• Welcome to AlpineZone, the largest online community of skiers and snowboarders in the Northeast!

    You may have to REGISTER before you can post. Registering is FREE, gets rid of the majority of advertisements, and lets you participate in giveaways and other AlpineZone events!

Rename Mount Snow to "Mount Slow"

ThinkSnow

Member
Joined
Oct 25, 2005
Messages
735
Points
16
Location
Bad Liver Valley
I haven't been to Mt. Snow in about 8-9 years, but was there with friends over this past weekend. What a huge mistake.

Having worked late Friday night, we needed to go to the group sales desk on Saturday morning in the Sundance base lodge. We skied over from the main base, and were done with our business around 10:30 am. We were supposed to catch up to friends who went directly over to the North Face.

We had no choice but to take the Tumbleweed triple, followed by the Sundance Triple in order to take the High Traverse over to the North Face. I realize this is a beginner area, but the lift line took forever not because of the slow speed of the fixed triple, but because it was constantly stopping (frequently for no apparent reason). When we finally got on the Sundance Triple, the chair constantly stopped and started, and then we sat, midway up the mountain, not moving for at least 30 minutes.

Once it finally restarted, we got to the top the High Traverse trail was closed. Considering the abundance of snow this season in the north east, how could ANY trail be closed?? So we had to make our way down & slowly ski over to the north face, taking multiple lifts (with huge lines).

We started at 10:30, and didn't get to our friends until about 1:30. We decided we'd try to buy lunch around 2pm, but that wasn't going to happen either. Huge lines and waits were to be had at every single place we went to. By this point we were disgusted, and went back to our hotel. Drove into town and had a nice relaxed uncrowded late lunch.

Is this the norm for Mount Snow? If so, what horrible customer service!
 

deadheadskier

Moderator
Staff member
Moderator
Joined
Mar 6, 2005
Messages
27,921
Points
113
Location
Southeast NH
Welcome to Southern VT during a holiday weekend. Lots of people love Mountain Snow, Okemo, Stratton and Killington. K probably spreads the crowds out best of all of them.
 

drjeff

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 18, 2006
Messages
19,183
Points
113
Location
Brooklyn, CT
I haven't been to Mt. Snow in about 8-9 years, but was there with friends over this past weekend. What a huge mistake.

Having worked late Friday night, we needed to go to the group sales desk on Saturday morning in the Sundance base lodge. We skied over from the main base, and were done with our business around 10:30 am. We were supposed to catch up to friends who went directly over to the North Face.

We had no choice but to take the Tumbleweed triple, followed by the Sundance Triple in order to take the High Traverse over to the North Face. I realize this is a beginner area, but the lift line took forever not because of the slow speed of the fixed triple, but because it was constantly stopping (frequently for no apparent reason). When we finally got on the Sundance Triple, the chair constantly stopped and started, and then we sat, midway up the mountain, not moving for at least 30 minutes.

Once it finally restarted, we got to the top the High Traverse trail was closed. Considering the abundance of snow this season in the north east, how could ANY trail be closed?? So we had to make our way down & slowly ski over to the north face, taking multiple lifts (with huge lines).

We started at 10:30, and didn't get to our friends until about 1:30. We decided we'd try to buy lunch around 2pm, but that wasn't going to happen either. Huge lines and waits were to be had at every single place we went to. By this point we were disgusted, and went back to our hotel. Drove into town and had a nice relaxed uncrowded late lunch.

Is this the norm for Mount Snow? If so, what horrible customer service!

High traverse was closed from the top of the Sundance Triple over to Exhibition, but was open from Exhibiton on over across to Cascade) on Saturday (and Sunday too for that matter) because of race training (Saturday) and a race (Sunday) on South Bowl.

Saturday was a BIG crowd, but as a Mount Snow regular, I didn't think that the lines were particularly worse than on any other busy weekend day, which is I expect a 15-20 minute wait on the main lifts, and even waits of that long on other lifts around the mountain as the crowds tend to get out of the base areas and disperse their way around the mountain usually between about 9:30/10 until about noon - when you get crowds approaching 10,000 on the mountain on one day (which is somewhere around what I'd estimate Saturday to be based on how packed the parking lots were), it gets congested and can get frustrating too

Lift wise, since the Sundance lodge is where the buses park, they get IMHO what is a disproportionate number of really clueless people who have little/no idea on how to get on/off a chairlift and hence you get a bunch of stops on Tumbleweed. Your Sundance experience sounds like either a mechanical issue or a wind issue, as they gusts out of the WSW on Saturday where easily in the 35-40mph range a good chunk of the day (strong enough to keep the Sunbrook Quad on wind hold at least while I was out on the hill from 8 until about 2) and the top of Sundance is quite exposed to that wind direction. Sundance lodge IMHO has a big misnomer as a "good" place to park, but the reality is that during the major portion of the season while they have that lodge open, it's the hub for the buses, so while there may not be as many cars parked there, the volume of people that often the 20+ tour buses there on many a Saturday makes it quite crowded

Saturday was crowd wise on par with maybe 2 other days all season volume wise, and that was one day during Christmas week and one day during MLK weekend, and when that many people show up, the fact that Mount Snow's base facilities and dining facilities have probably 30% less max seating capacity than they ideally need really sticks out. Hopefully when they rebuild their base lodges in the coming years, seating space will be addressed.
 
Last edited:

deadheadskier

Moderator
Staff member
Moderator
Joined
Mar 6, 2005
Messages
27,921
Points
113
Location
Southeast NH
I grew up an Okemo skier. It's a bit of a shock heading back over there during busy periods compared to what I'm used to here in NH. Of course, I avoid Sunapee and Loon here in NH for the same reasons.
 

Edd

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 8, 2006
Messages
6,537
Points
113
Location
Newmarket, NH
There was a similar thread about Killington recently. Different people had different experiences with crowds at the same hill on the same day. It was suggested, and I agreed, that skiing at K on a Saturday is simply a very crowded experience. Naturally, not everyone agreed.

Any mid-season Saturday, skiing at a big hill fed by major metro areas, be ready for third world crowding. I can't handle it, personally.
 

ThinkSnow

Member
Joined
Oct 25, 2005
Messages
735
Points
16
Location
Bad Liver Valley
I totally understand about weekend crowds. I work for a ski/snowboard tour travel agency part time, (yes, I'm partly to blame for the crowded slopes). I know very well where and when I should/should not ski. However I guess I've gotten spoiled skiing Northern Vermont where the "crowds" are nothing in comparison to what I experienced at Mt Slow.
 

ThinkSnow

Member
Joined
Oct 25, 2005
Messages
735
Points
16
Location
Bad Liver Valley
Was it really worth writing all that? That's par for the course in Southern VT on a weekend.

Well then I guess if one chooses to ski SVT and not comment about poor customer service in a forum where one can voice an opinion, you deserve all the crowds you can get.
 

4aprice

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 14, 2008
Messages
3,892
Points
63
Location
Lake Hopatcong, NJ and Granby Co
This thread is exactly the reason I don't go up north either during Christmas or Presidents (Mass/NH School weeks). I skied in PA. Oh yea it was crowded especially with a lift down but at least I wasn't hours from home when I gave up each day. The back 1/3 of the season awaits and soon there will be very few of us continuing on.

Alex

Lake Hopatcong, NJ
 

legalskier

New member
Joined
Sep 22, 2008
Messages
3,052
Points
0
What was your friends' experience over at North Face? Any better than yours?
The reason I ask is that your experience seems to have been affected more by your having to go over to Group Sales at Sundance. Mt Snow's website allows customers to register their group online but doesn't appear to allow to them to print out vouchers that can be redeemed at any window (http://www.mountsnow.com/groups/ski-snowboard-groups/). If it did, that could have made things much easier for you. Or maybe it does?: "Special arrangements for payments can be made...."
Whenever I've skied MS the customer service experience was very good. But then again, on holiday weekends in SoVt I go elsewhere, like Magic, Pico or Bromley.
 
Last edited:

millerm277

Active member
Joined
Nov 18, 2006
Messages
1,797
Points
38
Location
NJ/NH
We had no choice but to take the Tumbleweed triple, followed by the Sundance Triple in order to take the High Traverse over to the North Face.

Skiing down to the Grand Summit Express is generally a much faster option. Long lines can be avoided by taking the singles line which usually moves pretty quick on everything but the 6-pack (why the 6-pack line is 3x as long as the line for the HSQ going to the same place is beyond me....but it gets me up faster than if other people were intelligent with their line choice).
 

skifree

New member
Joined
Oct 16, 2012
Messages
664
Points
0
I was at mt snow Saturday and sunday and thought lift lines where great. stayed away from bubble. north face was empty Saturday till about 11 or so. almost ski on. woods on sunday where spectacular. forget the eating/drinking areas. that's what pockets are for.
 

Highway Star

Active member
Joined
Sep 27, 2005
Messages
2,921
Points
36
I haven't been to Mt. Snow in about 8-9 years, but was there with friends over this past weekend. What a huge mistake.

Having worked late Friday night, we needed to go to the group sales desk on Saturday morning in the Sundance base lodge. We skied over from the main base, and were done with our business around 10:30 am. We were supposed to catch up to friends who went directly over to the North Face.

We had no choice but to take the Tumbleweed triple, followed by the Sundance Triple in order to take the High Traverse over to the North Face. I realize this is a beginner area, but the lift line took forever not because of the slow speed of the fixed triple, but because it was constantly stopping (frequently for no apparent reason). When we finally got on the Sundance Triple, the chair constantly stopped and started, and then we sat, midway up the mountain, not moving for at least 30 minutes.

Once it finally restarted, we got to the top the High Traverse trail was closed. Considering the abundance of snow this season in the north east, how could ANY trail be closed?? So we had to make our way down & slowly ski over to the north face, taking multiple lifts (with huge lines).

We started at 10:30, and didn't get to our friends until about 1:30. We decided we'd try to buy lunch around 2pm, but that wasn't going to happen either. Huge lines and waits were to be had at every single place we went to. By this point we were disgusted, and went back to our hotel. Drove into town and had a nice relaxed uncrowded late lunch.

Is this the norm for Mount Snow? If so, what horrible customer service!

-incompetence-14220.jpg
 

ThinkSnow

Member
Joined
Oct 25, 2005
Messages
735
Points
16
Location
Bad Liver Valley
I was at mt snow Saturday and sunday and thought lift lines where great. stayed away from bubble. north face was empty Saturday till about 11 or so. almost ski on. woods on sunday where spectacular. forget the eating/drinking areas. that's what pockets are for.

North Face was most likely empty due to the problems with the lifts. Totally agree about avoiding eating/drinking areas, however being in the travel industry, it is helpful to have an opinion from trying out establishments (or knowing to avoid them).
 
Top