Superpasses: more crowds?

[Harvey]

skiing quality

A subjective term.

From my POV the skiing at Plattekill is better than the skiing at Stratton. Others will disagree.

 

[ss20]

A subjective term.

From my POV the skiing at Plattekill is better than the skiing at Stratton. Others will disagree.

Well yes...for this forum the definition of "skiing quality" is very diverse in opinion. For the casual skier that the major resorts revolve around that means groomed slopes and decent snowmaking. There isn't a major player in the Northeast that grooms and makes snow on less than 60% of their terrain (perhaps Sugarbush and Sugarloaf being a bit under that 60% grooming mark). In the 80s resorts that could blow snow and groom set themselves apart from the little guys who couldn't afford to keep up. See- Killington, Okemo, Sunday River, Watchusett, Stratton.

 

[Harvey]

Financial viability vs skiing quality.

 

[deadheadskier]

Well yes...for this forum the definition of "skiing quality" is very diverse in opinion. For the casual skier that the major resorts revolve around that means groomed slopes and decent snowmaking. There isn't a major player in the Northeast that grooms and makes snow on less than 60% of their terrain (perhaps Sugarbush and Sugarloaf being a bit under that 60% grooming mark). In the 80s resorts that could blow snow and groom set themselves apart from the little guys who couldn't afford to keep up. See- Killington, Okemo, Sunday River, Watchusett, Stratton.

Sugarbush yes. Sugarloaf definitely no. They easily make snow on and groom 80+% of their terrain.

Put me in the camp of less of both is more. Natural snow that doesn't see a groomer skis better than the opposite. One of Wildcats best qualities is they only make snow on roughly 25 of their 48 trails. Same goes for grooming. I'm willing to wait out the dry spells during bad weather when the natural terrain is closed because the payoff is a better surface after the next storm. Hopefully Vail doesn't change that philosophy too much.

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[abc]

Financial viability vs skiing quality.

That’s the truest statement.

I’m willing to wait out the dry spells. But many families can’t.

Without snowmaking, mountains play second fiddle catering to “core” skiers who don’t spend much beyond the lift ticket. No kiddie lessons, no rental packages, no burgers plus fries for the hungry teenager for lunch (let’s face it, some of those here brown bag it).

Not to mention not able to open due to lack of natural snow during those, increasingly frequent “dry spells”!

I love Plattekill and others like that. But I also understand why many other mountains don’t operate that way. My hope is, the like of Plattekill can continue alongside of the like of Okemo. So both families and non-families both got what they prefer.

 

[prsboogie]

I have only been out West once [emoji24] but I was talking to an Ops guy at Canyons and he told me they would only groom a particular trail every 3rd or 4th day to protect the quality of the snow. The fewer passes of the machine, the lower the friction and heat that could melt and refreeze the snow which creates ice. Made sense to me.

Sugarbush yes. Sugarloaf definitely no. They easily make snow on and groom 80+% of their terrain.

Put me in the camp of less of both is more. Natural snow that doesn't see a groomer skis better than the opposite. One of Wildcats best qualities is they only make snow on roughly 25 of their 48 trails. Same goes for grooming. I'm willing to wait out the dry spells during bad weather when the natural terrain is closed because the payoff is a better surface after the next storm. Hopefully Vail doesn't change that philosophy too much.

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[dblskifanatic]

A Basin is much more fun to ski this season without the Epic Pass. While they are on the Ikon Pass it is only 5 days and the lines even on opening weekend were great. Also powder is not getting chopped up as fast - very nice! This season has been a little strange even our Days at Breck have been decent.


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[GregoryIsaacs]

A Basin is much more fun to ski this season without the Epic Pass. While they are on the Ikon Pass it is only 5 days and the lines even on opening weekend were great. Also powder is not getting chopped up as fast - very nice! This season has been a little strange even our Days at Breck have been decent.


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This post is giving me optimism for my planned weeklong trip to CO for end of Feb/March.

I have the epic local + GEM card and we are planning to ski Breck, Vail (2X), Keystone, Loveland and Abasin (2X) while based out of Silverthorne. We are going to be skiing from a Saturday-Friday.

Any tips from regulars/locals on which of these mountains to hit on the weekend days to (best) avoid crowds? Our group is looking to preferably ski loveland on a monday/tuesday to have best chance of easy cat access.

 

[kingslug]

While waiting on this line and being part of the problem..LOL..A local said he has never seen anything like it. So my opinion is..yup.

 

[Jcb890]

While waiting on this line and being part of the problem..LOL..A local said he has never seen anything like it. So my opinion is..yup.

Is that today and local?!

 

[camberstick]

on a Monday?! No thanks, I 'll ski indy areas.

 

[Jcb890]

That can't be today's crowds...

 

[cdskier]

kingslug posted that photo in another thread on Sunday I believe...so that was Sunday's crowd

 

[kingslug]

Sunday..we all thought it would be a powder day..that was at 735 when i got on line.

 

[BenedictGomez]

Sunday..we all thought it would be a powder day..that was at 735 when i got on line.

That is not normal.

 

[cdskier]

Sunday..we all thought it would be a powder day..that was at 735 when i got on line.

7:35? Yikes! I would have guessed 10 or 11am with lines like that... It isn't like there was feet of fresh powder....

 

[deadheadskier]

Stowe has had a history of a big crowd at 7:30 on weekends peak season going back since I moved there in 95. As long as the weather wasn't total crap, there's a healthy crowd. The line then mellows considerably from 8 until 9. A lot of that crowd are locals who just want to bang out a bunch of runs by 11 and call it a day.

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[nhskier1969]

Went to Tremblant aka "Disney Land". Photo taken Dec 30th. The line was on Both sides of the lift. You also had a line coming up the middle for Ski School.
My Favorite line was their Gondola around 11a. After waiting 40 minutes in line, you come close to the Gondola but there is another line coming in, aka local pass and ski school. My family got separated when that happened and we took separate gondolas.

 

[Smellytele]

I would just call it a loss and go drink


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[Edd]

I would just call it a loss and go drink

Easily. That line is unacceptable to me.