Midweek Lift Closures???

[thetrailboss]

So what do you think of midweek lift closures? My top three worst offenders include:

3. Jay Peak. Most of the time it is nasty and windy up there, but having the Bonaventure and other lifts closed for midweek adds insult to injury when the tram and Express Quad are down.

2. Sunday River. Though very minor, I've always wanted to ride the Locke Mountain Triple and see the top of that peak (it's a short hike, I know, I know). :wink:

1. Sugarbush. Hate to say anything negative, but closing the Slide Brook midweek is not a good idea especially when they charge you in excess of $50 midweek to ski "112 trails." :-? When I hear that number, I assume that I can do it without taking off my skis. One way to get around it is to advertise the two SEPARATE areas in snow reports (e.g. Mt. Ellen is open with x trails and Lincoln has X trails). Otherwise, Burke should advertise that they have 120 trails 'cause you can take a bus from there to Jay :wink: and ski on the same season pass. Sugarbush also is home to the mysterious midweek wind holds that seem to plague the upper mountain lifts on mysteriously calm weather and slow midweek days... :-? ...again, hate to be skeptical, but...

An AZer was telling me about how he wished that the East Basin Double would run midweek at Loon.

Your thoughts about midweek closures?

 

[ctenidae]

Had no idea anyone closed some lifts midweek. Tells you when I get to go skiing.
I can see the business sense, though I'd expect whatever lifts were closed to still provide full mountain access.

 

[dmc]

Hunter closes the F and Y chairs midweek...

The Y isn't really a big deal because the Z takes you to the same place...

But the F not running bites.. Cause you have to traverse to get past it... Sometimes requires steping out of a binding...

 

[Vortex]

I voted for the mountain has to make money if they don't we don't ski. Yes I will complain if a lift is shut down. I just understand it. I would love the east Basin Double to run Mid week at Loon. It tends to be closed cause its not profitable. Kind of like any business supply and demand. I also feel if enough people complain about certain lifts being shut down some resorts do listen. We always have a choice of going somewhere else.

 

[billski]

as long as

As long as I can still get to a majority of the trails, I really don't care what they close. We've had so many small resorts go belly up, and midsize merge and go "corporate". Let's not squander the resources of what we have left or we'll all be skiing at K-mart....

 

[Greg]

Re: as long as

As long as I can still get to a majority of the trails, I really don't care what they close.

Agreed. If the terrain serviced by a closed lift is still accessible via another lift, I'm fine with it not running mid-week.

 

[smootharc]

I'd echo the Sugarbush/Slide Brook midweek closure peeve...

...It really makes a difference in the day's thinking and strategy, especially with snow conditions sometimes so different.

My .02....

 

[evil]

If the tram is down @ Jay I really don't mind cause it gives me a chance to get some sun & take a nap on the always toasty warm Flyer :wink:

 

[Lostone]

I understand the idea of cost savings, but at Sugarbush they're pushing the idea of the new condos, some of which will be time share. They go for big bucks, but I wonder how many people will lay out to spend the big bucks to work around lifts that don't run.

The only one that gets a lot of complaints is Slidebrook. You can take the bus, but most people don't. They just complain and make that one more reason to ski elsewhere.

The deal is that midweek is when they really need to get people to come here. They claim they need lodging, but there is plenty of unused lodging midweek.

Kinda working against themselves. :roll:

 

[thetrailboss]

The only one that gets a lot of complaints is Slidebrook. You can take the bus, but most people don't. They just complain and make that one more reason to ski elsewhere.

Read the reasons that I state... :wink:

1. They charge you the same as if you are skiing the whole mtn (there is no "Lincoln only" ticket).

2. It's not exactly a good idea to be advertising that you have 112 trails available for skiing and riding when one has to ride the bus or drive between the two areas.

3. If they aren't going to run it, WHY build it? :roll:

I know that this is a perennial discussion in the RSN forum (which us customers always get rude answers to from the mtn for some reason :-? ), but it is something for them to consider. :wink:

 

[thetrailboss]

If the tram is down @ Jay I really don't mind cause it gives me a chance to get some sun & take a nap on the always toasty warm Flyer :wink:

Welcome, Evil! (kind of sounds creepy, eh?)

My experience with Jay is that if the tram is down the Flyer is down because it is exposed to almost as much wind (unless they lowered the towers or something that I don't know about). We don't call it the freezer for nothin! :wink:

 

[evil]

I'm not actually Evil, the name stems from my habit of pushing jager shots after an epic ski day. :beer:

 

[Brettski]

I'll tell ya...the D lift at Hunter is closed midweek....

The D lift drops you off to the Hunter Ski "bowl"

Would have been nice for the kids instead of having to ski from the yop...

Know what though....makes the ski a tighter line on the sides of the trails to avoid the scraped off middle....

Anyway, Hunter midweek is the way to go...weekends are a nightmare....

AND Kids 16 and under ski Free

 

[Beetlenut]

I know you can check the lift report to see which lifts are open/closed, but sometimes you forget which ones are what. On trails that go to a lift with a long runout to get to another lift, it would be nice to have a sign up that would tell you that lift is closed today. That way you don't get stuck skating/walking out when you ski down to a closed lift. Really sucks for boarders. Or worse yet, you ski down a trail that has a lift running overhead, and you get to the bottom of the lift and join a growing group of pissed-off skiers that are being told that the lift isn't running today, by a couple of lifties who seem delighted that everyone is so mad at the news! So then your only option is to pole and skate out on a long flat trail back to a lift that is running. :angry:

 

[awf170]

i think it is okay to close lifts as long as the tickets are cheaper but if they charge the same midweek and weekend everything should be working

 

[riverc0il]

fwiw, your paying a lot less money to ski mid-week. so in addition to resorts not selling as many lift tickets, they are also selling the one's they do at a cheaper price.

as long as a resort is not advertising that a lift is operational during mid-week, i see nothing wrong with shutting down lifts (mid-week or weekend) when they are not needed. for example, at the beast during the AZ gathering, i really wanted to ride the double, but that would have just been silly.

my least favorite weekend closure lift is wildcat not operating the lynx chair. i hate hate hate the upper mountain and would much prefer riding the slow triple with no wind sheltered by the trees to access the lower 2/3 than going to the top. i know, i am a freak. but they don't run that quad on the weekends, never mind mid-week.

slide brook i understand not being run mid-week, but i would like to see SB be very upfront about it's operation. honestly, i think it's a novelty lift without much use. i know some people like to switch between north and south, but i think most people would prefer to pick a mountain and only ride SB for novelty. spoken by someone that was disappointed that he could not ride the slidebrook when visiting SB mid-week last year.

 

[Lostone]

First let me state that I don't work for Sugarbush. I just ski and live here. :wink:

Second, the quotes Trailboss, but I'm not arguing with you, just comenting on your points. :wink: :wink:

1. They charge you the same as if you are skiing the whole mtn (there is no "Lincoln only" ticket).

2. It's not exactly a good idea to be advertising that you have 112 trails available for skiing and riding when one has to ride the bus or drive between the two areas.

3. If they aren't going to run it, WHY build it?

I know that this is a perennial discussion in the RSN forum (which us customers always get rude answers to from the mtn for some reason ), but it is something for them to consider.

1) You can't argue that you don't get more skiing for the same money midweek, so the price washes out.

2) All trails are accessible... (other than wind hold (including those referred to as slidebrook area hold. :roll: ) so 111 open doesn't say they are all easy to get to... just open.

3) Actually, they didn't build it. That was the previous owner... ASC. But they do run it. Friday to Sunday and holidays. They are very upfront about that, this year.

3a) There are very few people that work for the mountain postingon their RSN forum. And you should never get a rude response from someone who represents the mountain.

4) (I know... There wasn't a 4. :-? ) I am one of those that say that I'd like the use of Slidebrook weekdays and that I think they are shooting themselves in the foot by not running it. But that is a long term problem, and many corporations think much too short-term. (IMNATHO)

 

[tekweezle]

as long as the mountain is 100% open with chairs that can servie all areas, there is nothing wrong with them not running some of the more lightly used chairs.

you have to let skier voume dictate what you keep open. midweek, there is less people so no need to have empty chairs flying by.

I do prefer to ski at a resort that has all the trails accessible somehow though. what i do hate is when a resort purposely closes part of the mountain to reserve it for the weekend even though it's skiable.

 

[skibum1321]

Most mountains don't close a lift that will stop you from getting to any trails. I personally have no problem with Slidebrook being closed during the week. Barely anyone rides it even on weekends. It seems like a waste to run it during the week. There's enough at either peak to keep you occupied all day.

 

[deadheadskier]

Until the Bush starts running the slide brook during the mid week, I will NEVER purchase a season's pass there. They should at the very least offer a Lincoln Peak pass in addition to the Mt Ellen pass.

I know many individuals here in Burlington who also wont buy a season's pass at Sugarbush because the Slide Brook is closed during the mid-week.

If they were planning on closing it mid-week, then they never should have built it in the first place.

Sugarbush has some of the finest terrain in the Northeast and I was very pleased when the lift was intalled to be able to have that much diversity in skiing options all connected. Once they started closing the lift though, it just put a sour taste in my mouth about the management of the mountain.