Indy Ski Pass

[Zand]

Were they blowing down towards Timberline? Past two years all they've had open is the trail too and from Timberline. As much as I like the terrain over there, the real benefit is it's the better parking situation and typically pretty quick for Indy redemption. So, I'm hoping for at least that when ski there Sunday / Monday. Probably grab some turns at Whaleback or S6 on way up

They are blowing down there and saying it may be open by midweek but definitely by the holiday weekend.

Definitely will plan on being here for a full day next time. I skied some great stuff but felt like I rushed around trying to get as much done in 2.5 hrs as I could (and with the lines plus 12 minute lift rides...not much got done). Devils Playground was really great. And even where there aren't marked woods you can always find lines without looking too hard anyway.

Lots of families with young kids here today which is great, but Vista stopped so many times they could've called it the Bluebird instead. Lots of people who had no idea what they were doing as well, and many of them liked to stand outside of the line for the mid mountain double blocking the access to Vista, and then a bunch more would be standing in front of the Vista lines blocking the path to the singles line. Definitely hope that it's a little less busy next time I'm here! Having Timberline open will definitely help with that problem.

Oh almost forgot to mention the sunset. I got on Vista like right at 4, then the lift stopped for 5 mins so it was after 4:15 when we got to the top. Some cloudiness had moved in from the west, but by then the sun came below the clouds and the view of Champlain and the Adirondacks was fucking incredible.

 

[Smellytele]

You guys weren't lying about the ticket line here. I was on the access road at 12:25 and between the parking lot shitshow and the ticket line and the insane liftline I boarded the chair at 1:24. So much for coming here to avoid the Stowe crowds.

Who gets to a ski area at noon?

 

[deadheadskier]

Yes, Bolton definitely leans towards the family / beginner crowd. So, lift stoppages are pretty common.

I bet Epic / iKon has been a great thing for Bolton in terms of bringing in more Chittenden County families. Smuggs too.

 

[snoseek]

Yes, Bolton definitely leans towards the family / beginner crowd. So, lift stoppages are pretty common.

I bet Epic / iKon has been a great thing for Bolton in terms of bringing in more Chittenden County families. Smuggs too.

I was sold on the place last year. Really fun terrain when everything open...my kind of people. I'll buy a walk up when they fully open. They run some great ticket deals

 

[Zand]

Who gets to a ski area at noon?

Some people get there at 7:30 and only ski for 4 hours so they can get to a concert in NYC at 8, some get there at noon and also ski for 4 hours lol.

 

[rebel1916]

I was sold on the place last year. Really fun terrain when everything open...my kind of people. I'll buy a walk up when they fully open. They run some great ticket deals

Fun playful trees everywhere you look and some cool gnarly shit on the top skiers left. Plus better than average food and a good atmosphere

 

[KustyTheKlown]

Some people get there at 7:30 and only ski for 4 hours so they can get to a concert in NYC at 8, some get there at noon and also ski for 4 hours lol.

Eh. That was a one off to have it all with a good reason and I intentionally went where my pass is unlimited, the skiing starts as early as possible so I got as much out of the day I could, and I skied 23k vert before calling it

Showing up to a place with notoriously slow lifts, on a limited pass product, at damn near 1 pm, is a much weirder decision imo

 

[deadheadskier]

It's exceedingly rare that I'll show up later than 9AM in the East. I'd rather experience the better conditions

 

[Zand]

Eh. That was a one off to have it all with a good reason and I intentionally went where my pass is unlimited, the skiing starts as early as possible so I got as much out of the day I could, and I skied 23k vert before calling it

Showing up to a place with notoriously slow lifts, on a limited pass product, at damn near 1 pm, is a much weirder decision imo

There's a few things that go into it for me...

My work days are usually 12+ hours and I'm out the door at 6:00, plus I'm a terrible morning person. So the last thing I want to do on my days off is get up at the same time as I would for work. Sure I'll do it sometimes for ski days, but in this case it was an intentional 1/2 day knowing I would be going hogwild at Stowe the next two days and conditions in the woods on a cool sunny day wouldn't be changing much between morning and afternoon where I would need to show up first thing.

What I was hoping for with a 12:30 arrival was that there'd be some open parking spots from the early birds leaving (and ultimately just ended up being a giant traffic jam from some people leaving but more people arriving and blocking entire rows to wait for spots, etc) and then a shorter ticket line (I think maybe I hit the 1/2 day ticket crowd). I also didn't expect to see long liftlines at Bolton which lasted right up till closing.

I'm still glad I got a couple hours in there though. I got a good feel for the woods off Vista and was able to do a couple exploratory runs off Wilderness. Next time I will definitely plan on a full day there especially if Timberline is fully open. But all I could think of was going to Burke after class back in the old Willoughby Quad days where I'd get there at 1:30 and would only have time for 4-5 runs because that lift was so damn slow

 

[KustyTheKlown]

they mention timberline later this week. im gonna do it sat

 

[urungus]

Who gets to a ski area at noon?

Sometimes real life rears its ugly head and there are work, family, or medical commitments in the morning ... half a day of skiing is better than no skiing at all … plus you can usually score a killer parking spot from someone leaving

 

[deadheadskier]

they mention timberline later this week. im gonna do it sat

Hope so. Will be there with my son on Sunday and Monday

 

[rebel1916]

My work days are usually 12+ hours and I'm out the door at 6:00, plus I'm a terrible morning person. So the last thing I want to do on my days off is get up at the same time as I would for work.

Right? I wake up at 440 and work a lot of doubles. I need to sleep til 7 on most of my days off

 

[deadheadskier]

So, after today, I'm going to come to the defense of Zand here regarding Bolton ticketing. I don't know if they've changed their procedure or if I've just been lucky the past two trips here (MLK last year, President's Day the year prior) but it was a disaster today and it wasn't because we showed up late.

We were the tenth car in the Timberline lot. When I got in line for the only ticket window they have there, there was perhaps 8 customers worth of transactions in front of us. Took 25 minutes to get an Indy Redemption. All sorts of waivers for people to sign and pictures for some to take if you didn't have one in file already with Indy. Thankfully we did. I don't remember the waiver thing in the past and I certainly don't recall having to do that at Cannon or Pat's where we've used the pass this season. But my question is, why wouldn't the waiver I signed when buying the actual Pass be applied to all member resorts? Now, I could have saved a few minutes with my own transaction had I done some homework and signed the waivers online in advance, but if others don't do that too, it's still gonna be a bummer line.

Just absurd it took at least 25 minutes to process only 8 transactions. By the time I got our RFIDs reloaded, the line was probably 30 transactions deep. Bet those folks waited an hour. Is the point of technology to increase efficiency?

/rant

 

[Zand]

So a few things to add to that...

I think the waiver is a Bolton thing and not an Indy thing. Never had to sign a waiver at any other Indy resort (or any other ski area for that matter...wtf Bolton?) I've had to sign a waiver to get a pass to ski in the Wachusett terrain park and even that seemed a bit over the top (although if you've ever seen the idiocy of the average skier at that place it's understandable) and I've had to sign a waiver for things like cat skiing and zip lines and stuff like that, but I am very confident that I've never had to sign a waiver just to get a lift ticket.

I see you noted Timberline lot, so I can't speak on that. But at the Main Base, they only have one obvious ticket window facing the access road that everyone was lined up for. When I got my ticket and walked around to get to the lifts, I noticed that they had two more staffed tickets windows that face the ski area. Are there any signs that tell you this while you're standing in front of the one window on the road-facing side? Of course not. Did the 3 employees that walked by the line in the 20+ minutes I was standing in line say anything to the crowd about having two more windows open on the other side? Of course not. Now I know, and maybe they keep it a secret so the regulars can walk up and not wait in line lol.


I guess I also want to rant at Indy a bit. I feel like saying the physical RFID cards that they send everyone now should probably work everywhere. But I get it, ownership is different at most areas so it might be tough to do. But why the hell can you not prepurchase an Indy ticket on these areas sites and then go to the automated machines to redeem them? Both Pats and Bolton (and most areas at this point) have those automated redemption machines if you buy a ticket on their site? That is something that you should be able to make work with the Indy Pass so then you just scan your QR code, get your pass, and off you go.

 

[Killingtime]

Thanks for the heads up on Bolton. I've done three Indy redemptions this year at different places and all were easy, no waivers needed. Must be a recent Bolton thing. Those ticket windows facing the access road have had long lines every time I've been there, but 25 minutes is crazy. I'd be pissed too. I'll keep it mind for up coming trips.

 

[jaytrem]

They have waivers at pretty much every ski area in Wisconsin, and I think Oregon. Won't be surprised when they're everywhere.

Anybody know what system Bolton is using?

 

[KustyTheKlown]

Yeah it’s crazy. When I went the other day, I showed up before 8 AM. I was the first person online because I wanted to avoid that shit and then I just sat in my car and smoked a joint and listen to music for half an hour before putting my boots on.

 

[deadheadskier]

Simple solution

Indy should mandate partner areas to accept their waiver they make you sign when you buy the pass. Why does Bolton need a separate one? Saddleback has one too, but they at least had multiple transactions points inside the lodge. It's stupid all together though. We went 60 years with wicker tickets that had a liability statement on the back and that worked just fine. God damn lawyers ruin everything.

It wasn't the fault of an untrained worker either. It legitimately took 3-5 minutes per transaction. It shouldn't take more than 10 minutes to get 8 people through the purchase line.

I also like Zand's idea of being able to complete the transaction online in advance so you can use one of their automated kiosks.

Do those two things until you figure out a way how to code the RFIDs to work with multiple technologies so you can go direct to lift. That should be the ultimate goal.

Other than that, awesome day at Bolton.

 

[deadheadskier]

then I just sat in my car and smoked a joint and listen to music for half an hour before putting my boots on.

Unfortunately not an option yet with my kid as he's only 9