Waiting in Lift Lines

[mattchuck2]

I cut the line and get to the goods, swing in through the patrol or ski school entrance and the line becomes quite short...................

If you're not a member of Ski Patrol or Ski School, that's just dick . . .

However, the singles line (or yelling out "single" in some areas) is a perfectly acceptable alternative.

 

[Jonni]

Yeah, I'm all for the singles option. I know that when I'm working a busy coral at Sunapee at the base of a lift that that singles line is my best friend. I usually can keep most chairs full with that line as well as the people in it very happy. Unfortunately there is still a fair amount off idiots out there that are half dyslexic or just don't care and get in the wrong line and screw up the system of things.

When I'm skiing, I usually go midweek in order to avoid the lift lines. I can't say that I've never experienced a lift line before, because I have, but overall the waits that I have to endure during a normal ski day are little to non-existent.

 

[Vinny]

I have a mid-week pass.

What's a lift line? :beer:
(sorry...just had to.)

 

[JimG.]

Waiting 45 minutes at Jackson Hole's TRAM happens more than I would like. A 30 minute wait is considered a short line. On the other hand I have waited less than 15 minutes on a few occasions. If you pay the big bucks for a ski lesson you don't have to wait in line. Ski lessons are real popular on powder days. The new TRAM will have a bigger capacity but not by much. There were other lift designs that would have moved a lot more people up the hill. Fortunately or unfortunately, they decided to stay with Wyoming's TRAM icon rather than go with a high volume people mover.

I was a lift operator on G-Lift at Hunter Mountain in 1971 that took customers up Racers edge. I was also a liftie for the old Hunter A-Lift double in 1970. I can remember lines being over 30 minutes but never over an hour even on the worst of days. Hunter provided an extremely valuable service in those days. I have meet many skiers and instructors on lifts while skiing at places like Whistler, Snowbird, Alta, JH etc. that got their start at Hunter Mountain. The entire North American ski industry has been fueled by folks that learned to ski difficult steep trails at Hunter, which later made them perfect well seasoned customers for western resorts.

G-lift at Hunter was my personal favorite...I'd run laps alone on Racer's using G and laugh at the masses in line at the quad.

It was a dark day when they took old G lift out, castrated it, and put it over at Hunter One.

 

[AHM]

Get out of the heat son.................

If you're not a member of Ski Patrol or Ski School, that's just dick . . .

However, the singles line (or yelling out "single" in some areas) is a perfectly acceptable alternative.

Mattchuck2: it was totally tongue and cheek. I just figured that the "cute" little icons were uneeded. Obviously, in your case they were needed. I'd skin the hill if the line was too big or the lift goes down or there is wind hold. Doubt you go uphill much Matty. You ought to give it a whirl sometime. I'll icon the *&^% out of my posts in the future so you get it.

 

[Marc]

Mattchuck2: it was totally tongue and cheek. I just figured that the "cute" little icons were uneeded. Obviously, in your case they were needed. I'd skin the hill if the line was too big or the lift goes down or there is wind hold. Doubt you go uphill much Matty. You ought to give it a whirl sometime. I'll icon the *&^% out of my posts in the future so you get it.

Don't lie.

I went skiing with AHM this winter. He showed me the easiest way to knock down kids under 4 ft tall and how to pick your line through the line.

That's why a weighted my ski poles with duct tape bundles. Pack a harder punch baby.

 

[essslsclsact]

Go for the Short Wait

A perfect example of this is at Sugarloaf on weekends where Superquad lines get long and King Pine has much shorter ones. I'd rather be moving up or down the hill than standing still, but I know some folks that like the social life in the lift line. It doesn't bother them to do 4-5 runs a day if they can socialize in line and at the :beer:

 

[bvibert]

As long as the terrain serviced by the 'other' lift isn't totally lame then I'd be all over it. I hate waiting in line for anything, especially skiing!

 

[ctenidae]

If the only options were the bunny slope or a 10 minute lift line, I just might go for the bunny slope. I work pretty hard to be where the people aren't.

 

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

You’re at your mountain of choice and snow conditions are comparably great on all trails. You’re looking forward to getting first or close tracks on your favorite trail, but there is a long lift line to the chair you need to take. On the chair close by the line is a lot shorter, but that will take you to a part of the mountain that you can’t access your favorite trail.

How long are you willing to wait in line to get where you want to go?

For me it’s 10 minutes max,. I am spoiled at Whiteface with it’s short if any liftlines. I’d get on the other chair and ski somewhere I didn’t want to be as much rather then wait in line.

On a powder day, I get to the ski area early enough so I'm first or one of the first people in line for when the lift opens..so I can get first tracks..Early bird gets the warm..

 

[threecy]

I can't stand more than 2 minutes

 

[skiNEwhere]

If there is a line on the lift that goes to the summit, and significantly less of a line on a lift that doesn't go to the summit, I'll take the latter, especially if that lift will take you to another lift that WILL take you to the summit.

The way it works at big bear is, 20 minute wait MINIMUM on weekends for the 2 express quads that go the summit. But when you actually get to the top, you stay up there, and take lifts that go from mid-mountain to summit, never any lines there.

 

[millerm277]

My limit for waiting in line depends, if there's another lift(s) that will take me where I want to go and don't have a line, the limit is about a minute or two, if that's the only option, I'll wait up to about 15 minutes before it becomes not worth it in my opinion.

 

[skibum1321]

It really depends on where I'm skiing that day...

Smuggs - there are only 2 lifts that access real terrain so you're bound to wait 20+ on a really busy day. I usually opt for Sterling at that point since I can get some BC runs that will take about an hour between hiking and skiing.

Sugarbush - I tend to find the shorter line, within reason. There are 4 core chairs that I hit at South - Castlerock (usually most crowded so you have to pick the times), Heaven's Gate (usually not bad), Valley House (if open, it's not bad), Super Bravo (can get long but unavoidable sometimes).
North hardly ever has lines at most chairs.

MRG - I'll wait upwards of a half hour for the single. Sometimes I hit the double for a few runs though.

 

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

With the new six-pack at Blue mountain, the longest I waited last season was around 8 minutes. On weekend mornings when I start skiing exactly at 7:30AM..I go the first 2 hours without waiting at all..and get 7-8 runs per hour..once I start waiting 3-5 minutes and when the lift starts to stop..it kills my momentum and by 11:00AM the crowds continue so I leave and get brunch on the way home. It's nice to get a quick 25k of vert in but it's sometimes not worth spending an extra hour to get a few additional crowded runs...When it's empty 40K+ days are the norm..

 

[Greg]

Blue opens at 7:30 am?

 

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

Blue opens at 7:30 am?

On Saturdays and Sundays and Holidays...Me and Atomic Jeff from PASR are usually there by 7:10AM..waiting to be scanned in...we usually get 11-12 runs in by 9:00AM

Stowe also opens at 7:30AM on the weekends which is sweet. I don't understand why some people arrive at the ski area at 10:00AM on a weekend...why??? By then I'm already thinking about Brunch..

 

[Greg]

On Saturdays and Sundays and Holidays...Me and Atomic Jeff from PASR are usually there by 7:10AM..waiting to be scanned in...we usually get 11-12 runs in by 9:00AM

Stowe also opens at 7:30AM on the weekends which is sweet. I don't understand why some people arrive at the ski area at 10:00AM on a weekend...why??? By then I'm already thinking about Brunch..

Cool. I wish more mountains opened earlier.

 

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

Cool. I wish more mountains opened earlier.

Same here...my favorite place to ski Jackson hole doesn't open it's lifts until 9:00AM..and I get strange looks standing at the head of the Gondola line at 8:40AM for first cabin on a non powder day...what people don't realize is that at the top..I have a freshly groomed Sundance for 2740 vert of top to bottom high speed screaming with not a soul in front of me..a couple warm-ups like that and I'm ready for the bumps and shredding the gnar. Out there..most people don't get started until 9:30AM or 10:00AM...crazy

 

[Greg]

Same here...my favorite place to ski Jackson hole doesn't open it's lifts until 9:00AM..and I get strange looks standing at the head of the Gondola line at 8:40AM for first cabin on a non powder day...what people don't realize is that at the top..I have a freshly groomed Sundance for 2740 vert of top to bottom high speed screaming with not a soul in front of me..a couple warm-ups like that and I'm ready for the bumps and shredding the gnar. Out there..most people don't get started until 9:30AM or 10:00AM...crazy

I would say the only reason to start late would be in the spring to wait for the corn effect to take place. Even then, I would be content warming up on the groomers for a couple hours.