Indy Ski Pass

[Zand]

Allow me to make a declaration...Ragged is really fucking cool! This place is a blast.

 

[sugarbushskier]

Skied there last week. When the glades are open, yesiree!

Good snow, good lifts = good skiing.

 

[urungus]

Since there’s no weather/condition related threads, it’s fair game for people to sprinkle their reports anywhere

First Snowfalls, Upcoming weather and Storms of winter 2024-2025. Storm (snow totals), Observations and Predictions?

The first ❄️ Snow flakes ❄️ have already fallen here in the Northeast and Mother Nature and ULLR are blessing us with with future SNOW across the country. https://www.powder.com/news/first-snow-vermont-ski-resorts https://snowbrains.com/killington-resort-vt-welcomes-first-snow-of-the-season/...

forums.alpinezone.com

 

[Zand]

Skied 11:30-4 (didn't really feel like driving up in the tail end of the storm so I missed the powder runs...oh well) and arrived to a kind of clusterfucky parking situation but I ended up with a nice spot in lot 1 thanks to someone leaving.

When you look up from the base area the mountain looks so small and flat and the lift rides take about 4 minutes. It feels like your runs should be like 2 minutes long. I swear there's magic in the woods there. The glades seem to just go on and on and somehow have good pitch throughout and plenty of steep and rocky areas. I couldn't believe how awesome this place skied! If you're going up definitely do not bring skis that you love...there really isn't much base especially on the steeper areas and you will hit a lot of rocks in the woods.

Karen's Dream, Riches, Not Too Shabby were fun and very long. Quite a few sketchy rocky drops to pick your way through mixed with some flatter areas with much better snow. So many areas where the lines open way up and you have options everywhere. Triple Take was really a trip. You end up at a small mandatory cliff and then you have to climb up a small cliff to continue on...idk who thought this glade was a good idea but it was interesting! Even the nats were very fun...Sweepstakes goes on forever and Cemetery Gates threw me for a loop. Gobbler's Knob and Ridge Runner parallel the green Cardigan and you would think they'd just be some boring flat trailside glade, but there's fun pitch and it goes on and on and on. There were a ton of kids in there having a blast. IMO it's up there with West Pilot at Stratton for low-intermediate woods. I don't know where these glades find their length and pitch...it really feels like some they have some magical spell put on them to make them feel bigger than they are.

I think I only got like 16-17k vert today and it feels like I just did 40k at Stowe. But what a fun mountain, I would love to see those glades with a ton of base on a non-busy day, it would really be off the hook. If you love woods and natural terrain, check this place out. It's nothing really butt-puckering, but it's a gem for sure.

Oh also a couple other items...kinda weird that Ragged charges the $5 for RFID but Jay doesn't when they're under the same umbrella. I don't really care, just thought it was weird. Also, I've always said that New Hampshire does a better job maintaining dirt roads than Vermont does with paved roads, and New Canada Rd proves my point perfectly. Just a couple hours after a storm it was nice and smooth and sanded nicely. A really pretty picturesque ride! Much nicer than Windham Hill Rd on the way to Magic

 

[urungus]

Skied 11:30-4 (didn't really feel like driving up in the tail end of the storm so I missed the powder runs...oh well) and arrived to a kind of clusterfucky parking situation but I ended up with a nice spot in lot 1 thanks to someone leaving.

When you look up from the base area the mountain looks so small and flat and the lift rides take about 4 minutes. It feels like your runs should be like 2 minutes long. I swear there's magic in the woods there. The glades seem to just go on and on and somehow have good pitch throughout and plenty of steep and rocky areas. I couldn't believe how awesome this place skied! If you're going up definitely do not bring skis that you love...there really isn't much base especially on the steeper areas and you will hit a lot of rocks in the woods.

Karen's Dream, Riches, Not Too Shabby were fun and very long. Quite a few sketchy rocky drops to pick your way through mixed with some flatter areas with much better snow. So many areas where the lines open way up and you have options everywhere. Triple Take was really a trip. You end up at a small mandatory cliff and then you have to climb up a small cliff to continue on...idk who thought this glade was a good idea but it was interesting! Even the nats were very fun...Sweepstakes goes on forever and Cemetery Gates threw me for a loop. Gobbler's Knob and Ridge Runner parallel the green Cardigan and you would think they'd just be some boring flat trailside glade, but there's fun pitch and it goes on and on and on. There were a ton of kids in there having a blast. IMO it's up there with West Pilot at Stratton for low-intermediate woods. I don't know where these glades find their length and pitch...it really feels like some they have some magical spell put on them to make them feel bigger than they are.

I think I only got like 16-17k vert today and it feels like I just did 40k at Stowe. But what a fun mountain, I would love to see those glades with a ton of base on a non-busy day, it would really be off the hook. If you love woods and natural terrain, check this place out. It's nothing really butt-puckering, but it's a gem for sure.

Thanks for the report. Karens Dream, Triple Take, Cemetery Gates all listed as closed on the ragged site, did they drop the ropes at the end of the day ?

Mountain Report + Cams

Get the latest mountain report for your favorite ski destination. Find out about current snow conditions, weather forecasts, and more.

www.raggedmountainresort.com

 

[Zand]

Thanks for the report. Karens Dream, Triple Take, Cemetery Gates all listed as closed on the ragged site, did they drop the ropes at the end of the day ?

Mountain Report + Cams

Get the latest mountain report for your favorite ski destination. Find out about current snow conditions, weather forecasts, and more.

www.raggedmountainresort.com

Only trails closed that I saw were Flying Yankee thanks to a race (and by default Abyss was inaccessible). Everything else open. Like I said I got there at 11:30 so I'm not sure if they were closed to start the day, but they were open from when I got there.

 

[eatskisleep]

Allow me to make a declaration...Ragged is really fucking cool! This place is a blast.

View attachment 64842

Used to ski there a ton. Place is underrated. The glades are amazing too.

 

[urungus]

Only trails closed that I saw were Flying Yankee thanks to a race (and by default Abyss was inaccessible). Everything else open. Like I said I got there at 11:30 so I'm not sure if they were closed to start the day, but they were open from when I got there.

Todays Ragged report showing 100% open

 

[millerm277]

Thanks for the report. Karens Dream, Triple Take, Cemetery Gates all listed as closed on the ragged site, did they drop the ropes at the end of the day ?

Mountain Report + Cams

Get the latest mountain report for your favorite ski destination. Find out about current snow conditions, weather forecasts, and more.

www.raggedmountainresort.com

Also skied yesterday - can confirm that they were open all day yesterday, and other than the race training closure I didn't see a closed run at the place.

With that said, some of the tougher natural snow-only trails were getting rather bony by the end of the day. Still possible to pick a safe line through, but you weren't blasting down them if you value your skis. Another foot would be nice.

That said, great conditions, great day. I didn't get too deep in the woods, but hit pretty much every standard trail open. Place skis pretty "big" with it all open, especially on the 6-pack side.

Seemed like they ran out of parking or nearly did - the lowest parking lot I saw ("Lot 9") was filling when I got there around 10AM, and the 10:30-1:30 peak there were some ~5-10min liftlines. People cleared out quickly after that, though.

 

[Phish'83]

Does anyone know how the MTNs. get paid out for Indy Pass redemption?

 

[AdironRider]

Its a percentage of their daily walk up rate ; however, that percentage changes (aka gets smaller) the more redemptions there are.

 

[Phish'83]

So when an Indy Mtn get hits with a TON of Indy Pass visits, it might hurt them?

 

[AdironRider]

I don't think many mountains would consider it hurting them, but yes, in effect, their revenue per indy passholder will decrease. There are very few Indy mountains that are going to complain about this (other than maybe Powmow but that has proven not to be an Indy problem but an ownership problem at this point). Mainly because these visits wouldn't have happened at all without Indy.

Best case scenario, you end up with a customer like me at Jay. Where I started with Indy year one. Then Indy plus a couple 4 packs year two. To full blown passholder year three and four. I doubt I'm the only one. I'm sure Jay is fine with getting a few extra dollars less for my indy redemption days given the result. Even if I didn't level up, those are days I probably would not have skied there and I'd be doing Cannon or Waterville since its closer.

 

[deadheadskier]

I'd be interested to see the math / algorithm used to calculate the resort reimbursement rate. Do people like me who use Indy a dozen times or more actually lose money for the company and those who only use the pass 4-6 times make the money for them.

Hopefully it always stays solvent and successful. I'd be big time bummed if Indy goes away. For my taste, it's the perfect "Mega Pass" for my geographic location. My only wish is they offered a higher tier product that gets me three days at Jay, Cannon and Saddleback instead of two.

 

[slatham]

IIUC The number of redemptions used in the formula is all redemptions, across all mountains, not a specific one. So ideal scenario is low overall redemptions, but high at your area.

 

[AdironRider]

I'd be interested to see the math / algorithm used to calculate the resort reimbursement rate. Do people like me who use Indy a dozen times or more actually lose money for the company and those who only use the pass 4-6 times make the money for them.

Hopefully it always stays solvent and successful. I'd be big time bummed if Indy goes away. For my taste, it's the perfect "Mega Pass" for my geographic location. My only wish is they offered a higher tier product that gets me three days at Jay, Cannon and Saddleback instead of two.

I can't disclose the actual rates, but Indy def loses money on guys like you and me, and makes it all back and then some on the average user which probably cashes in maybe 3-5 days a year (assuming they match the usual season pass redemption rates seen industry wide which falls in that range).

They do have some built in protection with the payouts to resorts decreasing the more redemptions there are. A hedge against seasons like this one, where you are going to see higher redemptions on the East Coast for sure.

 

[Edd]

Black Mountain skied so good yesterday. I’d never skied it with close to everything open, we had a blast.

 

[AdironRider]

IIUC The number of redemptions used in the formula is all redemptions, across all mountains, not a specific one. So ideal scenario is low overall redemptions, but high at your area.

Yup

 

[snoseek]

Black Mountain skied so good yesterday. I’d never skied it with close to everything open, we had a blast.

I think I'm gonna buy a ticket there tomorrow so that's good hear.

 

[camberstick]

How busy does this place get? Thinking about this weekend since it's not blacked out