VAIL SUCKS

[Kingslug20]

So...what is considered...an expert?

 

[ThatGuy]

In my opinion an expert has to have their technique down pretty well and apply different approaches for different situations. Should also be able to ski any marked trail and assess the fall line, snow quality, best line, obstructions, ect. while skiing.

Its not all about how “difficult” what you can ski is but how well you can ski it.

 

[ss20]

So...what is considered...an expert?

A good skier can ski any trail with good technique in good conditions. An expert skier can ski any trail in poor conditions with perfect technique.

 

[thetrailboss]

Guns just started up at The Cat. Fri is a go
May have a soft opening for some (wink, wink) Thurs

They’re called Epic Snow Guns.

 

[joshua segal]

A good skier can ski any trail with good technique in good conditions. An expert skier can ski any trail in poor conditions with perfect technique.

I would suggest that an advanced skier can look good skiing any trail (including moguls) in good conditions.

The expert looks OK in less than ideal conditions.

There are many a day when I know there are experts on the mountain when nobody is skiing certain trails.

I remember at one advanced PSIA bump clinic, the instructor at the start of the clinic, asked, “Is there something you would particularly like to learn?”

I replied, “Yes.” Pointing to the Cascade Headwall at Killington, I asked, “What do you do when you come to icy moguls with knife edges like that?”

He replied, “That’s easy. You pick a different trail.”

 

[Kingslug20]

I think a lot of us are experts by now. If you've been doing this for a long time. But God forbid you use that term!

 

[drjeff]

I think the other concept that gets thrown into the discussion is an "expert" not an "expert" if you have 2 people skiing same challneging terrain, with equally strong technique, but one does it at a much quicker speed than the other?

Technique I think is more important than speed

 

[slatham]

It's that time of year to check different areas web sites for Cam shots etc of the snow/snowmaking.

The Vail resorts are beyond lame. With all the resources of Vail thats what the come up with? Both web site and cams. Fail. I think they don't really care about the hard core ski fans.

But then again its all theorecitcal - I will not be skiing any Vail resorts this year. Real disappointing that Mt Snow and Stowe are off the list. But that is the state of the industry in 22/23. Pick your pass and stay away from other resorts.

 

[abc]

It may even be beyond ”don’t care”. I always wonders if Vail deliberately making web cams unavailable when it would otherwise show how bad the condition (crowd, poor coverage) really are?

 

[Kingslug20]

They always have some kind of plan..in their best interests...not yours..at all..

 

[drjeff]

It's that time of year to check different areas web sites for Cam shots etc of the snow/snowmaking.

The Vail resorts are beyond lame. With all the resources of Vail thats what the come up with? Both web site and cams. Fail. I think they don't really care about the hard core ski fans.

But then again its all theorecitcal - I will not be skiing any Vail resorts this year. Real disappointing that Mt Snow and Stowe are off the list. But that is the state of the industry in 22/23. Pick your pass and stay away from other resorts.

Incredibly enough, they actually turned the summit webcam at Mount Snow that looks down/across the main face from it's perch atop the top terminal of the Grand Summit Express and the base area webcam located on the base terminal of the Grand Summit back on today. Those cameras have been offline since the end of last season

 

[ThatGuy]

I think they don't really care about the hard core ski fans.

They’ve made it more than clear through their actions that they don’t care about hardcore ski fans. Doesn’t mean I won’t make the best of it and ski where I want. Besides the paid parking I don’t think they've done terrible at Mount Snow.

 

[jaytrem]

They’ve made it more than clear through their actions that they don’t care about hardcore ski fans. Doesn’t mean I won’t make the best of it and ski where I want. Besides the paid parking I don’t think they've done terrible at Mount Snow.

They definitely run more lifts more often than Peak did, so I'm quite happy about that. Should be an interesting season. I have no clue how the crowds will spread out, but pretty sure the North Face will be even more dead than it already was.

 

[mbedle]

They’ve made it more than clear through their actions that they don’t care about hardcore ski fans. Doesn’t mean I won’t make the best of it and ski where I want. Besides the paid parking I don’t think they've done terrible at Mount Snow.

Did Mount Snow have a parking problem prior to Vail expending the paid spots or was it simply a way to generate income? The issue with Stowe's paid parking has more to do with how far away the free lots are from the lifts.

 

[drjeff]

Did Mount Snow have a parking problem prior to Vail expending the paid spots or was it simply a way to generate income? The issue with Stowe's paid parking has more to do with how far away the free lots are from the lifts.

Definitely had a parking problems for years, and on more Saturdays and some Sundays than not over the majority of the season, prior to Vail expanding the quantity of paid lots last season. Mount Snow could realistically benefit from another few hundred parking spaces somewhere near any of their current lots to handle the demand on many a busy day. However unless the State lets them completely fill in Snow Lake and turn it into a parking lot, rather than return it's natural stream/wetlands area designation, which there's no way that would be allowed, there just isn't enough flat, reasonably size spaces near their base lodges to do so, short of them spending millions on a parking garage, which I also doubt will happen, or if it eventually does, it will be a VERY long time out in the future

 

[ThatGuy]

The parking has definitely always been a shitshow on weekends. My bigger issue with the paid parking is that you still have to pay weekdays for good spots even though the lots are no where near capacity. Also the fact that the entirety of Carinthia is paid on weekends sucks even though I don’t use the terrain park personally.

 

[deadheadskier]

Paid parking midweek other than Christmas week is a joke anywhere in the East. That's all about making money and not trying to solve problems as they want us to believe.

 

[mbedle]

Definitely had a parking problems for years, and on more Saturdays and some Sundays than not over the majority of the season, prior to Vail expanding the quantity of paid lots last season. Mount Snow could realistically benefit from another few hundred parking spaces somewhere near any of their current lots to handle the demand on many a busy day. However unless the State lets them completely fill in Snow Lake and turn it into a parking lot, rather than return it's natural stream/wetlands area designation, which there's no way that would be allowed, there just isn't enough flat, reasonably size spaces near their base lodges to do so, short of them spending millions on a parking garage, which I also doubt will happen, or if it eventually does, it will be a VERY long time out in the future

So with Vail expanding the paid parking, the parking situation has gotten better. How about crowding since Vail expanded the paid parking? Has that gotten worst or better? Since the Mount Snow paid parking doesn't have the 4 person carpool benefit, I'm just wondering if people are still trying to carpool just to save on parking fees. My fear at Stowe is the cross country and toll house lots will fill up fast with 4 people parking their own cars and pilling into one car to head up to the Mansfield lots for free parking. That would very much disrupt the flow of traffic and potentially result in a lot of people showing up at 9am to be forced to pay for parking since the free lots are full.

 

[drjeff]

So with Vail expanding the paid parking, the parking situation has gotten better. How about crowding since Vail expanded the paid parking? Has that gotten worst or better? Since the Mount Snow paid parking doesn't have the 4 person carpool benefit, I'm just wondering if people are still trying to carpool just to save on parking fees. My fear at Stowe is the cross country and toll house lots will fill up fast with 4 people parking their own cars and pilling into one car to head up to the Mansfield lots for free parking. That would very much disrupt the flow of traffic and potentially result in a lot of people showing up at 9am to be forced to pay for parking since the free lots are full.

Pure anecdotal stuff on my part. And for disclosure, my family had a parking pass before the widespread pay to park system went in place last year, we had the same parking pass last year, and renewed it for this year, and BTW Vail only raised the cost of the season parking pass $25 or $30 over what Peak was charging before, and now it's good way more days and in way more lots, so for those of use who had them, liked them, and still buy them, we are happy with them.

Crowding to me atleast, while still an issue, seemed not as bad at Mount Snow last year. Granted after the previous COVID season where chairs weren't being loaded at full capacity, tat may have also factored into my perception of it not being as bad. Additionally, to me atleast, BUSY days felt slightly less busy to me than BUSY days in prior years. Again the prior COVID restrictions season may have factored into my perception of last season. The other factor that may have played into my perception is with my days generally being weekends and holidays as I don't have a job where working remotely is feasible for abut 98% of what I do, wheras others who do have the ability to WFH have had the option in some cases to be able to spend more of their days midweek vs weekends, and some of that seems to be inline from what I heard from my live at the mountain all season long friends where the midweek crowds seemed larger than historical average to them. Just a bunch of variables that can affect how the paid parking thing does or doesn't improve on hill crowding

 

[2Planker]

Attitash was a huge Shit Show last year.
They even towed the Parking monitor guy's truck. Not once, but twice.

Wildcat was no problem. They had a Paid parking lot for a while, but no attendant was usually there.
Parked the Winnie there for 7 days in March. No issue at all