Superpasses: more crowds?

This year at sugarbush has been a little busier at the peak times but you also have to remember that the woods and Castlerock and the slidebrook lift did not come into full swing until 2 weeks ago with the storm. Those areas actually slow down the downhill part of the lift line equation making the lines better. It actually has not been all that bad this year. Once we see what next year brings we can all have this conversation again. I am sure we will. ;-)

kingslug said:

Well...Stowe really has only 2 main lifts, the slow double makes 3.. The triple only good when the others are down but its a bit useless..SB has 10. Only benefit with Stowe is if your skiing with people on different runs its a hell of a lot easier to meet back up. SB...good luck.

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Stowe is 2000' vert every run if you ski the quad or the gondi. That is what I like about that mountain. Good long runs. I get the Ski-VT four pack specifically to ski Stowe.

lol. i liked a lot of the houses on mountain at pow mow. very modern/scandinavian. def not traditional, but i dont think they were ugly. only ugly in that they are incomplete construction sites.

Thats the part I like about it..long runs. SB is like Killington..the Mountain is cut in half but disperses the crowds. Wandering around SB is fun, all the little connectors that get bumped up..Then of course CR is a place unto itself. Its totally different than Stowe which is why most of my EC season will be spent between the two...with some time up at Jay and Hunter.

thetrailboss said:

Not anymore!

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You missed my point.

While the lift ticket is "free", lodging isn't. That, is definitely premium!

What are you talking about? You can stay in Stowe directly for under 100 bucks.

ya, plenty of cheap lodging in stowe. more there than the MRV. the stowe motel/snowdrift, the stowe inn, super cheap and not totally awful places.

and in jackson i dunno who the heck was sleeping in their subarus, bc town is full of budget minded hotels like the antler inn.

KustyTheKlown said:

ya, plenty of cheap lodging in stowe. more there than the MRV. the stowe motel/snowdrift, the stowe inn, super cheap and not totally awful places.

and in jackson i dunno who the heck was sleeping in their subarus, bc town is full of budget minded hotels like the antler inn.

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Yup. Stayed at the Snowdrift for $70 a night for a studio last year. Good luck getting a closet in the MRV under $120.

KustyTheKlown said:

and in jackson i dunno who the heck was sleeping in their subarus, bc town is full of budget minded hotels like the antler inn.

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"Budget" for you and me, the Antler apparently were too costly for the CO/UT skiers.

I don't know how much of that was true. Or perhaps the locals made that up. But that's what the residents were bitching about. I'm inclined to believe them. Why? I had no trouble finding rooms for the night, but I had a heck of a hard time finding parking in the carpool lot! Where did all the skiers on the mountain coming from if not the back of their Subaru?

Unless of course, the JH management was right all along, those extra skiers were locals (who don't need motel rooms)!

I don't know if it's still that way, but last year, motel prices didn't go up despite all the extra UT/CO plates clogging up the highway all the way back to the village. How could that be possible?

BenedictGomez said:

They're ugly as crap houses based on uber-modern designs that stick out like a grotesque sore thumb in the beautiful Utah countryside.

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LOL - soooooo true..

I’ve been lurking in this thread for a while.
I’m headed to Jackson mid March for first time in 10 years.
Was my annual trip for about 10 years, usually 10-14 days each.
I’m curious how different it will look. I know the base has changed..

Anyway- a place like Jackson, not many day trippers-
I wonder if hotel occupancy shows significant increase since ikon?
Local Jackson chamber of commerce type orgs ever release data?

And I guess a real good indicator of ikon increases might be
the mountain sees a huge drop in day ticket or 3day ticket sales
But all these people are still skiing at their mountain

Well, I took an "hour" out of my day to scan this thread from start to finish. Some interesting stuff.

I will say that in my 10th year of condo ownership at Mt. Snow, the crowds have grown and grown, but this year seems otherworldly. Not that they were short before on a decent weather weekend, but they certainly feel longer post-EPIC, especially given the overall staffing issues that have resulted in downtime on other lifts that normally would provide some line relief. The flipside of that has been a somewhat noticeable decrease in on-trail traffic, especially on the trails that are not the main thoroughfares.

With my EPIC pass in hand, I did, in fact, head out West for the first time in 6 years. We used to go out West 1-2 times every year, but then we started having kids. This year was my 40th birthday, so that, combined with the EPIC pass, combined with my wife neither being pregnant nor breastfeeding (and the kids being old enough to stay with grandparents) made this year a good year to head west again. We def. let EPIC steer us on where to go; we also used the feeling that our ski days were "free" because of the pass to justify spending some extra dollars on 2 days of cat skiing. So, the EPIC pass is influencing our behavior, although maybe not driving it.

Perhaps because I did not read this thread, I was quite surprised that the lines at PCMR were so EPIC. I guess I had figured (wrongly) in my head that the line issue was a Mt. Snow/smaller east coast problem, and that the large west coast resorts could handle any increased volume they might experience from the passes. I guess my experience with long lines on non-powder days at PCMR as well as all the viral photos from Vail and the posts in this thread prove that wrong.

In any event, I do hope some kind of stasis is reached. The megapasses are still relatively new and as an industry disrupter, still in the middle of their disrupting. But perhaps it will work itself out eventually and the ridonkulous lines will settle a bit. Otherwise, my little IPA-baby might benefit from me learning to skin uphill. Hmmm.

Why is it mainly Vail and Solitude where we consistently see absurd life line? What about the other Colorado front range resorts? Are Copper and Breck overwhelmed on the weekends? They just don't seem to produce the same horror stories.

billo said:

Why is it mainly Vail and Solitude where we consistently see absurd life line? What about the other Colorado front range resorts? Are Copper and Breck overwhelmed on the weekends? They just don't seem to produce the same horror stories.

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Vail is Vail, it's the Vail Resorts flagship, which has gotten crazy post EPIC.

Solitude's explanation is easier; it's the only IKON unlimited option sitting right on top of > 1M people. I've only been there once, 4 years ago, and the local "brag" was how it never gets crowded & it's a great place for families & learning. Sure seemed that way, I think it would have been a great place to raise ski kids, but not so much anymore I guess. I liked Solitude, but honestly if it really is crowded now I'd simply pass. For that area it's just not good enough versus numerous competitors to deal with any form of crowding, let alone major crowding.

billo said:

Why is it mainly Vail and Solitude where we consistently see absurd life line? What about the other Colorado front range resorts? Are Copper and Breck overwhelmed on the weekends? They just don't seem to produce the same horror stories.

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Only a 1 day sample, but Copper lines were very short to non-existant on the Sunday after MLK. Weather was beautiful tjat day. We went ride the bubble and Chodola at peak time mainly to see how crowded it would be. Some guys did tell there were a lot more people there during MLK weekend, but still not too bad.

I don’t know about Solitude. When I was there (weekend), there was no line. Even though parking was full.

Vail has far fewer lifts compare to Copper if you consider the terrain it serves. There are a couple of key lifts in the back bowl that you can’t bypass.

jaytrem said:

Only a 1 day sample, but Copper lines were very short to non-existant on the Sunday after MLK. Weather was beautiful tjat day. We went ride the bubble and Chodola at peak time mainly to see how crowded it would be. Some guys did tell there were a lot more people there during MLK weekend, but still not too bad.

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Was at Copper President's Day Saturday in a decent sized snow storm. Started at Super Bee, was crowded but not horrendous by any stretch. Did not venture to Eagle or Flyer, likely crazier. 3 Bears never opened due to wind and storm, so stayed on Resolution and Alpine mostly. Lines weren't bad and powder, especially in the trees, was plentiful. Snow may have kept some crowds down due to fear of I70 parking lot. Thought lines at Steamboat the previous Saturday were worse, at least to start the day out of the one base they have.

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fdskier56 said:

I’ve been lurking in this thread for a while.
I’m headed to Jackson mid March for first time in 10 years.
Was my annual trip for about 10 years, usually 10-14 days each.
I’m curious how different it will look. I know the base has changed..

Anyway- a place like Jackson, not many day trippers-
I wonder if hotel occupancy shows significant increase since ikon?
Local Jackson chamber of commerce type orgs ever release data?

And I guess a real good indicator of ikon increases might be
the mountain sees a huge drop in day ticket or 3day ticket sales
But all these people are still skiing at their mountain

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I was up in Jackson, WY last week. Skied Tues & Thurs at JH and Fri at Grand Targhee. JH crowds weren't too bad. The tram is always very popular. I rode it three times in two days, with waits of 40 mins, 25 mins, and 10 mins. The shortest wait was when I caught a late ride at 3:50 PM (last tram that day). All the chairs on the mtn were not very crowded during my visit (1-5 min waits). I did not ski on Wed and my friends said that was the lightest day of the week, so if you take a rest day don't take it on Wed:razz:
I visited JH in 2015 and 2018 and it was busier those two visits than last week, but I have no explanation for that because by all reports JH keeps getting busier and busier each year under IKON/MCP.
Last Friday I went to Grand Targhee on a beautiful sunny day. First time for me there and one of the most enjoyable and memorable ski days in recent years. The contrast with JH is stark. Much less trail traffic, nice mom & pop vibe. What you give up in gnar, you gain with friendlier snow conditions and even better scenery.

Not everyone's cup of tea, but I got a last minute, seven day rate at the remodeled Motel 6 in Jackson that was the cheapest I've paid for a ski trip since I didn't have gray hair:sad:

jimk said:

I visited JH in 2015 and 2018 and it was busier those two visits than last week, but I have no explanation for that because by all reports JH keeps getting busier and busier each year under IKON/MCP.

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JH had always been busy on weekends, especially when there's new snow. (so is Big Sky, btw) A lot of visitors who ski JH 1 week pre-Ikon/MCP only remember those quiet mid-week days. I've skied JH on holiday period. It was definitely busy even "back then".

There's definitely EVEN MORE people post IKON, particularly on weekends. Locals who have to work during the week will understandably upset with the big increase of traffic on weekends.

With the change of IKON pass next season, it'll be interesting to see how it will be.

A 40 minute wait for the tram, on a refreeze, basically spring, midweek day is absurd.

Jackson has increased its skier visits almost 40% in two years. Your memories are wrong.

5 tram wait at 8:30am this past Sunday. It was almost 8 by the time the mountain opened. That is an hour and a half wait.