VAIL SUCKS

[eatskisleep]

Well I finally busted out my epic pass after 5 weeks of skiing elsewhere. I'm at attitash for the sole purpose of skiing the new game changing quad...the only problem is its not loading. I'll give it another hour and drive to cannon I guess.

Also what the fuck is their obsession with blowing truckloads of snow on each trail, keeping it roped the entire time and then letting it sit forever before opening?Fuck, blow some snow, cure it out while we ski it and mow it flat. How is the connector to bear not open? Daily ops is pretty much the same ol. And yeah I understand about that rain thing

Wait… the quad isn’t even running?! #vailfailsagain

Any “early” season snowmaking whales are so fun to ski. Why not drop the ropes??

 

[snoseek]

It's opened just before 11. I got 2 laps the second one was busy on the trail as there's only one route down so I'm in a dark corner of the lodge doing the byob thing.
Insane amount of snow blown on Humphreys and northwest along with other places. The place could be competing right now if they just pushed out what's down. I just don't get it. I'm guessing there's a massive lack of groomers.

 

[thetrailboss]

It's opened just before 11. I got 2 laps the second one was busy on the trail as there's only one route down so I'm in a dark corner of the lodge doing the byob thing.
Insane amount of snow blown on Humphreys and northwest along with other places. The place could be competing right now if they just pushed out what's down. I just don't get it. I'm guessing there's a massive lack of groomers.

Or a manager who has no clue.

 

[drjeff]

It's opened just before 11. I got 2 laps the second one was busy on the trail as there's only one route down so I'm in a dark corner of the lodge doing the byob thing.
Insane amount of snow blown on Humphreys and northwest along with other places. The place could be competing right now if they just pushed out what's down. I just don't get it. I'm guessing there's a massive lack of groomers.

Or they're just waiting for this incoming storm tonight to pass, as not too long ago the thoughts were heavily leaning more in the rain that snow scenario. Fortunately it seems like that is shifting hard to the snow side over the last 24 hours or so! Who knows what the actual thought process/scenario is???

 

[2Planker]

Well I finally busted out my epic pass after 5 weeks of skiing elsewhere. I'm at attitash for the sole purpose of skiing the new game changing quad...the only problem is its not loading. I'll give it another hour and drive to cannon I guess.

Also what the fuck is their obsession with blowing truckloads of snow on each trail, keeping it roped the entire time and then letting it sit forever before opening?Fuck, blow some snow, cure it out while we ski it and mow it flat. How is the connector to bear not open? Daily ops is pretty much the same ol. And yeah I understand about that rain thing

Well they were looking for Groomers, used to say "experienced groomers" BUT now they'll prob take any one they can get...
Anyone wanna drive a Cat ?

Jobs are still posted for BOTH Snowmakers and Lifties..... Those positions should have been filled for sure by now, Jan 9

 

[Bratwurst]

Or they're just waiting for this incoming storm tonight to pass, as not too long ago the thoughts were heavily leaning more in the rain that snow scenario. Fortunately it seems like that is shifting hard to the snow side over the last 24 hours or so! Who knows what the actual thought process/scenario is???

I know this has probably been answered in this forum, but what exactly is the process? Is it better to leave the whales intact before a snow/rain event or groom them out to serve as a base for the new snow? Attitash and Wildcat's forecast are 1 to 2 feet of snow over next couple of days. If this is correct, how long does it take for this heavy wet snow to drain before the groomers have at it or do they just groom it immediately to preserve it as a base?

 

[catskillman]

Today's adventure at Hunter- boarded the 6 pack just after 9am. In first wave going up. Just over the parkway, lift stopped. Almost to the infamous Tower 13!! The usual stop go stop go after sitting about 15 minutes. Eventually the lift was put on auxilary and unloaded everyone. The run down was my only run of the day. Skied down, B lift was also stopped. Friend sat on that for a half hour.

Skied over to D as I saw a lift guy standing there. He said it would open as soon as the lifties from the F lift got there. Well guess what, the F lift guys were downloading on the B lift which was also broken.

This is the 4th time this season that I have been on the 6 pack for in excess of 1/2 hour due to mechanical/electrical issues. For those of you that do not know the mountain, this is the only lift that gives you direct access to the summit.

Meanwhile the lift ticket window was open and still selling tickets. Individuals that complained were given a ticket for another day, no refunds.

While it was windy, only about 15 miles per hour at that time, these lift issues are ongoing and the rumor is that they are sensor and elictrical issues.

Just checked the website and it says it is 52% open - but you cant get to about 35% of the trails. It is something every singe day here. I am sure the new GM wants to head back to Jack Frost......

 

[drjeff]

I know this has probably been answered in this forum, but what exactly is the process? Is it better to leave the whales intact before a snow/rain event or groom them out to serve as a base for the new snow? Attitash and Wildcat's forecast are 1 to 2 feet of snow over next couple of days. If this is correct, how long does it take for this heavy wet snow to drain before the groomers have at it or do they just groom it immediately to preserve it as a base?

If you leave a whale ungroomed for a few days, if the weather is good, it's for letting some of the water drain out of the whale so that when the groomers do their thing, you will get a lighter, less icy product. If you leave a whale ungroomed and some warmer weather and/or liquid precipitation is arriving soon after the guns are turned off, that larger mass of snow that the whale is, verses when its pushed out over a greater surface area, will act to help keep the core of that whale colder and preserve more of it from the warm stuff to then spread out after it cools back down and the whale drains for a day or 2.

The best example of the benefits are say at Killington on Superstar in the late Spring when, if possible, they do as little work to the snowpack with the cats as possible to help keep that relative cold mass of base snow from getting mixed in with the warmer (more air and water in it) surface layer of snow, to help keep it going longer

 

[kingslug]

At this point I would abandon Hunter...for good.

 

[thetrailboss]

At this point I would abandon Hunter...for good.

Question: how was Peak when it came to lift maintenance? Are some of these issues due to deferred maintenance?

I know that Vail found that Triple Peaks had left A LOT of deferred maintenance behind at Crested Butte and Vail got a lot of undeserved flak for the lifts down there.

 

[Mainer]

Attitash definitely waits a looooong time to smooth out whales. The year before last the mounds on avenger were higher than the lift. For a month. Who cares about the condition of the crossover trail. Connect bear peak and attitash, it’s about fucking time.

 

[kingslug]

Only big issue I ever had with the old quad at Hunter was its final voyage..that I got stuck on and had to repel off of.
The Hunter of old appears to be completely gone!

 

[reefer]

Or they're just waiting for this incoming storm tonight to pass, as not too long ago the thoughts were heavily leaning more in the rain that snow scenario. Fortunately it seems like that is shifting hard to the snow side over the last 24 hours or so! Who knows what the actual thought process/scenario is???

They have done this at Snow consistently this year. Let the whales sit through the storm. No different today on South Bowl. Seems to be working.
The new Sunbrook and Sundance lifts are game changers in my opinion.
Heard yesterday was like a Saturday with long lines on the two summit lifts????
Pretty decent crowd today. Easy to avoid by staying away from the Bluebird and Long John.

 

[BenedictGomez]

This is a picture taken from the paid parking lot at Canyons this weekend at about 4:25pm, looking out at the entire parking lot. It is completely empty. I was in the 4th "row" if you can call it that, and there were perhaps a total of 15 to 20 vehicles in the lot behind me.

Meanwhile, at this same time the "free" parking lot down by the Cabriolet Gondola was packed with literally hundreds of vehicles. Canyons Village? Filled with cars and SUVs circling around (because they're not paying to park) causing congestion, lines, waits, looking to pick people up by Sundial, Edge Steakhouse, or wherever else you can jam a vehicle in & throw on the hazard lights for a few minutes.

This is precisely the opposite of what Vail claims "paid parking" is supposed to do.

I wish I was there a few hours earlier to take a picture of how many vehicles were in this lot at peak middle of the day, like 1:30pm or so, but from what I see here I doubt it was dramatically different. EVERYONE is parking in the Cab lot for free instead. By 10am on a Saturday Vail sends out the text message that the free lot is "full", but you can either pay for parking or bus in. This is the opposite of efficient, and frankly, if this is typical it makes me wonder how much money Vail's making on parking anyway versus the inconvenience it's causing people. For example, since virtually everyone is parking down by the highway in the free lot, I noticed it's causing lines to get on the Cab gondola late in the day to get back to your parking lot. Very much an unnecessary, unintended consequence.



ItS nOt AbouT MOneY, ItS tO iNcreaSe eFFIcienCY aNd ReDUce CONgestioN!

 

[Edd]

VAIL IS PERFECT, I’ll not hear dissenting opinions. Wake up people!

 

[kingslug]

There are ways around this madness...
I don't deal with it.

 

[drjeff]

They have done this at Snow consistently this year. Let the whales sit through the storm. No different today on South Bowl. Seems to be working.
The new Sunbrook and Sundance lifts are game changers in my opinion.
Heard yesterday was like a Saturday with long lines on the two summit lifts????
Pretty decent crowd today. Easy to avoid by staying away from the Bluebird and Long John.

I skied Monday AM from opening bell until about 11:30. Definitely felt more like a Saturday crowd line wise. Both the outer and closer in parking lots were full, and I am guessing if they were giving out tickets for parking in A lot without a reservation or permit, they would of made a bunch of $$!!

Southbowl is supposed to be hosting a Master GS training camp and a couple of races Thursday and Friday depending on what the storm does.

Fools Gold likely will open as a park in the next few days as the cats were starting to push out the BIG (Probably 15 - 20ft deep) whales yesterday. And good to see the guns on Beartrap running while I was out.

Fingers crossed the storm tonight + tomorrow ends up as a net gain, and then we all can start looking at what mother nature will bring Friday night and Saturday...

 

[nhskier1969]

I am going out to keystone next Week, Sunday through Thursday. It looks like the I70 area is going to get pounded over the weekend. Question to you guys, Keystone being so close to Denver how bad are the crowds going to be Monday(hell) but what about Tuesday thru Thursday?

 

[kingslug]

Not allowed to talk about the west here...
Apparently..

 

[Tonyr]

I am going out to keystone next Week, Sunday through Thursday. It looks like the I70 area is going to get pounded over the weekend. Question to you guys, Keystone being so close to Denver how bad are the crowds going to be Monday(hell) but what about Tuesday thru Thursday?

I think your good. My experience skiing MLK weekend in general has always seen busy Saturday and Sundays. The actual holiday on Monday and the rest of that week are light. I'd guess Keystone or any of the I-70 resorts would follow that same schedule.