4aprice
Well-known member
FWIW I-70 has a toll lane, ie, you use the lane, you pay the toll, but its only a certain high volume times.
Alex
Lake Hopatcong, NJ
Alex
Lake Hopatcong, NJ
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MAX Pass 2016-2017
- Thread starter xlr8r
- Start date
dlague
Active member
That lane has been closed most of the time. I have seen it open once so far this season. More than likely open this weekend due to the holiday.
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xwhaler
Active member
Max Pass has been discussed as a possible option for next yr.
If a destination XMas ski trip to see family (brother in Seattle, sister in NYC) came to fruition it would make getting one of these more attractive.
Day trips from home and 4 easy day trip mtns from a family place in VT would make it a decent play and give us some variety.
Adding another EC mtn or two would makes things quite compelling even if a Western trip didn't pan out.
If a destination XMas ski trip to see family (brother in Seattle, sister in NYC) came to fruition it would make getting one of these more attractive.
Day trips from home and 4 easy day trip mtns from a family place in VT would make it a decent play and give us some variety.
Adding another EC mtn or two would makes things quite compelling even if a Western trip didn't pan out.
Took teen sons to Copper last February. never got bored, skied 5 days, they loved it. We considered WP as well but it was easier to to stay at Copper and not spend a ton of time in the car. The only day that was busy was Saturday, and it really wasn't that bad. just get away from the lifts at the bottom as there are plenty of lifts and trails to spread out the crowd.
Jcb890
Active member
The MAX Pass was great at Copper Mountain.
We didn't have to redeem our passes or anything, just got scanned in the lift lines as we went. We rode @ Copper from 1/15 - 1/18 and had an absolute blast! Sunday and Monday were quite busy, we heard lots of complaints from locals about the "crowds". However, on the trails, we didn't notice the crowds at all because the trails are all so wide, so numerous and there are just so many acres open. In New England when it gets that busy, you're weaving in and out of people on the trails. So, while the wait for the lift was 10-20 minutes a few times on Sunday and Monday, it really wasn't too bad.
Then on Tuesday and Wednesday the place was like a ghost town. I was lapping the Super Bee lift on Wednesday and riding the 6-person chair myself most of the time. Same with the American Eagle and American Flyer lifts - riding quads mostly myself Tuesday and Wednesday. Timberline Express seemed busier on Tuesday and Wednesday actually. My wife managed to ride all 4 days also, so I was impressed, but she was tired towards the end of the trip and the height of the mountains did affect her with her fear of heights - mind you, she doesn't have any issues at any mountains in New England.
Trail Report still to follow, lots of pictures to go through. I plan to have a post up sometime this week.
We didn't have to redeem our passes or anything, just got scanned in the lift lines as we went. We rode @ Copper from 1/15 - 1/18 and had an absolute blast! Sunday and Monday were quite busy, we heard lots of complaints from locals about the "crowds". However, on the trails, we didn't notice the crowds at all because the trails are all so wide, so numerous and there are just so many acres open. In New England when it gets that busy, you're weaving in and out of people on the trails. So, while the wait for the lift was 10-20 minutes a few times on Sunday and Monday, it really wasn't too bad.
Then on Tuesday and Wednesday the place was like a ghost town. I was lapping the Super Bee lift on Wednesday and riding the 6-person chair myself most of the time. Same with the American Eagle and American Flyer lifts - riding quads mostly myself Tuesday and Wednesday. Timberline Express seemed busier on Tuesday and Wednesday actually. My wife managed to ride all 4 days also, so I was impressed, but she was tired towards the end of the trip and the height of the mountains did affect her with her fear of heights - mind you, she doesn't have any issues at any mountains in New England.
Trail Report still to follow, lots of pictures to go through. I plan to have a post up sometime this week.
Jully
Active member
$549? Maybe $599.
Jcb890
Active member
Even without doing it as an add-on, if you have a trip planned to one of the MAX Pass locations and then will use it another 10-15 times at local mountains, it makes a ton of sense at that price.
15 uses at $600 is $40/day. If you're going somewhere that's charging a $120+ window price and averaging $40 instead, you're doing pretty well!
Jully
Active member
The Max pass alone is not any more price wise than your NE season pass at a larger resort (really its actually cheaper in most cases). The only issue is making sure there are enough places to hit that you WANT to hit. If you're going out west, its pretty much a no brainer if you're interested in those places. If you're eastern only, you got to decide if the east coast offerings are worth it.
Jcb890
Active member
Agreed.
xwhaler
Active member
I've given real thought to a Max Pass for next yr because I think the variety would be a lot of fun and I have access to a ski house that would make hitting the VT mtns very easy.
I likely wouldn't be going out West but could still justify a Max just based on the 6-8 New England mtns that I would hit.
30 days at $600 is $20/day for East coast skiing at some high price point New England mtns which is pretty incredible.
However, it doesn't work so well for my situation as I will have my son in a seasonal mtn development program next yr.
Max is not really an option in my case since you only get 5 days at each mtn.
Having kids means wanting a bit of familiarity and uncrowded lodges since with a younger son we do spend quite a bit of time in the lodge with him when not skiing....the tough part about the Max Pass is that all the mtns on the EC (save for maybe Pico) are very crowded on wknds.
I wish this pass was offered before I had kids!
I likely wouldn't be going out West but could still justify a Max just based on the 6-8 New England mtns that I would hit.
30 days at $600 is $20/day for East coast skiing at some high price point New England mtns which is pretty incredible.
However, it doesn't work so well for my situation as I will have my son in a seasonal mtn development program next yr.
Max is not really an option in my case since you only get 5 days at each mtn.
Having kids means wanting a bit of familiarity and uncrowded lodges since with a younger son we do spend quite a bit of time in the lodge with him when not skiing....the tough part about the Max Pass is that all the mtns on the EC (save for maybe Pico) are very crowded on wknds.
I wish this pass was offered before I had kids!
dlague
Active member
Don't we all! Kids do change the dynamics for sure. However, we were deal hunters and the kids went where the deals were. In our case, I wish we would have picked up season passes at Cannon when our kids were young. It served as a good base for us the last couple years. Even with the season pass, we managed to ski 21 different ski areas in the 2014-2015 season and 19 different ski areas in 2015-2016. We skied 51 and 47 days per season respectively.
If I lived back east, I can see 7 East Coast places where I would definitely use all 5 days - Killington, Okemo, Pico, Loon, Sunapee, Stratton and Sunday River. Stretch goals but not all 5 days would have been Sugarloaf, Tremblant, Stoneham, St Anne and possibly a day at WaWa. So I think it is definitely a pretty solid deal. Add a trip out west and that is bonus time - the possible resorts to choose from are no slouches either.
4aprice
Well-known member
I am loving my Max pass season already and the western portion hasn't even started yet.
Our kids are older and so for me and my wife, we are weekend warriors here in the east and vacation out in the west. We planned a whole season around it.
The Max Pass is great for us in many ways. We knew we were going to be skiing in the Colorado, Utah region as our son is in CU (along with some other connections we have in Denver) and the family place in SLC. We enjoy the BCC area so the Solitude/Brighton combo is great with us. A little research and we found that the Rocky Mountain Super Pass lined up well with the Max Pass areas of Copper, Winter Park, Crested Butte and Steamboat so we had our son get that pass. Going to get 2 each at Copper and Winter Park , next week then hit Steamboat for 2 on the drive from Denver to SLC in March, and 2 (TBD) on the way back.
Here in the east, we got New Years weekend in New Hampshire (Sunapee/Loon) and last weekend at Okemo with a weekend at Stratton on deck this coming weekend. Plans include a visit to see an old friend up at Sunday River, another weekend at Loon, going to try and get Pico too if the weather breaks. Saving Killington for April as I hope to get to the at least the 3rd weekend before closing it down and even then won't use up all my options. I think I got a good deal.
Alex
Lake Hopatcong, NJ
Our kids are older and so for me and my wife, we are weekend warriors here in the east and vacation out in the west. We planned a whole season around it.
The Max Pass is great for us in many ways. We knew we were going to be skiing in the Colorado, Utah region as our son is in CU (along with some other connections we have in Denver) and the family place in SLC. We enjoy the BCC area so the Solitude/Brighton combo is great with us. A little research and we found that the Rocky Mountain Super Pass lined up well with the Max Pass areas of Copper, Winter Park, Crested Butte and Steamboat so we had our son get that pass. Going to get 2 each at Copper and Winter Park , next week then hit Steamboat for 2 on the drive from Denver to SLC in March, and 2 (TBD) on the way back.
Here in the east, we got New Years weekend in New Hampshire (Sunapee/Loon) and last weekend at Okemo with a weekend at Stratton on deck this coming weekend. Plans include a visit to see an old friend up at Sunday River, another weekend at Loon, going to try and get Pico too if the weather breaks. Saving Killington for April as I hope to get to the at least the 3rd weekend before closing it down and even then won't use up all my options. I think I got a good deal.
Alex
Lake Hopatcong, NJ
dlague
Active member
Lines up well because the Max Pass is a partnership with Boyne, Intrawest, and Powdr and a few other stragglers.
I expect I'll have 20-23 days on it. It's worked out for me & my wife nicely- She got a few days at Sunapee, we've used up our K days, and will dig into the Pico & Okemo days shortly (we stay w friends at K). We always hit Snowshoe for a weekend, and it gave us an excuse to visit friends in CO to do Copper & Winter Park. Then Big Sky for spring break w our son. And maybe a work trip to SLC, squeeze in Brighton.
Oh, we clicked off Mtn Creek one night, too, just because- its 20min off the route we take home to MD from VT.
There are enough options to make us question the value of our passes at our home hill in PA! We need ~10 days there to break even vs the discount card, and will barely get to that! Sad, yet exciting.
I have noticed that many of the Western places other than CO are smaller-ish. Still as large/larger as most of the Eastern places, but not always worth a trip out- more of a "happen to be in the neighborhood" places?
Oh, we clicked off Mtn Creek one night, too, just because- its 20min off the route we take home to MD from VT.
There are enough options to make us question the value of our passes at our home hill in PA! We need ~10 days there to break even vs the discount card, and will barely get to that! Sad, yet exciting.
I have noticed that many of the Western places other than CO are smaller-ish. Still as large/larger as most of the Eastern places, but not always worth a trip out- more of a "happen to be in the neighborhood" places?
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dlague
Active member
I do not know about smallish maybe not as much notoriety but ....
Kicking Horse is quite large. So isn't Fergie. Kimberly is no slouch. Adding in Nakiska makes for a decent BC trip.
Even Crystal, Steven's Pass and the Summit combined seems appealing.
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Jully
Active member
IMO their BC options are the best resorts on the pass!
We've used our MaxPass at Kilington and Stratton where we could just go right to the lift. What's the procedure at the other places?
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