Barton Crockett, FBR Capital Markets.
Ok, but just a follow up on that. In the past, have you seen a deficit of this magnitude, in the first couple of months, turned around and actually be flatter up by the end of the quarter?
Tim Boyd, President and C.E.O. Peak Resorts.
Yes, absolutely. Sometimes it is not by the end of the quarter but certainly by the end of the ski season, that the resorts have rebounded. We have had openings as late as Martin Luther King weekend in the Midwest in past years and still come out with a flat season at those resorts.
Barton Crockett, FBR Capital Markets.
Ok. Alright. That’s great. And then another thing you can help me here is that I think you had some real kind of energy cost issues particularly in Vermont, particularly, I think, around this time of the year was the polar vortex. Could you tell us, you know, what you are saying now in terms of energy costs and also what you are saying in terms of cost saving benefits from the more efficient snow making equipment both on the energy and the labor side?
Tim Boyd, President and C.E.O. Peak Resorts.
Well, first of all, up to this point we have not seen the energy spikes that we saw last year, and, personally for us, the snow making upgrades that we have made in New England with the lower energy guns have enabled us to complete the vast majority of our snow making already in the northeast. So, we are in a very good, strong position going forward in terms of our energy saving with our snow making for the rest of the season because, not only have those guns helped us on the energy side, but we basically made a lot of those guns stationary which allowed us to open up our terrain much quicker this year at our northeastern resorts. So, we are going to cruise benefits of not only having the snow making done out of the way earlier but will be left susceptible of those energy spikes.
Barton Crockett, FBR Capital Markets.
Ok, and then I guess the final thing here is, I think, it is a little bit of kind of questioning and perhaps some confusion around. The interest expense tied to your ETR facilities. I was thinking you could just explain so everyone kind of gets it out here at the public forum. What you see in terms of the interest costs tied to those ETR facilities, you know, this year, next year? Where you can see in terms of trend in that over time?
Tim Boyd, President and C.E.O. Peak Resorts.
Steve, can you handle that?
Steve Mueller, Vice President and C.F.O. Peak Resorts.
Sure. This year, you obviously see ultimately a decrease in the interest expense in total. There are escalators in those agreements. They are tied to the lower cost of living factor, 1.015. So, for instance, on the debt that would go forward, that over a three year period might mean about $300,000 increase in the interest costs.
Barton Crockett, FBR Capital Markets.
Ok. Alright. I guess we leave it there. Thank you very much.
