Hi All,
I recently went on a business trip out to Boulder in March and was fortunate enough to snag a few days at Copper Mountain while I was out there. While the terrain was excellent despite the low snowfall (love that Spaulding Bowl!), I got a REALLY bad commercialized vibe from the whole experience and I am wondering whether I will encounter the same thing at every Western resort.
My problem I guess could be summed up in one interaction I had with a guy in the tuning shop.
“Where’s the lodge?”
“Huh?”
I’ll put it more clearly. I cannot believe I had to purchase a locker to put my stuff in at Copper, that there was no rack for everyone’s bags in a general area, or tables to stash your stuff underneath, a place to put your boots on, down a power bar and head out. Most people were walking from the parking lot IN THEIR BOOTS (arghrgaagghf) to a BUS to take them to basically a pod of restaurants and shops where they bought an overpriced locker (six flags anyone?) and suited up in a tiny changing area. Is it like this everywhere but New England? Did I miss the lodge? I looked for it for a while.
When I said “you know, a place I can just throw my bag on a rack while I’m skiing” he looked at me like I was crazy and said “no way, someone will steal it!”.
I’m used to skier's mountain kind of places like Cannon and to a much greater extent Mad River Glen, where you walk in with your stuff, throw your skis on the rack outside, get a ticket, sit down, put your stuff on and walk out the front door never wondering for a second if your ski equipment will get stolen by your fellow skiers (actually, every place I have been in NE is like this).. Anyone else have this kind of experience? I was FLOORED! I had only been out west once before (Snowbird) but I was about 12 years old, and don’t really remember anything besides looking down Great Scott (dad wouldn’t let me!), getting buried in STH, and lapping Regulator Johnson and Gadzooks over and over again (damn, gotta go back). Made me really sad. I’d be thrilled to find out I’m wrong. Any places with Western terrain and New England ‘lodgeistics’? Is Copper the exception? Did the ski tuner give me bad directions? Am I a blubbering crybaby?
Dan
I recently went on a business trip out to Boulder in March and was fortunate enough to snag a few days at Copper Mountain while I was out there. While the terrain was excellent despite the low snowfall (love that Spaulding Bowl!), I got a REALLY bad commercialized vibe from the whole experience and I am wondering whether I will encounter the same thing at every Western resort.
My problem I guess could be summed up in one interaction I had with a guy in the tuning shop.
“Where’s the lodge?”
“Huh?”
I’ll put it more clearly. I cannot believe I had to purchase a locker to put my stuff in at Copper, that there was no rack for everyone’s bags in a general area, or tables to stash your stuff underneath, a place to put your boots on, down a power bar and head out. Most people were walking from the parking lot IN THEIR BOOTS (arghrgaagghf) to a BUS to take them to basically a pod of restaurants and shops where they bought an overpriced locker (six flags anyone?) and suited up in a tiny changing area. Is it like this everywhere but New England? Did I miss the lodge? I looked for it for a while.
When I said “you know, a place I can just throw my bag on a rack while I’m skiing” he looked at me like I was crazy and said “no way, someone will steal it!”.
I’m used to skier's mountain kind of places like Cannon and to a much greater extent Mad River Glen, where you walk in with your stuff, throw your skis on the rack outside, get a ticket, sit down, put your stuff on and walk out the front door never wondering for a second if your ski equipment will get stolen by your fellow skiers (actually, every place I have been in NE is like this).. Anyone else have this kind of experience? I was FLOORED! I had only been out west once before (Snowbird) but I was about 12 years old, and don’t really remember anything besides looking down Great Scott (dad wouldn’t let me!), getting buried in STH, and lapping Regulator Johnson and Gadzooks over and over again (damn, gotta go back). Made me really sad. I’d be thrilled to find out I’m wrong. Any places with Western terrain and New England ‘lodgeistics’? Is Copper the exception? Did the ski tuner give me bad directions? Am I a blubbering crybaby?
Dan