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The longest you have ever waited to get on a ski lift

steamboat1

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Don't remember how long the waits were but back when Sugarbush had only the 3 person gondola the lines were huge. Castle Rock lines can be long also even to this day.
 

from_the_NEK

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It seems that lines used to be longer back in the 90's before most people had high speed detachables. Even places that did have them seemed to have longer lines. Sunday river at the Barker detachable used to have brutal lines on some days. Recently the worst line I have seen was at Stowe - the four runner was about a 40 minute wait so ended up taking the double for only a 15 minute wait. Most of the time I have been pretty lucky and wait no more than 10 minutes. Sometimes when you miss the cutoff for the tram at Cannon the wait sucks waiting for the next one.

It's been discussed in other threads. HSQ that replaced FGQs often have similar uphill capacities. The FGQ have more chairs, HSQ have faster chairs. The FGQ have more of the people on the chairs while the HSQ have people in the lines.

That said, the longest lines I've been in:
MRG Saturday powder day = 40-50 minutes for both the single and the double.
Jay Peak powder day with only the Jet Triple and Metro quad open (upper mtn lifts on wind hold) = 50 minutes for the Jet
You have to pick your times of day to ride the tram at Jay. I never take it if I have to wait for a second car.
Loon rainy Saturday = 35 minutes for main lifts :eek:
Sugarbush Castlerock = 35 minutes
 

Smellytele

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Right where I want to be
Someone mentioned the Jet. I had to wait in that line for at least 45 min once when every thing else on State side was closed for some issue or another.
 

trackbiker

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Never skied Northstar but I've heard they are constantly 1 hour minimum easily on the weekend

I was there 2 years ago when they had record snow out there on a Sunday when all of the other places on the north side of Tahoe were closed due to wind and I never waited more than 5 minutes for any lift.
 

Tin

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Crap. You're scarring me. Takin ghte family to stratton for the first time after x-mas.

But we get on the mountain early. Hopefully we can migrate to lesser used lifts for the mid day crushes.

I can't even imagine that place on a holiday weekend. Prepare to get bused in on a hayride from a parking lot a half mile away and walk a bunch. I only go now midweek when the trees are open. The best part will be fitting 12 people in a gondola that is tiny, it is like riding the subway in Tokyo.
 

Bumpsis

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Mad River Gelnn, about 40 some minutes for the single chair. It was a Saturday and conditions were nice (not a powder day, just a regular nice winter day and good snow on the munatin), but the 40 minutes was just too much. I'm sad to say that I longer ski MRG on weekends. If it's a powder day and no wind holds, I'll caugh up the money and do Sugarbush. I just REALLY hate standing in line for that long, knowing that when I come down, it's the same crap.

Sugarloaf, about 45 minutes + on a big pow day with windholds so only way to get over to other lifts that were running (the upper mountian T bar or west mountain) was just suffer the wait. That kind of situation is worth it to me since at least one can loop the runs off the T bar or get over to Brackett and then just take my time skiing all the way to the condos, in powder, in trees, having the mountian to yourself (almost).
 

Edd

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I strongly doubt I've ever waited as long as 30 minutes in a lift line. It would have to be the most epic pow day ever for me to wait that long.
 

Cannonball

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Holy crap!I guess I'm spoiled.10 minutes would be real long for me.I'd be long gone if a line reached 1/2 hour.

This.

20-25 years ago I used to always go to Loon, Waterville, MRG, Mt Snow, Magic. Standing in lines for 30-45 minutes was typical and I never thought anything of it. I remember Magic having a person who would sit in a lifeguard chair reading out trivia questions and throwing candy to the winners, just to keep you occupied in the liftline.

Then I started skiing Cannon....
 

C-Rex

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I waited around 40 min for the quad at Catamount once. We got in one run in the first hour. It was insanely busy for a small mountain. We ended up going to customer service, turning in our tickets and getting a voucher for another day.
 

drjeff

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I've never seen a line at Skyeship in my life. Something must have happened to cause such a line.

A COLD, Windy, busy day! It was Pres weekend Saturday and one of my kids had a race at K that day, and after she flat out insisted that she wanted to ski all the way to Skye Base - I was kind of expecting a line down there, but not a LINE! All that mattered though is that my kids had fun :)
 

deadheadskier

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In recent years 50 minutes for the single at MRG and 40 minutes for Madonna at smuggs both occurring on weekends. I refuse to ski either area again on a weekend.
 

jimk

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Concur with some of the other posts that the good old days weren't so good for short lift lines, but you do what you have to do.:dontknow:
I waited in one hour lines once or twice a day on many peak weekends/holidays back in the 1970s. In my part of the country (mid-Atlantic) we had a lot less lift capacity per skier back then (there were no boarders). More recently, I usually steer clear of obvious big days, but max wait probably 45 mins for one of the Killington gondolas about 5 or 10 years ago.
 

Edd

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In recent years 50 minutes for the single at MRG and 40 minutes for Madonna at smuggs both occurring on weekends. I refuse to ski either area again on a weekend.

I skied Smuggs a few years ago on a non-holiday weekday and the lift line waits were as long as I ever experience.


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Edd

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Since lift line waits are the subject...I'm at Loon today and I despise the Gondola here. I've said this before but I'd love them to rip it out and put in the six pack Mt Snow has.


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4aprice

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the damn poconoes.. afwul on weekends

That depends upon where you are and how well you know the mountain. At Camelback in the meat of the season (when the proper lifts are operating) I can ski almost the entire day without waiting. The only times I've seen it unbearable is during Christmas week or Presidents weekend. At Blue the twin doubles never seem to have a long wait, and at Elk if the double on the quad side is running I've never had to wait.

Alex

Lake Hopatcong, NJ
 

4aprice

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Since lift line waits are the subject...I'm at Loon today and I despise the Gondola here. I've said this before but I'd love them to rip it out and put in the six pack Mt Snow has.


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That's too bad. I was there on a Friday last March and we pretty much walked on to the gondola every run. I enjoyed it that day but understand your feelings if the line is long.

Alex

Lake Hopatcong, NJ
 

MadMadWorld

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I have waited about an hour on a few occasions at both Wawa and Smuggs. This was during February vacation though. It was miserable

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Hawkshot99

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If I have to wait more than 10 mins I will not be there anymore. I ski midweek and almost always ski on or wait only a few chairs.
the only waiting I do, is waiting for first chair.

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