Free bag checks..... Why don't some people use them????

Cannonball · Mar 14, 2016

VTKilarney said:
BG is using basic logic and common sense. If we assume that one out of X number of people are thieves, bag checking drastically reduces the number of people who have access to your bag. Secondly, an employee will not remain an employee for long if there are complaints of theft. So it is statistically less likely that an employee is a thief compared to those who wander the lodge with no accountability whatsoever.

Sounds like you are responding to a claim I didn't make. Random people "who wander the lodge" are likely to grab your whole bag and take off before they are caught. They are unlikely to hang around in clear public view rifling through your bag. Whereas someone in a secluded room with your bag has ample time and privacy to look through your bag, but is probably unlikely to steal the whole thing.

Cannonball said:
Odds of someone rifling through your bag is equal on either side of the bag check counter.

VTKilarney · Mar 14, 2016

I'm not nearly as concerned with someone rifling through my bag as I am with someone stealing my bag or something in it.

drjeff · Mar 14, 2016

I will admit that I am a BIG fan of using a bag check, even if I have to pay for it, as about 20 years ago, at the mighty mogul mecca of CT, Sundown, I had my bag stolen right out of the base lodge on a Friday night while I was out skiing with friends.

It eventually turned up about a month later in the snowbanks of their parking lot as they melted (always a good idea to put your name and address on your bag in a few places I found out for sure then!), but my Timberland work boots, a pair of Reusch Gloves and classic early 90's neon colors

, and a pair of reflective lens smith goggles I had in the bag were stolen :smash:

The chances of it happening aren't great for sure, however speaking from personal experience, it sucks if it happens to you!!

Cannonball · Mar 14, 2016

VTKilarney said:
I'm not nearly as concerned with someone rifling through my bag as I am with someone stealing my bag or something in it.

I'd assume pretty much anyone would feel that way.

skiur · Mar 14, 2016

SIKSKIER said:
My bag is in my car.Maybe a car check?

+1.....I dont understand why people go inside to boot up, I boot up in the car and leave the bag safely locked in it.

Hawkshot99 · Mar 14, 2016

skiur said:
+1.....I dont understand why people go inside to boot up, I boot up in the car and leave the bag safely locked in it.

Because walking in skiboots sucks. Because it is horrible for your boots.

cdskier · Mar 14, 2016

Hawkshot99 said:
Because walking in skiboots sucks. Because it is horrible for your boots.

Cat tracks!

skiur · Mar 14, 2016

I walk less by booting in the car, you just have to park somewhere you can get out of the car and right onto a trail. And walking across a snow or mud covered parking lot is not going to hurt your boots.

SkiFanE · Mar 14, 2016

No way. Time is more valuable to me and dealing with bag check takes time. I have nothing of value in my bag. I do leave car keys in my bag - because greater hassle and chanoe of losing them on hill then getting my bag stolen with them. I expect everyone else's bag has nothing but smelly socks and boots in them - so if I was to steal anything - why a bag? Sure there's always a chance - but my risk assessment says it's not worth a second thought. Although my husband stole another guys bag that was a dupe of his once. He was kinda pissed off thinking someone stole whatever he was looking for til he realized it was someone else's.

SkiFanE · Mar 14, 2016

Hawkshot99 said:
Because walking in skiboots sucks. Because it is horrible for your boots.

I had tracks someone gave me as a gift. I couldn't use them unless I was going to get a Gaper Badge lol. I had boots for 200+ days and for $19 I got another set of heels and ski shop installed them for me. Got another couple years out of my boots. Just saying it's not the end of the world if you walk in boots and it's not that hard.

BenedictGomez · Mar 14, 2016

Los said:
You seem really passionate about this. Do you have a relative or close friend who works as a bag checker?

I come from a long line of ski resort bag checkers.

skiur said:
+1.....I dont understand why people go inside to boot up, I boot up in the car and leave the bag safely locked in it.

I do that most of the time too, but some places you cant, like Whiteface.

chuckstah · Mar 14, 2016

BenedictGomez said:
I come from a long line of ski resort bag checkers.

I do that most of the time too, but some places you cant, like Whiteface.

Skied Whiteface for the first time last week. Parked(Riverside lot), booted up at the car , crossed a bridge and was at the ticket window in 2-3 minutes, gondy 2 minutes after that. If parking was further away a shuttle would have dropped us right at the lodge. I have not brought a bag into a lodge in years.

deadheadskier · Mar 14, 2016

I don't really care what others preferences are as long as bags and shoes are not stored under / around the tables in the lodge. I prefer those areas to be tidy. :lol: If it's a mountain like Wildcat, Crotched, Sugarbush that offers ample free storage cubbies, I'll most likely use them out of convenience. Places like Gunstock or Okemo where I've read and/or experienced theft first hand, I'll use the check.

Okemo absolutely pisses me off the most with their policy on bags. They've got a bag room and charge for it; stupid pricing levels based upon bag sizes. Additionally, they have lots of signage in the lodge warning folks of theft. This is for good reason. As a kid, my family had bags stolen a couple of times from Okemo. You'd often read in the Black River Tribune about local kids getting arrested with stolen goods from doing this. After the second episode, we'd boot up in the lodge, then bring the boot bag (which usually contained lunch as well) up to the mid-mountain Sugar Shack lodge. What bothers me most about the whole scene at Okemo is that they know they've got a theft problem and instead of doing right by their customers and offer a free check, they use it as an additional profit center. lame

As for booting up at the car? I used to do it all the time when I lived in ski towns and had a short commute to the mountain. These days I drive 1:15-2 hours to the mountain almost every time I ski. I wear different socks on the way to the hill and typically don't want base layers and ski pants on while traveling to the hill either. Also, my bag will have different base layers, goggle lenses etc in it. I just assume have the easy ability to change those items out while having a beer in the lodge instead of heading back out to the car. I can see why the Zoomer Bar crew at Cannon sticks with what they do there though. So convenient.

abc · Mar 14, 2016

skiur said:
+1.....I dont understand why people go inside to boot up, I boot up in the car and leave the bag safely locked in it.

Brown bag lunch

SkiFanE · Mar 14, 2016

deadheadskier said:
I don't really care what others preferences are as long as bags and shoes are not stored under / around the tables in the lodge. I prefer those areas to be tidy. :lol: If it's a mountain like Wildcat, Crotched, Sugarbush that offers ample free storage cubbies, I'll most likely use them out of convenience. Places like Gunstock or Okemo where I've read and/or experienced theft first hand, I'll use the check.

Okemo absolutely pisses me off the most with their policy on bags. They've got a bag room and charge for it; stupid pricing levels based upon bag sizes. Additionally, they have lots of signage in the lodge warning folks of theft. This is for good reason. As a kid, my family had bags stolen a couple of times from Okemo. You'd often read in the Black River Tribune about local kids getting arrested with stolen goods from doing this. After the second episode, we'd boot up in the lodge, then bring the boot bag (which usually contained lunch as well) up to the mid-mountain Sugar Shack lodge. What bothers me most about the whole scene at Okemo is that they know they've got a theft problem and instead of doing right by their customers and offer a free check, they use it as an additional profit center. lame

As for booting up at the car? I used to do it all the time when I lived in ski towns and had a short commute to the mountain. These days I drive 1:15-2 hours to the mountain almost every time I ski. I wear different socks on the way to the hill and typically don't want base layers and ski pants on while traveling to the hill either. Also, my bag will have different base layers, goggle lenses etc in it. I just assume have the easy ability to change those items out while having a beer in the lodge instead of heading back out to the car. I can see why the Zoomer Bar crew at Cannon sticks with what they do there though. So convenient.

Re: bags all over the place under tables...maybe 5+ years ago there was exact discussion here. I was aggravated by the bag chaos. And someone at the time wrote - eh, whatever, that's the New England ski lodge way of life. Didn't like that answer at the time. But now it's my attitude. Maybe because 99% of the time my lodge is the same. Last weekend- plenty of places to store bags. Snowy vacation weekend in Feb with tons of racers, skiers and family - bags all over the place. Dodging people. Wet gloves and neckies hanging by fire. Loud. Hot. Steamy. Damn I fucking miss that

. My home lodge may be messy - but it's a fun place so I don't even notice the crap all over the place anymore. A place with bag check only just doesn't sound homey if theft is that rampant.

gmcunni · Mar 14, 2016

skiur said:
+1.....I dont understand why people go inside to boot up, I boot up in the car and leave the bag safely locked in it.

most of my skiing is day trip. don't like wearing all my stuff while i drive. transpack carries all i need. put on my ski pants, socks and boots in the lodge.

abc · Mar 14, 2016

On the bag check thing.

1) I don't have valuable in the bag so security isn't a concern. Sure, I'd had to drive home bare foot if my sneakers are taken. But that's not exactly end of the world.

2) I don't go hunting for free bag checks. So unless they're right in front of me, I might not know it exist. I suspect many others are like me.

3) Mid-day access. As I mentioned above, I leave my lunch in there. So I need to get it at least once in the middle of the day...

All in all, it's easier to NOT check it. But, if the lodge is really clean and everyone is checking their bags, I do too.

I happened to agree with the person said the odds are equal on both side of the bag check. Why? 90% of the bags have no valuable. So there's not much reward for a thieve to take a few random bag out of 200 in the lodge. (no, they wouldn't look inside, too much risk to be caught. They would simply take a few of the bags). Behind the bag check? The person have all day to safely look inside EVERY BAG and only take valuables. In truth, I don't think there's ANYTHING in any bag worth stealing either way. So it's really down to convenience.

BenedictGomez · Mar 14, 2016

chuckstah said:
Skied Whiteface for the first time last week. Parked(Riverside lot), booted up at the car , crossed a bridge and was at the ticket window in 2-3 minutes, gondy 2 minutes after that. If parking was further away a shuttle would have dropped us right at the lodge. I have not brought a bag into a lodge in years.

I would not walk that far in my ski boots, that's a bit of a hike. And even that's a best-case scenario for Whiteface, so you were either early or it was empty due to conditions. Often you'll be in one of the upper lots and have to get on the shuttle or one of the farther lots past the river. But Whiteface has a bag check, and it's super quick and convenient (not free though).

skicub · Mar 15, 2016

I only ski midweek, so this isn't much of an issue. That being said, I seem to only want to check my bag at places like okemo, killington, Loon, mt. snow, Wachusett and places with high traffic from city goers. Pick pocketing and petty theft is an issue in Boston/Tristate and I think it is no coincidence that NY/VT areas have a prevalence of these problems. I've skied Sunday River and MtWashValley for years and rarely used a bag check, though occasionally used the ski check on very busy days. Heck, we even leave a door unlocked on our car when skiing Maine in case we accidentally lose the key on the Mtn. But even Bromley, with its mostly local traffic feels safer than somewhere like Stratton, a mere 15 mins down the road. At places like the Loaf, when you've driven 4+ hours, it's unlikely that you are in it to steal someone's $75 goggles. When cubbies/hooks are available I use them, and if not it goes under a table that isn't in a high traffic area. My Rule of thumb: If there's an ad for a ski area on the T or MTA, it's probably a good idea to check your bag on a busy day and leave your gold studded neck warmer at home.

Sent from my iPhone using AlpineZone

dlague · Mar 15, 2016

hammer said:
Guessing people are unaware, too cheap to bother with the "cost", or don't want to deal with waiting in line to get the bag.

Guilty as charged here mainly for the last reason above.

Aside from prescription glasses and a backup pair of googles, I usually don't keep anything in my bag that anyone would/should care to steal. Much bigger concern is skis and we faithfully lock them with a basic cable lock, mainly as a deterrent.

FREE bag check man those people are really cheap.

This season I have gotten ready trail side at Cannon. At other resorts I never bother with it because I keep nothing of value in my bag. If they steal a boot bag then they must need it more than I do.

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Free bag checks..... Why don't some people use them????

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