Forget Snow: Alta is for $$$$$

[ss20]

You should be a writer for SNL, they could use this kind of material! Our roads in Jersey have tolls on them that were supposed to be removed when I was in diapers.

hence I put "theoretically"....

Regardless, long-term the plan is to transition from paid parking to tolling LCC road itself once there is some type of mass transit option available (gondola or bus). Six in one half a dozen in the other...

 

[Harvey]

There's very little capitalism at Gore (and none at Belleayre).

I disagree to an extent. But to the degree you are correct, that is part of the appeal for me. Like lack of slopeside.

 

[Harvey]

I agree completely. I longed for Denver for years and then visited enough times to realize I’d be miserable as a weekend warrior with a regular M-F job trying to fight i70 every weekend. Love northeastern living for so many reasons, and don’t mind the long drive north.

Wow I am not alone.

For me I also like water, rain, trees and woods. And the lack of wildfires.

 

[Smellytele]

hence I put "theoretically"....

Regardless, long-term the plan is to transition from paid parking to tolling LCC road itself once there is some type of mass transit option available (gondola or bus). Six in one half a dozen in the other...

Who is getting the money for the paid parking and who will get the money from a toll road? 2 different entities I presume...

 

[KustyTheKlown]

Wow I am not alone.

For me I also like water, rain, trees and woods. And the lack of wildfires.

the fires is another huge thing for me not wanting to move west. its worse every summer.

saw some articles recently about how northern new england should expect significant influx of climate migrants as more southern latitudes increasingly become inhospitable

now western canada, that i could fuck with. would gladly move to vancouver or calgary if they would have me. cost of living in vancouver is brutal but i am conditioned for brooklyn prices.

 

[Edd]

the fires is another huge thing for me not wanting to move west. its worse every summer.

saw some articles recently about how northern new england should expect significant influx of climate migrants as more southern latitudes increasingly become inhospitable

now western canada, that i could fuck with. would gladly move to vancouver or calgary if they would have me. cost of living in vancouver is brutal but i am conditioned for brooklyn prices.

Yeah, Canada is where my head was at also. I actually could handle Quebec skiing, even.

 

[jimk]

Happiness is a spot inside your head, not a place on a map. A well adjusted person can be happy anywhere. A malcontent can be miserable anywhere.

 

[raisingarizona]

Happiness is a spot inside your head, not a place on a map. A well adjusted person can be happy anywhere. A malcontent can be miserable anywhere.

I like this but it only goes so far.

I really don’t do very well in larger population centers. Being crowded by so many is not a good time imo. There’s too many reminders of how much people can really suck. I need some space. I don’t think it’s natural for us to live like that and if you have had enough time completely unconnected to the urban world you can’t help but notice the negative impacts it has on people.

Also, an extremely expensive place can create a whole lot of stress for the average, working class person which honestly can make life really difficult and hard to enjoy.

 

[Harvey]

There is truth in both statements.

 

[raisingarizona]

The fire thing is definitely putting a pinch on our quality of life out here but for me, it still outweighs the humidity and bugs out east.

 

[SenorQuesadilla]

Uber top-secret information that you'd never know if you just listened to the media? America is getting crowded.

I'll used 2000 as a base year since most posters here are old enough to remember life in America in 2000 as it was only 20 years ago. There are TWENTY PERCENT more people in America in 2021 than there was in 2000. For every 10 people you saw in 2000, there are 12 there now.

One of the main reasons real estate is going bonkers in America isnt because of value-added asset appreciation, it's simply lack of supply because there were too few houses built in the last 20 years for all the additional people immigrating to America.

Old enough to remember 1990?
There's 34% more people in America now. For every 66 folks at Costco there are now about 100.

Old enough to remember 1980?
There's almost 50% more people in America now!!!!!!

66 to 100 people would be a 51.5 percent increase.

 

[Harvey]

The fire thing is definitely putting a pinch on our quality of life out here but for me, it still outweighs the humidity and bugs out east.

True. Water = humidity and bugs. This map blows my mind:

US Annual Precipitation Map

30 Year Normal Annual Precipitation.

nyskiblog.com

 

[BenedictGomez]

66 to 100 people would be a 51.5 percent increase.

Yeah, I copy/pasted that on the wrong line.

 

[ThatGuy]

True. Water = humidity and bugs. This map blows my mind:

US Annual Precipitation Map

30 Year Normal Annual Precipitation.

nyskiblog.com

The disparity of the coastal areas to the inland areas rainfall on the west coast is staggering. Shows how much mountain ranges really block moisture.

 

[thetrailboss]

Yeah, Canada is where my head was at also. I actually could handle Quebec skiing, even.

I love Quebec. Great culture and amazing food.

 

[thetrailboss]

And not sure if this will be blocked by a paywall, but now ALL parking in Alta (including town lots) will be $25.00 per day for holidays and weekends. The backcountry community is ripped.

‘Inconvenient for everybody’: Alta to charge $25 for parking, require reservations this winter

Unlike Monopoly, Alta will offer no free parking on weekends and holidays this ski season after the town and the ski area announced they will require permits and reservations.

www.sltrib.com

 

[thetrailboss]

Who is getting the money for the paid parking and who will get the money from a toll road? 2 different entities I presume...

For the parking, half of it goes to the vendor who is running the site. The other half to the ski area (for ski lots) and the Town (for town lots).

 

[thetrailboss]

Trailboss...I don't say this with offense intended, but theoretically you are part of the problem leading to why Alta is going the way it is. Fact is SLC has blown up in the past couple decades, mainly from skiers and outdoor enthusiasts like you who saw a city that is relatively cheap, way more convenient than Denver, and mere minutes from mountain activities. As more people moved there, so came the larger companies and now it's booming. But there are still only the same 8 or 9 ski areas that there were when the metro area was half the size it is now. You can blame Ikon all you want, and sure it is probably leading to SOME increase of vacationers that might not have gone there otherwise. But the vast majority of the crowding is the ever increasing amount of locals that were going to be skiing there anyway. A place like Jackson or Big Sky has a valid gripe with the Ikon because it's not like it's newfound local people flooding into those areas, it's all Ikon people vacationing there who otherwise wouldn't have, because it's on the pass.

For 5 or 6 years after I graduated from college, all I wanted to do was move to Utah or Colorado. Now, after a few trips there, I find myself just wanting to stay close to Vermont. I know I'm sacrificing the consistently good conditions, but there's no way I could deal with that traffic and the parking clusterf*cks and the liftlines day in and day out. Call me crazy, but the more I ski out west, the more I appreciate the east.

It's not really relevant to this thread, but as I've said, the latest issue was population growth + IKON pass. The real issue is that a lot of locals have the IKON instead of a regular season pass. And the issue has been bad since 2018 (I've been here since 2011). If you don't believe it, try Alta/Snowbird on an IKON blackout day and you will see how quiet it is. No joke.

 

[thetrailboss]

I missed this part originally. What did they promise?

Sorry I know I said I would be quiet. I am very interested in this topic.

Long story short. Alta announced in May (to their credit) that they were doing the paid parking system. BUT they promised that passholders would not have to pay. Of course that includes us Alta/Bird Passholders. My concern, which came true, was that Alta would screw it up. We buy our Alta/Bird passes from Snowbird. Over the years we've had a pass or two not work at Alta and instead of fixing it they blame Snowbird for the problem and give us a hard time. Again, we are basically passholders at Alta. You'd think that the two ski areas, next door to each other, would work together but they don't. So I called both before the parking launch to get assurance that we'd get our parking slots. Snowbird said yes. Alta did not respond. On the launch day Alta did not deliver. I had to get after Alta and we finally got 4 reservation slots (which itself is a joke).

And by the way they sent my wife, a former passholder several years back, parking codes but not to me who had paid in full. Pretty effed up. Alta never apologized or tried to smooth things over. Snowbird, to their credit, did.

As to parking, now that we are set for the first four visits, is that we have a spot and can go whenever that day. I think it will make traffic better. But honestly we're not even skiing yet and my default position is that we drop Alta next year.

 

[thetrailboss]

You mentioned that passholders get free parking. I think I read that too, somewhere. So it looks like you are all set? Are you bummed on a macro level even though it doesn't affect you?

So the positives are that we have a spot on those days. We can go when we want and not have to worry about fighting people. I think it will make Alta less of a shitshow. In the end, it (so far) has worked out. My wife likes Alta better than Snowbird so she will be happier (happy spouse, happy house )

The negatives. The traffic will still be bad because now folks will focus on the (limited) free parking at Snowbird and clog that up. The whole fiasco also has left a bad taste in our mouth before the season starts. We're not inclined to spend any money at Alta on food or other things this season. We're also seriously thinking of dumping them in 2022-2023.