Weekend lines?

[machski]

Sunday River felt like midweek but with all the lifts spinning both days this weekend. Cold air but no wind yesterday, no reason not to ski today. Yet no one really there even though day tickets were supposedly sold out both days. Pretty obvious folks went with Ikon Base passes and Silver or lower on the Boyne products. Ikon Base comes back tomorrow and silver Boyne products for Tuesday storm turns. Bet lines are crazy then. But for this weekend of crowd less bliss, no complaints

 

[tnt1234]

Just checked Hunter for next weekend..sold out.
Plattekill..sold out.
Guess I'll go to Gore...

Platty had sunday available as of last night.

Bell also had availability. They were showing sold out last week, but must have opened things up after seeing how light it was this weekend.

 

[tnt1234]

Sunday River felt like midweek but with all the lifts spinning both days this weekend. Cold air but no wind yesterday, no reason not to ski today. Yet no one really there even though day tickets were supposedly sold out both days. Pretty obvious folks went with Ikon Base passes and Silver or lower on the Boyne products. Ikon Base comes back tomorrow and silver Boyne products for Tuesday storm turns. Bet lines are crazy then. But for this weekend of crowd less bliss, no complaints

It's strange though - you would think they would have that data and would have sold day passes accordingly. Seems like a lot of places were really light this weekend.

 

[cdskier]

Did people forget the lifts are on a holiday schedule today and open early? I was at Sugarbush Lincoln Peak at 8am and no one was there. Usually you have at least a dozen or so people waiting in line at 8am...today there were a few people that got into line right at 8, but that was it. I lapped HG for a while with ski on every time. When I went back to the base somewhere between 9:30 and 10 SB still had virtually no line. Finally at 11 there was a bit of a line, but a lot of that had to do with Gate House temporarily going on hold. Now that GH is open again, Super Bravo is ski on again pretty much.

Yesterday was more crowded than Saturday or today, but still far less than last weekend. Upper mountain lifts had no lines while I was there in the morning and even Super Bravo was around 5 minutes at the longest that I saw. GH looked like it might have been longer, but I didn't go over there. Overall these "holiday crowds" were substantially less than a normal weekend. I don't know if it is the Ikon base blackout or people staying away because they think it will be crowded or what...but I loved it.

I have a feeling next weekend may be the really crowded weekend...

 

[deadheadskier]

Lines predictably bad at Sunapee yesterday and today.

They were actually pairing up singles on the North Peak triple today. First time I've seen/done that on a triple chair this season.

 

[WWF-VT]

Another quiet day at Sugarbush. Ski on most every chair at Mt Ellen, North Lynx, waited 2 chairs at Castlerock. Snow started about 11 AM and coming down steady now at 2 PM.

 

[kingslug]

Pretty empty at Bell today..All kinds of precipitation fell...

 

[snoseek]

Pretty chill for a holiday at cannon. I waited in 3 lines under 5 minutes the rest of the day was ski on. Mitt was empty all afternoon I think they were sold out today

 

[machski]

It's strange though - you would think they would have that data and would have sold day passes accordingly. Seems like a lot of places were really light this weekend.

I would think they would have that data. You can get around sold out day tickets if you book lodging witht he resort, so maybe they are trying to leverage that higher $$?? It was definitely nice, wish some of the "regular" weekends were more like it. Silver Boyne passes are blacked out next Saturday, will be interesting to see if that drives a quiet weekend again.

 

[KustyTheKlown]

Good time to visit Berkshire East, it is 100% open and the skiing has been great. To get a good feel for what makes Berkshire East special, I recommend the following trails:

* East Glades (look for sign on skiers left of Mohawk. Bear slightly right at the entrance, avoid going straight/left along the wires, which will take you straight down to Big Chief)
* Roy’s Way
* Jug (including the chute immediately to your left after unloading off the main chairlift, which was recently renamed Flying Cloud). Then go into the narrow opening just left of the shed.
* Minnie Dole (upper portion immediately to your right after unloading off the main chairlift) -> Beast

Although on the trail map, Beast is unmarked and can be a bit tricky to find. You want to start at the corner of Riva Ridge and UMass (look for the Riva Ridge sign), following the tracks under the zip line wires. Then follow the first set of tracks that branch off to the right. Eventually you will find yourself at the top of a steep very narrow trail heading straight down through the woods. The current trail map does not depict it accurately, here is a better representation from a couple years ago:

View attachment 50339

View attachment 50340

berkshire east was super fun. its kinds like plattekill and magic had a baby. very chill. def needs good snow tho at that elevation. all woods and bike trails were fully in play. great new day trip option for me.

 

[Boxtop Willie]

Definitely feels like some of the resorts need better yield management software. Holiday weekend, great conditions yet no serious crowds in many places.
One would think they have the data to better assure they get to whatever their "capacity" number is. Sugarbush felt quite light all weekend. Not that I'm complaining but I want them to have as good a year financially as they can.

 

[ss20]

Definitely feels like some of the resorts need better yield management software. Holiday weekend, great conditions yet no serious crowds in many places.
One would think they have the data to better assure they get to whatever their "capacity" number is. Sugarbush felt quite light all weekend. Not that I'm complaining but I want them to have as good a year financially as they can.

Well...historically it's the busiest time of the year for any resort. Only in the past 5-8ish years have schools been going away from giving off the whole break. And in those past 5-8ish years, I can remember at least two Feb break weeks that were total washouts (including one that wiped out Vermont snowpack to literally nothing). I don't think they had any "good" numbers to go by so they went with low estimates of crowds.

Also, good snow=more people off trail, in the woods, in the moguls etc. And that slows people down substantially, especially the "casual" skier base that can rip a groomed 1,500 vertical feet in 3-4 minutes but takes literally triple or quadrouple that amount of time to ski bumps/trees.