VAIL SUCKS

[thebigo]

Anybody know how the buddy tickets work? An old high school friend and his brother are going to be in the valley this weekend. They are skiing bw Saturday and either wildcat or attitash Sunday.

Can I get two buddy tickets on the same day? Do the 'buddies' need to be there when I pick them up? Any way to pickup the tickets without waiting in the massive line? Can I pick them up the day before?

 

[Cobbold]

Anybody know how the buddy tickets work? An old high school friend and his brother are going to be in the valley this weekend. They are skiing bw Saturday and either wildcat or attitash Sunday.

Can I get two buddy tickets on the same day? Do the 'buddies' need to be there when I pick them up? Any way to pickup the tickets without waiting in the massive line? Can I pick them up the day before?

I believe you have to be present, but I could be wrong

 

[Mainer]

Attitash was nice today. But I can’t believe that aren’t going to run yankee or Abenaki midweek this year. Going between the two peaks always sucked a little, now it really sucks especially pulling a 4 yr old back to bear. Also when 4 yr old is tired at attitash side, normally Jump on yankee or double/double no big deal. Slow triple,no shuttle, no other options kind of a big deal. So frustrating. As mainly a midweek local skier really should be getting some money back.

 

[thetrailboss]

Really? I thought Ikon was limited to 7 days at Alta/snowbird combined. Maybe I'm mistaken so correct me if I'm wrong.

It is limited to 7 days for Alta/Bird, but no reservations required. I was talking "unlimited" in the context of no reservations required. I think that reservations for IKON should be required to limit crowding. But Snowbird wants to be a hog in terms of $$$$.

 

[thebigo]

Attitash was nice today. But I can’t believe that aren’t going to run yankee or Abenaki midweek this year. Going between the two peaks always sucked a little, now it really sucks especially pulling a 4 yr old back to bear. Also when 4 yr old is tired at attitash side, normally Jump on yankee or double/double no big deal. Slow triple,no shuttle, no other options kind of a big deal. So frustrating. As mainly a midweek local skier really should be getting some money back.

The obsession with getting everything off the triple open while most of the lower mountain remains closed suggests a decision maker that does not understand the northern New England skier. One or two runs off the triple per day are good to mix things up but midweek is often about hard and fast runs over a few hours. Given the choice, I suspect the vast majority of midweek skiers would choose the yankee over the triple.

 

[xlr8r]

I'm headed to Attitash Saturday, wish me luck, first time there this year.

I also do not understand why they are focusing on the triple over the Yankee. The most I have ever ridden the triple on a single day is 4 times I think, its just too long to lap. Also by not running the double doubles or Kachina, beginners essentially have no terrain except for the learning center slope. I have a feeling those 3 lifts will not run at all this year, and Vail will replace the double doubles before ever opening them.

 

[machski]

How so? Snowbird is unlimited. There are blackouts for holidays, but other than that, no reservations needed.

Really, it's not limited to 7 days per passholder still?

 

[machski]

His point, and mine, is that it was implemented after POWDR sold passes and that it potentially restricts season passholders. That's an issue.

Same can be said for Vail/Epic. I get the extra hurdle is a pain, but operators really had no clue what each state would do come winter season. They had to plan for some types of limits, Powdr chose a parking reservation system which doesn't necessarily restrict one from skiing (on mtn lodging, ski bus, etc). Vail chose an actual ski reservation system, and that is restrictive for unlimited passes.

 

[JimG.]

bag away, that's your prerogative. As a sugarbush skier, I can report to you that overcrowding has not been an issue. Maybe that's because of covid related travel restrictions, I don't know, but it doesnt seem to be a problem so far this season. I have heard that Hunter and Windham have been busier than usual.

SKI3 and Plattekill for me. I've noticed the same about crowds. I should hope crowds aren't an issue with the restrictions.

I'm sure the actual skiing at Sugarbush and K is very good. I'd love to ski at either. Thankfully I can say the same about my season so far in NY. The real and only issue is the travel restrictions and I just don't want to deal with any of that. Just a big pain in the ass.

And of course I don't blame the ski areas for that.

Hopefully next season a K pass will make sense again.

 

[mbedle]

Is the parking reservation at Killington require everyone in the car to reserve, or just the one person driving the car? In other words, does it just limit the number of cars or the actual number of skiers?

 

[cdskier]

Is the parking reservation at Killington require everyone in the car to reserve, or just the one person driving the car? In other words, does it just limit the number of cars or the actual number of skiers?

Only need 1 reservation per car...

 

[xlr8r]

I'm headed to Attitash Saturday, wish me luck, first time there this year.

I also do not understand why they are focusing on the triple over the Yankee. The most I have ever ridden the triple on a single day is 4 times I think, its just too long to lap. Also by not running the double doubles or Kachina, beginners essentially have no terrain except for the learning center slope. I have a feeling those 3 lifts will not run at all this year, and Vail will replace the double doubles before ever opening them.

Nevermind, looks like one of the Doubles is opening Saturday, along with Flying Yankee and Abenaki

 

[skiur]

Is the parking reservation at Killington require everyone in the car to reserve, or just the one person driving the car? In other words, does it just limit the number of cars or the actual number of skiers?

If you walk or take the bus or have a ski out property you don't even need a reservation.

 

[abc]

I was at Hunter yesterday. 20+ minutes on the singles line for the 6 pack. I'm not sure Hunter has more customers now, it's just that they are all on the hill since they can't hang out in the lodge all day.

Also seems like the lifties gave up on 6 ft. of spacing. At least 3 times they had four other skiers go up with me as a single. That's BS. No issues on the North or West side.

20+ minutes on a weekday??? Gosh!

 

[thebigo]

Only need 1 reservation per car...

What is the logic?

Does this approach not promote ride sharing? When capacity planning, how do they know if one person or a dozen show up in a sprinter van?

 

[drjeff]

What is the logic?

Does this approach not promote ride sharing? When capacity planning, how do they know if one person or a dozen show up in a sprinter van?

What it all seems to boil down to is it's somewhat of a token effort to appease the powers that be in the State of VT that they're doing something to decrease the capacity to certain levels per the guidance the state put out there.

Looks like something on paper at least.

 

[abc]

What is the logic?

Does this approach not promote ride sharing? When capacity planning, how do they know if one person or a dozen show up in a sprinter van?

Can be looked at in both angles.

People are reluctant to car pool due to Covid concern. So there's an expectation a lot more cars for the same number of customers.

By restricting parking, they can prevent people from getting stuck in endless waits for available parking spot. (kind of the A-basin effect, in their Vail days).

And especially during early season, they can also reduce the parking availability as a way to reduce the number of customers.

What they could have done is to add another field in the reservation to indicate how many people will be in the car. But they probably didn't bother because that's one more thing to break in their reservation software.

 

[jimmywilson69]

What it all seems to boil down to is it's somewhat of a token effort to appease the powers that be in the State of VT that they're doing something to decrease the capacity to certain levels per the guidance the state put out there.

Looks like something on paper at least.

Exactly.

 

[cdskier]

What is the logic?

Does this approach not promote ride sharing? When capacity planning, how do they know if one person or a dozen show up in a sprinter van?

I'm sure they estimated some sort of average per car and are using that to calculate their capacity. At an outdoor resort, you can easily argue it doesn't need to be an exact science. Most people are not going to suddenly change their habits and start car-pooling or getting big vans to get around parking restrictions. If for some reason they did, they could simply reduce the amount of available parking reservations if needed. And while it is true there are people that take a bus or have condos, they probably have a pretty good handle on how many potential people that is. Let's face it, the majority of the people are most likely driving. So limiting parking was probably the "easy" option to control capacity. By that I mean they really didn't need to worry about any changes to their own lift ticket/pass system to accommodate reservations. They don't need to worry about activating/deactivating passes based on whether or not someone has a reservation, etc. The parking reservation system is essentially separate so relatively easy to implement.

 

[thetrailboss]

Is the parking reservation at Killington require everyone in the car to reserve, or just the one person driving the car? In other words, does it just limit the number of cars or the actual number of skiers?

It is one per car. One problem with it is that people are making reservations in their name, their dog's name, their cousin's name, etc. to maximize their options. So there are now no spots left.