I guess I am surprised to hear that people actually have an issue with this...Personally I don't see it the same way, nor do I have an issue with it. Curious how the heck can you enforce it !?!?
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President week crowds
- Thread starter slatham
- Start date
I guess I am surprised to hear that people actually have an issue with this...Personally I don't see it the same way, nor do I have an issue with it. Curious how the heck can you enforce it !?!?
shwilly
Member
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The singles line is for people who don't care who they're grouped with on a chair -- nothing more, nothing less. I'd never heard of anyone thinking otherwise until this thread.
Of course no one's enforcing, "Did you come to the hill alone today? Huh? I saw you talking to that other guy. You're no single, mister!" That would be ludicrous.
But aside from practicality...no one's trying to enforce anything because there is neither a rule nor a norm against getting in the singles line with your friends and meeting back at the top.
It bothers me when multiple people in the singles line try to ride the same chair. Last time I saw this was over MLK weekend when some piece of human detritus at Blue Mt. insisted on using the singles line with his wife and two young children, but couldn't let his precious snowflakes ride the chair without him. The lifties knew him and called him "doc". The best part is that pass-holders (which I assume he was) have line-cutting privileges at a separate entrance point. I guess skating around the plebes to the VIP liftline was too much to ask of them.
However, if you are willing to ride the chair with strangers rather than your ski buddies, who cares? The singles line isn't intended as a benefit for people who ski alone (which groups includes me most of the time). It's intended to fill chairs efficiently.
MEtoVTSkier
Active member
The singles line should be used to fill seats at the BEGINNING of of the maze line, NOT the end of it. Then it would be to your benefit to come up with a completely full seat load and take a place in line. But that would make too much sense to make everyone wait the same amount of time.
drjeff
Well-known member
Mount Snow, after some complaints by many passholders in the passholders forum, has really cracked down on the misuse of the singles lines, atleast for the quad at Carinthia andf the Bluebird the last month or so.
I've personally heard on multiple occasions the person running the singles line stop and tell people who tried to slide out as a double (or more) that if the want to be sure to ride together, than use the regular line!
As someone who regularly uses the singles line when either my wife has quit for the day or me or her are at different mountains watching one of our kids race, you see more and more the folks using the singles line, who you just know way ahead of time are planning on riding up together. And the reality is at many lifts, when there's a full queue lane(s) making up the singles line, and queue lanes that are maybe 1/2 full for the non singles lanes, it's usually a similar wait time.
I've personally heard on multiple occasions the person running the singles line stop and tell people who tried to slide out as a double (or more) that if the want to be sure to ride together, than use the regular line!
As someone who regularly uses the singles line when either my wife has quit for the day or me or her are at different mountains watching one of our kids race, you see more and more the folks using the singles line, who you just know way ahead of time are planning on riding up together. And the reality is at many lifts, when there's a full queue lane(s) making up the singles line, and queue lanes that are maybe 1/2 full for the non singles lanes, it's usually a similar wait time.
BenedictGomez
Well-known member
Many people "have an issue" with it, I am surprised you're not aware of this.
And if you're legitimately skiing as a single you have an issue with it because not only are the faux-singles cutting the line, but they're also making the legitimate singles wait time longer.
I've seen it done probably 6 or 10 times in my day, and the reality is it's very simple. You tell them, "the singles line is for singles" and you send them to the back of the regular line. I'm not sure I've witnessed this happen when it was not met with either cheers (literally) or a favorable response from the rest of the lines.
Duncanator24
New member
This exactly! Calling that entitlement or cheating is kinda silly. I would be perfectly happy if they made everyone ride in "groups of 1" to make the process more efficient for everybody. But since that is not the reality, I will gladly use the system to my advantage. Any time I actually have a group of 4+ people or something, I dont just cram everyone in the singles line. While still not against the rules, that would at least be inconsiderate.
BenedictGomez
Well-known member
That's great to hear, and good on Mount Snow for enforcing it.
The opposite example would be Jay Peak a few weeks ago, where they would commonly take 8 to 16 people straight off the singles line for the Flyer.
Guess what happened?
Predictably the singles line actually got LONGER than the normal lines as the day wore on, because bad behavior rewarded breeds more bad behavior - I get that. People saw the MUCH shorter "singles" line wait at Jay that day and said, "SCREW THIS, if they're gonna' cut the line, I'M gonna' cut the line", but because the line jockey kept taking numerous singles it was still a shorter wait than the people who politely obeyed the queue.
Duncanator24
New member
What is a fake single?? If you elect to ride the chair with no preference to who is on it, then you are a single rider. You can show up by yourself or with 100 people. You are still a single rider. Of course it is silly to ride singles with more than 2-3 people but its completely asinine to try and enforce your made up rule. Whatever mountain this occurs at is one I will gladly avoid.
BenedictGomez
Well-known member
All considerations taken in toto, I doubt that mountain's operations will miss your ilk.
Unless there are singles cutting in front of groups and creating a chair full of only people from the singles lines, what difference does it make? It in no way makes the other lines longer it just eliminates chairs going up that aren't full. Sorry but disagree with anyone frowning on the singles line use, whether alone or with a group because it doesn't matter at all to those in the regular line. You are going to get on the same chair regardless of the groups ahead of you are all 3 on a quad it all 4 with, made so by a single rider from the singles line.
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I've seen the good folks at the mighty Sundown force groups in the singles line to split up and ride with strangers, but I've never seen people expelled from the line because they had friends skiing at the same time. As a frequent solo-skier, I do not feel at all aggrieved by groups splitting up to ride as singles, and I'm not particularly laid-back when it comes to boorish behavior by strangers.
SkiingInABlueDream
Active member
There needs to be 2 singles lines. One for "real" singles who are really skiing by themselves and one for single people who want to group up on a chair with specific other single people.
Duncanator24
New member
100% Agreed. It is only line cutting if it slows down or impedes the rest of the line somehow. This is why I am so confused that anyone would be mad about the concept.
Maybe the folks who weirdly disapprove of this behavior would feel better if resorts changed the name from "singles" line to "line for people who are willing to fill the last empty seat on a chair and don't insist on riding up with anyone in particular."
Jully
Active member
HAHA this. I remember this conversation from a year (maybe more) ago. I still am not convinced what the mountain intends the singles line to be for. If they strictly intend for it to be people who have no other companions... then it is cheating the line and it shouldn't be done. I had always thought growing up that the singles line was just for people who did care who they went up with and wanted an empty seat. I think this is a question that everyone should ask in the next Alpine Challenge! Assuming there ever is one again...
I do have a putrid hatred for anyone who is in the singles line and insists on riding with someone else in the singles line. That isn't cool under any of the possible definitions for a singles line!
Yeah, and there is no way resorts are doing this to benefit solo skiers. As if a business that thrives on ticket sales would actively encourage people to ski alone.
I wonder how BG's rule treats people with groups that are one person too big to fill a chair. Does one of the members have to sit out a run each time the group goes up? What if a group of four decides to go two by two? Are they abusing the doubles line, now?
SIKSKIER
New member
WTF with the singles line complaining.-Whoever is monitoring the chair and line loading is in charge of filling chairs that have room,period.If you choose to stand in a singles line you have to wait for an opening.Whats the problem?If there is nobody controling who goes when then thats on the ski area.More than one single only can go when there are not 2 in the regular line to pair with another double.I've found more than a few times I screwed myself and had to wait longer because the chairs were full in the main line.If you guys are having an issue with the singles line its the lift line workers not doing their job.BTW,I almost never use the singles cuz if it gets to that point its too crowded for me and I'm out of there.
What would be the solution to those who disapprove of the singles line use? Get rid of it all together? That will only make the line longer for everyone, since you now have less people getting on the same number of chairs. If there are mountains that let people from the singles line only on a chair together in front of people from the regular line, then that is on the mountain, not those "abusing" the singles line. I personally have only seen it at wachusett, and I agree it isn't right. If mountains hold to only adding singles to groups from the regular line, then there is absolutely no reason for anyone to care if a group of 100 is splitting up or if someone is a true single, besides being jealous that they may get to the top faster. If that's the case, get in the singles line and stop complaining. Who knows, it may end up taking longer if all groups are full.
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I really don't care what line people use as long as all four seats on the chair are occupied when a mountain is busy. If a group of four people skiing together want to take the singles line instead of riding up together, go for it. It really makes no difference to me whether someone is a "real" single or not.
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