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Epic Pass just got more Epic

crazy

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You can't get rid of the road. You can ban personal vehicles from it, but emergency response including fire and EMS need to be able to travel up and down the road. As BenedictGomez mentions too, unless public transit ran 24/7, staff and others will need to be able to get to/from in the off hours. Also, what about mountaineers and backcountry skiers who want to park at 4am to start a long, technical uphill?

Again, banning personal cars and forcing people to use some public transit solution is one option. Tolls or 100% paid parking (with some proceeds going towards improving public transit) is another solution where vehicles are allowed, but the increased costs mean less people end up driving. I will say that the increased costs may impact locals more than tourists. If I'm a tourist, who cares about $20 to park when I've already spent way, way more than that to fly there, rent a hotel, eat meals, etc. If paid parking/tolls ends up costing quite a bit, you might also see more demand for the on-mountain lodging options, which, given the inability to add supply, will drive up prices for the Cliff Lodge, Goldminer's Daughter, and so on.
 

abc

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How many days per season do these avalanche road closures occur, is it really a big problem that's routine, or is it only a big problem if it happens to happen to you one of the 8 days per 208 day ski season?
As many days as powder days, I'm told.

(I'm not local, thetrailboss might have have more concrete numbers as to how many powder days the Cottonwoods have in a season).

My understanding (and my experience) is, every time there's significant snow, they need to do avalanche mitigation on the cliffs along the road. So the road is closed.

So it's every powder day. I've actually been there for maybe only 3 storm days. One we sat at the canyon mouth waiting for it to open. One we decided to go to Big Cottonwood instead. Both worked out. But the 3rd time, I sat in traffic for about an hour before bailing to Park City. In that last incident (2 years ago). I couldn't get close enough to even divert to BCC.
 

BenedictGomez

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It's possible that info could be in the MTN 10k, but my suspicion is it would be intentionally amalgamated rather than broken out due to both competitive reasons & negotiative reasons.

So I poked around in their 10K, and as I suspected it's not broken out, but only tacitly mentioned.
 

thetrailboss

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As many days as powder days, I'm told.

(I'm not local, thetrailboss might have have more concrete numbers as to how many powder days the Cottonwoods have in a season).

My understanding (and my experience) is, every time there's significant snow, they need to do avalanche mitigation on the cliffs along the road. So the road is closed.

So it's every powder day. I've actually been there for maybe only 3 storm days. One we sat at the canyon mouth waiting for it to open. One we decided to go to Big Cottonwood instead. Both worked out. But the 3rd time, I sat in traffic for about an hour before bailing to Park City. In that last incident (2 years ago). I couldn't get close enough to even divert to BCC.

So it depends.

This season we are having a GREAT snow year. They have had A LOT of problems with LCC. It has impacted my skiing 3 days...out of 17 so far. But it is aggravating because my daughter is in ski camp at Snowbird and it cost a lot of coin. The problem is exactly what someone said--the problem is that they close the road usually from 6-8am or so. Have to be at the mountain at 9am for ski school? You need to leave SLC like at 6:30am or 7am and then sit in line on the road to the Canyon for an hour, 90 minutes, or more before driving up en masse with everyone else. If you leave at even 7:15 you can be stuck for much longer.

Then the drive down can be a mess if everyone leaves at the same time.
 

kingslug

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Funny, but I would still take that over the 5 hour drive to Stowe. But its something that needs to be addressed at some point...cause its only getting worse.
Soon they will be saying "Alta..no one skis there..its too crowded"
 

crazy

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Funny, but I would still take that over the 5 hour drive to Stowe. But its something that needs to be addressed at some point...cause its only getting worse.
Soon they will be saying "Alta..no one skis there..its too crowded"

Although I sympathize with the road situation in LCC and BCC, and sincerely hope that change happens soon, skiing is still so much more accessible in Utah, and frankly in Denver too on I-70, than it is for people like me who have to drive over 2 hours just to get to the NH resorts and 3.5 hours to get to the northern vermont resorts from Mass. And if it's a powder day and the roads are not great, it could take quite a bit longer to get anywhere.
 

Edd

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I’m reading this as throwing polite shade at Vail.

“We are very proud of how wonderful Arapahoe Basin has become from the unparalleled skiing and riding to the incredible scenery. With diverse ski runs including some of the most intense terrain in North America and a culinary operation that is regularly listed among the top ten in the country, the ski area has developed a very special community that feels like home. In order to continue to build on this spirit and the experience we have created, Arapahoe Basin and Vail Resorts will not be renewing their pass partnership for the 2019/2020 season,” said Arapahoe Basin Chief Operating Officer Alan Henceroth.”




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gmcunni

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I’m reading this as throwing polite shade at Vail.

Now let's start the "who do they partner with now" debate. If only peaks pass had a western option.. lol I'll keep dreaming

will be interesting. if they jump to ikon that would seem to be a slap in the face to Vail. it would be cool to see a partnership with a primarily east coast pass, would make a lot of east coasters happy with a "free" summit county vacation option.
 

dlague

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That is a game changer IMO. We have the EPIC local pass and a third of our days if not more are spent at A Basin. The last two years have been crazy at A Basin. Parking is limited and fills up fast. They even run a shuttle down to Keystone at times.

I am a veteran and A Basin does a $99 season pass including dependents. Hope that continues. We are now considering A Basin and Loveland. Loveland provides 3 days of skiing at several resorts which provides variety as well. We do not ski Vail or Beaver Creek much - been there done that. So that will not be missed. Breck technically is our home mountain and provides a nice alternative to Saturday on the 70 since we drive 24 and 9.

We might have consider the Ikon pass as well, but we like the October and May,June skiing at A Basin.

Everything makes sense Keystone plans on October opening and Breck is planning is staying open until Memorial Day.

So ABasin is already on the Gems Card so some partnership there would be cool.

https://www.coloradoski.com/store/gems-card-2018-2019

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gmcunni

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Breck technically is our home mountain and provides a nice alternative to Saturday on the 70 since we drive 24 and 9.

same. i don't mind the ride and actually look forward to the spot in Hartsel where the buffalo hang out.
 

Jcb890

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That is a game changer IMO. We have the EPIC local pass and a third of our days if not more are spent at A Basin. The last two years have been crazy at A Basin. Parking is limited and fills up fast. They even run a shuttle down to Keystone at times.

I am a veteran and A Basin does a $99 season pass including dependents. Hope that continues. We are now considering A Basin and Loveland. Loveland provides 3 days of skiing at several resorts which provides variety as well. We do not ski Vail or Beaver Creek much - been there done that. So that will not be missed. Breck technically is our home mountain and provides a nice alternative to Saturday on the 70 since we drive 24 and 9.

We might have consider the Ikon pass as well, but we like the October and May,June skiing at A Basin.

Everything makes sense Keystone plans on October opening and Breck is planning is staying open until Memorial Day.

So ABasin is already on the Gems Card so some partnership there would be cool.

https://www.coloradoski.com/store/gems-card-2018-2019

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I have a buddy who is in the military (reserves) and always gets the $99 pass - can't beat that!
 

tnt1234

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How do these passes work for mountains not owned by the parent company? Like A-basin....what kind of cut did they get from pass sales? Or did they only get paid when an epic holder skied their mountain? How does it all work?
 

jimmywilson69

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that's the million dollar question.

with this decision, I'm guess it isn't much and they had hope to make money off of food and beverage from the epic pass holders.
 
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