerty in.00:18:14.000 --> 00:18:17.000Stuart Winchester: And we will, uh… Chris, how you doing?00:18:17.000 --> 00:18:20.000Chris Haggerty: I'm doing well today, Stuart. How are you?00:18:19.000 --> 00:18:37.000Stuart Winchester: I'm doing great. All right, you passed the sound check, so I'm going to give you an intro here. Joining us now is the general manager of Monarch Mountain, Colorado. Monarch has six chairlifts serving 1,017 acres of terrain, including the 377-acre no-name expansion that opened last winter.00:18:37.000 --> 00:18:44.000Stuart Winchester: Monarch's 10,727-foot base elevation is the third highest in American skiing.00:18:44.000 --> 00:18:59.000Stuart Winchester: Prior to taking the top job at Monarch in 2024, he spent 21 years as general manager of Mountain Creek, New Jersey. Chris Haggerty is my guest. Chris, welcome to The Storm. Awesome to connect with you. I've really been wanting to spotlight Monarch for a long time now, and I'm so hyped we get to.00:19:00.000 --> 00:19:10.000Chris Haggerty: Yeah. Thanks for having me, and I'm excited to be here and chat Monarch. It's a special place, so excited to share some discussion about it.00:19:10.000 --> 00:19:23.000Stuart Winchester: So, the New Jersey to Colorado pipeline is maybe not necessarily a well-trod one, although there are a surprising amount of IntraWest vets working in the ski industry because of its relationship with IntraWest, but talk to us about…00:19:24.000 --> 00:19:40.000Stuart Winchester: Getting to Monarch, and you were taking over for Randy Stroud, super experienced guy, he was retiring, uh, he'd been there 23 years, a decade as GM, and he stayed on, I believe, for, for a year. So, talk to us about going from New Jersey, where they have a lot of snowmaking, because they have to.00:19:39.000 --> 00:19:41.000Chris Haggerty: Mmhm.00:19:40.000 --> 00:19:47.000Stuart Winchester: to Monarch, where they have no snowmaking, and just what that adjustment period was like, and how you settled into the role.00:19:48.000 --> 00:20:07.000Chris Haggerty: Yeah, just a quick story is that, you know, as you mentioned, I was at Mountain Creek for a long time, and, you know, really where I found my love for the ski industry, and after college, I had taken a trip out to Colorado and got my first taste of, like.00:20:07.000 --> 00:20:12.000Chris Haggerty: the Rockies, right? So it's always been something in the back of my mind. Um…00:20:12.000 --> 00:20:28.000Chris Haggerty: And I ended up stumbling upon Monarch. I hadn't been to Monarch before, and I was like, oh, this place looks pretty cool. It definitely screamed the ski independent. I definitely wanted to.00:20:28.000 --> 00:20:50.000Chris Haggerty: you know, if I was going to relocate, wanted to find an area where the resort and the local community both had that kind of just feeling of community and stuff. So a monarch was it. And I was blessed to step in after Randy Stroud, and we shared a season together. So I got to learn a lot of institutional knowledge from him.00:20:50.000 --> 00:20:58.000Chris Haggerty: Um, but also bring my viewpoints coming from New Jersey in an area where, you know, we're not…00:20:58.000 --> 00:21:15.000Chris Haggerty: maybe blessed with natural snow. Um, so last year was, like, a challenging winter, and, um, I was ready for it, because I was like, man, 120 inches, like, if you gave me that in New Jersey, we'd be celebrating for years, right? So, um, you know, just kind of a unique perspective, but…00:21:15.000 --> 00:21:21.000Chris Haggerty: um, definitely happy to be here, and just pumped to keep the Monarch kind of spirit going forward.00:21:21.000 --> 00:21:37.000Stuart Winchester: So you've been there for a couple years, one full year as GM, and one of the… there's been tons of stuff coming out of Monarch, it's amazing for a small ski area, which is why I wanted to get you on. So you recently joined the Snow Pass, one of two Western partners to join the Snow Pass, which gives pass holders.00:21:32.000 --> 00:21:34.000Chris Haggerty: Thank you.00:21:37.000 --> 00:21:54.000Stuart Winchester: Two days at Monarch. I don't think there's blackouts on that, but correct me if I'm wrong now. Now, Multimon Pass has been around for years and almost everybody in Colorado is on either Epic or Icon if they're large and if they're small, a lot of them have joined Indy. So the option has been there for years.00:21:54.000 --> 00:22:00.000Stuart Winchester: Why was it finally time for Monarch to join a multi-mountain pass, and why the snow pass?00:22:02.000 --> 00:22:15.000Chris Haggerty: Yeah, two parts there. I think on the, I mentioned it before, we're ski independent as our tagline, right? Part of independence is like the definition is freedom.00:22:10.000 --> 00:22:11.000Stuart Winchester: Mmhm.00:22:15.000 --> 00:22:19.000Chris Haggerty: Right? Like, you make your own choices. You do what you wanna do.00:22:19.000 --> 00:22:31.000Chris Haggerty: we've been approached in the past for IndyPass, and, you know, it wasn't right for us because it kind of went against our spirit of being independent. Like, we want to be able to work with who we…00:22:31.000 --> 00:22:43.000Chris Haggerty: who we choose at any given moment, um, and that just isn't something that, um, is available through the Unipass, so… so we've passed on that. Um, we were even approached about it this year. Um…00:22:43.000 --> 00:23:00.000Chris Haggerty: As far as Snowpass goes, they respect that. They're all about, hey, you want to work with XYZ Pass, go for it. And obviously, I've spent some time working with the Snow Partners group.00:23:00.000 --> 00:23:05.000Chris Haggerty: You know, from my perspective, that group is all about, um…00:23:05.000 --> 00:23:17.000Chris Haggerty: you know, rising tides lifts all boats, right? And, um, you know, for me personally, they've opened doors for me, right? And helped me throughout growing in my career, so, um…00:23:39.000 --> 00:23:40.000Chris Haggerty: We're down.00:23:40.000 --> 00:23:52.000Stuart Winchester: I want to share, because you've sort of created your own… I'm sharing my screen now, if you can see that, and hopefully the folks watching can as well, and if you're listening, I'll talk through it. So, Monarch has…00:23:45.000 --> 00:23:46.000Chris Haggerty: Thank you.00:23:52.000 --> 00:24:07.000Stuart Winchester: not joined a pass, necessarily, but you've kind of built your own pass, and what I have on the screen right now is a list of Monarch's reciprocals, and it's a pretty amazing pass all in and of itself, so if you buy a Monarch season pass, which I believe now is, what, $6.59, less if you renew.00:24:07.000 --> 00:24:24.000Stuart Winchester: It comes with a lot of reciprocal days. Some of the big ones that people probably are really attracted to, 3 days at A-Basin, 3 days at Copper. Now there's blackouts on that, but still, it's freaking Copper Mountain. Uh, 3 days at Purgatory. And then, uh, 3 days each at all of the Mountain Capital Partners-owned skiers, which Purgatory.00:24:07.000 --> 00:24:08.000Chris Haggerty: Mm-hmm.00:24:14.000 --> 00:24:16.000Chris Haggerty: I'll do that.00:24:24.000 --> 00:24:25.000Chris Haggerty: Yes.00:24:24.000 --> 00:24:39.000Stuart Winchester: Also, Arizona Snowball. And there's a bunch more. I don't want to list them all, given our time constraints here today. But talk about this reciprocal program, because essentially, you're saying you're going to give pass holders of all these mountains.00:24:33.000 --> 00:24:34.000Chris Haggerty: Yes.00:24:37.000 --> 00:24:38.000Chris Haggerty: Sure.00:24:39.000 --> 00:24:46.000Stuart Winchester: free visits to Monarch in exchange for your pass holders getting free visits there, so…00:24:41.000 --> 00:24:42.000Chris Haggerty: Oh.00:24:43.000 --> 00:24:44.000Chris Haggerty: Yes.00:24:46.000 --> 00:24:52.000Stuart Winchester: whatever you did or didn't like about IndyPass, it does pay per visit, so what was attractive about.00:24:47.000 --> 00:24:49.000Chris Haggerty: Just a second.00:24:52.000 --> 00:24:57.000Stuart Winchester: this, and why did it make sense to do these free visit exchanges with other ski areas?00:24:57.000 --> 00:25:15.000Chris Haggerty: We look at it as other skiers are not our competition, right? There's 350 million people roughly in the United States. Less than 5% actually ski or snowboard, right? So there's a lot of people out there that just need to be introduced into the sport.00:25:15.000 --> 00:25:17.000Chris Haggerty: Um…00:25:17.000 --> 00:25:23.000Chris Haggerty: rather than trying to fight for visits between resorts. So… so one of the things is just…00:25:23.000 --> 00:25:39.000Chris Haggerty: How do we get more people skiing and snowboarding, which is obviously a huge conversation you could talk about forever. But with this one, it's just like, hey, these are other resorts that are interested in also giving their pass holders as well as ours.00:25:55.000 --> 00:26:10.000Chris Haggerty: allow our pass holders to try each out while still knowing that, like most people that have a copper pass, they're not migrating to Monarch because they came here for two days.00:26:10.000 --> 00:26:28.000Chris Haggerty: they're bought a Copper Pass for a reason, they love that, and they're like, yeah, if I could get two days over at Monarch, cool. Same thing with our Monarch guests, like, they… they… they love Monarch, they want most of their days to be here, and if we could break it up for them, um, you know, a couple times a year, or they could go to A-Basin and Copper, then.00:26:16.000 --> 00:26:17.000Stuart Winchester: Yeah. Okay.00:26:28.000 --> 00:26:37.000Chris Haggerty: That adds a lot of value to them and gives them that flexibility to move around and go where it works for them.00:26:37.000 --> 00:26:52.000Stuart Winchester: You know, Monarch is small by Colorado standards, but it always surprised me to see that it actually does have a pseudo national following. And I get emails from people all over the country that say they buy the Monarch Pass because it gives them all those reciprocals and they come out and they like to support the small ski area.00:26:52.000 --> 00:26:59.000Stuart Winchester: I want to get your take on something here, Chris. I'm going to share my screen again, and I want to share a chart that I made.00:26:59.000 --> 00:27:14.000Stuart Winchester: Uh, so, so this is a chart of Monarch's skier visits since 1997, up to 2024 to 25, right? And I've compiled these from all kinds of different places, and I have a little bit of a gap there. But as you, as you see right here, they've been going steadily up, right?00:27:14.000 --> 00:27:29.000Stuart Winchester: So, so you were averaging below $200,000 for most of the, of the 2010s, you know, much lower some years, and now you're pretty steadily adding, averaging over $200,000. Now, last year, I don't have your numbers, I'm, I'm sure that they were, uh, pretty bad, but.00:27:29.000 --> 00:27:33.000Stuart Winchester: You know, in relation to what your past numbers were.00:27:33.000 --> 00:27:35.000Stuart Winchester: So here's my question.00:27:35.000 --> 00:27:48.000Stuart Winchester: Monarch was supposed to be one of the ski areas that got squeezed out by Epic, squeezed out by Icon. That was one of the big worries. Uh, independent ski areas can't compete. We're seeing the opposite, because I've put some things on this timeline.00:27:48.000 --> 00:28:04.000Stuart Winchester: So, for example, 2007, IntraWest buys Steamboat. Uh, 2008, the Epic Pass launches. 2009, Powder buys Copper. Uh, the Mountain Collective launched in 2012. Uh, Mountain Capital Partners bought Purgatory in 2015. Powder bought Eldora the following year.00:28:04.000 --> 00:28:21.000Stuart Winchester: Uh In 2017, Alterra combined Steamboat and Winter Park in 2018, they launched the icon pass. Uh And then we had the 20% epic price cut in 2022. So all these things you think, ok, Vale and Alterra putting their mountains on sale. These are big world famous mountains, Steamboat Vale Mountain.00:28:21.000 --> 00:28:25.000Stuart Winchester: Monarch must be getting crushed. No, it's not. Why?00:28:27.000 --> 00:28:45.000Chris Haggerty: I think it's a couple of reasons. Number one is we've just stayed true to who we are. And as the population has grown in the front range, like since 2010, Denver and Colorado Springs have grown by about 20%.00:28:45.000 --> 00:29:00.000Chris Haggerty: Right? So there's just more people, um, that are finding Monarch, and they're, they're like, wow, we like this, this is what we want. You know, you also throw in the fact that, um, I-70, for those in Colorado, are pretty familiar with, like, the traffic that is.00:28:49.000 --> 00:28:50.000Stuart Winchester: Mmhm.00:29:00.000 --> 00:29:17.000Chris Haggerty: created there on the weekends and it's not for everybody. So thankfully the drive to Monarch currently is a pretty attractive one, a lot less traffic. And I give credit to our ownership group, our current ownership group. They bought the resort in.00:29:17.000 --> 00:29:33.000Chris Haggerty: 2002. And part of it was, you know, a little bit of a passion project. Right? Like, they had come here and just really liked the vibe at Monarch and and wanted to protect that. And what they've been able to do is, number one, protect it.00:29:33.000 --> 00:29:53.000Chris Haggerty: Um, by not selling, you know, to, to one of the larger players, um, to just investing into our, our core, um, like deferred maintenance projects and those types of things, and then being really committed to the no name project, which we talked about and, and making sure timing was right on that and.00:29:53.000 --> 00:30:11.000Chris Haggerty: Um, that we were a healthy company before we jumped into that, so we didn't need a lifeline from, you know, someone else. So, um, there's kind of a lot of pieces that go into it. Um, and it's also worth noting that, like, our pass holders, like, and I think this goes to the growth, like, once people find us.00:30:11.000 --> 00:30:25.000Chris Haggerty: Um, our pass holder, uh, renewal rate is about 85% every year. Um, and the industry standard, depending on where you, you know, who you ask, it's somewhere between, like, 55% and 62%.00:30:25.000 --> 00:30:42.000Chris Haggerty: Um, and, and most of the 15% that we lose as we've dug into it is because of, uh, we have a lot of season pass holders from Fort Carson, um, military base outside of Colorado Springs, and they've just moved out of the area, right? So, um, I think our growth is partly due to, like.00:30:34.000 --> 00:30:35.000Stuart Winchester: Mmhm.00:30:42.000 --> 00:30:49.000Chris Haggerty: Once people come here and they discover it and they love it and they just keep coming back and we're just building upon that.00:30:49.000 --> 00:31:06.000Stuart Winchester: So you have owners that are willing to invest and that's really important. And Randy Stroud, I interviewed him, not on the podcast, but just for an article a couple of years ago. And he told me, and I'm not sure if this ended up being true, but their intention was to pay for the entire no name expansion in cash, including a brand new SkyTrak.00:31:06.000 --> 00:31:22.000Stuart Winchester: triple chair, or Doppelmayr, I can't remember what it was offhand, but regardless, it spoke to a very stable operation. Now, meanwhile, you still have some pretty old lifts, some pretty old infrastructure on the front side of the mountain, and recently Monarch's.00:31:22.000 --> 00:31:36.000Stuart Winchester: Master Development Plan was accepted by the U.S. Forest Service, which, for the listeners, just means that they said, okay, we'll let you consider doing these things on a project-by-project basis in the future. I have a lot of questions about the Master Plan, but first.00:31:36.000 --> 00:31:52.000Stuart Winchester: I want to focus on one that you called out, that Monarch Mountain called out in its first blog post announcing acceptance of the Master Plan, and it was about snowmaking. And Dan Torsell, the longtime GM of Ski Cooper, told me a long time ago when he came on this pod that.00:31:52.000 --> 00:32:04.000Stuart Winchester: that Ski Cooper and Monarch were the only big lift-surf ski areas in Colorado that don't have snowmaking. I think Silverton is too, but that sometimes gets lost in the shuffle. So, uh, you have it in your master development plan.00:32:04.000 --> 00:32:19.000Stuart Winchester: to a sort of rudimentary snowmaking system that would allow you to open early. But, this is a quote from your blog, quote, Before anyone panics when they read about snowmaking, let me assure you that Monarch is committed to remaining 100% all natural.00:32:19.000 --> 00:32:37.000Stuart Winchester: Snowmaking has been a part of our previous MDPs, Master Development Plan, and we have chosen not to implement it as we truly believe that natural snow provides the best skiing experience. This continues to be the case as snowmaking is in the plan to cover all bases, but we will not implement anything unless Mother Nature gives us no other choice.00:32:37.000 --> 00:32:40.000Stuart Winchester: Care to expand upon that at all?00:32:41.000 --> 00:32:53.000Chris Haggerty: Definitely. And yeah, and we are committed to that. And I actually, last summer, I spoke in front of some of the locals and pass holders, and when I let them know that we were committed to.00:32:41.000 --> 00:32:43.000Stuart Winchester: Or elaborate.00:32:53.000 --> 00:33:09.000Chris Haggerty: 100% all natural. That was the loudest cheer we got all day. So, like, that's what our, that's what our guests want. That's what we want. Um, as far that, you know, snowmaking has come a long way, and, and it is a necessity for a bunch of resorts.00:33:09.000 --> 00:33:19.000Chris Haggerty: Um, we're not at that point, um, and we're gonna push as far as we can, um, leaning into, like, snow farming and everything else before we ever, um.00:33:19.000 --> 00:33:35.000Chris Haggerty: have snow… have snowmaking. But, you know, in the Master Development Plan, it's in there because, like, part of putting things into that document is because it's a conceptual document. It's, like, it's designed to be a 15-year document. If it's not in there.00:33:35.000 --> 00:33:51.000Chris Haggerty: The Forest Service really doesn't even consider something. So if 15 years from now we're like, we need to put snowmaking in and it's not in there, we'd have some challenges. I will say our base elevation being basically 10,800 feet.00:33:51.000 --> 00:34:02.000Chris Haggerty: has helped us out, right? Like, as weather patterns has changed, and temperatures have rised, and winters are, you know, different every year, um…00:34:02.000 --> 00:34:13.000Chris Haggerty: we've been pretty lucky because of that base elevation, where we're… we are seeing snow, where other resorts are seeing some of that other precipitation falling, right? So, um…00:34:13.000 --> 00:34:30.000Chris Haggerty: you know, and then I mentioned the snow farming, like, we're… we're gonna do everything we can, like, on that side of things, right? And that's all the way from, like, fences strategically placed throughout the mountain, whether they're permanent or temporary, to catch the snow when the winds are coming from whatever direction.00:34:30.000 --> 00:34:47.000Chris Haggerty: And we do early season, we take the snow in the parking lots and we plow it all up and get it into one of the corners and then our groomers take it from there and start to build our base in the base area. So we have some different techniques to try to insulate us as much as possible.00:34:47.000 --> 00:34:53.000Chris Haggerty: And we're going to keep going that way as long as Mother Nature allows us to.00:34:53.000 --> 00:35:09.000Stuart Winchester: So snowmaking, it sounds like, is Monarch's emergency parachute. Meanwhile, there are a lot of big chairlift upgrades outlined on the master development plan. So Monarch has had substantially the same footprint for decades until last season's snowmaking upgrade.00:35:09.000 --> 00:35:24.000Stuart Winchester: And like I said before, more and more skier visits, and you were still running, with the exception of the 1999 Pioneer lift, the quad that was put in, with a lot of older double chairs. So Breezeway is a 1968 hall, Garfield is a 1969 hall, Panorama is a 1980 hall.00:35:24.000 --> 00:35:40.000Stuart Winchester: Tumbling as a 1981 hall. Those are all doubles. Now they've all gotten new drive terminals. So I understand they're, they're more modern in their actual functioning than, than in their look. However, the capacity is probably not a whole lot more than maybe it would have been. The master development plan proposes.00:35:40.000 --> 00:35:43.000Stuart Winchester: Replacing all of these with.00:35:43.000 --> 00:35:54.000Stuart Winchester: is advanced of a lift as a high-speed quad. Now, I realize you wanna… maybe the same reason as somebody… you say high-speed quad because you can always take it down, easier to go down than up, but talk us through…00:35:54.000 --> 00:36:05.000Stuart Winchester: your lift upgrade plan, and whether you think that high speed would be good for Monarch, or if you think that maybe fixed grip is the way you want to stay.00:36:06.000 --> 00:36:09.000Chris Haggerty: Yeah, fixed script is, you know.00:36:09.000 --> 00:36:24.000Chris Haggerty: Well, let me back up. A lot of that is in there because it's got to be in there if we choose to do that. And with no name opening, there's a lot of unknowns as far as, like, how is that going to change skier traffic around the mountain, right?00:36:14.000 --> 00:36:15.000Stuart Winchester: Mmhm.00:36:24.000 --> 00:36:41.000Chris Haggerty: One of the things we worked with the SE group, so they're, you know, a company that helps ski areas, right, with all sorts of development projects, big and small. And one of the things that they do is they do this density analysis, right? And it's a complicated, you know.00:36:41.000 --> 00:36:57.000Chris Haggerty: Analysis that takes on a lot of different data, but basically it's like they look at your uphill capacity based on the speed of the lift, the size of the lift, the length of the trip up, the time, and then what terrain it accesses from that lift.00:36:57.000 --> 00:37:14.000Chris Haggerty: And, like, an optimal score where, like, you have, like, perfect harmony from uphill and downhill is, like, a hundred percent. If you're below that, you're actually putting fewer people up the hill, that the downhill terrain can handle.00:37:14.000 --> 00:37:34.000Chris Haggerty: Monarch, in our current state, sits at a 56%. So basically, like, when you ski the runs at Monarch, even on our busiest day, because of the capacity that we have at our lifts, like, you have, like, semi-private runs, right? If we were to do all of our lift upgrades in the 2025 MDP.00:37:34.000 --> 00:37:49.000Chris Haggerty: we would actually get to an 84% density analysis. So even still, you wouldn't feel overcrowded on the runs. So knowing that, we're like, wow, well, we don't need to right away push for any kind of high speed lifts.00:37:49.000 --> 00:37:58.000Chris Haggerty: Um, and in fact, again, things that our guests like about them is twofold. Number one, it's like…00:37:58.000 --> 00:38:11.000Chris Haggerty: that slow metering from a fixed grip lift just adds, like, this extra time, right? Like, part of why we ski and snowboard is because we like to just disconnect, right, from reality for a little while and, like, be out in nature and, like.00:38:11.000 --> 00:38:21.000Chris Haggerty: you know, our guests like taking a step back and slowing things down here, and it feels like things are just moving a little slower. And second, one thing that we feel is like a…00:38:21.000 --> 00:38:36.000Chris Haggerty: a strong differentiator for us is, um, having a fixed grip lift. Our lift operators have to be at, like, the load point, and, um, you know, bumping the chairs and helping our guests on, and.00:38:36.000 --> 00:38:40.000Chris Haggerty: It's this, like, human interaction piece that, like.00:38:40.000 --> 00:38:56.000Chris Haggerty: You don't get everywhere else, especially with some of the newer lifts where, you know, it's everything's so automated, um, which has its value, but for us, again, with who Monarch is and taking that step back in time a little bit like that, that face-to-face interaction.00:38:56.000 --> 00:39:14.000Chris Haggerty: like, so many of our reviews are constantly calling out our lift operators, like, oh, yeah, I remember so-and-so, like, he's awesome, he helped me on, or he just said hello, or he remembered what kind of skis I'm wearing, or told me about this secret powder stash, which… another benefit of a slower uphill capacity is, like.00:39:14.000 --> 00:39:23.000Chris Haggerty: Monarch, even though it's smaller in size, doesn't get tracked out. Like, you get powder turns at the end of the day on a powder day.00:39:23.000 --> 00:39:34.000Stuart Winchester: So the, I'm gonna share my screen to, to talk about this next bit. So those are the lift upgrades that you're proposing. There's also two, and I'm, I, so for those watching.00:39:34.000 --> 00:39:49.000Stuart Winchester: On YouTube or stormskiing.com, I have the master development plan, conceptual plan up. There's also two infill lifts. Okay, so there would be this planned NNB lift, which is a redundant lift in the No Name Basin expansion. This is the new lift that opened last year. And then there's this…00:39:49.000 --> 00:40:04.000Stuart Winchester: Plan, divide, express. So, again, it's two more lifts on the same footprint. And I didn't see in the master plan, maybe I missed it, that you do have all this cat skiing terrain over here, so…00:40:04.000 --> 00:40:10.000Stuart Winchester: So, talk us through the logic of putting in more lists to serve the same amount of terrain, and if you've considered.00:40:10.000 --> 00:40:18.000Stuart Winchester: moving lift surf skiing into the cat skiing, as Targi did with its peaked mountain expansion a couple of years ago.00:40:19.000 --> 00:40:37.000Chris Haggerty: Yeah, so no name is actually was a part of our cat skiing terrain. So we did take a little bit of that. That redundant lift out there is just because we'll see what happens, how many people just access the terrain and no name. And if we ever need a second lift there, then.00:40:23.000 --> 00:40:24.000Stuart Winchester: Hmm. Okay.00:40:37.000 --> 00:40:55.000Chris Haggerty: um, we'll consider it. As far as further into cat skiing terrain, um, you know, our current MDP outlines our next 15 years, so we're not looking to push any further into that. Um, we also have, um, the Mirkwood terrain, which is a little bit of a hike-to terrain.00:40:55.000 --> 00:41:04.000Chris Haggerty: Um, between, like, the front side and no name, and we get… that's… that's the area we most commonly get asked about a lift, and uh…00:41:04.000 --> 00:41:12.000Chris Haggerty: I will tell you from my, uh, initial conversations with owners, it's… it's not a, um…00:41:12.000 --> 00:41:27.000Chris Haggerty: the answer isn't no, we're not putting a lift there, it's a expletive no, we're not putting a lift there. Um, we take pride in having, like, being a small mountain, but still offering, like, all these other things, right? Which one being hike to terrain, um, which is pretty cool for…00:41:27.000 --> 00:41:31.000Chris Haggerty: a small mountain like this. And then that, um…00:41:31.000 --> 00:41:41.000Chris Haggerty: the Divide Express, right, that would get us all the way from the base area to the summit on the front side. Um, that… that is one that we've, you know, had some…00:41:41.000 --> 00:41:55.000Chris Haggerty: serious discussions about, and, um, you know, it probably… number one, it would just, you know, allow guests to not have to take two lifts to get to the… to the summit on the front side. Um, but also, if we…00:41:55.000 --> 00:42:06.000Chris Haggerty: explore, um, summer operations in the future. You know, having a high-speed, you know, detachable lift gives you more flexibility to do that.00:42:06.000 --> 00:42:13.000Chris Haggerty: So that kind of, you know, would add into that if we get to that point.00:42:12.000 --> 00:42:24.000Stuart Winchester: So let me ask a stupid question, because that's what I'm here for. So Garfield Lyft, as I said, was built in the 60s. Pioneer Lyft came along in 1999. So I would have thought, okay, they cross over each other.00:42:24.000 --> 00:42:41.000Stuart Winchester: Because they, they retroactively built Pioneer and didn't realize it. Uh, I would have thought, hey, the master plan is an opportunity to straighten those out so they don't have to cross over each other. Maybe I'm overthinking it and it's not that complicated, but, but talk about this interesting crisscross pattern you have here and, and why that's where Garfield and Pioneer are slated.00:42:24.000 --> 00:42:25.000Chris Haggerty: Mm-hmm.00:42:41.000 --> 00:42:45.000Stuart Winchester: to continue to exist, even if you were to upgrade their lifts.00:42:47.000 --> 00:43:05.000Chris Haggerty: Yeah, I mean, I don't know that I have the best answer. We do have a proposal to shift the base of the bottom terminal of Pioneer uphill a little bit, just because the terrain is a little more desirable there. And obviously, if we needed to add the Divide Express, we need to open that area up.00:43:05.000 --> 00:43:06.000Chris Haggerty: um…00:43:06.000 --> 00:43:21.000Chris Haggerty: but other than that, right, we just kind of… we like the terrain that they serve right now, we don't really have a better spot, so the lifts crisscrossing wasn't like a, oh man, we need to change this. It wasn't something that we were focused on solving, um, in a way.00:43:21.000 --> 00:43:24.000Chris Haggerty: I think it's kind of a little cool, I guess.00:43:24.000 --> 00:43:40.000Stuart Winchester: I do like criss-crossing lifts, so I'm glad we're doing this one a video, because every time I bring this up, I get tomatoes thrown at me. Uh, Monarch skier visits have gone up and up, as we said. However, as they've gone up and up, there's still nowhere to stay on the mountain. There never has been. Uh.00:43:40.000 --> 00:43:51.000Stuart Winchester: a philosophical choice? Is that just a practical matter of, hey, the Forest Service owns the land at the base? Is it both? Talk us through why there's nowhere to stay at Monarch as a drive ski area only.00:43:52.000 --> 00:43:55.000Chris Haggerty: Yeah, there's a couple of reasons.00:43:56.000 --> 00:44:02.000Chris Haggerty: And, you know, one of them, again, I'll say our pass holders and our guests, like…00:44:02.000 --> 00:44:18.000Chris Haggerty: are pretty vocal about not wanting that, right? Like that's what separates Monarch. We're not that resort that has the big base village. And again, that's not to knock those resorts. I think that that's, you know, I've gone to those resorts as a guest. I think it's awesome.00:44:18.000 --> 00:44:38.000Chris Haggerty: I think another side of it for us is we're really focused on our community, right? We're a small mountain ski area and there's a small mountain community 15 miles from where we are that has a really cool, the town of Salida has a really cool downtown, a main street.00:44:38.000 --> 00:44:52.000Chris Haggerty: Um, with a ton of restaurants, a ton of mom-and-pop-owned shops, right? And, um, you know, we're our largest, uh, driver for winter visits, and, and, you know, um…00:44:52.000 --> 00:45:01.000Chris Haggerty: in the wintertime, and we want to make sure we embrace that community. If we moved a village up onto the mountain, like.00:45:01.000 --> 00:45:16.000Chris Haggerty: Salida is going to suffer. All those guests now are going to stay in the lodging up at Monarch versus in town. And we want to be good community partners and be like, no, here, you guys should be the ones to have lodging. And we live.00:45:16.000 --> 00:45:35.000Chris Haggerty: all of us live in the community as well, and we want to see those restaurants, you know, stay active all year round, the mom-and-pop shops, like, you know, thrive. So part of it is just, like, wanting to be a part of something bigger, right, in that larger community, rather than.00:45:35.000 --> 00:45:38.000Chris Haggerty: moving everything up to… to Monarch.00:45:38.000 --> 00:45:53.000Stuart Winchester: So if Snowpass skiers do decide to come out and visit Monarch, they'll stay in Salida, most likely, and drive up that day. So leave us with this, Chris, because Joe Heschen, the CEO of Snow Partners.00:45:53.000 --> 00:45:58.000Stuart Winchester: Said we get so caught up on stats, but stats aren't aren't always the thing and and.00:45:58.000 --> 00:46:04.000Stuart Winchester: when you look statistically at Monarch, it's 1,100 vertical feet.00:46:04.000 --> 00:46:21.000Stuart Winchester: Lift serve drop. That's 25th in Colorado. Uh, 1017 acres that ranks 17th in Colorado is bigger than Aspen Mountain. I'll point, I'll point out, uh, it's 308 inch average annual snowfall is good, but it's, it's good for ninth best. It has the third highest base, as I said, but the 12th highest summ.00:46:21.000 --> 00:46:28.000Stuart Winchester: It has those older lifts in a state that has 120 high-speed lifts, and there's nowhere to stay on the mountain, so…00:46:28.000 --> 00:46:34.000Stuart Winchester: I'm just stating those facts, right? So what's your pitch to someone to come.00:46:34.000 --> 00:46:37.000Stuart Winchester: use that snow pass, and try out Monarch.00:46:39.000 --> 00:46:44.000Chris Haggerty: Yeah, the big one is to start with, we're 100% natural, right?00:46:44.000 --> 00:46:59.000Chris Haggerty: you want natural snow, it is a definitely a different feel, even as good as snowmaking is these days, like, come check it out. And this, and the second part is, um, the people that are at Monarch are a unique group, right? Like, we're, we're.00:46:59.000 --> 00:47:18.000Chris Haggerty: past the characters, whether you work here or you're a guest here. And, um, we're looking out for each other, right? Like, it's not, um, it's not judgmental, like, no matter what you show up wearing or what your ability is, like, we just want everyone here to have a fun day on the mountain.00:47:18.000 --> 00:47:37.000Chris Haggerty: whether you're the extreme person out in the cat skiing terrain, hiking Mirkwood, the Never Ever, or the SnowTuber, which I love SnowTubers, you know, I think that's who we all are at our core. Um, you know, it's just… it's just a cool vibe that you gotta just come check it out, and our track record's saying that.00:47:29.000 --> 00:47:31.000Stuart Winchester: Yeah.00:47:37.000 --> 00:47:40.000Chris Haggerty: People love it once they find it. So give it a shot.00:47:40.000 --> 00:47:51.000Stuart Winchester: I'm always telling my readers that these old lifts, these hauls, these riblets, they're not gonna be around for a whole lot longer, right? There's still hundreds in operation, but they don't last forever.00:47:51.000 --> 00:48:08.000Stuart Winchester: And the best thing you can do to memorialize them, you can't really preserve them forever because they're functional machines, right? But go ride them. And right now, Monarch, along with Lost Trail, is probably the best place in the West to go and ride all Old Hall Liftley. And I understand, again, they've been updated.00:48:08.000 --> 00:48:23.000Stuart Winchester: But the aesthetic is similar. So, alright, Chris, look, I gotta take my own advice and get out there and ride those hauls with you this winter. It was really great to talk to you. I really appreciate you coming on. I can't wait to catch up and hopefully make some turns together this winter.00:48:23.000 --> 00:48:27.000Chris Haggerty: Yeah, thanks a lot for the time and look forward to seeing you out here at Monarch.00:48:26.000 --> 00:48:29.000Stuart Winchester: All right. Talk to you soon. Thanks so much, Chris.00:48:28.000 --> 00:48:30.000Chris Haggerty: Thank you. Bye.00:48:31.000 --> 00:48:47.000Stuart Winchester: Alright, that was Chris Haggerty, the General Manager of Monarch Mountain. That was really fun, I'm really glad that he came on. Uh, Randy Stroud, just to be clear, the former GM, it's not that he ever didn't want to come on the podcast, it's just that.00:48:47.000 --> 00:49:00.000Stuart Winchester: I covered Monarch in a different way for the story about the expansion. So he was very good to the storm as well. I do want to tell you that today's podcast is brought to you by Profile Search International.00:49:00.000 --> 00:49:08.000Stuart Winchester: If you want to find a great leader for your mountain team, I want to introduce you to the pros at Profile Search International.00:49:08.000 --> 00:49:18.000Stuart Winchester: They are the ski industry talent acquisition experts, and they are the only executive search and recruitment firm in the entire world that is 100% focused on the ski industry.00:49:18.000 --> 00:49:31.000Stuart Winchester: ProfileSearch has used their intimate understanding of skiing and related industries, and of available candidates worldwide, to place hundreds of transformational leaders at the best and most progressive ski areas over the past 30 years.00:49:31.000 --> 00:49:44.000Stuart Winchester: Profile Search has offices in the US and Canada. They find and negotiate with the right leaders for your team, which sometimes you don't even know that you need in this era of online everything and big data. You can reach Profile Search.00:49:44.000 --> 00:49:59.000Stuart Winchester: Directly at ProfileSearch.com, where you will find their email or phone number. You can also send me a note. I will be happy to connect you directly with this expert team. My email address is skiing at substack.com. Alright, we are going to wrap up today.00:49:59.000 --> 00:50:05.000Stuart Winchester: With some reader reaction to yesterday's podcast on…00:50:06.000 --> 00:50:22.000Stuart Winchester: with Midwest skiers, Matt Zabranski, and there wasn't a lot of feedback. I think, number one, because the Midwest doesn't get as much feedback in general, but also because I published this one pretty late, I think I put it out at 8 or 9 at night, and so folks may just have not had a chance.00:50:24.000 --> 00:50:27.000Stuart Winchester: really process it yet. So…00:50:28.000 --> 00:50:30.000Stuart Winchester: Nell says…00:50:30.000 --> 00:50:41.000Stuart Winchester: Midwest Skiers, meaning MidwestSkiers.com, Matthew Zbrensky's site, is a regional treasure. The ride-throughs are so thorough, and what Nell means by that is.00:50:41.000 --> 00:50:52.000Stuart Winchester: Uh, Midwest Skiers puts up on their YouTube channel a, hey, look, here's the trail map at, say, Trollhagen, Wisconsin. Here's all 32 trails, whatever it is.00:50:52.000 --> 00:51:03.000Stuart Winchester: and then it rides the reach for the GoPro, and tells you about them, and gives you a really specific breakdown, uh, with some great graphs. So the production quality is really, really good. So, I second that now. Really good.00:51:03.000 --> 00:51:15.000Stuart Winchester: breakdowns of the ski areas from Midwest Skiers. Eric Morris says, great Midwest content, it'd be great to talk to the Dean of Southern Skiing, Randy Johnson, who wrote Southern Snow, the new guide to winter sports.00:51:15.000 --> 00:51:31.000Stuart Winchester: Couldn't agree more, Eric. If you know him, I would love an introduction. I am not acquainted with Mr. Randy Johnson, but I would love to meet him, as the South has certainly been an undercovered region from my point of view, and not on purpose, just because there's…00:51:31.000 --> 00:51:44.000Stuart Winchester: a little different culturally than the rest of the United States from a ski point of view, and I have not sunk as far of roots in there as I would like to, especially since I'm not too far from those ski areas. There was also…00:51:44.000 --> 00:51:47.000Stuart Winchester: We're not getting as much action on the chat, but here's one.00:51:47.000 --> 00:51:57.000Stuart Winchester: question on the chat, and this is not to do with the podcast from yesterday, but I want to talk about it a little. What will it take for Vail Resorts to turn around? That's from Saurabh Jain.00:51:57.000 --> 00:52:06.000Stuart Winchester: And commenter Slappy said, redefine what success looks like and suspend the dividend and stock buyback. Of course, those last two may be non-negotiable.00:52:06.000 --> 00:52:24.000Stuart Winchester: I'm not going to get out of my lane and talk too much about dividends and stock buybacks, though I do like stocks and follow that world nominally. It's certainly nothing that I'm an expert to speak on. What Vail needs to do to turn around, I think, is very simple, and I've said this many, many times.00:52:24.000 --> 00:52:25.000Stuart Winchester: And I've written about it.00:52:25.000 --> 00:52:37.000Stuart Winchester: many times, and we've talked about it on the podcast many times, is they need to treat every single ski resort like it's Vail Mountain, and every single guest like they're the President of the United States. They…00:52:37.000 --> 00:52:40.000Stuart Winchester: They need to make sure that.00:52:41.000 --> 00:52:48.000Stuart Winchester: the experience of a lifetime ethos is transferred to any Skiera, whether it's Beaver Creek.00:52:48.000 --> 00:53:03.000Stuart Winchester: or it's Mad River, Ohio. And that has not always seemed to be the case since Vail Resorts purchased Peak Resorts in 2019 and sort of doubled the size of its owned resort portfolio within a year's span. Now.00:53:03.000 --> 00:53:08.000Stuart Winchester: Certainly, Vail has recently recommitted to.00:53:08.000 --> 00:53:11.000Stuart Winchester: To that sort of quality, and we'll see how that plays out.00:53:11.000 --> 00:53:13.000Stuart Winchester: I think…00:53:13.000 --> 00:53:19.000Stuart Winchester: maybe a little more shuffling with the Epic Pass, uh, maybe a higher-priced.00:53:19.000 --> 00:53:22.000Stuart Winchester: Full pass to to.00:53:22.000 --> 00:53:37.000Stuart Winchester: help traffic some of the more popular ski areas, and maybe some more options. They do a really good job, actually, with the Epic Regionals, with the Tahoe Local, the Northeast Local, and the Summit County Local. So, I think Vail's done a nice job with that. And I think…00:53:38.000 --> 00:53:45.000Stuart Winchester: From my experience, Vail executives, and I've hosted many of them on this podcast. They're very receptive to criticism.00:53:45.000 --> 00:53:47.000Stuart Winchester: Uh, and they are…00:53:48.000 --> 00:53:53.000Stuart Winchester: Willing to listen and change and evolve. I'm not sure.00:53:53.000 --> 00:53:57.000Stuart Winchester: If that always comes through.00:53:57.000 --> 00:54:04.000Stuart Winchester: Outside of direct lines of questioning, if that makes sense. So, so the, the owning of mistakes and saying, okay, you know what?00:54:04.000 --> 00:54:19.000Stuart Winchester: we messed up because Paley Peaks was only open 25 days a year in 2021, or whatever it was. There was a year when a lot of its Midwest ski areas were extremely restricted, or the COVID restrictions and everyone else, but the local ski area operators there.00:54:19.000 --> 00:54:24.000Stuart Winchester: we're out competing them. Uh, you know, when Vail first bought Wilmot, Wisconsin.00:54:24.000 --> 00:54:27.000Stuart Winchester: In 2016, there…00:54:27.000 --> 00:54:38.000Stuart Winchester: their… or maybe that was 2012. They bought Afton Alps, Wilmot, and Mount Brighton in some order, two of them in 2012 and one in 2016. Anyway, there was a great article I read that said.00:54:38.000 --> 00:54:49.000Stuart Winchester: what Wilmot skiers can expect, and Wilmot's a small ski area outside of, well, it's broad, it has a lot of lifts, outside of Wisconsin and Chicago, uh, Milwaukee and Chicago.00:54:49.000 --> 00:54:56.000Stuart Winchester: And what they said was, we're gonna bring Western standards to the Midwest, right? And that was very out front. Dale spokespeople were saying that.00:54:56.000 --> 00:55:11.000Stuart Winchester: You never hear them say that anymore, and it's not clear that that is the standard, and I had a very nice time at Wilmot when I went two years ago, and super friendly staff, and all the lifts were running, even though clearly they didn't need to be, because it was a Monday, and hardly anyone was there, so I'm certain they were.00:55:11.000 --> 00:55:19.000Stuart Winchester: losing money on that day, and yet they still did their best to provide an experience. I'm just not…00:55:19.000 --> 00:55:21.000Stuart Winchester: It's just not always…00:55:21.000 --> 00:55:31.000Stuart Winchester: super clear throughout the portfolio, particularly in the Lower Midwest, Indiana, Missouri, Ohio, uh, in some of the Pennsylvania ski areas, Mid-Atlantic.00:55:31.000 --> 00:55:36.000Stuart Winchester: that that this is their operating philosophy. So I think that.00:55:36.000 --> 00:55:38.000Stuart Winchester: I think Vail's better than most…00:55:38.000 --> 00:55:49.000Stuart Winchester: than you would think, scrolling through social media. Uh, in general, I've been to pretty much every Vail resort in North America, other than, I think, the two in Missouri and Paoli Peaks.00:55:49.000 --> 00:56:07.000Stuart Winchester: And I generally have a really good time and a positive experience, and I find the staff friendly, and that's a super important thing to me. I love that Vail puts bars on all the lifts. I love that they're focused on safety in general, that they help police speed. As someone who skis with my kids, that's important to me.00:56:07.000 --> 00:56:13.000Stuart Winchester: So I generally have a pretty good experience. I think…00:56:14.000 --> 00:56:29.000Stuart Winchester: there's a little too much gum in the machine, maybe, when it comes to communicating these things and owning and correcting mistakes. So, anyway, with that, I will leave Vel alone for today, and you're probably wondering why I haven't yet covered the new Slate.00:56:29.000 --> 00:56:44.000Stuart Winchester: of proposed board members by Oasis Capital for Vail Resorts. I don't want to get too into the weeds on stock stuff, but I do have some thoughts on that. I want to wait till I have a little bit more time to break it down.00:56:45.000 --> 00:56:50.000Stuart Winchester: So I thank you for coming today. I hope you enjoyed that podcast episode.00:56:50.000 --> 00:56:58.000Stuart Winchester: If you are not already subscribed to the Storm Skiing newsletter, please click over to stormskiing.com and subscribe.00:56:58.000 --> 00:57:14.000Stuart Winchester: That will come right to your inbox. It is not only podcasts, I do a ton of writing. And if you want to upgrade to a paid subscription to the Storm Skiing Journal and Podcast, that will give you everything below the paywall, which is a lot of really deep analysis.00:57:14.000 --> 00:57:29.000Stuart Winchester: that I do on the lift service ski industry, particularly in North America, and especially in the United States. Also, if you're a paid subscriber to The Storm at stormskiing.com, that is the only way to interact with the podcast, because I'm only reading comments from the.00:57:29.000 --> 00:57:30.000Stuart Winchester: Previous.00:57:31.000 --> 00:57:47.000Stuart Winchester: Day's podcast and only paid subscribers can comment. Only paid subscribers can join the chat, which is the second way that they can interact with the podcast. If you want to rep the storm, we have a swag store. You can buy shirts, hats, et cetera, at stormskiing.myshopify.com.00:57:47.000 --> 00:57:48.000Stuart Winchester: Okay.00:57:48.000 --> 00:57:52.000Stuart Winchester: Please follow me on YouTube. YouTube is…00:57:52.000 --> 00:57:55.000Stuart Winchester: Where we will increasingly.00:57:55.000 --> 00:58:02.000Stuart Winchester: It'll be increasingly important to us, and right now, we don't have that many subscribers there. Uh, everything is going there, but it's just not…00:58:02.000 --> 00:58:12.000Stuart Winchester: made it into the cultural fabric of that site just yet, so please follow me at Storm Ski Journal on YouTube. Also, Instagram, which I post on more during the winter season.00:58:12.000 --> 00:58:27.000Stuart Winchester: I will be back tomorrow, or I'm scheduled to be back tomorrow, with, and this is one a lot of people have asked me for, a conversation with the general manager of what I think was perhaps the most improved ski area in the country last year, Camelback.00:58:27.000 --> 00:58:38.000Stuart Winchester: Pennsylvania. If you're rolling your eyes, if you live out west, I encourage you to tune in anyway, because the story of Camelback is a really good story of how do we do things wrong?Stuff referenced in the pod:Monarch's amazing season pass reciprocal network:A full breakdown of Monarch's U.S. Forest Service masterplan:Conversation with Snow Partners' CEO Joe Hession: Get full access to The Storm Skiing Journal and Podcast at www.stormskiing.com/subscribe

Between 2014 and 2024 a masked man hunted women in a tight pocket of Tucker, Georgia—first in a garage on Christmas Eve, then at an apartment a mile away, then in a bound drive from machine to machine. The attacks sat in separate files until a July homicide arrest put a name on the DNA. The geography never wandered. The face never appeared. That combination is the whole case.

New Orleans high society adored the charming Jacques St. Germain, right up until they started asking why a man who claimed to be forty could describe the 1700s like he'd lived them. Now more than a century later people are still arguing over whether Jacques St. Germain was a con man, an immortal, or a true-life vampire.EPISODE BLOG PAGE (includes sources): https://weirddarkness.com/ImmortalVampireREAD or DOWNLOAD the full transcript of this episode: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/2p9xjvjyFEATURED STORIES IN THIS EPISODE: Was a New Orleans neighborhood home to an immortal vampire in the early 1900s? (Vampire in New Orleans) *** A young girl disappeared in Yosemite National Park back in 1981. To this day no one knows where she is, and some say a paranormal cause is to blame. (A Supernatural Disappearance in Yosemite) *** After Lori Erica Ruff's death, her husband discovered he had been married to a complete stranger. Because Lori Erica Ruff never existed. (The Woman Without an Identity) *** Was there a plot to murder Marconi scientists in the 1980s? (The Marconi Murders)CHAPTERS & TIME STAMPS (All Times Approximate)…00:00.00.000 = The Foreboding00:00:41.374 = Show Open00:02:10.004 = The Immortal Vampire of New Orleans00:18:58.982 = A Supernatural Disappearance In Yosemite ***00:29:58.328 = The Woman Without An Identity00:36:55.918 = The Marconi Murders ***00:51:45.221 = Show Close*** = Begins immediately after inserted ad breakLISTEN ON PODCAST APPS: Look for this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeart Radio, Amazon Music, Pandora, TuneIn Radio, and other podcast apps. Get a list of free listening apps here: https://weirddarkness.com/wdapps*No AI Voices Are Used In The Narration Of This Podcast*SOURCES and RESOURCES: “Vampire In New Orleans” by Brent Swancer: http://bit.ly/2IrlOTU“A Supernatural Disappearance in Yosemite” by Beth Elias: http://bit.ly/2v94zOB“The Woman Without an Identity” by Stephanie Webber: http://bit.ly/2UBMIyO‘The Marconi Murders” posted at The Unredacted: http://bit.ly/2VR1PRC(Over time links may become invalid, disappear, or have different content. I always make sure to give authors credit for the material I use whenever possible. If I somehow overlooked doing so for a story, or if a credit is incorrect, please let me know and I will rectify it in these show notes immediately. Some links included above may benefit me financially through qualifying purchases.)WeirdDarkness® is a registered trademark. Copyright ©2026, Weird Darkness.Originally aired: June 16, 2020LIKE WHAT YOU'RE HEARING? WEIRD DARKNESS posts episodes 7 DAYS A WEEK! Listen FREE wherever you get podcasts or visit https://weirddarkness.com/listen. • Paranormal • True Crime • Ghosts • UFOs • Cryptids • Unexplained • Want even more? Become an OFFICIAL WEIRDO for commercial-free episodes, bonus episodes, weeknight live chats, audiobooks & more at https://WeirdDarkness.com/OFFICIALThis episode of Weird Darkness moves from a suspected vampire in early-1900s New Orleans to a teenager who vanished in Yosemite National Park, a Texas wife who'd stolen a dead child's identity, and a string of bizarre deaths among British defense scientists during the Cold War.It opens with Jacques St. Germain, a wealthy stranger who arrived in New Orleans in the early 1900s, settled into a mansion at 1039 Royal Street, and began hosting lavish parties for the city's elite. He spoke French, English, and Spanish, described centuries-old events as if he'd witnessed them, was almost never seen in daylight, and never ate at his own feasts. He also claimed descent from the Comte de St. Germain, the 18th-century adventurer and alchemist who told Casanova he was three hundred years old, and the resemblance between the two men was close enough that people began to wonder if they were the same person. A prostitute's leap from his upper-floor window, her story of an attempted bite to the neck, and what police allegedly found in his darkened second floor after he skipped town turned a rich man's eccentricities into one of the city's most enduring vampire legends.From there the episode heads to California and the disappearance of fourteen-year-old Stacy Ann Arras, who walked away from a horseback tour group at Sunrise High Sierra Camp in Yosemite on July 17, 1981, intending to photograph a nearby lake, and was never seen again. As many as 150 searchers, tracking dogs, divers, and helicopters combed the area and recovered only a single camera lens. The segment weighs the theories still attached to her case, from a runaway teen in flip-flops to David Paulides and his Missing 411 research, along with search-and-rescue volunteers who explain how wind, ridgelines, and dry ground can swallow a person's voice and scent within fifty feet.Next comes the woman who called herself Lori Erica Ruff, found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot outside her in-laws' home in Longview, Texas, on Christmas Eve 2010. Her husband, Blake Ruff, then opened a lockbox she'd forbidden him to touch and found the birth certificate of Becky Sue Turner, a two-year-old who died in a Washington house fire in 1971, along with the paper trail of a name change in Idaho in 1988. Investigators listed her as a Jane Doe for six years until DNA from her young daughter traced her to a Pennsylvania family whose seventeen-year-old, Kimberly McLean, had walked away from home in 1986.The episode closes in Britain, where at least twenty-five scientists and engineers connected to Marconi Electronic Systems and related defense contractors died between 1982 and 1990, many of them working on projects tied to America's Strategic Defense Initiative. Dr. Keith Bowden's car went off a bridge on tires someone had swapped for worn ones, Vimal Dajibhai went off the Clifton Suspension Bridge with a puncture wound on his buttock, Arshad Sharif tied a ligature to a tree and hit the accelerator, and Alistair Beckham wired himself to a power socket in his garden shed hours before Ministry of Defence men arrived to collect his files. Coroners returned open verdicts, Computer Weekly journalist Tony Collins wrote a book arguing the pattern pointed to a plot, and Margaret Thatcher's government called the whole cluster a coincidence brought on by workplace stress.

Last time we spoke about the fall of Hong Kong. As dawn broke on December 20, 1941, Japanese battalions tightened their grip on Hong Kong Island. While the defenders fought desperately at Repulse Bay Hotel, Wongneichong Gap, and the heights around Mount Nicholson and Mount Cameron, piecemeal counter-attacks by exhausted Canadians, Royal Scots, Rajputs, and Hong Kong Volunteers were shattered by rain, darkness, and poor coordination.Resistance stiffened at Stanley Peninsula, but ammunition ran low and hope faded. On Christmas Eve, the Japanese stormed St Stephen's College hospital. They bayoneted wounded soldiers in their beds, murdered doctors, and raped nurses in an orgy of horror that became known as the St Stephen's Massacre.On Christmas morning—forever "Black Christmas"—Governor Young surrendered the colony after seventeen days of fighting. As white flags rose, Rear-Admiral Chan Chak and a small party made a daring escape by sea under fire, eventually rescued by Chinese Communist guerrillas of the East River Column who would save hundreds more lives in the months ahead.   #219 The Malayan Campaign Part 1: Bicycle Blitzkrieg   Welcome to the Fall and Rise of China Podcast, I am your dutiful host Craig Watson. But, before we start I want to also remind you this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Perhaps you want to learn more about the history of Asia? Kings and Generals have an assortment of episodes on history of asia and much more  so go give them a look over on Youtube. So please subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry for some more history related content, over on my channel, the Pacific War Channel where I cover the history of China and Japan from the 19th century until the end of the Pacific War. Now in the last episode we spoke about the battle of Hong Kong, which of course was fought on Chinese territory and did involve Chinese participation. I took some time to think about what aspects of the early Pacific War should be covered in depth here, ie: what pertains the most to the Chinese experience. We are not going to talk about the Philippines or Dutch East Indies, but the Malayan campaign and fall of Singapore I would argue need to be dived into. There was a lot of ethnic Chinese participation in this campaign. No worries after this brief series on the Malayan Campaign we will be jumping back to China. Following World War One, Britain sought to counter growing Japanese ambitions by establishing a major naval base in Singapore during the 1920s. The location offered strategic advantages, particularly its exemption from the Washington Naval Treaty's non-fortification clause, making it ideal for housing a powerful deterrent fleet. The plan was straightforward: maintain overwhelming naval superiority to discourage Japanese expansion. Yet this calculation proved dangerously optimistic. Japanese aggression accelerated throughout the 1930s, while the European war's outbreak in 1939 drained Britain's resources, leaving its Far Eastern colonies—Malaya, Burma, and Hong Kong—dangerously exposed. Churchill remained convinced that Japan would not strike in 1941, prompting him to channel reinforcements toward the Mediterranean theater. The defensive strategy hinged on buying time; should Japan attack, British forces would delay the enemy while holding Singapore as a fortress until relief arrived. This plan contained a fatal flaw: Britain lacked the capacity to actually send reinforcements to the region. Commander-in-Chief Robert Brooke-Popham led Britain's Far Eastern Command from Malaysia, acutely aware of the challenge ahead. Lieutenant-General Arthur Percival commanded ground forces comprising 31 poorly trained infantry battalions—approximately 88,600 personnel total—largely untrained for jungle warfare. These troops were distributed across three divisions. Air defense proved equally problematic. With only fourteen squadrons flying outdated aircraft, the RAF faced a critical shortfall. Squadrons were scattered across multiple airfields: Vickers Vildebeest and PBY Catalina aircraft at Seletar; Bristol Blenheims at Tengah; Brewster Buffalos at Sembawang and Kallang; further Buffalos and Blenheims at Sungei Patani; Lockheed Hudsons at Kota Bharu; and additional Blenheims at Kuantan and Alor Setar. Allied units occupied three strategic zones. The Indian 11th Infantry Division under Major General David Murray-Lyon held northern Malaya, defending airfields and the Thai frontier from positions near Kota Bharu, Jitra, and Alor Setar. These installations remained lightly garrisoned and vulnerable. The Indian 9th Infantry Division occupied central Malaya, tasked with holding delaying positions at Jitra and Gurun—positions themselves poorly constructed and uncoordinated. Australia's 8th Division under Gordon Bennett anchored the south near Mersing and Johor, forming the last line before Singapore's fortress. Singapore itself bristled with coastal defenses and commanded a substantial naval garrison, expected to repel any Japanese approach. A week before Japan's offensive erupted, Churchill sent Force Z to Singapore—the battleship Prince of Wales, battlecruiser Repulse, and four destroyers. Despite vigorous objections from admirals, particularly Captain William Davis, who warned the Prince of Wales without air cover would be "a hostage to fortune," Churchill overruled them, seeking to project confidence and maintain American goodwill. Admiral Sir Tom Phillips commanded Force Z. Known as "Tom Thumb" for his diminutive stature, Phillips sparked controversy—critics labeled him a "desk admiral"—yet Field Marshal Smuts called him "an admirable choice" and American Admiral Thomas Hart praised his administrative acumen. Phillips' record was mixed. He advocated astutely for tank deployment in Malaya and correctly questioned the Brewster Buffalo's effectiveness, urging Hurricanes instead. Yet he fatally underestimated the threat aircraft posed to capital ships, believing the Prince of Wales' anti-aircraft batteries could defend a maneuvering vessel. An unnoticed handicap compounded this: tropical humidity had disabled the Prince of Wales' fire-control computer before she ever fired. Force Z reached Singapore on December 2, 1941, amid misplaced confidence. Nineteen-year-old Richard Smith recalled: "Everyone believed the Japanese fleet was made of rice paper and string. We assumed we would crush them effortlessly." Churchill's public declaration seemed to goad Japan into action. Admiral Yamamoto responded decisively, dispatching thirty-six Mitsubishi bombers to reinforce existing aircraft and ordering intensive training for "ship-killing"—specialized torpedo and bombing attacks. Three air groups, led by Miyauchi, Nakanishi, and Shoji, trained relentlessly in low-level runs and ocean navigation. Phillips, stripped of air cover, commanded only aging destroyers alongside his capital ships. The stage was set for disaster. In November 1940, the German raider Atlantis captured the British steamer Automedon in the Indian Ocean, seizing documents destined for Air Marshal Brooke-Popham that exposed Singapore's vulnerabilities. The Germans shared this intelligence with Japan in December. By January 1941, the Japanese had also broken British Army codes, revealing the weakness of Singapore's defenses and enabling them to plan an invasion accordingly. The invasion of Malaya followed an audacious strategy devised by Colonel Tsuji Masanobu. Japanese forces would conduct amphibious landings in southern Thailand and northern Malaya, then push 400 miles through jungle terrain toward Singapore. The 25th Army, commanded by Lieutenant-General Yamashita Tomoyuki and initially comprising two divisions, led this operation, supported by Admiral Kondō Nobutake's 2nd Fleet, which provided convoy escort. Thailand's strategic position was crucial; the British could not defend it, offering Japan a favorable staging ground. Marshal Plaek Phibun, Thailand's leader, had informally agreed to allow Japanese passage but simultaneously negotiated with British and American diplomats, creating uncertainty. A second force, the 15th Army under Lieutenant-General Iida Shōjirō, was preparing to invade Burma through Thailand. If the Thai withheld passage by December 7, these forces would advance directly from Indochina. Brooke-Popham devised Operation Matador to counter the Japanese threat. This ambitious plan called for the 11th Indian Division to preemptively seize Singora and Patani—critical Thai ports essential to Japanese invasion plans. The operation's centerpiece was capturing the Ledge, a key terrain feature south of Patani. Control of the Ledge would allow British forces to block roads from Patani, securing retreat routes for the 11th Division and denying the Japanese access to rear areas. Failure would expose the British to encirclement and force withdrawal from Perak and Kedah. However, Matador faced insurmountable obstacles. Britain was uncertain whether Thailand would resist or accommodate Japan, and invading neutral Thai territory risked driving the Thai government into Japanese arms. Command hesitation, combined with poor intelligence, created fatal delays. Matador was never approved. Instead, authorities authorized Operation Krohcol, a scaled-down alternative named after the town of Kroh. This operation tasked a small British-Indian force with advancing into southern Thailand to capture the Ledge, destroy bridges and roads, and delay Japanese movements. Though far less ambitious than Matador, Krohcol represented Britain's final attempt at preemptive action. It would be activated only after Japan opened hostilities, but by then, opportunity had already slipped away.   On December 4, Japanese transport ships escorted by Admiral Kondō's fleet departed Hainan Island toward their objectives. Two days later, British reconnaissance spotted the fleet, but Brooke-Popham lacked authorization to intervene—he could only alert his forces. At 23:00 on December 7, Japan issued an ultimatum to Thailand, demanding passage and giving a two-hour response window. Unable to locate Prime Minister Phibun until late morning, Thailand was invaded hours later. From Indochina, Japanese Imperial Guards and the 55th Division landed at Phra Tabong and pushed northwest toward Aranyaprathet. The 5th Division's regiment landed at Patani while the division's main force seized Singora, quickly overwhelming Thai defenders. From Saigon, elements of the 15th Army conducted additional naval landings across Thailand but encountered unexpectedly fierce Thai resistance that stalled their progress. Just before Pearl Harbor came under attack, the Japanese 18th Division landed at Kota Bharu. The defenders—the 8th Indian Infantry Brigade under Brigadier B.W. Key, supported by artillery from the 21st Mountain Battery and the 73rd Field Battery—faced a daunting task. The 3/17th Dogra Regiment, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel G.A. Preston, held a 10-mile coastal stretch fortified with mines, barbed wire, and pillboxes overlooking the narrow beaches of Badang and Sabak, separated by estuaries and surrounded by creeks, lagoons, and swamp islands. The Dogras unleashed devastating fire as Japanese landing craft approached at midnight. Colonel Masanobu Tsuji observed that enemy pillboxes "responded with such overwhelming force that our men lying on the beach, partially submerged in water, could not lift their heads." The first waves were pinned down, with casualties mounting from artillery, machine gun fire, and Allied aircraft from nearby airfields. British Hudsons bombed the invasion fleet and stranded soldiers, sinking one Japanese transport and destroying seven of their own aircraft in the process. The defenders inflicted heavy casualties, but intense hand-to-hand combat eventually breached the line's center by 03:45, threatening the nearby airfield. Simultaneously, 17 Japanese bombers attacked Singapore with minimal damage and 61 casualties, surprising the British with evidence of enemy long-range aircraft. Japanese fighters and bombers dominated the skies over Kota Bharu and northern Malaysian airfields, demonstrating clear air superiority. Amid the chaos, counterattacks by Malayan battalions failed, forcing the British to destroy northern airfields to prevent capture. The defenders retreated from the beaches to Kota Bharu itself that night. As confusion engulfed British headquarters, Operation Krohcol commenced at 15:00. This scaled-down preemptive operation aimed to delay the Japanese invasion by securing and destroying the Ledge—a six-mile road carved through steep hillside with a sheer drop into a river. Blowing this section would severely impede enemy advance. The force consisted primarily of the 3/16th Punjab Regiment under Lieutenant Colonel Henry Moorhead, supplemented by engineers, traveling in Marmon-Herrington trucks provided by the Australian Motor Transport Company. Krohcol was undermanned from the start; the 5/14th Punjab Regiment and artillery battery failed to arrive on schedule, forcing the column to proceed without them. Crossing the border at Kroh, Indian troops encountered determined resistance from Thai police under Major Prayoon Rattanakit in Betong. These roadblocks delayed the Indian advance for two full days while Prayoon's officers simultaneously engaged Japanese forces at Patani. After several hours of combat, Japan and Thailand reached an armistice by midday, with Phibun granting Japan passage, though Thai forces remained neutral. Japanese forces at Patani, navigating poor roads but facing no opposition, began their advance toward the Ledge—approximately 60 miles distant—initiating a critical race against Krohcol to determine who would occupy this vital position first. Meanwhile, renewed fighting erupted at Kota Bharu as Japanese forces infiltrated around British strongpoints, causing alarm among commanders. By December 10, with the situation deteriorating, defenders received authorization to abandon Kota Bharu and withdraw south to Machang.   Just hours after the Pearl Harbor attack, Admiral Phillips ordered Force Z to intercept Japanese invasion forces in the South China Sea without air support. Phillips believed he could "finish quickly and escape to the east before the Japanese could organize a significant attack." Ten Brewster Buffaloes were assigned to support the fleet, but he departed without requesting their cover. Force Z failed to locate the Japanese fleet, which had moved northwest into the Gulf of Siam. By afternoon on December 9, Japanese submarine I-65 detected Force Z, followed by reconnaissance aircraft. When Phillips altered course toward Kuantan, crews grew complacent. Bert Wynn recalled shipboard conversation centered on sinking Japanese warships. A flag officer remarked to CBS correspondent Cecil Brown, "Oh, but they are Japanese. There's nothing to worry about." That evening, Brown questioned whether the British were overconfident given Pearl Harbor. Officers conceded theoretically but remained dismissive. One replied, "We just don't think the enemy is much good. They could not beat China for five years." At 11:00 AM on December 10, Japanese aircraft struck. Three waves of Nell and Betty bombers from Indochina, after more than five hours aloft, approached from the horizon. With no air support—Phillips had maintained radio silence—defense rested entirely on anti-aircraft batteries. Nells attacked at 12,000 feet, dropping 250 kg bombs. Repulse twisted violently, evading most, but one struck her seaplane deck, killing two dozen men instantly. At 11:30, seventeen Nells attacked at wave-top level, focusing on Prince of Wales. Nine aircraft divided their approach, flying below 100 feet from both bows. The ship's inexperienced anti-aircraft crews, hampered by inoperable radar from tropical humidity, struggled to track targets. Once torpedoes were released, the planes sped away, losing only one aircraft.   A single torpedo struck Prince of Wales near the outer propeller shaft. When restarted, water flooded engine room B. Auxiliary power failed, halting drainage and causing an 11.5-degree list to port. Her 5-inch guns became powerless; she slowed to 15 knots, severely crippled. At 12:20, twenty-six Bettys attacked in coordinated "anvil" assaults with simultaneous torpedo drops on both bows. Repulse evaded initially but two or three torpedoes found their mark. One crew member recalled, "Suddenly there was a massive explosion. I immediately knew we'd lost Repulse, for within seconds she took on a frightening list to port, so rapid no amount of counter flooding would save her." Captain's last order: "You've put up a good show, now save yourselves." At 12:23 PM, Repulse rolled over and sank stern-first, her enormous hull protruding vertically from the water. Men jumped into oil-blackened water; many drowned during hours of waiting while destroyer escorts frantically retrieved survivors. Cecil Brown described it as "a confusing, macabre game"—orange flames, white tracers, and gray aircraft "astonishingly close, like butterflies pinned on blue cardboard." With Repulse gone, bombers concentrated on the damaged Prince of Wales. At 12:44, a 500 kg bomb struck between her stacks where wounded crew sheltered, causing devastating casualties. Men ordered to abandon ship faced drowning if trapped below deck. Destroyers rushed in to save swimmers, though HMS Express nearly capsized in rescue efforts. Ten Buffaloes arrived as Prince of Wales sank—too late. One pilot recalled, "After an hour, lack of petrol forced me to leave, but during that hour I had seen many men in dire danger waving, cheering and joking, as if they were holiday-makers waving at a low-flying aircraft. It shook me, for here was something above human nature." In just over an hour, the battleship era ended: 47 British officers and 793 men perished, including Admiral Phillips. Repulse's captain later acknowledged, "The enemy's attacks were undoubtedly carried out magnificently and pressed home effectively. The high-level bombers maintained tight formation and did not veer off course." By December 10, Krohcol reached Betong, just 26 miles from the Ledge. However, a Japanese ambush caught them off-guard near the target, forcing retreat when they were only a mile away. The 5th Division's regiment reached the Ledge by midday, dealing the Indians significant casualties. By December 13, Krohcol was pushed back to Kroh, the operation failed. Meanwhile, the 5th Division advanced south from Singora toward Jitra. Major-General David Murray-Lyon commanded the 11th Indian Division's weak defensive positions at Jitra's road junction, unaware that the critical Alor Setar airfield had already been abandoned. His forces—6th Indian Brigade holding a 10-mile coastal sector, 15th Brigade covering the road, and 28th Brigade in reserve—had sent two delaying detachments on December 9. On December 11, Japanese tanks overwhelmed these covering battalions, inflicting heavy casualties. Murray-Lyon committed his reserves prematurely, leaving Alor Setar lightly defended. That night, Japanese tanks reached the main position north of Jitra, with the 5th Division following. Heavy fighting ensued between Japanese armor and demoralized Indian troops. British defenses penetrated around 06:00, forcing successive Indian units to be overrun. Murray-Lyon repeatedly requested withdrawal permission. At 19:30 on December 12, General Percival finally approved. Due to poor communication and confusion, the 11th Indian Division suffered heavy casualties but disengaged by December 13, withdrawing to Gurun. The primary British defenses in northern Malaya had been breached, the 11th Division severely weakened, and the Japanese advance down the peninsula had begun unstoppably. Percival's first significant defense occurred at Jitra on December 11th, intended to push the Japanese as far north as possible and protect remaining Allied airfields. The Japanese quickly overwhelmed the Indian defenders, and Colonel Tsuji observed the engagement firsthand: "Our tanks were ready on the road, and the twenty or so enemy armored cars ahead were literally trampled underfoot. The enemy armored cars could not escape by running away, and were sandwiched between our medium tanks. It was speed and weight of armor that decided the issue." Major General Murray-Lyon commanded the 11th Indian Division. A World War I veteran, he had served with distinction in the Highland Light Infantry, earning the Military Cross for bravery in Flanders and the Distinguished Service Order for his actions at Moeuvres. The citation stated: "For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty. When the enemy attacked and penetrated the line after intense fighting and continual bombing attacks, by his courage and personal example he succeeded in driving them out and held his position against further heavy attacks with splendid coolness and determination." This was no desk officer, but a frontline commander faced with an impossible task. Murray-Lyon's division appeared formidable on paper but was severely compromised. It contained only two regular British battalions—the Leicestershire and East Surrey Regiments—with the remainder consisting of four newly raised Indian Army battalions and three inexperienced Gurkha battalions. The Gurkhas, though renowned as elite soldiers, were primarily composed of 18-year-old recruits fresh from deployment. Like all Allied forces in Malaya, the division lacked tanks while facing an enemy flush with armor. After only days of intense combat, Murray-Lyon sought permission to withdraw, convinced the Japanese forces greatly outnumbered him. Ironically, Yamashita's army was outnumbered two to one. The Japanese commander employed Blitzkrieg tactics inspired by his time as a military attaché in Berlin, coordinating air and ground forces with remarkable precision. His approach involved fast-moving tanks, bomber aircraft deployed as mobile artillery, and—most unusually—bicycle-mounted infantry. Prior to the invasion, Japanese planners decided bicycles were ideal for the tropical jungle terrain. Rather than shipping thousands, they seized bicycles from the local population. The offensive typically began with bombing raids on Allied defensive positions, followed by tanks smashing through. As defenders retreated, bicycle infantry continuously harassed and attacked, while coastal amphibious assaults flanked positions along the shore. Colonel Alfred Harrison of the 11th Indian Division reflected on the psychological toll: "Fatigue had stretched the men's mind to the limit and the moral ascendancy which the Japanese achieved in these few weeks included a psychic side. The troops were beginning to attribute almost supernatural powers to the Japanese." Yamashita had rehearsed these tactics extensively on Hainan Island, conducting exercises in amphibious landings, bridge destruction and repair, and jungle operations. The bicycle innovation proved revolutionary—troops covered greater distances more quickly with less fatigue, repeatedly outflanking British forces who found themselves pushed off roads and encircled. The rapid movements created a psychological multiplier effect; British commanders, mistaken about enemy numbers, believed they faced far larger forces than actually present. This "Bicycle Blitzkrieg," as it became known, echoed Mongol tactics—a single swift force striking multiple targets so quickly that enemies believed they faced several armies. Tanks were crucial to this success. The British had deployed no tanks to Malaya before the war, a fatal omission. Combined with bicycle infantry, Japanese armor allowed them to engage British forces before defensive positions could be established. Percival authorized withdrawal from Jitra, directing troops south to Gurun, but those defenses remained unfinished and the Japanese advance was too rapid. Percival later reflected in his memoir, War in Malaya: "This withdrawal would have been difficult under the most favorable conditions. With the troops tired, units mixed as the result of the fighting, communications broken and the night dark, it was inevitable that orders should be delayed and that in some cases they should never reach the addressees. This is what in fact occurred. The withdrawal, necessary as it may have been, was too fast and too complicated for disorganized and exhausted troops, whose disorganization and exhaustion it only increased." From the start, British forces stretched too thinly across a 14-mile front in challenging terrain—dense jungle on the right flank, monsoon-soaked rice fields and rubber plantations in the center, mangrove swamps to the left. Yamashita's concentrated attacks breached the line. Repeated retreats cost both personnel and equipment, as overrun positions offered no opportunity for evacuation and bicycle infantry prevented orderly withdrawal. The Jitra defeat exposed a fundamental strategic error: deploying under-resourced troops across Malaya's entire breadth rather than establishing a shorter, more defensible line further south, which could have shortened British supply lines while lengthening Japan's—a disadvantage the Japanese could not exploit. The Allied retreat continued southward to the Gurun area, though the chaotic withdrawal from Jitra itself inflicted more casualties than the fighting had—many frontline units never received withdrawal orders, while others became lost crossing the Bata River. Murray eventually fell back to the Muda River, establishing defensive positions along the Krian River some thirty miles south. Percival, increasingly desperate, realized his entire strategy had depended on holding the Japanese as far north as possible to minimize air threats to Singapore. The rapid Japanese advance made this impossible. Reluctantly, he ordered a general withdrawal south of the Perak River, while his field commanders pleaded for reinforcements they would never receive. Though Percival had an Australian division in Johor, he refused to commit them north, fearing a Japanese naval invasion further south could threaten Singapore itself.   As Yamashita's 25th Army advanced westward toward Penang, Japanese bombers subjected the island to daily raids. British command, recognizing the island as indefensible, evacuated European residents on December 17th—leaving the local Malay population to face the Japanese. Mrs Muriel Reilly's recollection captures the moment's bitter legacy: "it still hurts to think how the white race 'let down hundreds of similarly faithful servants who trusted in us, and looked to us for protection from the hated Japanese." The abandonment had strategic consequences. In their haste, the British left massive stockpiles of arms and supplies in Penang that fell directly into Yamashita's hands. More profoundly, local Malays turned against their former colonial rulers. Some historians now argue "the moral collapse of British rule in Southeast Asia occurred not at Singapore, but at Penang." Under subsequent Japanese occupation, Penang endured three years and eight months of hardship—food shortages, rampant hyperinflation from the "banana dollar," and systematic repression including comfort women camps and the Sook Ching massacres targeting Chinese communities the Japanese feared might become guerrillas.  The Japanese occupiers' fears about Chinese resistance were prescient. Among the Chinese communities of Malaya and Singapore, anti-Japanese sentiment had been building for over a decade. Since Japan's 1937 invasion of China, ethnic Chinese populations had viewed Tokyo with deep hostility. The Japanese invasion of Manchuria in 1931, followed by the escalating horrors of the Second Sino-Japanese War, had created a reservoir of determination to resist Japanese expansion wherever it might emerge. As British colonial authority crumbled, this sentiment transformed from passive resentment into active organization. The Battle of Jitra exposed a fundamental miscalculation: attempting to defend all of Malaya with an undersized army. A more strategic withdrawal to Johore would have shortened British supply lines while extending Japan's. As December ended, Murray-Lyon was dismissed from command—a casualty of circumstance. He had spent weeks preparing for the cancelled Operation Matador while neglecting proper defenses at Jitra and Gurun. At fifty-one, this decorated soldier, who had earned the Military Cross and Distinguished Service Order in the Great War, became a civilian during Britain's darkest hour. He was replaced by Brigadier Archibald Paris, equally inexperienced in jungle warfare, who paradoxically proved more effective by facilitating the retreat of Murray's division while inflicting unexpected casualties on overconfident Japanese units. By December 26th, the Japanese 5th Division and 4th Guards Regiment crossed the Perak River, preparing an assault on Kampar. This position was crucial—located halfway between Penang and Kuala Lumpur, its terrain was unsuitable for tanks and difficult to outflank, offering a rare opportunity to make a stand. Paris gathered infantry battalions, many composed of Jitra and Gurun survivors: British battalions from the Leicesters and East Surreys, along with Jat and Punjabi units including Sikhs. The 12th Brigade hastily dug trenches, strung wire, and cleared fields around Kampar's ridges to improve visibility. After three weeks of continuous fighting and retreat, the defenders' morale had collapsed. Colonel Alfred Harrison observed on Christmas Day: "fatigue had stretched the men's mind to the limit and the moral ascendancy which the Japanese had achieved in these few weeks included a 'psychic' side. The troops were beginning to attribute almost supernatural powers to the Japanese." The Japanese, by contrast, had grown accustomed to victory and approached each engagement with unshakeable confidence. Yamashita employed German-inspired tactics using aircraft as mobile artillery—vital in terrain where conventional gun placement was impossible. Engagements began with bombing raids on Allied positions, followed by frontal assaults to establish a line, then flanking maneuvers through jungle to encircle defenders. When the assault came from the western coastal roads, Japanese tanks struck the 12th Brigade along a three-mile rural stretch near Gopeng. Small arms and heavy machine gun fire erupted as infantry dismounted from trucks and spread into the brush. Some tanks advanced alone onto a bridge near Dipang, where they encountered defenders with Lanchester submachine guns and Bren gun carriers equipped with anti-tank rifles. Lt Colonel Ian Stewart noted the grim reality: "the anti-tank rifle made no impression against the Jap mediums, while their 37 mm guns went through our armour like paper." The Japanese tankers, closing their hatches in the oppressive subtropical heat—what they described as a "Turkish bath"—approached cautiously, aware of potential counterattacks. British defenders fired desperately at vision slits, their bullets ricocheting uselessly. A 2-pounder anti-tank gun destroyed a single tank, prompting Japanese armor to withdraw and wait for infantry support. Meanwhile, two hundred defenders on the opposite side prepared to destroy the bridge. Fortunately, Kampar's shallow water allowed most to wade across a mile downstream. Stewart's 12th Brigade had purchased time. The British established a strong perimeter around Kampar Hill, resembling a "goose egg" on the map. Their artillery, better supplied than the Japanese equivalent, was concealed in the jungle with two hundred rounds stacked beside each gun. The 15th/6th Brigades occupied the low ground where the road and railway ran through town. Unlike earlier battles where Japanese forces kept defenders pinned with close contact, Kampar's expansive fields of fire and terrain offered space to maneuver—a rare advantage the British would finally exploit. Major General Saburo Kawamura led the attack on Kampar with his 9th Brigade. On December 31st, he probed the 28th Gurkha Brigade entrenched on the hill. Japanese howitzer fire drew return artillery that effectively repelled their advances. At midnight on New Year's Eve, Lt. Colonel Augustus Murdoch ordered a 12-gun salute fired at the Japanese—perhaps a cheeky gesture. Seven hours later, Kawamura launched his main assault on the western side targeting the trunk road. The brunt fell on a newly formed British battalion, the Leicesters and East Surreys, under Lt. Colonel Esmond Morrison. The 48-year-old, though some dismissed him as a "polo-playing playboy," proved a serious soldier despite his peacetime reputation, frequently sharing front-line dangers with his men. Japanese infantry emerged from the mist carrying mortars. Mortar fire became intense—one casualty was a company commander whose jaw was shattered by a splinter. However, observation officers from the 88th Field Regiment pinpointed Japanese advances, unleashing devastating artillery fire. Colonel Masanobu Tsuji observed "a continuous stream of casualties coming back down the hill to safety, either carried on stretchers or supported on the shoulders of comrades who were themselves wounded." Japanese artillery pieces were covertly moved through secondary jungle to hide their positions. During the fighting, one of Morrison's lieutenants encountered Japanese soldiers in a trench, fired his revolver, and retreated. A gunnery driver named Walker, noticing a nearby Bren position overrun, exited his vehicle armed with a Thompson submachine gun and launched a surprise attack, forcing the Japanese to retreat—earning him a medal. Troop Sergeant Major Hugill, commanding an outlying observation post connected by field telephone, received a distinguished conduct medal for calmly calling in protective artillery fire while cut off. When the attack subsided, he encountered isolated Japanese soldiers who had captured a Vickers-Berthier machine gun. Hugill gathered five infantrymen and led a bayonet charge to reclaim it. Emergency commissioned officer Lt. Edgar Newland commanded a platoon of 30 men in one of the most forward positions. His platoon was surrounded for much of the battle yet successfully repelled numerous assaults over two consecutive days. General Percival specifically praised Newland and his men. Newland received a Military Cross; his platoon sergeant, Euan McDonald, received a distinguished conduct medal. After two days, Japanese forces captured part of Thompson's Ridge. Morrison ordered two platoons of Sikhs and Gujars to bayonet charge under mortar fire. Tragically, 34 soldiers died, including their 21-year-old commander, Charles Lamb, killed in the initial charge. Captain John Graham lost both legs to a grenade but continued encouraging his men, throwing grenades at Japanese trenches before bleeding to death—but they had retaken the position. Courage, artillery, and terrain proved insufficient. Yamashita decided to outflank Percival with seaborne landings on the Malayan west coast. He transported 40 small craft by rail to Alor Star and ordered landings near Telok Anson, 30 miles southeast of Kampar. If successful, he would cut off Percival's 11th Indian Division defending Kampar. Yamashita devised a three-pronged attack: the Imperial Guards Division would paddle down the Perak River into town; another force would approach from the west on landing craft entering from the opposite direction; a third would move up the Bernam River and march north toward Telok Anson. Lt. General Takuro Matsui commanded the landings. While Kampar held, 1,500 of Matsui's men crowded onto landing craft. One steamer towing ten craft went too far south, attempting the Selangor River defended by a Jat battalion with artillery. The Japanese were repelled, losing one to three craft before moving north. In Perak, four landing rafts ran aground on a sandbar and required rescue. A British patrol boat spotted them but left to report—no action followed. Percival later remarked: "unfortunately neither the navy nor the air force were able to take advantage of this unique opportunity." Despite setbacks, Japanese forces landed and advanced on Telok Anson. On January 2nd, they encountered the 3rd Indian Cavalry and 1st Independent Company under Stewart, equipped with armored cars and Thompson and Bren guns. They inflicted significant casualties but with only 250 men couldn't hold. Stewart ordered delaying actions instead. Telok Anson fell, leaving Kampar defenders at risk of encirclement. Although Kawamura's forces showed no signs of breaking after four days of fighting, Paris feared his main supply route had been cut. He requested permission from Percival to withdraw to the Slim River defensive line. Paris prioritized preserving troops over territory: "With no reserves in hand, we were still in a position of being unable to accept major losses." The 12th Brigade held while Paris organized the division's withdrawal. An unusual discovery emerged during delaying actions: Brigadier Stewart found the body of a dead European cyclist in British uniform. Earlier, a Punjabi sentry had shot a man on a bridge attempting to grab his Thompson. Both were likely German deserters from Vichy Indo-China's Foreign Legion, in contact with the Nazi embassy. The British Legation in Bangkok had warned of such infiltrators offering sabotage and espionage assistance. Percival was particularly struck by the German who tried single-handedly to disarm a sentry and seize a bridge. The 12th Brigade discovered another European body—a German political refugee and former mining engineer who had disappeared weeks earlier. Exhausted after three weeks of near-constant combat, the 12th Brigade continued delaying actions. Japanese air forces wreaked havoc on vehicles; Stewart estimated half his casualties—around 90 killed and wounded from 4,000 troops—resulted from aerial attacks. Stewart expressed satisfaction: "It had been an eminently successful battle," though it was more a series of brief skirmishes than traditional battle. Kampar fell when Telok Anson was captured. Percival might have committed Australian brigades from Johore or garrison battalions from Singapore, but concentrating forces at Kampar risked prompting Yamashita to attack elsewhere. The Kampar defenders retreated 30 miles to the Slim River. Tsuji reluctantly acknowledged Yamashita's breakthrough was impressive, if risky. On the east coast, defenders faced more resistance at Kuantan. Percival clung to the airfield, determined to deny the Japanese RAF facilities and limit their ability to strike at reinforcement convoys approaching Singapore. The first convoy from Bombay, carrying the half-trained 45th Brigade under Brigadier Horatio Duncan, was 24 hours away. The 22nd Indian Brigade, led by Brigadier George Painter, defended Kuantan against the Takumi detachment of the 18th Division. One battalion, commanded by a veteran of Kota Bharu, fortified the airfield with barbed wire and trenches. When Takumi's forces approached, the Japanese encountered 4.5-inch howitzer fire inflicting significant casualties. The defenders fought fiercely, each equipped with six grenades instead of two, creating deadly chaos. Tsuji noted the airfield "was obstinately defended," particularly at night when grenades rolled into confined trenches with devastating effect. Word reached the defenders that General Barstow's entire 9th Indian Division was retreating through Kuala Lipis-Jerantut-Raub. The 22nd Brigade demolished installations and prepared to withdraw, though their rearguard risked encirclement. One night, investigating his southern flank with Captain Ian Grimwood, battalion commander Cumming spotted Japanese soldiers climbing barbed wire meters away. Armed with a .455 Webley revolver, Cumming and Grimwood faced seven Japanese soldiers charging with bayonets. They fired as they were knocked down, killing all attackers, but Cumming suffered two bayonet wounds to his stomach. Grimwood dragged him to battalion HQ for first aid. As the airfield was overrun, Cumming ordered withdrawal. A grenade or mortar round knocked him unconscious. He regained consciousness in a vehicle where Private Albel Singh reported a Japanese roadblock ahead. Spotting a fallen tree creating passage, Cumming ordered Singh to charge through. Machine gun fire rained down; Cumming was hit again with a shattered arm, possibly from an anti-personnel mine, while Singh endured a .256 armor-piercing bullet through both thighs yet maintained control, driving 30 miles per hour. The vehicle arrived at brigade HQ covered in blood from six occupants. Cumming would receive the Victoria Cross for his heroism. Painter held the airfield long enough for reinforcements to approach, though it cost much of one of the best Indian battalions. Painter, fixated on flanking fears, believed it "better to lose half a battalion than an entire brigade." The 22nd Indian Brigade lost a third of its strength but retreated by January 3rd. While this unfolded eastward, Yamashita's forces advanced south. Defenders prepared a new defensive line at Trolak, five miles north of Slim River. Reinforcements had arrived; the 45th Brigade was immediately dispatched to repel the enemy's advance on Kuala Selangor, which held another crucial airfield. Whether defenders could withstand Yamashita's onslaught remained to be seen.   While British forces retreated in disarray toward Singapore, another chapter was quietly beginning in the shadows of the collapsing colonial order. On December 25, 1941—Christmas morning, even as Governor Young raised the white flag over Hong Kong—Chinese volunteers in Singapore formalized their resistance. That day, the Singapore Overseas Chinese Anti-Japanese Volunteer Army, officially known as Dalforce, was established under the command of Lieutenant Colonel John Dalley. Dalforce emerged from urgent necessity. As the Japanese invasion accelerated and British defenses crumbled, recruitment of local Chinese volunteers escalated dramatically. What had begun as an informal volunteer effort in 1939 now crystallized into organized military structure. The initial cadre of 200 volunteers swelled to 4,000 members as the invasion reached Singapore's doorstep. These were not professional soldiers—Dalforce members came from the Chinese civilian population, motivated by the knowledge that Japanese occupation would target them specifically. Many lacked military training; some were armed only with sporting firearms due to critical shortages of military weapons. Supply ships intended for Dalforce, such as the SS Empress of Asia, were sunk before their cargo could reach Singapore. Yet the volunteers pressed forward, organizing themselves despite severe handicaps: makeshift uniforms, inadequate equipment, and internal divisions between Communist and Kuomintang factions, each trained separately by British officers. Dalforce would soon earn the nickname "Dalley's Desperadoes" from British forces—a name reflecting both affection for their fierce combat effectiveness and incredulity that such a hastily assembled, poorly equipped force could fight with such determination. Unlike the demoralized British and Indian troops retreating southward, these Chinese volunteers were not defending a colonial order they had experienced as oppressive. They were fighting for their homes, their families, and their survival against an enemy they had every reason to fear and oppose. As the Malayan Campaign entered its final phase and the focus shifted to Singapore itself, Dalforce would play a role that British military historians had largely overlooked but that Chinese participants would never forget. I would like to take this time to remind you all that this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Please go subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry after that, give my personal channel a look over at The Pacific War Channel at Youtube, it would mean a lot to me.   In December 1941, Japan invaded Malaya. British commanders placed their faith in "impregnable" Singapore, but disaster struck immediately. On December 10, Japanese bombers sank Force Z—battleships Prince of Wales and Repulse—in a stunning air attack.Using tanks and bicycles in a lightning "Bicycle Blitzkrieg," Japanese troops shattered Allied lines at Kota Bharu and Jitra, sending exhausted British, Indian, and Australian forces reeling southward in chaos.  

Planning to fly for Christmas? The timing of both your booking and your travel dates can have a big impact on airfare. In this episode, Art shares practical guidance on when to book domestic and international Christmas flights, which holiday travel days tend to be the most expensive, and why flying on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day could potentially save you money. You'll also hear tips for comparing nearby airports, using price alerts, considering one-way tickets, weighing nonstop flights against connections, and finding what Art calls the “cheapest acceptable itinerary” when holiday fares start climbing. ❤️ Support the Show If this episode helped you stay travel-smart, please leave us a review—it helps more travelers discover the show! The Places Where We Go Resources PODCAST: Released every other week in your favorite podcast app WEBSITE & BLOG www.theplaceswherewego.com

Earlier this summer, a book caught my eye because of its title. On the cover were the words, “worry cry argue fight”, all crossed out. Then, boldly circled: “pray first”. The subtitle promised to reveal “the transformative power of a life built on prayer”. Right up my alley, I thought; perfect. So, as I do with many books, I ordered it used. As soon as it arrived, I opened it, ready to begin reading, only to find an inscription on the inside cover: “You are one of my prayers. God listened to me and gave me the most wonderful man. My right one.” Signed and dated 12-24-2023.Which immediately led me to wonder how this book had traveled from one of the most beautiful attestations of transcendent love, “You are one of my prayers,” to the $2.99 discount rack. Had he died? Had they broken up? Had he read the book's title as a passive aggressive, “You need to pray more!”? I was suddenly imagining a whole domestic drama unfolding between the dedication page and the used book sticker. Of course, there's the more mundane possibility that he received the book, read it, then simply did some Marie Kondo-ing. Apparently, sometime between Christmas Eve 2023 and the used-book shelf in 2026, this answered prayer had stopped sparking joy.By summer's end, I realized I had spent more time mulling this mystery than I did reading the actual book. Something stuck in that inscription like a thorn. Maybe their love is flourishing and he simply ran out of shelf space! I hope so. But the less lovely possibilities had already raised a harder question that just wouldn't let go: What happens when we get what we prayed for – and life keeps happening? What do we do when our answered prayers don't stay answered?

Today's episode — S05E191, Friday September 11, 2026: Main story: A population-synthesis study published in Nature Astronomy on 10 September argues that magnetars make up roughly half of all neutron stars, not the one-in-a-hundred implied by the catalogues. Celsa Pardo-Araujo and Nanda Rea (Institute of Space Sciences, ICE-CSIC, Barcelona) with Michele Ronchi (ASTRON) and Vanessa Graber (Royal Holloway) modelled the whole isolated-neutron-star population as one family rather than four separate classes, evolving spin-down, magneto-thermal decay and Galactic dynamics together, then filtering the simulated population the way real surveys filter the sky. Of the 24 known neutron stars younger than 2,000 years, magnetars and central compact objects are about 59%; the derived birth fraction averages ~50% (40–70% or 30–50% depending on the assumed birth-field distribution, which peaks at 1–2.5 × 10^14 gauss). Two consequences: the Galactic core-collapse supernova rate has to be higher than assumed, around two per century, and magnetar central-engine models for superluminous supernovae, gamma-ray burst plateaus and fast radio bursts finally have the supply to work. Caveats: it is a model rather than a census, the anchor sample is 24 objects, and 'magnetar' is defined by a field threshold. Southern thread: the field began with SGR 0526−66 in the Large Magellanic Cloud on 5 March 1979, and the same Barcelona group modelled GLEAM-X J162759, found with the Murchison Widefield Array in Western Australia. The rest of the news: ·         Chariklo's rings: The first stellar occultation ever planned specifically for JWST — 18 October 2022 — has been published in Science Advances, led by Yücel Kılıç, Pablo Santos-Sanz and Celia Navas (IAA-CSIC) with Nicolas Rambaux, Bruno Sicardy and Josselin Desmars (LTE) and Damya Souami (LIRA). Against the 2017 ground-based occultations, the inner ring C1R is about 50% more opaque and the outer ring C2R about 60% less, with the ring positions unchanged. Chariklo is the largest known centaur at ~125 km radius; the rings sit at 390 and 405 km and are a few km wide. Candidate explanations: material loss from C2R, material arriving at or collisions grinding down C1R — or a wavelength effect, since infrared is being compared with visible light. The rings were discovered in 2013 by an occultation campaign across Chile, Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay. ·         Mercury under bombardment: Kilpua et al. report in Nature Astronomy (8 September) that BepiColombo's fourth Mercury flyby in September 2024 — 165 km above the surface, closer than its eventual science orbit — coincided with a major solar particle eruption. The Finnish-built SIXS instrument watched energetic electrons and protons penetrate Mercury's magnetosphere and precipitate onto the surface over a wide area. That bombardment both sputters atoms off the surface and drives the X-ray fluorescence used to read its composition, and Mercury's small, weak magnetosphere makes it a stand-in for Earth during an extreme solar storm. The spacecraft separated its transfer module on 3 September; gravity capture is 21 November. ·         Europe buys a way home: ESA has awarded The Exploration Company a contract worth up to €760M under ALADDIN (Autonomous LEO Accelerated Demo Docking to ISS Node) — €310M for the demonstration mission, with ESA funding 60% and the company 40%, plus €450M in options for two further flights. The Nyx capsule flies on Ariane 6 and must dock with the ISS no later than Q2 2029, with up to €50M in additional incentive for using European launch vehicles. Europe has flown cargo up before, with the five ATVs, but has never returned anything from orbit. CEO Hélène Huby: 'It is the first time in Europe that a five-year-old space startup wins a contract worth hundreds of millions of euros.' The company's Mission Possible capsule survived reentry in June 2025 but was lost before splashdown — a partial success in its own words. Thales Alenia Space Italy remains in a parallel tender. ·         Parker Solar Probe: NASA reports the spacecraft completed its 29th close approach on 4 September, again matching the record set on Christmas Eve 2024 — 430,000 mph and 3.8 million miles from the solar surface, for the eighth time. The encounter ran 30 August to 9 September with nine days of autonomous operation and a beacon tone on the 7th; this pass targeted structures near the Sun's north pole, sampling nearly 40% of the solar circumference in a day. Telemetry began flowing on 11 September, science data 13–27 September. The mission is extended through 2029. ·         Skywatch: New Moon on 11 September at 14:27 AEST makes tonight and tomorrow the darkest nights of the month. Southern Hemisphere — Venus low in the west after sunset, building to greatest brilliancy on 18 September at magnitude −4.8, with a very thin crescent Moon sweeping past on the 13th and 14th (about half a degree apart on the 14th, near Spica); EarthSky notes the Southern Hemisphere gets the better view. Saturn rises soon after sunset heading for its 4 October opposition with the rings ~7° open, and the Milky Way core is still high in the early evening. The zodiacal light is an evening object here — 'false dusk' in the west after full darkness, through early November. North America — the zodiacal light is a pre-dawn object in the east ('false dawn'), well flagged around the 15th; Jupiter dominates the pre-dawn east closing on Regulus with Mars near Castor and Pollux; Saturn is ~50° up in the south after midnight, and early Saturday morning Dione transits Saturn's north polar region around 2:55 a.m. EDT with Tethys entering Saturn's shadow around 2:10 a.m. EDT. Space weather has eased to quiet-to-unsettled after two minor G1 storms on the 8th and 9th. Eye safety: never point optics near the Sun without a purpose-built front-mounted solar filter; eclipse glasses must be ISO 12312-2 certified and are for naked-eye use only, never with binoculars or a telescope. Links & sources ·         Pardo-Araujo, Rea, Ronchi & Graber, 'Magnetar fraction in Core-Collapse Supernovae', Nature Astronomy (10 Sept 2026) — https://arxiv.org/abs/2601.16159 ·         ICE-CSIC — Institute of Space Sciences, magnetar population release (10 Sept 2026) — https://www.ice.csic.es/ ·         Kılıç, Santos-Sanz, Navas, Rambaux, Sicardy, Desmars & Souami, 'JWST stellar occultation reveals unexpected changes in Chariklo's ring system', Science Advances (Sept 2026) — https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.aeh4794 ·         Observatoire de Paris / LTE — The James Webb Space Telescope Reveals That Chariklo's Invisible Rings Are Changing (9–10 Sept 2026) — https://lte.observatoiredeparis.psl.eu/The-James-Webb-Space-Telescope-Reveals-That-Chariklo-s-Invisible-Rings-Are ·         Sky & Telescope — Webb Space Telescope Discovers Surprising Changes in an Asteroid's Rings (10 Sept 2026) — https://skyandtelescope.org/astronomy-news/webb-space-telescope-discovers-surprising-changes-in-an-asteroids-rings/ ·         Kilpua et al., 'Planetary shielding and surface precipitation of solar energetic particles during BepiColombo's close Mercury flyby', Nature Astronomy (8 Sept 2026) — https://www.nature.com/natastron/research-articles ·         University of Helsinki / SIXS — BepiColombo measures Mercury's particle bombardment up close (10 Sept 2026) — https://phys.org/news/2026-09-bepicolombo-mercury-particle-bombardment.html ·         ESA — Press Release N° 47–2026: ESA awards service contract to The Exploration Company (10 Sept 2026) — https://www.esa.int/Newsroom/Press_Releases ·         European Spaceflight — ESA Awards The Exploration Company a €760M Space Station Cargo Contract (10 Sept 2026) — https://europeanspaceflight.com/esa-awards-the-exploration-company-a-e760m-space-station-cargo-contract ·         NASA — After Latest Swing Past Sun, NASA's Parker Solar Probe Checks In (10 Sept 2026) — https://science.nasa.gov/blogs/parker-solar-probe/ ·         EarthSky — Visible planets and night sky guide for September — https://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/visible-planets-tonight-mars-jupiter-venus-saturn-mercury/ ·         EarthSky — Zodiacal light: everything you need to know — https://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/everything-you-need-to-know-zodiacal-light-or-false-dawn/ ·         Astronomy.com — The Sky This Week from September 11 to 18 — https://www.astronomy.com/the-sky-this-week/the-sky-this-week-from-september-11-to-18-2026/ Follow us: @AstroDailyPodBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/astronomy-daily-latest-space-news--5648921/support.Sponsor Details:Ensure your online privacy by using NordVPN. To get our special listener deal and save a lot of money, visit www.astronomydaily.io/nordvpn. You'll be glad you did!Get the best secure and private email on the planet. Stop your Government, google and who knows who else spying on every email you write. Do what we did and use ProtonMail. They beleive in privacy and there are no ads in their business model...yet they still provide a free forever service. Check them out and get out special deal at www.astronomydaily.io/protonmailBecome a supporter of Astronomy Daily by joining our Supporters Club. Commercial free episodes daily are only a click way... Click HereThis episode includes AI-generated content.

We had to say goodbye to our kids tonight with the Next Gen NYC Season 2 finale! If it's wrong to root for Shai and Ava, we don't want to be right! Was the Ariana and Charlie kiss staged? How did Ariana still spend Christmas Eve with Liam? We cannot wait for the reunion and all the relationship updates. Did Charlie dupe Ariana? Did he ever actually go to church with her? Is she with Hudson at the reunion? So much to discuss! Come judge with us!You can find us:Linktree: Two Judgey GirlsPodcast: ACast, iTunes, Spotify, wherever you listen!Instagram & Threads: @twojudgeygirlsTikTok: @twojudgeygirls // @marytwojudgeygirls // @courtneytjgYouTube: @twojudgeygirlsFacebook: www.facebook.com/twojudgeygirlsMerch: www.etsy.com/shop/twojudgeygirlsPatreon: www.patreon.com/twojudgeygirls LTK: @marytwojudgeygirls // @courtneytjg Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

At twenty-four, Allen Fetters is blindsided by the worst gallstone attack of his life. Too stubborn to call 911 or even a friend, he decides to drive himself to the ER, floors it down an empty road of green lights, on a collision course with a man on a bicycle crossing the intersection ahead of him. Then Richard Velazquez rewinds to Christmas Eve, 1989, eighteen and riding shotgun in his mentor's prized 1964 Mercedes after a night of cocaine, rum, and reggaeton on repeat. On the snowy New Jersey Turnpike, with three other people in the car, he hears a whooshing sound and a  tremendous bang. Thanks to So Say We All in San Diego, whose live show is where Richard first brought this story to an audience. Leave your comments on the stories and find episode details and music credits at risk-show.com/podcast/no-harm-no-foul  Be Part of RISK!

Late last year, Annie Leibovitz went on Julia Louis-Dreyfus' podcast Wiser Than Me. The premise of the show is that Louis-Dreyfus speaks to women who are older than her about their life experiences and wisdom gained along the way. Early on in their conversation, the longtime Vogue photographer floated the idea of photographing Julia, “It's strange to me,” Leibovitz told her, “I haven't photographed you.” At that moment, they set out to amend things. A little less than a year later, Leibovitz's images of Louis-Dreyfus graced the pages of Chloe's first September issue.“That was a life dream for me to work with her,” Louis-Dreyfus said to Chloe on today's episode of The Run-Through, “It's scary to have your picture taken, but I didn't have that anxiety [with her]. I felt confident in her.”  She has had a storied career and has decided it isn't too late to try something new—this fall she is making her Broadway debut in Other Desert Cities, the 2011 play by Jon Robin Baitz about a well-to-do conservative family that gets together in Palm Springs for Christmas Eve. Louis-Dreyfus will play Polly, the matriarch of the family, who she says she has developed based on many “Pollys” she grew up around. As for her maintenance routine, she plans to do a combination of interval training, walking and running, pilates, and drinking electrolytes. In addition to her upcoming Broadway debut, she and Chloe spoke about the loss of her family's home of 32 years in the Palisades fire. “That is definitely, short of losing people that I love in my life, the great loss,” she remarked, “That was a shocking experience. I still can't believe it happened.” Chloe's mother also lost her Los Angeles home in the fire and they commented on the rose bushes that, against all odds, survived this massive destruction. “The little things that remain are so much more treasurable now,” Louis-Dreyfus said.   At the end of every episode of Wiser Than Me, Louis-Dreyfus debriefs the contents of the episode with her mother, Judith Bowles. She has revealed on the podcast that she and mother have gone to therapy together. Chloe asked her if she too should try therapy with her own mother. “I'm all for it, “ Louis-Dreyfus encouraged, “I think you should definitely do it. I would advise you to do it while you have the chance.” The Run-Through with Vogue is your go-to podcast where fashion meets culture. Hosted by Chloe Malle, Head of Editorial Content, Vogue U.S.; Chioma Nnadi, Head of British Vogue; and Nicole Phelps, Director of Vogue Runway, each episode features the latest fashion news and exclusive designer and celebrity interviews. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome to the Storm's short-form, news-focused podcast. Don't worry, I will still write newsletters too. To browse a podcast transcript, click the “transcript” button above - click on any block of text and the audio will jump to that point in the conversation. Paid subscribers can leave a comment below - I'll respond to some in the next episode. Thank you for supporting independent ski journalism./:The Zoom transcript (click “transcript” above for the Substack transcript, which will zoom to any point in the video when you click on the associated text block; timestamps below DO NOT MATCH THE VIDEO)00:01:51.000 --> 00:02:02.000Stuart Winchester: Welcome to the Storm! It is September 8th, 2026, and if you are a Storm regular, you are probably wondering what in the heck is going on here.00:02:02.000 --> 00:02:09.000Stuart Winchester: Today, we are launching an all-new format for the Storm Skiing Podcast.00:02:09.000 --> 00:02:22.000Stuart Winchester: It is shorter, it is news-focused, it will be more frequent, and it will publish the same day that I record it in just about every instance.00:02:22.000 --> 00:02:23.000Stuart Winchester: So.00:02:24.000 --> 00:02:28.000Stuart Winchester: It's gonna have a lot of different elements. Uh, takes just…00:02:28.000 --> 00:02:31.000Stuart Winchester: on whatever's happening in the news.00:02:32.000 --> 00:02:34.000Stuart Winchester: Okay, let's scrap that and let's start again.00:02:38.000 --> 00:02:41.000Stuart Winchester: Okay, starting from the top.00:02:41.000 --> 00:02:42.000Stuart Winchester: 3.00:02:42.000 --> 00:02:44.000Stuart Winchester: Q.00:02:44.000 --> 00:02:45.000Stuart Winchester: One.00:02:45.000 --> 00:02:59.000Stuart Winchester: Welcome to the Storm! I'm your host, Stuart Winchester. It is September 8th, 2026, and I would like to welcome you all to a brand new version of the Storm Skiing Podcast.00:02:59.000 --> 00:03:02.000Stuart Winchester: So, the long-form podcast…00:03:02.000 --> 00:03:09.000Stuart Winchester: has been the default of the Storm Skiing Podcast since I launched in 2019.00:03:09.000 --> 00:03:12.000Stuart Winchester: Very proud of the Storm Skiing podcast.00:03:12.000 --> 00:03:16.000Stuart Winchester: We're at episode 227.00:03:16.000 --> 00:03:26.000Stuart Winchester: I have interviewed the leaders of nearly every large ski area in America, and the leaders of most of the large ski companies in America.00:03:26.000 --> 00:03:29.000Stuart Winchester: But something started to feel a little bit off.00:03:29.000 --> 00:03:35.000Stuart Winchester: And, you know, I started to think about the kind of podcasts that I consume.00:03:35.000 --> 00:03:44.000Stuart Winchester: And those are mostly, frankly, around Michigan football, uh, which is my other obsession besides ski-ski-ski-ski-ski-ski-ski-ski-s.00:03:44.000 --> 00:04:02.000Stuart Winchester: tend to be much more news-focused. They tend to be much shorter than the Storm Skiing Podcast. They tend to publish the same day that they record them, and they tend to break down current events. For example, I just went to a Michigan football game.00:04:02.000 --> 00:04:21.000Stuart Winchester: on Saturday in Ann Arbor. If you're even remotely a sports fan, you probably saw the controversial ending to that game when Michigan got an extra second added on, and Bryce Underwood, the quarterback, tossed a Hail Mary to win the game when JJ Buchanan, our transfer receiver, came down with the ball.00:04:21.000 --> 00:04:36.000Stuart Winchester: That's never happened in the history of Michigan football, to have a Hail Mary ending that Michigan wins. So, on the way home, it's a 10-hour drive back to New York, my wife and I listened to all the different Michigan podcasts that were breaking down that moment. And I realized that…00:04:36.000 --> 00:04:54.000Stuart Winchester: as much as I like the Storm Skiing Podcast, and as much as a lot of other people like it, I was not really making the kind of podcast that I actually listen to. And that's a problem, because in our current media environment, people have a lot of choice.00:04:54.000 --> 00:04:58.000Stuart Winchester: They have a lot of of.00:04:58.000 --> 00:05:13.000Stuart Winchester: different things they can give their attention to, and it's hard to get and keep their attention. So, I want to say right off, I am not killing the long-form storm skiing podcast. It will not end with episode 227. In fact, I have about 5 or 6 in the can that I've been sitting on.00:05:13.000 --> 00:05:30.000Stuart Winchester: for this news, and I will release those soon, and my thanks to the folks who participated in those podcasts for their everlasting patience as I got this together. So, I'm still gonna make the Storm Skiing Podcast. The frequency will go from about 45 a year at its peak.00:05:30.000 --> 00:05:47.000Stuart Winchester: It's probably about a dozen a year or so, and sometimes there will just be a time when the long form is the more appropriate form for telling the story of a mountain. If I have someone new on, for example, so for example, I've never had.00:05:47.000 --> 00:06:02.000Stuart Winchester: Uh, the GM or owner of Sierra at Tahoe in California, an important mountain on the podcast. Never had Wolf Creek on the podcast, never had Mount Baker. If I were to get one of those folks, I would want to do a long form, tell the story of the ski area. But it's not always necessary to.00:06:02.000 --> 00:06:18.000Stuart Winchester: Tell the entire story of the ski area and its history and its culture when you just want to talk about a new lift or you just want to talk about the fact that it joined a new pass. So this shorter podcast will be more frequent.00:06:18.000 --> 00:06:35.000Stuart Winchester: It will have different segments, segments with takes when I just talk about what's going on. It will still have interviews, much shorter interviews. Today we have an interview with an awesome guest, Snow Partner CEO Joe Heschen, one of the smartest guys in skiing.00:06:35.000 --> 00:06:45.000Stuart Winchester: But before, Joe and I went on for two hours. This time, we'll be able to condense it down. And then at the end of each episode, my intent.00:06:45.000 --> 00:07:02.000Stuart Winchester: and hope is to have reader interaction, and this will be a feature available only to paid supporters of the Storm Skiing Journal and Podcast, and you can upgrade to a paid subscription at stormskiing.com anytime. The podcast will be for everyone, as it's always been.00:07:02.000 --> 00:07:18.000Stuart Winchester: But only paid subscribers will be able to interact with the podcast. And the way that they will be able to do that is that they will be able to write a comment on the article that accompanies the newsletter on stormskiing.com.00:07:18.000 --> 00:07:32.000Stuart Winchester: And the next day, I will read some of those comments and react to them as appropriate. And I'll talk a little bit more about that later and why I'm doing it that way. But for now, I want to assure you.00:07:32.000 --> 00:07:48.000Stuart Winchester: This podcast is going to come to you the same way your podcasts always have. Now, there is a video version. You can watch that on YouTube, will be our primary channel, as well as Substack, which is where the newsletter is published. There will always, always, always be an audio version.00:07:48.000 --> 00:07:58.000Stuart Winchester: And it will always come to the same places that you have always gotten the podcast. If that's Apple, if that's Spotify, there's some that I don't even know.00:07:58.000 --> 00:08:11.000Stuart Winchester: how the podcast got on there, or why it's on there. There's an RSS feed that spits this out from Substack. That will not change. The storm will be… when you go looking for it, you're going to find the storm.00:08:12.000 --> 00:08:13.000Stuart Winchester: So.00:08:13.000 --> 00:08:24.000Stuart Winchester: This is something I'm super excited about because I think it will allow me to have a lot more guests a lot more often.00:08:24.000 --> 00:08:35.000Stuart Winchester: there are so many great minds in skiing right now, and I feel like there's a lot of negative sentiment around skiing and the way it's evolving. There's a lot of talk of a duopoly.00:08:35.000 --> 00:08:39.000Stuart Winchester: But from my point of view.00:08:39.000 --> 00:08:54.000Stuart Winchester: there's not a duopoly in a way that is dominating all consumer choice. And the reason I have that point of view is I'm having conversations every single day with smart people.00:08:54.000 --> 00:09:10.000Stuart Winchester: thinking far ahead and doing great things to change skiing in ways that make skiing better, that make skiing access better. People like Joe Hesham, my guest today, people like Eric Mogenson, who runs the Indy Pass, people like John Schaefer, who runs a handful of mountains.00:09:10.000 --> 00:09:28.000Stuart Winchester: in the East, people like Rick Schmitz, who runs three ski areas in the Midwest. Small ski area operators like Tim Meyer at Caber Fay in Michigan, who we'll talk about a little bit later. So, I'm talking to these people all the time, and I'm seeing the independent ski areas are really, for the most part, doing fine. I'm seeing.00:09:28.000 --> 00:09:33.000Stuart Winchester: Huge investment. I'm seeing huge innovation and.00:09:33.000 --> 00:09:43.000Stuart Winchester: Because of the frequency of the podcast, and because of the laborious nature of turning interviews into written content.00:09:43.000 --> 00:10:00.000Stuart Winchester: I don't think that I'm getting that to you in the way that I would like, in, in, in the way that you deserve. I want you to be part of this conversation. I want you to see why I'm so optimistic about skiing right now. I want you to know why I feel that skiing is in its best.00:10:00.000 --> 00:10:05.000Stuart Winchester: place, historically, that it has ever been, at least in America.00:10:05.000 --> 00:10:10.000Stuart Winchester: Now, it certainly has problems, and we will get into those as well.00:10:10.000 --> 00:10:21.000Stuart Winchester: I don't answer to anyone. I don't answer to the operators. I don't have a boss. I answer to my subscribers, and that's it. The only thing I care about is the truth.00:10:21.000 --> 00:10:28.000Stuart Winchester: Uh, and my optimism does not come from any desire to have access or anything else. My… my…00:10:28.000 --> 00:10:31.000Stuart Winchester: My content and my commitment to the truth.00:10:31.000 --> 00:10:50.000Stuart Winchester: comes from wanting to deliver a great journalistic product. Uh, and there's gonna be opinion and analysis. You're not always going to agree with what I say, and that's good! I wanna remind people that. That's good. If you agree with everything I say, I have no value. I can tell you that all of my guests.00:10:50.000 --> 00:10:54.000Stuart Winchester: disagree with things I say, but the reason they keep coming back.00:10:54.000 --> 00:11:03.000Stuart Winchester: And the reason that I hope they will keep coming back is because I'm trying to be fair, I'm trying to work within the bounds of the truth, and I'm not…00:11:03.000 --> 00:11:08.000Stuart Winchester: Jumping to these huge accusatory.00:11:08.000 --> 00:11:25.000Stuart Winchester: narratives that we see so often with the Mega Passes and with the big consolidators, Vale and Altera. So, I want to give a different perspective, I want to give it more frequently. The newsletter, one more point, the newsletter will stay the same. There will always be written content.00:11:25.000 --> 00:11:34.000Stuart Winchester: I am still a writer with a podcast, not a podcaster with a newsletter, though I kind of have to admit at this point that I am.00:11:34.000 --> 00:11:42.000Stuart Winchester: a podcaster, even though that sounds… I don't know, it sounds a little… pretentious, or juvenile, or uh… like I'm…00:11:42.000 --> 00:11:58.000Stuart Winchester: you know, doing this as a side hustle while I drive for Uber, but… but no, this is my full-time job. The Storm is and has been my full-time job for a couple of years. Now, the reason I want to switch to a news-based podcast is for days like today, because today we have.00:11:58.000 --> 00:12:00.000Stuart Winchester: Huge news.00:12:00.000 --> 00:12:04.000Stuart Winchester: One of my favorite ski areas.00:12:04.000 --> 00:12:09.000Stuart Winchester: One of the best ski areas in the eastern United States.00:12:09.000 --> 00:12:14.000Stuart Winchester: Uh, depending on your point of view, maybe one of the best ski areas in the United States.00:12:15.000 --> 00:12:20.000Stuart Winchester: is joining a Malta Mountain Pass for the first time.00:12:20.000 --> 00:12:27.000Stuart Winchester: That is Smuggler's Notch, Vermont. Smuggs is an incredible place.00:12:27.000 --> 00:12:40.000Stuart Winchester: For a lot of reasons. Number one, if you don't live in the East, and you're under the impression that the East is an ice ball, and the vertical drops are short, and the mountains are small.00:12:41.000 --> 00:12:56.000Stuart Winchester: You're wrong. You're just wrong. And there is a snow. There's plenty of big mountains in the east. First of all, there's plenty of good snow pockets in the east. One of the best snow pockets is in northern Vermont, and you have a line of resorts.00:12:56.000 --> 00:13:12.000Stuart Winchester: We call it the spine of the Green Mountains. Starts at Killington Pico, goes up to Sugarbush, which is in Alterra Mountain. Right next door is Mad River Glen, the famous Indy with the single chair. North of that is Bolton Valley, which is on Indy Pass. North of that is Stowe, which is owned by V.00:13:12.000 --> 00:13:23.000Stuart Winchester: On the backside of Stowe is Smuggler's Notch, and then north of that is Jay Peak. Smuggler's Notch joins IndyPass today, and here are the stats.00:13:23.000 --> 00:13:39.000Stuart Winchester: It is a 2610 foot vertical drop that is the fourth tallest in the east. It has one smug says 1060 skiable acres that they claim there's actually more in the woods. If you count the back bowls and some of the secret stashes.00:13:39.000 --> 00:13:54.000Stuart Winchester: Off of the Sterling lift. So that makes it the fourth largest ski area in the east. It is the second snowiest ski area in the east after Jay Peak, which is also an IndyPass partner with 322in of snowfall.00:13:54.000 --> 00:14:10.000Stuart Winchester: On average per winter. Yes, that's a lot. That's those are Vail numbers. Those are Colorado numbers. No, it's not Cottonwoods, but it's deep enough that those ski areas almost always have tree skiing from the beginning.00:14:10.000 --> 00:14:22.000Stuart Winchester: from around Christmas through the end of the season. I've skied Glades at Stowe in April many times. I've done the same at Jay Peak. So, the snow coverage really.00:14:22.000 --> 00:14:38.000Stuart Winchester: comes and it really falls. Mount Mansfield, which is where Stowe is, right next to Smuggs, is the tallest mountain in Vermont, and they have a snow stake there that consistently builds up to around 60 inches or so for the season. So, Smuggs joins Indy Pass.00:14:38.000 --> 00:14:56.000Stuart Winchester: today. It is the… and, and, and, and… No Blackouts on Indie Bass Pass, which goes on sale today to the general public, or actually maybe tomorrow it goes on sale, for… $419.00:14:56.000 --> 00:14:57.000Stuart Winchester: The ND…00:14:57.000 --> 00:15:13.000Stuart Winchester: Plus is 469. So I'll give you a few stats here. So Indy with adding smugs, that is the 43rd Alpine lift serve ski area that Indy has added for the 2026 to 2027.00:15:13.000 --> 00:15:14.000Stuart Winchester: Winter.00:15:14.000 --> 00:15:30.000Stuart Winchester: That gives them a total. Now, my totals are going to be a little different than Indy's because they're counting cross-country ski areas. And I'm leaving those off. And I also count sometimes two ski areas, as one when they're when they're separate entities. But but they share days.00:15:30.000 --> 00:15:45.000Stuart Winchester: So Indy now has 256 ski areas, lift-served alpine downhill ski areas, which get two days each. So they have more than you could possibly use. That includes 148 ski areas in the United States.00:15:45.000 --> 00:15:57.000Stuart Winchester: 32 in Canada, 39 in Europe, and 32 in Japan. You can ski 30% of all ski areas in America on Indy.00:15:57.000 --> 00:16:14.000Stuart Winchester: Now, on the flip side, Indy also had some important losses this winter. They lost, and they're all in the Midwest, and Indy's lost mountains before, and with a roster that big, you're gonna have some turnover. Uh, but the first wave of losses came back.00:16:14.000 --> 00:16:24.000Stuart Winchester: in past release season in March, when the three areas owned by Midwest Family Ski Resorts, some of the best operators in the country, uh, they own Lutzen Mountain in Minnesota.00:16:24.000 --> 00:16:39.000Stuart Winchester: one of the largest ski areas in the Midwest, uh, Granite Peak in Wisconsin, which has 3 high-speed lifts, and Snow River, which is really 2 side-by-side ski areas and a nice snow belt in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. They left for Icon Pass.00:16:39.000 --> 00:16:53.000Stuart Winchester: Now, there's a little bit of a historical precedent there, because those three ski areas had been on the Max Pass, which had been the immediate predecessor, along with the Rocky Mountain Super Pass, to the Icon Pass. Uh, the…00:16:53.000 --> 00:17:10.000Stuart Winchester: Icon Pass, when it debuted in 2018, left off Snow River, Granite Peak, and Lutzen. And I always thought, well, Snow River wasn't a part of Midwest Family at the time, but I always thought that was a mistake. So I'm not surprised to see them go, but those were big drivers of Indy Pass sales.00:17:10.000 --> 00:17:16.000Stuart Winchester: Because those are marquee mountains in the Midwest. They also recently lost…00:17:16.000 --> 00:17:34.000Stuart Winchester: Another three mountains run by another great operator in Wisconsin, Little Switzerland, Crystal Ridge, and Nordic Mountain. Now, these are small ski areas. They're feeder ski areas, but they're important ski areas because Rick is a very smart guy. He's very influential.00:17:34.000 --> 00:17:50.000Stuart Winchester: And he has a lot of influence in the ski business, including being part of the board of directors of the National Skiers Association. Everyone respects him. They also lost Cabar Fay, one of my favorite mountains in Michigan. It was my pseudo-home mountain when I lived in Michigan as a teenager.00:17:50.000 --> 00:17:57.000Stuart Winchester: I have a lot of respect for Tim and Pete Meyer, who run that over there. So, I'll talk a little bit more…00:17:57.000 --> 00:18:10.000Stuart Winchester: about that with Joe, because I think there's going to be some crossover with the snow pass. So, quickly, before we get to our guest, I want to tell you about Profile Search International.00:18:10.000 --> 00:18:15.000Stuart Winchester: A lot of you come to this podcast to hear from the best minds in skiing.00:18:15.000 --> 00:18:20.000Stuart Winchester: But what if you want to find one of these great leaders for your own mountain team?00:18:20.000 --> 00:18:35.000Stuart Winchester: Well, let me introduce you to the folks at Profile Search International. They are the ski industry talent acquisition experts, and are the only executive search and recruitment firm in the world that is 100% focused on the ski industry.00:18:35.000 --> 00:18:48.000Stuart Winchester: They have used their intimate understanding of skiing and related industries and available candidates worldwide to place hundreds of transformational leaders at the best and most progressive ski areas over the past 30 years.00:18:48.000 --> 00:19:04.000Stuart Winchester: With offices in the US and Canada, Profile Search finds and negotiates with the right leaders for your team. You can reach out to them directly at profilesearch.com or contact them by email or phone, or send me a note and I will connect you directly with their expert team.00:19:06.000 --> 00:19:08.000Stuart Winchester: Okay.00:19:08.000 --> 00:19:11.000Stuart Winchester: We are joined.00:19:11.000 --> 00:19:13.000Stuart Winchester: As soon as we get a video.00:19:13.000 --> 00:19:33.000Stuart Winchester: We are joined today by the founder and CEO of Snow Partners, which owns and operates the Mountain Creek Outdoor Ski Area and the Big Snow American Dream Indoor Ski Areas in New Jersey. Snow Partners' terrain-based learning program has been used by more than 80 ski resorts worldwide.00:19:33.000 --> 00:19:50.000Stuart Winchester: And the company has rolled out its SnowCloud all-in-one resort management software with at least 15 clients, including Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Last year, the company launched the Snow Triple Play Pass, which was good for 3 days, total across 16 ski areas in eastern North America.00:19:50.000 --> 00:20:01.000Stuart Winchester: Ahead of Winter 2026-27, Triple Play adds 7 additional mountains, for a total of 23, at a price of $179.00:20:01.000 --> 00:20:18.000Stuart Winchester: Snow Partners has also launched the Snow Pass, which is loaded with two days each at 14 ski areas for $339.99. My guest to break all this down for us today is a good friend of the Storm Skiing Podcast, Joe Heschen. Joe, welcome back to the storm. Always good to track you down.00:20:17.000 --> 00:20:18.000Joe Hession: Thanks.00:20:18.000 --> 00:20:21.000Stuart Winchester: How are you feeling on Snow Pass launch day?00:20:21.000 --> 00:20:36.000Joe Hession: You know, it's launch day for Snow Pass. It's launch day for Mountain Creek Seasons Passes. So winter's in the air. Things are happening. It's really exciting. This is probably my favorite time of year. So thanks for having me on such a special day. Winter's coming.00:20:34.000 --> 00:20:36.000Stuart Winchester: I'll do it.00:20:36.000 --> 00:20:53.000Stuart Winchester: Yeah, and it's the first day of the new platform for the Storm. So I wanted to get you on first. I'll admit, I want to do a little bit of a flex because I know you're a hard guy to track down and you're doing a lot of cool, interesting things. I want to start with the Snowpass, Joe, because you came on the podcast last year to talk about Snow Triple Play.00:20:53.000 --> 00:20:56.000Stuart Winchester: And your launch, and you were pretty…00:20:54.000 --> 00:20:55.000Joe Hession: Mm-hmm.00:20:56.000 --> 00:21:09.000Stuart Winchester: adamant, you know, this is not a pass. I don't want to do a pass. And, you know, we talked about it a lot, and I probably harassed you about it a little bit, and now we have a pass!00:21:00.000 --> 00:21:01.000Joe Hession: Yep.00:21:03.000 --> 00:21:05.000Joe Hession: Mm-hmm.00:21:09.000 --> 00:21:17.000Stuart Winchester: So, so tell us about that journey. How did, how did we get from TriplePlay to SnowPass, and, and why do you have the two different products?00:21:09.000 --> 00:21:10.000Joe Hession: Yep.00:21:17.000 --> 00:21:32.000Joe Hession: Yeah. And, and, you know, you might be very responsible for it because you, you pushed it early on of, you know, why, why would this not be a pass? And, you know, originally we were really following the data and the data we were really focused on was 73% of people ski between one and five days.00:21:32.000 --> 00:21:50.000Joe Hession: the price point for that, and we were looking at the data for Mountain Creek with our triple play, and saying, you know, there's really not a lot of triple plays for multi-resort. That's kind of a cool, unique concept. So we were really stuck on the data. Obviously, we heard feedback from folks like yourself, and also your other… all your listeners and subscribers, and…00:21:42.000 --> 00:21:43.000Stuart Winchester: Mm-hmm.00:21:50.000 --> 00:22:05.000Joe Hession: And… but then, it was really our past partners. The people that bought the Triple Play were like, if we had this option, we'd be really happy. They hit us that in our post-survey, they said, we really would like this. Um, and then the resorts. We had great partners on the Triple Play program, and…00:22:05.000 --> 00:22:13.000Joe Hession: they came in and said, we would like this as well. So, you know, the model's been done, and we made the leap to do it. So we're really excited about it.00:22:13.000 --> 00:22:28.000Stuart Winchester: You have a great network to launch, and I think especially if you live in New York Metro, and I want to talk about — I do want to talk about Triple Play, but let's focus on Snowpass for a minute. The three key mountains here are Bel Air, Gore, and Whiteface.00:22:28.000 --> 00:22:43.000Stuart Winchester: These mountains, for those of us who are in the area, we know they're state subsidized. They've gotten a half billion dollars in investment. That's a whole different subject. We're going to leave that alone because the result of that for your pass holders is these are awesome ski areas. Bel Air is essentially a brand new ski area.00:22:43.000 --> 00:22:58.000Stuart Winchester: And if you're in New York Metro, you get two days at Mountain Creek, and you get two days at Big Snow, then there's some little ones. You get up in Connecticut, you have Mount Southington. So you have a really nice network of.00:22:58.000 --> 00:23:10.000Stuart Winchester: 14 ski areas, 12 of them are in the east. Talk about that network, Joe, and how deliberate it was that they kind of worked together to create a compelling pass product.00:23:10.000 --> 00:23:27.000Joe Hession: Yeah, that's a great question because that is, you know, we probably look at the world a little differently than people looking at different passes and different programs. And I think you nailed it. Like, you know, with the news last week, you know, sometimes people from Colorado chirp and they, this pass doesn't make sense for me. I'm like, yeah.00:23:27.000 --> 00:23:44.000Joe Hession: Yeah, congratulations. You can read and understand basic logic. So we love our friends in Colorado, we love our friends out west, but this is a pass that's very regional. It makes so much sense if you live in this area and you're planning to have those trips and, and, and you might remember this, but years ago.00:23:31.000 --> 00:23:32.000Stuart Winchester: Right.00:23:44.000 --> 00:24:00.000Joe Hession: at the NSA show, which is the National Ski Association. I was on stage with a bunch of different groups, talking about Epic Pass and ICOM Pass, and this is before we had a Pass product. And I was saying, and I was a little critical too.00:24:00.000 --> 00:24:18.000Joe Hession: you know, listen, I think the high-level past products that exist, which just throw out big numbers, like, you know, 40 of these resorts, these resorts, or 300 resorts, like, it's cool, but the reality is, is I'm really focused on how does someone actually use it? So if we go back to the skier.00:24:18.000 --> 00:24:35.000Joe Hession: and the snowboarder, and how do they actually use this pass? And, you know, back in the day, and I love, you know, the industry is much smaller than people, especially your listeners might realize, like, I have a ton of respect for almost everybody. If anyone's in this business, I respect them, because it's a really hard business.00:24:35.000 --> 00:24:36.000Stuart Winchester: Mmhm.00:24:35.000 --> 00:24:51.000Joe Hession: And so for us, I've always looked at it and said these big pass products that are kind of like overwhelming with the options, like how do people actually use them and where does it drive traffic and traffic to the right places at the right time and stuff like that. So we're very deliberate.00:24:51.000 --> 00:25:02.000Joe Hession: very deliberate in, if you live in New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Long Island, um, upstate New York, parts of Pennsylvania, this is a very compelling pass that not only takes you from the city.00:25:02.000 --> 00:25:18.000Joe Hession: Because for us, what's really critical is that kind of warm handshake from, we're teaching a hundred thousand new people a year to ski at Big Snow. Where do they then go to? And obviously we want them to come to Mountain Creek, but I also want them to go to Whiteface and Bel Air and Gore and Platic Hill.00:25:16.000 --> 00:25:17.000Stuart Winchester: Mmhm.00:25:18.000 --> 00:25:34.000Joe Hession: Um, because things like that, that's kind of how this industry can work together to take people who are new to the sport, or people who are, maybe have never gone. Maybe they always go to Vermont, and we love Vermont, but maybe this is their chance to go up to Whiteface and realize, oh, wow.00:25:34.000 --> 00:25:41.000Joe Hession: That's, you know, you can see JP from there, right? So it's kind of it's people don't realize how far north Whiteface is.00:25:36.000 --> 00:25:37.000Stuart Winchester: Mm-hmm.00:25:41.000 --> 00:25:49.000Stuart Winchester: Yeah, so you have a really nice network, and I think it's gonna sell really well. I mean, just even if… even if you just launched.00:25:49.000 --> 00:26:05.000Stuart Winchester: a Bel Air Gore Whiteface pass at that price point, I think it would probably sell really well. Uh, but the reality is you're going up against a very competitive market. So, uh, you look at Epic Pass, not maybe so competitive, you're doing something different, they don't have as many mountains in the market. Indy Pass.00:26:05.000 --> 00:26:20.000Stuart Winchester: I'm not even sure if you know this yet, because the embargo literally lifted when we started this at 10 a.m. eastern. A smuggler's notch today announced they are joining the Indy Pass. So the Indy Pass gives you a really nice network of resorts in your neighborhood.00:26:12.000 --> 00:26:14.000Joe Hession: Yep.00:26:20.000 --> 00:26:34.000Stuart Winchester: In New England, it has Waterville Valley, Cannon, Jay Peak, Saddleback, and now Smug, some of the best ski areas in the region. It has ski areas all over New York. That goes on sale to the public.00:26:34.000 --> 00:26:50.000Stuart Winchester: Today or tomorrow, the Indy Pass, they do a fall sale for $419. They have 256 alpine ski areas as of today, including 61 in the western US. They have a big head start, right? They started in 2019, so.00:26:50.000 --> 00:27:04.000Stuart Winchester: you're offering a different product, but it works in the same way, right? SnowPass. Uh, little lower price point, $340 as opposed to $419. What's your pitch for someone considering SnowPass or IndyPass?00:27:05.000 --> 00:27:20.000Joe Hession: Yeah, so, well, well, first let me hit that because it's, it's, what's interesting is, and, and it's important to kind of explain our background and where we come from. I probably see the world differently than almost everyone involved in this past world. I, I kind of look at it as.00:27:17.000 --> 00:27:18.000Stuart Winchester: Mmhm.00:27:20.000 --> 00:27:35.000Joe Hession: you know, the pitch is, if you live in this area and you want to visit the resorts on our pass, it's a no-brainer. Not only that, I don't think we're going to live in a world where there's Epic, Icon, Indy, Snow Pass, Mountain Collective.00:27:35.000 --> 00:27:53.000Joe Hession: I think we should be trying to live in a world where we democratize skiing back to the skiers and snowboarders, and allow them to make choices in their price points where they want to go, vastly different than it is today. I think these programs, um, really exist because lack of good technology.00:27:53.000 --> 00:28:08.000Joe Hession: Like, like, basically, we would have reciprocal programs back years ago with, uh, like, Mound Creek and Killington. And to get that to actually make sense to the guests, where they show up, and it's seamless, and the money's able to be traded the right way, wasn't possible years ago.00:28:00.000 --> 00:28:02.000Stuart Winchester: Mmhm.00:28:08.000 --> 00:28:24.000Joe Hession: So, for us, you know, and I'll get to the question of what the pitch directly to Indy, but I see the world so dramatically different than IndyPass. I see a world where independent ski resorts should be working with each other.00:28:15.000 --> 00:28:16.000Stuart Winchester: Mm-hmm.00:28:24.000 --> 00:28:43.000Joe Hession: for the betterment of their guests to share people to different locations that people find interesting. A real-life example is Martok in Nova Scotia and Cape Smoky have a reciprocal program that they're actually allowed to have… they have one pass that's able to work at both places and can split the revenue and funding between it.00:28:43.000 --> 00:29:00.000Joe Hession: between them. They have common ownership. But they're both on SnowCloud. So really, you know, our software platform, SnowCloud, which really operates all the things that is involved with Snowpass and Snow TriplePlay, our real pitch long-term, our real pitch of what we're trying to do with Snowpass.00:28:45.000 --> 00:28:46.000Stuart Winchester: Mm-hmm.00:29:00.000 --> 00:29:17.000Joe Hession: is open up the door to give resort leaders and operators tools where they take out the middleman. And what I mean by the middleman is Wachusett and a resort up in Vermont doesn't need a third party to organize their pass benefits.00:29:17.000 --> 00:29:33.000Joe Hession: They should be doing it directly themselves, using better technology. So, I am calling for a shift, a big shift, in the way that people think of this, of, let's get away from these big, pillar, clunky things that are these big, like.00:29:33.000 --> 00:29:46.000Joe Hession: big, like, kind of ego plays of passes, and let's take skiing back to the skiers and snowboarders, and let them have direct relationships with the resorts they love, and give these operators great tools to allow that to happen.00:29:37.000 --> 00:29:38.000Stuart Winchester: Mm-hmm.00:29:46.000 --> 00:29:50.000Joe Hession: Um, so that that's our long term pitch. Yeah.00:29:46.000 --> 00:29:56.000Stuart Winchester: So let me jump in there. I just want to ask now, I want to follow up on that. So are you saying this snow pass, your goal is to…00:29:56.000 --> 00:30:01.000Stuart Winchester: make it extinct at some point? It's a building block to the next level, is that what you're saying?00:29:58.000 --> 00:29:59.000Joe Hession: Yeah.00:29:59.000 --> 00:30:01.000Joe Hession: You…00:30:01.000 --> 00:30:17.000Joe Hession: Yeah, what's interesting is Snowpass, we have no upside in Snowpass. So we've been very open and clear about this. And I just want to make sure the goal of Snowpass is secure. We share all of our books openly with all of our resort partners. They can see every transaction, every dollar flow.00:30:17.000 --> 00:30:18.000Stuart Winchester: Mmhm.00:30:17.000 --> 00:30:33.000Joe Hession: There's overhead in some of the expenses. They get a clear, like, this is the piece that we do that. We originally said it was estimated at 5%. If it ends up becoming 3%, we'll distribute the rest of that to the resorts. We have no profit margin built into our plan for Snowpass.00:30:33.000 --> 00:30:43.000Joe Hession: Snowpass to us is the first step in trying to prove the theory of could we remove the middleman from the equation?00:30:43.000 --> 00:30:58.000Joe Hession: And we applaud the idea that if you're on Snowpass, and let's say that Whiteface wants to now work with Platykill directly, we would celebrate that and see that as a huge win.00:30:58.000 --> 00:30:59.000Stuart Winchester: Mm-hmm.00:30:58.000 --> 00:31:14.000Joe Hession: Because we want resorts to collaborate. If people are real fans of skiing and snowboarding, and they've been buying passes for years, and part of it, they know that the beauty of the ski industry is when the ski industry, skiers, snowboarders, the people that operate these resorts, work together.00:31:14.000 --> 00:31:26.000Joe Hession: they create beautiful things. So we need to give them tools to work together, and also the ability to work together, because some companies restrict people from being able to work with each other, which goes against the spirit of the whole ski industry in the first place.00:31:26.000 --> 00:31:32.000Stuart Winchester: So if you were… So let's think of… Let's do a thought experiment here. So let's take some…00:31:31.000 --> 00:31:32.000Joe Hession: Okay.00:31:32.000 --> 00:31:53.000Stuart Winchester: some resorts that share your operating software, right? So you have Mountain Creek, so you can do whatever you want with it, and you have big snow. I know that, for example, Greek Peak up in upstate New York uses, it's up near Cornell, sort of central New York for folks who aren't familiar. It would be a great feeder from Mountain Creek because it has.00:31:39.000 --> 00:31:40.000Joe Hession: Yep.00:31:44.000 --> 00:31:45.000Joe Hession: Mm-hmm.00:31:53.000 --> 00:32:09.000Stuart Winchester: a resort feel, and it's a big mountain, and it has a nice hotel across the street with a water park and everything. So you have, uh, Greek Beak, and then you signed Jackson Hole, right? So would an example be that if you were a…00:32:04.000 --> 00:32:05.000Joe Hession: Yeah.00:32:09.000 --> 00:32:13.000Stuart Winchester: Mountain Creek Passholder, you could somehow…00:32:13.000 --> 00:32:25.000Stuart Winchester: Mountain Creek could sign a deal with Greek Peak for shorter-term visits and Jackson Hole for longer-term. Is that the goal, and how would that be different from a pass we have now?00:32:23.000 --> 00:32:40.000Joe Hession: Yeah, so, yeah, well, because it could be priced exactly to the price, it would make sense to the consumer. Because right now, and remember, when people buy an IndiePass or a pass like that, there's an idea that all these resorts, like, I'm a big fan of IndiePass.00:32:40.000 --> 00:32:57.000Joe Hession: Pareto charts, the 80/20 rule. I will guess, not knowing anything about their business, that 80% of the revenue is made up of 20% of the resorts and the visits. I will almost guarantee it because that's how statistics works. So when you have huge numbers, it starts to cloud the efficiency of it, right?00:32:51.000 --> 00:32:53.000Stuart Winchester: Yeah.00:32:57.000 --> 00:33:17.000Joe Hession: So to me, I look at and say, yeah, so a program where it's like if Mountain Creek went to Greek Peak and said, we want to have a reciprocal program where if someone uses this, it seamlessly just works at the lift. So imagine someone took their Mountain Creek pass, went and rode the lift at Greek Peak and boom, the transaction happened. The guests never even knew it happened.00:33:11.000 --> 00:33:12.000Stuart Winchester: Mm-hmm.00:33:16.000 --> 00:33:18.000Stuart Winchester: Mmhm.00:33:17.000 --> 00:33:32.000Joe Hession: the business relationship worked, and then we shared data to basically say, oh, this is a Mountain Creek and Greek Peak guest. Now you guys can market directly to them and hopefully get them to come for a longer stay next time. That's where I… that's where I would love to have it, and Greek Peak's a great example.00:33:32.000 --> 00:33:40.000Joe Hession: We're great partners with them. We love that resort. They've been great early adopters of SnowCloud. We're not allowed to have a reciprocal program with them at Mountain Creek or Big.00:33:40.000 --> 00:33:58.000Joe Hession: They're, they're contractly obligated not to work with anyone other than who they work with, which is, which to me is just wild. And I think most people don't realize that that's how it works. And, you know, the last thing we need is, is the middleman kind of inserting themselves into controlling how people operate. It's just.00:33:58.000 --> 00:34:10.000Joe Hession: So… so I would love… I see a future like that. Currently, unfortunately, with a place like Repeat, we're not allowed to work with them. We're… we're… and… and I mean not on Snowpass. We can't have a reciprocal…00:34:10.000 --> 00:34:16.000Joe Hession: We can't give someone a discount if they're a Mountain Creek holder to go to Greek Peak. It's.00:34:16.000 --> 00:34:18.000Stuart Winchester: Yeah, and great.00:34:16.000 --> 00:34:18.000Joe Hession: Less rules. We need less rules.00:34:18.000 --> 00:34:29.000Stuart Winchester: Yeah, Greek Peak has worked with IndiePass since 2019. They've been an original partner over there. I want to get to that in a second. You know, I…00:34:19.000 --> 00:34:20.000Joe Hession: Okay.00:34:29.000 --> 00:34:44.000Stuart Winchester: I don't know if I see a post-pass world, because I like a menu, I like the big passes. However, what I think you're describing could solve is the free visit problem.00:34:44.000 --> 00:35:02.000Stuart Winchester: because I know Indian Ski Cooper, for example, had a dust-up a few years ago because Ski Cooper was essentially… India accused him of essentially creating a national pass, and that was probably my fault because I wrote an article that said, hey, look at this secret national pass for 300 bucks in Colorado. Nonetheless, it's a lot of…00:34:55.000 --> 00:34:56.000Joe Hession: Mm-hmm.00:35:02.000 --> 00:35:19.000Stuart Winchester: Free visits and you have mountains like Bogus Basin in, in Idaho that are still giving away a lot of free visits. Now, Bogus is a great business and, and it's doing well and they have a surplus and, and they've evolved great in the past decade or so. Uh, but, but it seems like that could really solve that.00:35:11.000 --> 00:35:13.000Joe Hession: Yep.00:35:20.000 --> 00:35:26.000Stuart Winchester: free visits problem, where there is some revenue sharing. Is that part of what you're trying to solve here?00:35:26.000 --> 00:35:41.000Joe Hession: 100%. And you see the big players do it, right? Like a big thing about us too is I'm not against anything. I think Indie is fantastic. And it's very important to point this out. I think that is, but I also think Epic and Icon are great.00:35:34.000 --> 00:35:35.000Stuart Winchester: Okay.00:35:41.000 --> 00:35:42.000Stuart Winchester: Mmhm.00:35:41.000 --> 00:35:57.000Joe Hession: Like, I'll put it this way, operating a small resort here in New Jersey, Mountain Creek, or Big Snow, there are things that Vail does so much better than us that we wish we had the resources they have. Now, with that said, we do things way better than Vail does, and they wish they had the resources.00:35:50.000 --> 00:35:51.000Stuart Winchester: Mmhm.00:35:57.000 --> 00:36:14.000Joe Hession: Or the ability to do what we can do, right? And, you know, there's an old commercial years ago that there was, like, a big boardroom, and the boardroom, they're like, I wonder what the little guys are doing. And then all of a sudden, it showed the people in, like, the startup, and they're like, I wonder what the big guys are doing. So, we're all in the same business, and we're.00:35:59.000 --> 00:36:00.000Stuart Winchester: Mmhm.00:36:05.000 --> 00:36:06.000Stuart Winchester: Yeah.00:36:14.000 --> 00:36:32.000Joe Hession: some of the things they've done to try to cure their own things. They own most of their resorts on their program, so they're gonna do things the way that benefits them, because they own all those resorts together. And they've tried to solve these problems in similar ways, and I think learning from them on that stuff, same thing with Icon is doing similar stuff to that.00:36:32.000 --> 00:36:35.000Joe Hession: Um, but yeah, I think…00:36:35.000 --> 00:36:44.000Joe Hession: that's exactly what we're trying to solve. We're trying to solve… we want resorts to have relationships that make sense to the consumer. Like, for example.00:36:44.000 --> 00:37:00.000Joe Hession: Who is going to go, and I'll, I'll, I'll, I'll, I'll, I'll, I'll focus on someone else for a minute. Who's gonna, who's gonna go to 40 resorts in a year on a certain pass? Nobody. Nobody. Skiers are smarter than that. No one's doing that. What they're doing, if you buy an Epic or Icon.00:36:56.000 --> 00:36:57.000Stuart Winchester: Right.00:37:00.000 --> 00:37:08.000Joe Hession: in the real world, the conversation goes, um, oh, I live in New York? Great. What pass are my friends buying?00:37:08.000 --> 00:37:24.000Joe Hession: Because where are they going to go this year? Where do we want to take our family trip? Oh, and it just happened. My wife and I, our family, we have a place in Snowmass. So every year, we have some friends who are like, I want to come out to Snowmass. Well, they buy an IconPass. Their decision is made based on, oh.00:37:10.000 --> 00:37:11.000Stuart Winchester: Mm-hmm.00:37:17.000 --> 00:37:18.000Stuart Winchester: Mm-hmm.00:37:24.000 --> 00:37:43.000Joe Hession: your condo's available, I can go, I'm gonna lock in an Icon Pass. That's how consumers actually work. So, to me, it's like, I agree with you, I love the big passes, I don't think they should go away. I think there's a great place for India, I think there's a great place for Icon, I think there's a great place for Epic Pass. There might be a great place for Snowpass.00:37:43.000 --> 00:37:59.000Joe Hession: But I also get really excited about other options. And I feel like we're at this disruptive time where we're seeing the results of these passes and kind of the rubs that are rubbing people the wrong way. And I think it might be time with technology that we can kind of.00:37:56.000 --> 00:37:57.000Stuart Winchester: Mmhm.00:37:59.000 --> 00:38:06.000Joe Hession: take it to the next level. Like, you know, we're talking about the evolution of, you know, major.00:38:06.000 --> 00:38:21.000Joe Hession: uh, success has been done, and there's been some learnings, right? Like… like, the pictures of the long lines and stuff, uh, that we see every holiday or powder day, like, is a result of the PASS program. It's a result of this, it's an output of that, and I think there's ways we can maybe.00:38:21.000 --> 00:38:37.000Joe Hession: Make it better where the skier gets a better choice, a better experience, and then the resorts get to share in different ways. So really, at the end of the day, I think it's a technology driven way to better collaborate for the betterment of the ski experience to democratize.00:38:34.000 --> 00:38:35.000Stuart Winchester: Mmhm.00:38:37.000 --> 00:38:42.000Joe Hession: It's kind of the price and take out the middleman is really, is really my pitch.00:38:41.000 --> 00:38:44.000Stuart Winchester: So, Joy, I appreciate…00:38:42.000 --> 00:38:45.000Joe Hession: I'd like to remove myself from the equation eventually.00:38:44.000 --> 00:39:01.000Stuart Winchester: You know, the problem with you removing yourself from the equation, Joe, is that everyone I talk to really likes working with Snow Partners, your team. They like the train-based learning, they like your operating software.00:38:54.000 --> 00:38:55.000Joe Hession: Yeah.00:39:01.000 --> 00:39:16.000Stuart Winchester: And I appreciate that spirit of Bonhomie, and you're right, the ski industry is small, and it was smaller than I would have imagined, and it was more welcoming than I would have imagined. I'm not sure if you read the lawsuit.00:39:16.000 --> 00:39:25.000Stuart Winchester: The most recent one filed against Veil Altera, Boyne Powder, the National Skier Association and and RRC. And it's built.00:39:20.000 --> 00:39:21.000Joe Hession: Yep.00:39:25.000 --> 00:39:34.000Stuart Winchester: the case for the lawsuit is built on accusations of collusion. Using a lot of.00:39:31.000 --> 00:39:33.000Joe Hession: Yep.00:39:35.000 --> 00:39:50.000Stuart Winchester: kind of fluffy evidence of people getting together at NSAA shows and basically sharing data and sharing best practices. I think all industries do this. Now, I'm going somewhere with this.00:39:50.000 --> 00:40:07.000Stuart Winchester: I appreciate that, and I think IndyPass, a lot of people love working with them. However, maybe a little more conflict would be good for the ski industry, because one thing I've seen as I've been reading old newspaper clippings is ski operators used to talk a lot more junk to each other, like, oh, Summit County, Colorado does.00:40:07.000 --> 00:40:17.000Stuart Winchester: more skier visits to the whole state of Utah. Obviously, those days are over, but there used to be a little more smack talk. So let me get into a little controversy here, and you can address this as you want.00:40:11.000 --> 00:40:13.000Joe Hession: Yep.00:40:15.000 --> 00:40:17.000Joe Hession: Yeah.00:40:17.000 --> 00:40:34.000Stuart Winchester: As you said, Indy Pass does not share. You have been willing to share and and the snow triple or snow pass shares two mountains, Bromance in Quebec and Whiteface with Mountain Collective and three.00:40:34.000 --> 00:40:45.000Stuart Winchester: Uh, Butternut, Jiminy Peak, and Cranmore with the Icon today. You and Indy are both claiming Snow King, you're both telling me it's locked in, uh, and…00:40:45.000 --> 00:40:55.000Stuart Winchester: Indy's telling me it's only gonna be on Indy, so… there's a little conflict for ya. Uh, how are you approaching that, and what do you think about the scenario?00:40:50.000 --> 00:40:52.000Joe Hession: Yeah, yeah.00:40:56.000 --> 00:41:00.000Joe Hession: Yeah, so we're talking about Snow King specifically?00:40:59.000 --> 00:41:02.000Stuart Winchester: Yes, Snow King specifically.00:41:00.000 --> 00:41:10.000Joe Hession: Yeah, so specifically Snow King, we have a signed agreement with Snow King. We're very excited to work with Snow King.00:41:07.000 --> 00:41:08.000Stuart Winchester: Mmhm.00:41:10.000 --> 00:41:23.000Joe Hession: Uh, Snow King would love to have visits, uh, come from us, and they are on our website, and we launched with Snow King. Um, that's where we're at. Um, you know, as far as what's going on with them in Indy.00:41:23.000 --> 00:41:39.000Joe Hession: Um, I'll kind of let them speak to that to themselves, but from what I understand, which I'll take some liberties and say what I think is going on, is there is a clause in an IndyPass that if someone leaves the IndyPass program.00:41:40.000 --> 00:41:55.000Joe Hession: They have to not work with anyone for another year. And it's kind of buried in the fine details. So I think what happened is I think they were off that pass, planned to be off that pass, maybe wasn't familiar with that clause, and then signed an agreement with us.00:41:55.000 --> 00:42:10.000Joe Hession: So for me, so the big question is, hey, so here's the choices as we sit today. We have a signed agreement. We've told Snow King, if this is going to hurt you, we never want to hurt you. So we are 100% willing to do whatever that takes.00:42:10.000 --> 00:42:12.000Joe Hession: to do it.00:42:12.000 --> 00:42:17.000Joe Hession: But, you know, we're not gonna just, like, bow down, because at the end of the day.00:42:17.000 --> 00:42:31.000Joe Hession: It's also on Indy, and maybe they… maybe they signed an agreement that wasn't… that was not the right thing to do. We have a signed agreement. They're on our paths, right? Um, at the end of the day, there's one person who can make a big choice here.00:42:25.000 --> 00:42:27.000Stuart Winchester: Mm-hmm.00:42:31.000 --> 00:42:32.000Stuart Winchester: Mmhm.00:42:31.000 --> 00:42:37.000Joe Hession: Is Indy gonna sue Snow King because of this clause in the piece?00:42:37.000 --> 00:42:54.000Joe Hession: I read in the Boston Globe that Eric Mogensen is going to, like, change and save skiing. Is he going to sue a small ski resort? Like, and I know that's blunt, but I would put the ball right back in his court. I would love to, you know, if he sues Snow King.00:42:44.000 --> 00:42:45.000Stuart Winchester: Mmhm.00:42:54.000 --> 00:43:12.000Joe Hession: That would be an insane thing. And I think he should go out to everyone and say, you know what, we're not going to litigate. You know, I know he hasn't been operating a ski resort long, and I have a ton of respect because of the fact that the fact that he's a GM of a ski resort, the fact that he's operating a ski resort, there's not a single person. And I respect him.00:43:12.000 --> 00:43:27.000Joe Hession: I really do. I really do. There's just one piece that we don't see eye to eye on. And it's… he's told me he's the anti-collaborator, and I am the ultimate collaborator. So when you get us in the ring together, it's one is super collaboration and one isn't. And so to me.00:43:27.000 --> 00:43:39.000Joe Hession: I think, you know, the more he operates a ski resort, he's gonna realize that litigation is one of the hardest things we have to deal with in the ski business. We have realities of things that happen at ski resorts that involve litigation.00:43:39.000 --> 00:43:49.000Joe Hession: suing each other is just a waste of time. Like, what are we doing? Like, we should be, like, we need… we should be talking about skiing and snowboarding, and we should be thinking.00:43:42.000 --> 00:43:43.000Stuart Winchester: Mmhm.00:43:49.000 --> 00:44:09.000Joe Hession: how many visits can Indy give Snow King? I would love for them to get a ton of visits. How many visits can Snow Pass give Snow King? Let's get Snow King visits. Let's give people options. And just because of, like, some, uh, you know, red tape in a contract, we're then gonna threaten and clause, like.00:43:52.000 --> 00:43:53.000Stuart Winchester: Mmhm.00:44:09.000 --> 00:44:28.000Joe Hession: So that's… so here's… so I gave you probably more than I should have, but… and I'm sure Hugh is no longer looking at me, so he… but he didn't give me the hook, so I'm still talking, right, Hugh? We're good? So, I'm sure… you know, but you'll definitely… you wanted to have, you know, for this inaugural session, you wanted to have some stories. This is a story.00:44:28.000 --> 00:44:39.000Joe Hession: The story is, the reality is, the truth is, that they were under contract, Indy, from what I understand, which they've told me, they wrote they are no longer to work, they gave them the right.00:44:39.000 --> 00:44:53.000Joe Hession: I'm out. This is the time you're supposed to be out. They were unaware of this one clause, which we were also unaware of. We signed, we moved forward, we announced. After announcement, it was, no, you can't do that. So, really, right now, I think Snow King would gladly take visits from both.00:44:53.000 --> 00:44:54.000Stuart Winchester: Mm-hmm.00:44:53.000 --> 00:44:56.000Joe Hession: We would gladly take visits from both.00:44:56.000 --> 00:45:02.000Joe Hession: Ball's in Mogensen's court, we'll see what he does. I guess the best way to approach this is publicly. So, here.00:44:58.000 --> 00:45:00.000Stuart Winchester: And he…00:45:00.000 --> 00:45:16.000Stuart Winchester: I agree, and Eric is scheduled to be on this podcast on Thursday, so he will have his chance to respond. And you know what, Joe, you're welcome back anytime to respond. But before you go out the door, I do want… I did promise to keep these short, and I know for you and I.00:45:06.000 --> 00:45:07.000Joe Hession: Perfect!00:45:10.000 --> 00:45:12.000Joe Hession: Yep.00:45:15.000 --> 00:45:16.000Joe Hession: Yep.00:45:16.000 --> 00:45:31.000Stuart Winchester: Both, that's a challenge. I do want to call out some of these awesome new triple play partners, uh, Jiminy Peak and Cramore, especially. I have a ton of respect for the Fairbanks and, and, uh, what, and what they do. Uh, Bromont is, is an excellent.00:45:27.000 --> 00:45:28.000Joe Hession: Yeah.00:45:31.000 --> 00:45:51.000Stuart Winchester: edition, and Hallamont. Actually, Hallamont is on Snow Pass as well, which is a terrific skier. I never realized until I went there this year. It's just because it's private on the weekends and in public during the week. What do you have to do to convince some of these folks, especially Jiminy Cranmore Bromont, to jump over to Snow Pass? Do you think there's a path there?00:45:52.000 --> 00:46:10.000Joe Hession: Yeah, you know, I do. I think it's kind of proving it out over time, but also making, you know, going back to what I said earlier, maybe the right product for them is a relationship with different resorts, right? Maybe it's a whole new version of what happens, but I think we're very lucky to have them on the program.00:46:10.000 --> 00:46:25.000Joe Hession: Both operators are fantastic. Brian and Tyler Fairbank, we go back really far. Like, they were early adopters of us with snow operating and train-based learning. Brian Fairbank, if people don't know, is one of the godfathers of snowmaking in the industry.00:46:15.000 --> 00:46:16.000Stuart Winchester: Mmhm.00:46:25.000 --> 00:46:40.000Joe Hession: He's still at it. He's in his 80s. He's out there making snow. I mean, he's an absolute legend. So anytime we get to work with him and his resort partners, we're really happy. Tyler, we've obviously known for well over a decade and a half as well.00:46:40.000 --> 00:47:00.000Joe Hession: great resorts, we've loved visiting them, and I think they're great operators, so I think people are going to love discovering them. And that's, you know, one thing I'll give a lot of credit to Indy for, which has opened our eyes, is the fact that there's so many passes on the program, there's the fact that there's all these different options. People learn new places they've never learned before, right? And I think Epic and I kind of have done the same.00:46:54.000 --> 00:46:55.000Stuart Winchester: Mmhm.00:47:00.000 --> 00:47:15.000Joe Hession: You know, I never thought of going to Crested Butte, but because it's on the Epic Pass, I'm going to go to Crested Butte, or I never thought of going to this resort, but because of it. And I think that's been a huge success. And it's great to hear you say, like, Hollymont, like, oh, I didn't know that much about the.00:47:04.000 --> 00:47:05.000Stuart Winchester: Yep.00:47:15.000 --> 00:47:29.000Joe Hession: I think that's the spirit. The spirit is, how do you take skiers from different regions and inspire them to want to go to somewhere else and make that transaction seamless and easy for the operators to navigate, is really our goal.00:47:28.000 --> 00:47:49.000Stuart Winchester: It's such a rich world, and I love how you're helping folks explore it. Leave us with this, Joe. Where can we buy Snowpass? And I believe you said you're selling a limited number. You probably won't tell me that number, but how soon should folks go to where you're going to tell us to go before they're going to lose this special price of, I believe, 340 for Snowpass and 179?00:47:49.000 --> 00:47:52.000Stuart Winchester: For the triple play.00:47:52.000 --> 00:48:05.000Joe Hession: Correct. So, so 4pm today, mysnowpass.com, uh, it's gonna be a limited release. Uh, if you know the Mound Creek world, and you know how we do it, it's actually Mound Creek's on the clock right now.00:48:05.000 --> 00:48:22.000Joe Hession: Um, we've been selling for 31 minutes, so I'm gonna get an update when we get off the call here, but at 4 o'clock, we will have our watch party with our group in the kind of war room. We're watching the transactions live. We have a number that we have promised ourselves we will not exceed, and it'll shut itself down at that number.00:48:08.000 --> 00:48:09.000Stuart Winchester: Okay.00:48:22.000 --> 00:48:40.000Joe Hession: Um, so 4PM today will be, uh… will be the birth of a new product in the industry, which hopefully will inspire other new products down the road, and… and hopefully start to change the relationship between resorts and… and the skiers, because that's what it's about. It's about getting skiers the best price for the best mountains, new… doing new things, and working together.00:48:40.000 --> 00:49:00.000Joe Hession: And we have a beautiful industry of resorts, but we have great customers. People who are skiers and snowboarders are so passionate. Like, I read everything they post on your stuff. You know, the comments have been just amazing. And, you know, we're looking forward to, over time, I want to make that person in Colorado that keeps saying, this pass stinks, has nothing to do for me.00:48:50.000 --> 00:48:51.000Stuart Winchester: Yeah, thank you.00:49:00.000 --> 00:49:09.000Joe Hession: I want to eventually win them over by giving them a product that does make sense for them or allowing resorts there to find a product that works for them. So it's really exciting day.00:49:06.000 --> 00:49:17.000Stuart Winchester: Colorado bro is very proud of Colorado. Uh, last year, Joe, you sold Snow Triple Play, I believe, until Christmas Eve. You have a similar schedule in mind for these two passes this year?00:49:10.000 --> 00:49:11.000Joe Hession: Yes.00:49:17.000 --> 00:49:32.000Joe Hession: Yeah, exactly the same schedule. So they'll be… the best price will be the launches. So today will be the lowest possible price, it'll scale up in another drop, and then it'll be on sale for a little bit at its full retail price, and then it'll turn off at that time. Exactly.00:49:19.000 --> 00:49:20.000Stuart Winchester: Okay.00:49:31.000 --> 00:49:51.000Stuart Winchester: Joe, so good to run you down. Good luck with the launch. I can't wait to see how it goes, and how this thing grows, and frankly, how this little controversy between Snowpass and Indypass resolves itself, because I'm sure that you will find a way through it. So, thank you so much for being my first guest on the new platform. I really appreciate it.00:49:34.000 --> 00:49:35.000Joe Hession: Yes.00:49:50.000 --> 00:49:51.000Joe Hession: Okay.00:49:51.000 --> 00:49:54.000Stuart Winchester: You're welcome on anytime. We'll talk to you really soon.00:49:54.000 --> 00:49:56.000Joe Hession: Great. Thanks for having me.00:49:55.000 --> 00:49:57.000Stuart Winchester: All right, take care, Joe. Bye now.00:49:58.000 --> 00:50:00.000Stuart Winchester: Alright, so…00:50:01.000 --> 00:50:03.000Stuart Winchester: Uh, what do you…00:50:03.000 --> 00:50:23.000Stuart Winchester: Okay, so that was Joe Heschen, the CEO of Snow Partners and the founder. Quick update from another partner before I wrap up the show today. If you run a ski area or outdoor brand, I want to tell you about my friends at Bonfire Collective.00:50:23.000 --> 00:50:35.000Stuart Winchester: They are a fractional marketing team that collaborates with ski areas and outdoor brands, and they will give your marketing a fresh perspective and better storytelling to supercharge your rebranding or advertising.00:50:35.000 --> 00:50:41.000Stuart Winchester: Bonfire can help you rethink your approach in ways that can turbocharge your business.00:50:41.000 --> 00:50:49.000Stuart Winchester: For example, Bonfire took on the marketing at one New Hampshire ski area and doubled revenue in just three years.00:50:49.000 --> 00:51:04.000Stuart Winchester: When the storm was ready to invest in its first ever digital marketing campaign last year, I worked with Bonfire to make it happen. I could not be happier with the results, and I think you will love working with them as well. To get started, you'll want to talk to Eric.00:51:04.000 --> 00:51:21.000Stuart Winchester: over at Bonfire Collective. He was a co-founder of Bluebird Backcountry Colorado, the first human-powered ski area, so he knows the ski business. You can actually listen to his podcast episode on the Storm Skiing Podcast, long form. Visit bonfirecollective.com.00:51:21.000 --> 00:51:25.000Stuart Winchester: Or I will be happy to make that connection for you.00:51:26.000 --> 00:51:28.000Stuart Winchester: All right, how great was Joe?00:51:28.000 --> 00:51:45.000Stuart Winchester: This is why I love the new pod, because I can have guys like that on all the time. I have dozens of relationships like that throughout the ski industry. Anytime you've listened to a podcast and you've heard someone on there and you enjoyed the conversation.00:51:45.000 --> 00:52:01.000Stuart Winchester: Whether it was Carl Kapczynski, who runs California Mountain Resorts, or… and owns Mountain High, and Bear Valley, and China Peak, and Dodge Ridge out in California. Or if it was…00:52:01.000 --> 00:52:15.000Stuart Winchester: Dustin, who… the president at Copper Mountain, uh, or it was Rob Katz, you know, the Vale CEO. I'm interacting with these people, or… or the folks who represent them, all the time.00:52:15.000 --> 00:52:31.000Stuart Winchester: I talk to Carl Kabasinski all the time, but I haven't had him on the podcast in four years. He's already agreed to come on the new shorter form to talk about all the things going on in his mountains. And that's what's great about it. And, you know, one of the concerns that I heard from people when I announced a shorter form pod was.00:52:31.000 --> 00:52:47.000Stuart Winchester: Oh, well, I really like when you covered small mountains. Well, this will allow me to do that much more, because I don't have to commit an entire hour and a half long episode to it, and it doesn't have to be the whole history of the area. I can just, for example, ask.00:52:47.000 --> 00:53:02.000Stuart Winchester: Rick Schmitz from Little Switzerland in Wisconsin to come onto the show and talk about the new quad chairlift that he's putting up or two new quads put

What does it really mean to succeed as a man if your business is thriving but your marriage is drifting, your kids barely know you, and the life you're building is costing you the people you're supposedly building it for?   In this episode of The Super Human Life, Frank sits down with Greg Denning, author of The Formidable Family Man and founder of the Formidable Fathers community, for a powerful conversation about fatherhood, marriage, masculinity, family culture, and becoming the man your family actually needs.   Greg and his wife have been married for 25 years, raised seven children, homeschooled and worldschooled their family, and traveled together through more than 60 countries. But Greg's philosophy of family leadership wasn't inherited from an ideal childhood. He left home at 16 and experienced loneliness, instability, hardship, and the absence of strong male examples—experiences that ultimately forced him to decide what kind of husband, father, and man he wanted to become.   Frank and Greg unpack why fathers can accidentally create distance while trying to raise strong children, why trust requires both character and competence, and why your kids are paying far more attention to how you live than what you tell them. Greg challenges men to become the kind of man they want their sons to become and the kind of man they want their daughters to marry.   They also confront one of the biggest traps facing high-performing men: telling yourself you're working endless hours "for your family" while slowly sacrificing the relationships you're supposedly working for. Greg explains why men should rethink the traditional work-life timeline, create more leverage, and become intentional about designing a life where success doesn't require losing your marriage, health, faith, or children.   The conversation goes deeper into marriage, physical capability, homeschooling, worldschooling, lifelong learning, male loneliness, brotherhood, pornography, faith, and the responsibility men have to become a force for good in the world.     Expect to Learn Why connection before correction may be one of the most important principles in fatherhood.   The two qualities Greg believes children need before they truly trust their father: character and competence.   Why your children notice the gap between what you preach and how you actually live.   How broken promises—even small ones—can slowly weaken trust with your kids.   Why being a great provider does not automatically make you a great father.   How successful men can unintentionally take from their families while convincing themselves they're doing it all for them.   Greg's "naked test" for confronting the truth about who you are mentally, emotionally, spiritually, physically, socially, and financially.   Why men may be more afraid of looking like failures than actually failing.   Why physical strength and health are part of a father's responsibility to remain capable and "always ready."   How Greg structures his life around self-development, marriage, children, faith, work, and family culture.   Why couples so easily become roommates after having children and how to prevent it.   Why your kids are learning what marriage looks like by watching yours.   Why Greg and his wife chose homeschooling and worldschooling before either became mainstream.   How travel, books, culture, hardship, and real-world experiences can become part of a child's education.   The books that most shaped Greg after decades of reading roughly one book per week.   How being alone on Christmas Eve at 16 shaped Greg's commitment to creating a radically different family.   Why modern men can be surrounded by people and still feel profoundly alone.   Why men need brotherhood, accountability, and conversations that go deeper than work, sports, and surface-level friendships.   Greg's perspective on pornography, sexual exploitation, and the responsibility men have to confront evil rather than ignore it.   Why Greg believes a Super Human Life starts with clean hands, a pure heart, and working harder on yourself than anything else.     About Greg Denning Greg Denning is a husband, father of seven, grandfather, author, coach, educator, and founder of the Formidable Fathers community.   After leaving home at 16 and navigating significant hardship on his own, Greg became deeply committed to personal development, reading, education, and intentionally building the family life he never experienced growing up. He eventually became a public-school teacher before choosing a more unconventional path with his own family.   Greg and his wife, Rachel, have been married for 25 years and have raised and homeschooled their seven children while traveling together through more than 60 countries. Today, they coach husbands, wives, parents, couples, and families on creating extraordinary marriages, raising capable children, and intentionally designing a family life around their deepest values. Greg is also the author of The Formidable Family Man and leads the Formidable Fathers community on Skool.   Connect With Greg Learn more about Greg, The Formidable Family Man, his Formidable Fathers community, coaching, podcast, and family work.    Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/greg.denning/   Community - https://www.skool.com/formidable-fathers/about Website - https://www.gregdenning.com/   YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@GregDenning   -- Connect with Frank and The Super Human Life on Social Media: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/coachfrankrich/   Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/584284948647477/   Website: http://www.thesuperhumanlifepodcast.com/tshlhome   YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjB4UrpxtNO2AFtDURMzoKQ    

Some wildlife crimes are difficult to comprehend. Years ago, Chester Moore traveled to a location where someone had illegally killed a buffalo, removed its head with a chainsaw and abandoned the rest of the animal to rot. What he encountered there opened a window into a side of the outdoors most people never see. In this episode of Dark Outdoors, Chester explores some of the most disturbing and bizarre poaching cases he has encountered and investigated over the years. There are poachers willing to kill wildlife simply for trophies. Criminals willing to threaten the very people charged with protecting wildlife—including a shocking case involving shots fired into a game warden's home on Christmas Eve. And then there is the international black market, where wildlife trafficking can become almost unimaginable, including a case in which U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service officials discovered a coat smuggled into America that had been made using the skins of five jaguars. These aren't hunting stories. They're stories about greed, cruelty and the people who operate outside the laws designed to protect wildlife—and the wildlife officers who sometimes put themselves in danger trying to stop them. Because the outdoors has a dark side.

  Chris Boick had the LinkedIn profile. The agency. The truck paid off. The house. The whole damn thing looked like a masterclass in the American Dream. Katie Boick had the condo, the career, the youth group background, and a vision of a white picket fence that felt like a promise. They found each other in their twenties, two people who thought they had the script memorized. Then 2020 hit. The world caught fire. Katie lost her job in March. Chris lost his in October. The wedding they'd planned for New Year's Eve became another weight on a foundation already cracking. And Chris — the guy who only knew how to be the provider, the fixer, the knight in the shining armor he'd read about in storybooks — didn't just bend. He shattered. The addiction he'd been outrunning since childhood, rooted in trauma nobody saw, came for him hard. Katie did what women like her do. She became the keeper of secrets. The manager of chaos. The one who holds it all together while disappearing inside herself. She moved them into her parents' garage apartment. She applied for unemployment. She networked. She tried to love him back to life while he was busy dying. The gray area isn't a metaphor. It's the hospital room where Chris stopped breathing on dialysis, unconscious, and Katie prayed in the machine noise: *Okay. I'm staying. Even with the trust shattered. Even with the terror. I'm staying.* It's the seventh day of rehab when Chris finally called, expecting *I wish you well*, and got unconditional love instead. He still gets goosebumps talking about it. So does she. The lines they were told to color inside — the perfect recovery narrative (rehab, steps, done), the traditional marriage roles (he provides, she nurtures), the image management that kept everyone fooled — they burned every one of them. What cracked the door open? For Katie, ketamine therapy. Six sessions. Four of them talking to God in a field, plucking petals off forgiveness like they were weeds. For Chris, faith. Not the inherited kind. Not the Easter-and-Christmas-Eve kind. The kind you find when everything else is stripped away and you're left with the undeniable truth of who you are. They wrote a book about it. *Coloring Outside the Lines*. It's not a recovery manual. It's a love story set in the wreckage. And if you've ever loved someone through hell — or been the one dragging them through it — this conversation is the mirror you didn't know you needed. Key Takeaways ·         The 'perfect life' exterior often masks a private war — Chris's successful entrepreneur identity became a cage he couldn't escape when the provider role collapsed. ·         Real recovery doesn't follow a straight line; the Boicks lived in the 'gray area' of relapses, broken trust, and daily recommitment long before anything looked like success. ·         Unconditional love isn't a feeling — it's a decision made in hospital silence, on day seven of rehab, when every reason to leave exists and you stay anyway. ·         Different doors open for different people: Katie found forgiveness through ketamine-assisted conversations with God; Chris found himself again through faith stripped of performance. ·         The 'knight in shining armor' script destroys men — Chris had to learn his wife didn't need saving, she needed a partner willing to walk beside her in the dark. https://www.lovethroughthegray.com/

To listen to the entire episode ad-free, join me over on Patreon here: https://tinyurl.com/iseemfunepisode26Hello!In this episode I'm driving once again (this time with a better microphone!) - this time to Massachusetts and I'm talking to about the big video episode I was researching for FIVE HOURS this week, an expose! I talk about rental cars, my hatred of Tesla's, a Christmas Eve ruined by an electric car rental, my love of Budget Rental Car, encouraging you all to email CEO's and get refunds, LIberace been beloved by women, my show and being AuDHD and how I'll talk about that on a different podcast, and more!SHOW NOTESTo find out about all things Jen click here https://jenkirkman.bio.link and you can find out how to:Take a somatics movement class with Jen on ZoomJoin Jen's online co-working communityListen to Jen's other podcast about ADHD/AuDHDRead Jen's SubstackBrowse Jen's merchandiseGet discounts on fun stuff with Jen's affiliate partnersGet on Jen's “Can't Live Without List” NewsletterGet Jen's comedy album OK, Gen-XFind all of Jen's socials like Tik Tok, Instagram and You TubeBook Jen on Cameo!See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Beneath the frozen forests of Michigan's Keweenaw Peninsula lies a labyrinth of abandoned mines, forgotten graves, and more than a century of restless and bloody history. From the tragic Christmas Eve disaster at Calumet's Italian Hall to phantom miners glimpsed undergroundm, and long dead workers wandering through spectral fog, Copper Country has no shortage of ghosts. When the spoils were had, the companies took their copper and left. The dead, however, stayed behind. Citizens of the Milky Way, prepare yourselves for The Haunting of Copper Country! 

https://wels2.blob.core.windows.net/daily-devotions/20260903dev.mp3 Listen to Devotion For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? Romans 8:24 Saved In Hope When you say, “I hope so,” what do you mean? “I hope the traffic isn’t bad…I hope it doesn’t rain.” It’s a wish more than a guarantee. That is not the hope in our Bible verse today: “In this hope we were saved.” Notice the tense. We were saved. Jesus has already accomplished everything necessary for our salvation. On the cross, he declared, “It is finished.” He paid for every sin. He declared that whoever believes in him already has eternal life. So, if we are already saved, why do we still hope? Because while our salvation is complete, it has not yet been fully revealed. We possess God’s promises by faith, but we have not yet seen their fulfillment with our eyes. Think of a child on Christmas Eve. The gifts are already under the tree. They can see their name on the presents. Yet the child still waits eagerly for morning, longing to unwrap what has already been bought. So, too, our inheritance is already ours because of Christ. Yet we eagerly await the day when every promise is opened before us. That is why Paul says, “Hope that is seen is no hope at all.” If we could already see heaven, there would be no need for hope. If our bodies had already been raised, there would be no need for waiting. But we're not there yet. So, what do we do now? We live by God's promises, trusting that God's Word speaks a reality greater than what our eyes can see. A hospital room doesn’t look like victory, but Jesus says, “Your body will rise.” Tears of loneliness shed on a pillow don't look comforting, but Jesus says, “You are my child.” One day hope will no longer be necessary. Faith will become sight when we see Jesus’ face and rejoice in the glory that cannot be compared to present suffering. Until that day, we live in hope—not because we are guessing what the future holds, but because we know the One who holds the future. Prayer: Lord Jesus, thank you for accomplishing my salvation completely. When my eyes are fixed on the troubles of this world, turn my heart again to your sure promises. Amen. Daily Devotions is brought to you by WELS. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. ™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide.

“MK Confidential” retraces what happened that Christmas Eve in 2002. Four police officers walk into a quiet Modesto home, drapes drawn, a Christmas tree surrounded by presents, and a nursery already stocked and awaiting a new baby. The woman who lives there is eight months pregnant, and missing. Her husband says he had gone fishing roughly ninety miles away. Megyn walks through that day, twice. First, the way Scott Peterson tells it to police, hour by hour, detail by detail. And second, the way investigators come to believe that day actually happened, using a mopped floor, a dog left on its leash, a stain on a comforter, and a reference to a cooking show that don't add up with Scott's timeline. Detectives end up with a list that pushes them toward a dark theory of how — they believe — Scott killed his wife Laci, got rid of her body, and tried to cover it up. This is Episode 2 of the Laci Peterson story. Home Title Lock: Go to https://hometitlelock.com/megyn and use promo code MEGYN to get a FREE title history report and a FREE TRIAL of their Triple Lock Protection. AquaTru: Head to https://AquaTru.com & use code MKC for 20% off your purifier and a 30-day best-tasting water guarantee. Follow The Megyn Kelly Show on all social platforms: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/MegynKelly Twitter: https://Twitter.com/MegynKellyShow Instagram: https://Instagram.com/MegynKellyShow Facebook: https://Facebook.com/MegynKellyShow 
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Synopsis In this 2007 French film, a pregnant woman on Christmas Eve, the night before her induced labor is mourning the recent loss of her husband in a car crash when she is terrorized by a nameless woman in the dark.  Review This movie is something else. it uses the equation of vulnerable person + unstoppable psychopath = dread to the maximum effect. It would be bad enough with just the pregnant woman as the protagonist, but we also the the In Utero POV showing the baby suffering from the trauma. It's very rare that a horror movie makes me actually feel something. I'm a jaded horror movie reviewer. I've seen it all. This film gave me a visceral reaction so deeply that I regressed to childhood and was watching parts of this movie through my fingers. This movie goes hard. Even with the rather cheesy CGI of the early 2000s, you can't help but still be disturbed by the ideas that said CGI is portraying. While I can't say I enjoyed this film, I can say it is a good film and achieves what it sets out to do. Score 10/10

This is a very special episode. Natalie sat down with her identical twin sister, Holly Wheeler, and guided her through a live Love Mapping. Two people who shared a womb, who lived the same childhood in the same house at the same time, one of them now witnessing the other go back through it.We built Liberate.Love partly for this. So much of what we carry was formed inside a family system, and so much of what could restore it lives there too. Holly and Natalie are demonstrating what's possible through their sisterhood.What started as a small trigger on a Monday evening didn't stay small. Holly came home from the studio after a full weekend of family and community, felt an emptiness open up, and reached for tobacco to fill it. That was the thread. Natalie followed it back.It led to a Christmas Eve phone call with her dad, Holly alone in her apartment while he was with her stepbrothers and sisters, sitting with an ache she never let herself feel at the time. It led further back to a DJ booth at a birthday party, where she felt most adored, most powerful, most seen, and completely separate from the dance floor she was playing to. Part of, and apart from.Then Holly saw the structure holding all of it together. The party environment was the closest thing to family she had ever felt. That's why she wanted to take the drugs and stay up all night and never let it end. There was such a scarcity around it. Every reckless way she tried to feel love traced back to the same place.And then she says something that changes the whole shape of it. She feels that same fullness now with her church family, and there is no comedown.What you'll hear on this episode:- What a Love Mapping & Retrieval actually looks like, guided start to finish- Numbing as a form of control, and what it protects- The loneliness that lives inside seeming connection- Why the party, the substances, and the DJ booth were all the same search- Being protected by the wrong person, and what that does to a child's sense of safety- What it means to pause a mapping when the nervous system says enough- The hungry ghost, and what she's actually hungry for- Restoring coherence inside a family system by going firstHolly has spent her life being the one holding the room. On this episode she's the one being held, by the person who was standing next to her for all of it.When we stop chasing the feeling of family and remember how to source it, the belonging we were reaching for outside of us was never actually out there. It was waiting to be restored.I hope you enjoy this episode.EXPERIENCE THIS FOR YOURSELFGet started at https://liberate.love/begin?hollyThe Love Map is a 45-minute guided conversation you can do from the privacy of your own home. Virgil, our AI guide, has been trained on thousands of live sessions, and maps your whole story with you to uncover the underlying geometry underneath your patterns. The superstructure holding your stories in place, repeating in your relationships, in your career, in your body, in every place you have ever wondered "why this keeps happening to me."The Love Retrieval is where the Love Map becomes an experience: a live, gently guided 90-minute session with Raj or Natalie to restore internal safety, trust, and love. Through our signature process, you revisit the moments where parts of your soul fragmented in order to stay safe. In this profound re-meeting, the younger you is met with restorative witnessing, and your nervous system learns it's safe to let go of the old story. Get started at https://liberate.love/begin?holly Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Listen and subscribe to Money Making Conversations on iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, www.moneymakingconversations.com/subscribe/ or wherever you listen to podcasts. New Money Making Conversations episodes drop daily. I want to alert you, so you don’t miss out on expert analysis and insider perspectives from my guests who provide tips that can help you uplift the community, improve your financial planning, motivation, or advice on how to be a successful entrepreneur. Keep winning! Two-time Emmy and three-time NAACP Image Award-winning television Executive Producer Rushion McDonald interviewed Booker T. Washington.

A gust of wind shuts John Greenwood out of his own Christmas Eve party, and the constable who finds him climbing back in through a broken window says the house has been empty and shut up for years.Look for this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeart Radio, Amazon Music, Pandora, TuneIn Radio, and other podcast apps. Get a list of free listening apps here: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/OTRCHAPTERS & TIME STAMPS (All Times Approximate)…00:00:00.000 = Show Open00:01:30.028 = CBS Radio Mystery Theater, “The Vanishing Point” (July 31, 1978) ***WD00:45:34.754 = BBC Radio 4 / Radio 7 Ghost Story, “The White Carnation” (December 16, 1990)01:43:08.351 = Night Beat, “Long Live The Clown” (May 08, 1952)02:11:42.011 = The Black Book, “Vagabond Murder” (March 02, 1952) ***WD02:26:11.875 = Let George Do It, “Ghosts On Bliss Terrace” (August 16, 1948) ***WD02:55:51.297 = Box 13, “Delinquent's Dilemma” (February 13, 1949) ***WD03:22:18.967 = Calling All Cars, “Killer Hudson” (February 28, 1934)03:50:46.096 = Casey Crime Photographer, “Surprising Corpse” (January 16, 1947)04:20:12.992 = CBC Mystery Theater, “The Monkey's Paw” (May 05, 1938) ***WD04:47:24.619 = Incredible But True, “Human Atmosphere” (1950-1951)04:51:16.534 = Strange Adventure, “Oasis of Death” (1945)04:54:29.772 = Tales of the Frightened, “Don't Lose Your Head” (December 17, 1957)04:59:00.479 = Show Close(ADU) = Air Date Unknown(LQ) = Low Quality***WD = Remastered, edited, or cleaned up by Weird Darkness to make the episode more listenable. Audio may not be pristine, but it will be better than the original file which may have been unusable or more difficult to hear without editing.CUSTOM WEBPAGE: https://weirddarkness.com/WDRR0758

Detectives are baffled when two young girls are raped, murdered, and dumped in an abandoned house in Akron, Ohio. And a 26-year-old mother of three disappears on Christmas Eve in 1995, but the missing persons case goes cold when police can find few clues to her whereabouts.Hers: Start your free online visit at forhers.com/CCF for your personalized weight loss treatment options.Progressive: Multitask right now. Quote your car insurance at Progressive.com to join the over 28 million drivers who trust Progressive.Rosetta Stone - Cold Case Files listeners can get for 20% off their Rosetta Stone Sapphire subscription when you go to RosettaStone.com/coldcaseThrive Market: Go to ThriveMarket.com/coldcase for $30 off your first two orders!Vinted - See what's hiding in your closet. Download the Vinted app for free to start listing with no seller fees!See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Antonia Gorga sits down with her cousin Gia for an emotional conversation about the Gorga-Giudice family finally coming back together after years of very public estrangement. She opens up about the Christmas Eve reconciliation, watching her dad Joe get his sister and nieces back, and why she believes this time it's for good. Antonia also gets candid about her nose job and why she stayed open about it, growing up with the family drama playing out on television, navigating college life as a Housewives kid, and building her own path in lifestyle and beauty content beyond the Gorga name.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Listen and subscribe to Money Making Conversations on iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, www.moneymakingconversations.com/subscribe/ or wherever you listen to podcasts. New Money Making Conversations episodes drop daily. I want to alert you, so you don’t miss out on expert analysis and insider perspectives from my guests who provide tips that can help you uplift the community, improve your financial planning, motivation, or advice on how to be a successful entrepreneur. Keep winning! Two-time Emmy and three-time NAACP Image Award-winning television Executive Producer Rushion McDonald interviewed Booker T. Washington.

Listen and subscribe to Money Making Conversations on iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, www.moneymakingconversations.com/subscribe/ or wherever you listen to podcasts. New Money Making Conversations episodes drop daily. I want to alert you, so you don’t miss out on expert analysis and insider perspectives from my guests who provide tips that can help you uplift the community, improve your financial planning, motivation, or advice on how to be a successful entrepreneur. Keep winning! Two-time Emmy and three-time NAACP Image Award-winning television Executive Producer Rushion McDonald interviewed Booker T. Washington.