VAIL SUCKS

[thetrailboss]

Pictures from Vail:

 

[LonghornSkier]

From a simple quality of terrain/drive time perspective, probably not.

But I have fun exploring new places and it scratched that itch. JF has a couple trails with fairly steep pitches too so those were fun.

 

[deadheadskier]

Pictures from Vail:

Is it that hard / expensive to set up additional stanchions so the line doesn't stretch hundreds of yards?

It wouldn't make the line move faster, but would help keep the line more orderly. Same thing happened for Tomcat chair this weekend at Cat resulting in many people trying to cut the line

 

[njdiver85]

No lines to speak of at Mount Snow today (Sunday). My longest wait for a chair was about 5 minutes! Bluebird lift was longer, but you always had the option to take the Grand Summit Express.

 

[ScottySkis]

Is JFBB worth skiing? It's about 1:50 drive vs. 2:30 for Hunter or Belleayre for me.

It ok for beginners but it definitely not comparable to any hill in my cats

 

[Ski2LiveLive2Ski]

Is JFBB worth skiing? It's about 1:50 drive vs. 2:30 for Hunter or Belleayre for me.

I am also1:50 from JF, but 2:40 from Hunter.
JF is pretty small and has slow lifts for short runs and the lifts get some lines. It does have some of the best glades in NEPA and blows snow into them. And the East mountain has a couple steep headwalls and a beautiful view. But it can't compare to Hunter.

For the 3 1 day trips I have taken this year I have done Frost 2x and Hunter 1x - as Hunter is far fprna 1 day r/t.
Hunter works real nice for a weekend trip - drive up Sat AM and ski 10-4, spend the night at an affordable motel by closest Thruway exit, ski all day Sun and drive home. Just got back from one of those trips.

 

[jaytrem]

There’s ridiculously long lines everywhere this year, not just out east. If you look at social medias people are blaming each area for various reasons but everything is whacked out because of covid.

I know I said this before, but if you want to avoid long lines, you must follow the "Rule of Mom". Basically, don't ski any place that my mom has heard of. I should set up a toll free number where people can call and ask her if she's ever heard of mountain X.

 

[skiberg]

As much as I complained about Vail’s complete abandonment of Wildcat, this may have been a blessing in disguise. The mountain is skiing great. Real Packed powder. Hardly any ice. All because of their refusal to make snow. No snowmaking ice. Snow does not get pushed off trails. We got lucky with the weather, no warm ups etc, but the mountain is skiing great. Skis like a western hill, moguls everywhere.

 

[kingslug]

Winter has arrived...big time

 

[catskillman]

Do the vail lifties have to choose their music from a corporate approved playlist? Or is music discouraged?

no music this season in Hunter........

 

[catskillman]

Is JFBB worth skiing? It's about 1:50 drive vs. 2:30 for Hunter or Belleayre for me.

without the crazy lines at hunter you will get more skiing in, not the challenging stuff, but it should be more relaxing this season

 

[thebigo]

As much as I complained about Vail’s complete abandonment of Wildcat, this may have been a blessing in disguise. The mountain is skiing great. Real Packed powder. Hardly any ice. All because of their refusal to make snow. No snowmaking ice. Snow does not get pushed off trails. We got lucky with the weather, no warm ups etc, but the mountain is skiing great. Skis like a western hill, moguls everywhere.

Guns going top to bottom yesterday on moat and grandstand, they clearly made a choice between the two mountains. Got lucky this year with one of the better stretches of weather i can remember.

Was told yesterday that the club has been lobbying the mountain to run Kachina. Club even went so far as offer volunteer labor and there was talk of defraying costs. Mountain refused on account of policy. Kids are either waiting in the massive bear line or hiking to the abenaki each run.

Kachina is not as egregious as no yankee during the week but would lessen the bear line and provide an alternate to hiking if bear goes down as it did the previous weekend.

 

[thebigo]

Eh, a good lifty seems worth $15/hour to me. Particularly on a busy lift that requires some line management and people skills. Also, a lifty that’s on point and paying attention can avoid accidents/lawsuits.

I agree, if you cannot afford to pay somebody, whose job is to keep people safe, $15/hr than there is something wrong with your business model. I was told by one of the seasonal coaches that they start at $8/hr. Could not believe it but he had no reason to lie to me. Any parents out there reading this, make sure you tip your coaches well.

 

[McFatt]

Anyone know when Vail is going to fix and open Bobcat chair at Wildcat? Because this is what a sold out Wildcat day looks like without that chair. 15+ for the Tomcat chair and 30+ for the quad

View attachment 50290View attachment 50290

Drove up to Wildcat around 11 on Saturday. People were parked on Rt 16. Saw how long the lift line was and turned right around. Heading down to Bartlett and did much better at the Tash after 1. Sunday was incredible at the Tash, no lines, new snow, everything pretty much almost open. This coming weekend is gonna be a different story. Oh how I wish I could be a midweek skier

 

[xlr8r]

Kachina should be open on Weekends as a pressure relief for Flying Bear, also the race teams should now be using Trillium for training instead of Illusion.

 

[So Inclined]

Kachina is not as egregious as no yankee during the week but would lessen the bear line and provide an alternate to hiking if bear goes down as it did the previous weekend.

Hiking from where to where in such a scenario - the Bear base area back to Abenaki? That would be awful.

 

[thebigo]

Hiking from where to where in such a scenario - the Bear base area back to Abenaki? That would be awful.

The race club kids are hiking/skating from the bottom of trillium to abenaki rather than wait in the line for bear. Last sunday when bear went down, large number of people hiked to abenaki, you had no other choice if your car was on the other side.

 

[xlr8r]

Hiking to Abenaki is not that bad of a hike, it is almost completely flat, But it should never be needed as Kachina should open for racing and for whenever Flying Bear shut downs for issues. The fact that they still are not running Flying Yankee midweek is appalling. And also why are they running learning center on weekdays instead of the double double with the mid station.

 

[thetrailboss]

Hiking to Abenaki is not that bad of a hike, it is almost completely flat, But it should never be needed as Kachina should open for racing and for whenever Flying Bear shut downs for issues. The fact that they still are not running Flying Yankee midweek is appalling. And also why are they running learning center on weekdays instead of the double double with the mid station.

How are they not running the main HSQ midweek? ASC did not even do that!

 

[pinion]

How are they not running the main HSQ midweek? ASC did not even do that!

Questionable decision to try and start the season with top-to-bottom skiing at Attitash on both mountains. And mother nature made sure that decision came back and bit them HARD. Only now are they catching up and getting Moat, Grandstand, etc online. Maybe after that they'll switch to running the HSQ over the triple midweek?

Just thinking about the amount of wasted snowmaking on Northwest Passage makes me sad.