VAIL SUCKS

[abc]

I’m too lazy to do it but my feet sweat profusely and I probably should.

Beyond "should". It feels luxurious to put on dry socks after lunch!

Reminds me I may also ask Santa for more socks.

 

[deadheadskier]

I just spray the hell out of my feet with that arm and hammer powder stuff and I'm good. Maybe I'll try changing into dry ski socks tomorrow in the lot to see if its a game changer

Last minute chef powder life

Cornstarch in the employee Jon too if you know what I'm saying

 

[snoseek]

Last minute chef powder life

Cornstarch in the employee Jon too if you know what I'm saying

I keep a bottle of the blue gold bond in my locker. Its ummm refreshing!

 

[eatskisleep]

Yup.

My ski socks almost always travel to the ski area I am driving to loosely in the cuff area of my boots with an open hand warmer packet in my boot. That way I am changing into warm, dry socks which then go into a warm boot

Never tried the hand warmer trick but I like it already!

 

[drjeff]

Never tried the hand warmer trick but I like it already!

Just make sure you remember to take the hand warmer OUT of your boot before putting your foot in!!

Made that mistake once while rushing around the base lodge at Stratton trying to get my kid all geared up and out the door with the rest of her race team...

Was wondering why my boot felt funny for a couple of runs until it dawned on me what I did, and then got to slip my foot out of my boot during a snow squall at the bottom of the race hill while waiting for my kid to take her first run of that race!

Incredibly enough my hand warmer had ended up totally flat on top of my foot just behind my toes and with my fairly packed out boot at that time it wasn't massively noticeable!!

 

[1dog]

I keep a bottle of the blue gold bond in my locker. Its ummm refreshing!

gonna try baking powder or Gold Bond - chili pepper on toes draws blood thru small capillaries - too many frost bite winter camping and skiing insidencesthru the years. . . . it does, however, burn like fire in a hot tub after - at least when we used to use chlorine - now Nat Spa takes care of that issue- no burn.

 

[skiur]

Does anyone here just drive to the ski area in their ski pants and base layer and just boot up in the lot?

I boot up in my kitchen then drive to the mountain.

 

[2Planker]

Second that.

No longer have to dig through the mountain of bags others pile on top to fish mine out from the bottom.

More tidy lodge too.

gonna try baking powder or Gold Bond - chili pepper on toes draws blood thru small capillaries - too many frost bite winter camping and skiing insidencesthru the years. . . . it does, however, burn like fire in a hot tub after - at least when we used to use chlorine - now Nat Spa takes care of that issue- no burn.

That's an ol' school patroller trick.
- sprinkle approx 1/2 teaspoon crushed cayenne pepper in each sock's toe area

 

[machski]

I woud love to know why when I'm trying to look at Sunapee's webcam I have to watch an add for Sunapee first. After all, I did navigate to the website already so pretty sure I know about Sunapee. Trying to sugarcoat the real situation with footage of primo days. BTW: webcam shows no snowmaking still into SunBowl. Going to be a fun week during the holiday without a run or 2 back there and that HSQ.

On a positive note, while not opening until the day after Christmas, Crotched sounds like they will be opening with multiple runs and lifts on Sunday. They actually have the anticipated lineup spelled out on their current conditions report!! Why can't Sunapee spell out a plan to its guests??

 

[sugarbushskier]

When I day trip to areas such as MS, Stratton or Okemo which are all a 2+ hour drive, I usually put my base layer and ski pants on for the drive, but change into my ski socks either in the lodge (if allowed) or at the car so my feet are dry and any sweat during the drive is eliminated.

I swear by the Dry Guy boot heaters/dryers and have one at home to dry out boots after skiing AND have the 12v one for the car which I place in my boots and plug into the cig lighter adapter for the drive up. It gently warms my boots so with fresh ski socks and warm boots, it's quick, easy and comfortable.

 

[jimmywilson69]

PA/NH skiers really getting the shaft under Vail.

PA isn't that bad. Its the loss of some of the "cheaper" pass options that I worry about bringing people to the sport. They reduced night skiing on 2 nights where they generated basically no revenue. Sure its a bean counter move, but

If I have to say so, people who choose to live away from snow and mountain have other priorities. Beggars can't be choosers. It's not like they have a vast options to choose from before Vail came in.

So it's either put up with whatever Vail provides and make the most of it. Or they can just ski out west like all Floridians and Texans! By not buying a Vail Epic pass, they give up local skiing. If it's so crappy, it may not be such a huge lose. What they gain is the freedom to ski anywhere when they go out west. Taos? Jackson? A-basin? Wolf Creek??? Are those not worth giving up PA local skiing every other year?

People have to live where they live. Not everyone can move to closer to the snow or better mountains. You are correct I buy the vail pass and use the shit out of it. That doesn't mean I can't complain about it. There is skiing 4 miles from where I type this, well not yet this year because of the weather, so I'd say I'm actually doing quite well with being by the snow. I typically travel rather extensively to VT and out west.

So the answer is no, it is not worth giving up local skiing to only ski out west. That actually sounds completely ridiculous the more I read it it. My answer, is I'll buy an Epic and an Ikon. Sure now I'm a slave to 2 ski corporations, but at least it covers a lot of bases. And yes the fact that I'm even discussing the purchase of 2 megapasses is EXACTLY what is wrong with the megapass model.

 

[1dog]

That's an ol' school patroller trick.
- sprinkle approx 1/2 teaspoon crushed cayenne pepper in each sock's toe area

yes, thx, it is specifically crushed cayenne pepper. works!

 

[gittist]

When we retired we planned on moving BACK to either Maine or New Hampshire and I was thrilled when Vail bought Peak Resorts. Not only is there 3 places withing 1.5 hours or where we currently live in PA but I could go back to skiing at Wildcat (and other Vail properties in the New England area) when we moved back to the area. That plan seems to be going down the crapper more and more :-(.

We were supposed to ski WIldcat on the way back from Maine early in December but went to Plan B which was Killington. I'm glad we did.

Some people are thrilled with using the car as a base lodge, reservations for eating, no one allowed in the lodges etc...but we're not.

We go to whatever area is pretty close to pre-covid normal since we don't ski weekends or holidays. Guess I wasted money on this year's EPIC pass.

I'm sure whomever does the statistics for Vail will somehow cook the books next year even if there's a big drop in EPIC passes to show how many more they sold for 2023.

 

[PAabe]

My answer, is I'll buy an Epic and an Ikon. Sure now I'm a slave to 2 ski corporations, but at least it covers a lot of bases. And yes the fact that I'm even discussing the purchase of 2 megapasses is EXACTLY what is wrong with the megapass model.

Epic+Indy or Epic+Ski3+WNEP would get you just as many northern areas along with several somewhat local day trip options and would be cheaper, although the Ikon places in New England definitely seem to be a bit classier

And yeah, I'm also not moving away from PA, I'll switch to roller skiing before I do that. Although a cabin in NY would be nice

 

[eatskisleep]

That's an ol' school patroller trick.
- sprinkle approx 1/2 teaspoon crushed cayenne pepper in each sock's toe area

That’s awesome, I gotta try that.

 

[abc]

I'm sure whomever does the statistics for Vail will somehow cook the books next year even if there's a big drop in EPIC passes to show how many more they sold for 2023.

They already did for the 2021/22 season. They counted the Epic Day pass as part of their "increase".

 

[drjeff]

They already did for the 2021/22 season. They counted the Epic Day pass as part of their "increase".

Can almost guarentee that after some folks looking for day tickets next week at some EPIC properties find out that they're sold out for the day, because they werern't aware of this new policy of limting day tickets during peak holiday times, that that will sell some new EPIC pass products next season to avoid being blacked out next year

Now will that offset the likely loss of EPIC pass sales from others for whom their operations and management decisions this season will have them not renewing their EPIC pass next season? I guess that only time will tell

 

[Edd]

Now will that offset the likely loss of EPIC pass sales from others for whom their operations and management decisions this season will have them not renewing their EPIC pass next season? I guess that only time will tell

The NH skiers won't matter most likely. The Hunter situation confuses me because my perception is that it's normally a busy mountain, with plenty of regulars to alienate. Same with Sunapee to a lesser extent, I guess.

 

[snoseek]

Can someone more familiar with attitash explain if it's even possible to ski upper and lower cathedral without the quad? Is there a customer from Northwest passage? They have them listed as open but I don't see how you would get there

 

[Mainer]

You duck the first rope off of northwest passage and skate. The second crossing that’s actually open is all up hill