kingslug
Well-known member
When its snowing..its a cluster. No matter how early you try to line up to get up the road. Then getting back down is a bigger cluster F. If its just a regular weekend..just get there very early.
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Vote for Utah ski bus
- Thread starter ScottySkis
- Start date
If it snows, forget it.
As commenters said, it is about 20-30 days a year.
BCC is a mess most weekends because it contains the only unlimited IKON option.
Ironically, holiday periods are now quiet.
That's about right. And you're also right about holiday weeks...that tells alot about the influence the ikon has over traffic
Correct.
KustyTheKlown
Well-known member
sure, but a lot of the ikon traffic isn't tourist traffic. a lot of it is utah locals who were able to get a season pass to solitude with 15 days total access to brighton, deer valley, and alta bird cheaper than other local options.
if I lived in slc I think i'd probably ski at powmow and Snowbasin and avoid it all.
if I lived in slc I think i'd probably ski at powmow and Snowbasin and avoid it all.
For sure. The area is growing super fast and there's a shitload of people down in that valley with a cheap pass and a pile of sick days going into winter.
jimk
Well-known member
I'm trying to determine why my perspective on LCC traffic/congestion is a bit more rosy compared to others.
- I don't usually make my winter migration to UT until end of Jan/early Feb. I ski 3-5 days per week until May. I ski weekdays, but also usually at least one day each weekend. Perhaps by not being there for white ribbon of death early season and Christmas holidays I am missing some of the most congested days?? Anecdotally, I did hear that many of the early season snow storms (Dec and Jan) last winter all seemed to come on Friday nights, which made the following Saturdays quite busy. I wasn't in Utah in those months.
- I primarily only ski LCC (and primarily only Snowbird), I only enter BCC 1-2 times per winter. I don't have a good feel for how traffic in BCC has worsened since Solitude became Multitude under Ikon.
- I felt last winter 2021 was actually lighter on average on weekends at Snowbird than some previous winters, but that weekdays might have been a little busier on average. I guessed it was due to so many working remotely/from home and having more flexible hours.
-Winter of 2021 I skied Snowbird regularly for three weeks in mid-Feb to early Mar, then skied it regularly from late Mar to mid-May. In that time I did not experience any big cluster-f days. I did take two Saturdays off to get my 1st and 2nd doses of Moderna. I also judiciously arrive late or leave the ski area early if I think traffic might be an issue.
- I come from the mid-Atlantic where the slopes are tiny and the crowds are huge. Utah still looks like the opposite to me.
Take note of large crowds in attached photos.
Feb 2021:
.thumb.jpg.463c5d9b5b2fee28bd8cd073c50c102e.jpg)
March 2021
April 2021 (April and May are when things are really empty and nice in LCC.)
Late Apr (27th) 2021:
May 2021
- I don't usually make my winter migration to UT until end of Jan/early Feb. I ski 3-5 days per week until May. I ski weekdays, but also usually at least one day each weekend. Perhaps by not being there for white ribbon of death early season and Christmas holidays I am missing some of the most congested days?? Anecdotally, I did hear that many of the early season snow storms (Dec and Jan) last winter all seemed to come on Friday nights, which made the following Saturdays quite busy. I wasn't in Utah in those months.
- I primarily only ski LCC (and primarily only Snowbird), I only enter BCC 1-2 times per winter. I don't have a good feel for how traffic in BCC has worsened since Solitude became Multitude under Ikon.
- I felt last winter 2021 was actually lighter on average on weekends at Snowbird than some previous winters, but that weekdays might have been a little busier on average. I guessed it was due to so many working remotely/from home and having more flexible hours.
-Winter of 2021 I skied Snowbird regularly for three weeks in mid-Feb to early Mar, then skied it regularly from late Mar to mid-May. In that time I did not experience any big cluster-f days. I did take two Saturdays off to get my 1st and 2nd doses of Moderna. I also judiciously arrive late or leave the ski area early if I think traffic might be an issue.
- I come from the mid-Atlantic where the slopes are tiny and the crowds are huge. Utah still looks like the opposite to me.
Take note of large crowds in attached photos.
Feb 2021:
March 2021
April 2021 (April and May are when things are really empty and nice in LCC.)
Late Apr (27th) 2021:
May 2021
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Four points. First, the parking reservation system deterred a lot of folks from Snowbird (but forced more to Alta). Second, at that point in the season (later in February) most folks have used "their days" in LCC on IKON and don't come. Third, you went a lot midweek. Last, at least based upon memory, we did not get a lot of storms on weekends later in the season. If anything, it warmed up pretty fast and we got little or nothing later in the season. Those may explain why you saw what you did.I'm trying to determine why my perspective on LCC traffic/congestion is more rosy compared to others.
- I don't usually make my winter migration to UT until end of Jan/early Feb. I ski 3-5 days per week until May. I ski weekdays, but also usually at least one day each weekend. Perhaps by not being there for white ribbon of death early season and Christmas holidays I am missing some of the most congested days?? Anecdotally, I did hear that many of the early season snow storms (Dec and Jan) last winter all seemed to come on Friday nights, which made the following Saturdays quite busy. I wasn't in Utah in those months.
- I primarily only ski LCC (and primarily only Snowbird), I only enter BCC 1-2 times per winter. I don't have a good feel for how traffic in BCC has worsened since Solitude became Multitude under Ikon.
- I felt last winter 2021 was actually lighter on average on weekends at Snowbird than some previous winters, but that weekdays might have been a little busier on average. I guessed it was due to so many working remotely/from home and having more flexible hours.
-Winter of 2021 I skied Snowbird regularly for three weeks in mid-Feb to early Mar, then skied it regularly from late Mar to mid-May. In that time I did not experience any big cluster-f days. I did take two Saturdays off to get my 1st and 2nd doses of Moderna. I also judiciously arrive late or leave early if I think traffic might be an issue.
Feb 2021:
March 2021
April 2021 (April and May are when things are really empty and nice in LCC.)
jimmywilson69
Well-known member
machski
Well-known member
Correction, A-Basin rocks now (again) now that they are limited partners on Ikon and limit those visits even further. Had you gone there in 2019 under unlimited Epic days, your tune may have been different. Good on them for pivoting to best serve their overall clientele. And good for the parent company for going the lower income route too.
What did A-Basin do?
kancamagus
Member
- Joined
- Jan 12, 2019
- Messages
- 36
- Points
- 18
2021-22 Season - What To Expect
We have experienced a tumultuous and uproarious few years at Arapahoe Basin. From major expansions to pass partner changes to 4 th of July ...
arapahoebasin.blogspot.com
KustyTheKlown
Well-known member
It’s weird to site anything in summit county as the antidote to Utah crowds. A-basin is great, amazing terrain, and it’s cool how they’re taking active steps to mitigate crowding, but come on, lol, i70 Denver region is not a shining star of uncrowded skiing. even if the on mountain experience at a basin is great the traffic is outrageous and the parking can be a calamity
Even with the dissociation from evil Epic, on nice weekends in the spring, the parking lot at A-Basin can fill up. But once you're on the slopes, it's great. I usually ski Pali and the Beavers. Pretty much never a line, even on weekends. During the week A-Basin is completely wide open, both parking and lifts. Alta is a different story. Even during the week, there can be lift lines.
If you ski at A-Basin, you're not going to be overwhelmed by the difficulty at Alta. Alta used to be famous for extreme slopes, but it's not that crazy by 21st century standards. And A-Basin actually has tree skiing, which is pretty sparse at Alta.
But, I have to admit, nothing beats an Alta snowstorm. The dumps are truly amazing.
jimk
Well-known member
Good points, esp about the parking reservations. I'm sure that had a moderating effect on weekend crowds at Snowbird. Bottom line, if you want the old uncrowded LCC, go in early April.
A-Basin is great! The expert terrain at A-Basin is more in your face than Alta and I say that without ever skiing from the top of the East Wall. My impressions & photos from a couple different visits in 2019:
The new Beavers Lift with its 1501' vertical is a fantastic addition to the ski area. I already loved A-Basin, but it's always been a tough place to visit on a cloudy, low visibility day. The tree lined groomers and extensive/varied glades of the Beavers is the perfect solution for that kind of day. All the terrain in the Beavers is dark blue or single to double black diamond. I did not ski the adjacent and also new Steep Gullies area because it is extreme tree skiing terrain and requires a long hike out and I'm an old guy.
Following four from Beavers section of A-Basin, 2019
No doubt the pandemic has knocked a lot of traffic/skier-visit patterns out of whack. It will be interesting to see what happens this winter. It's possible we'll still be in some sort of socially distanced mode, hard to say?? Judicious travel in late season should still be a reliable method for avoiding crowds. One of the best low-crowd (mid-season) ski days I've had recently was in late Feb 2020 at Grand Targhee, WY. It was a breath of fresh air after several very crowded days at Jackson. Didn't hurt that is was a pretty/sunny day with packed powder conditions:
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BenedictGomez
Well-known member
That aint gonna' last; it's too idiotic, they'll figure out a way to re-monetize those periods better.
So they ditched Epic, took on IKON, and to "alleviate crowding" are selling less season passes. I don't see that happening here--Alta and Snowbird want to be hogs and have their cake and eat it too. I also don't see that as a huge improvement. Maybe it will be (?)2021-22 Season - What To Expect
We have experienced a tumultuous and uproarious few years at Arapahoe Basin. From major expansions to pass partner changes to 4 th of July ...
And it confirms something I said a while back--season passholders being asked to give up something for IKON. In this case, 10% of the season passholders will not be back. How does that make sense?
No doubt John Cumming is working on this. The last time I was at Snowbird, about a month ago, multiple employees talked about how they are being pushed "to cut costs" and "make up for losses."
machski
Well-known member
How do you know the reduced Season Pass sales are to make room for Ikon? I doubt that, on Epic they were unlimited, on Ikon it is a 5 or 7 day limit. And Ikon while having some decent pull in CO has no where the draw Epic does. I think this speaks more to coming off an unlimited Epic enough CO skiers learned to like A-Basin from Epic times that demand for A-Basin passes grew in popularity, to the point they decided to limit them. Now, A-Basin is suppose to replace a standing FG lift next summer with a Detach 6. Will be interesting to see if they are accepting lower revenue if that plan moves forward.
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