F Vail

[MarzNC]

Yea on AZ one of the mods is a passholder and he's bitching about it. I don't get it.

Are you talking about Snowbird or Alta?

Snowbird required parking reservations for 2020-21. The pass holders weren't happy. However, they got used to the system and it worked reasonably well. Parking was full every weekend Jan-Mar. Some spaces were held and released the week before. People could keep checking for cancellations. So for them, the Snowbird approach for 2021-22 is probably considered an improvement. There have been ways to pay for better parking at Snowbird for quite a while.

Alta has never tried parking reservations or paid parking. So it's a real shift for Altaholics. Meaning the people who get up at 4:00am in order to get to the Wildcat parking lot before the canyon road is closed for a few hours while avalanche mitigation work happens above the road. Last season the parking lots at Alta were usually completely full by 9:30am on Saturdays. Alta was using Twitter to provide alerts about whether or not parking was available. Once full, the only option was to drive back to SLC.

The bitching when Solitude eliminated free parking several years ago was pretty intense. Can pay a few hundred to get a Parking Pass for the season. Much cheaper for people who carpool. Can always take the UTA bus. The parking available for Solitude is pretty small, even after they added another small lot next to a lower mountain lift for people who have a pass and don't need a ticket window. Perhaps about the same capacity as the mid-mountain parking lot at Belleayre.

Access to LCC/BCC is nothing like for destination ski resorts within an hour of metropolitan areas in the Northeast (NYC, Boston). There is a combination of day trips by locals and travelers who stay SLC driving up 2-lane mountain roads. On a clear day with no traffic, driving up to Alta takes 30 min for someone starting right at the base of the canyon. Can be 1-2 hours when there is snow and traffic. The UTA bus is free for passholders, including Ikon. If the road is closed in the morning, the buses get priority when the road opens.

Driving from the Denver area to ski in Summit County for a day trip is different from SLC to LCC/BCC. I-70 can be a parking lot during busy times like Friday afternoon or Sunday late afternoon.

 

[tirolski]

Kind of like the flight benefits that airline employees have--- there are restrictions but they're always be able to buy a ticket like everyone else.

$176 today. Don’t know how far the restriction went. Maybe they could get an employee families discount.
Today’s price.

 

[x10003q]

$176 today. Don’t know how far the restriction went. Maybe they could get an employee families discount.
Today’s price.

$10 off per day if you get a 3 out of 5 day ticket - total - $498.00.

 

[G.ski]

Restricting employees skiing during holidays and the busiest periods isn’t something new at really big and busy ski areas. It’s often a sort of “all hands on deck” kind of thing.

People will bitch about anything.

Still……Vail sucks. But if you don’t like them don’t ski at their resorts or work for them.

If you hate a ski areas policies or pricing show them with your purchasing choices. That’s capitalism and the consumer has the ability to sway these things by deciding to no longer use products from these companies.

I’ve always been a fan of our ski area and a proponent for their management but unfortunately I’m starting to feel that skiing here isn’t worth my money. Their success is pushing me away but I can’t blame them for that, it’s a business and in that regard they are killing it. My interests are in other places and activities at this point and I’m ok with that.

Agree. The only vote that really matters is the vote you make with your money.

 

[Harvey]

Agree. The only vote that really matters is the vote you make with your money.

I think I pissed of one of the mods at AZ with this line of reasoning. ?

 

[raisingarizona]

I think I pissed of one of the mods at AZ with this line of reasoning. ?

I saw that! Alta is a classic but I’ve never thought of it as laid back. They don’t call it the “Altatude” for nuthin!

 

[G.ski]

I think I pissed of one of the mods at AZ with this line of reasoning. ?

I was off AZ for a couple of weeks, a mental health break.

There is an extreme case of "know it allness" over there lately. Closed minded people piss me off.

That mod moved to Salt Lake years ago and got used to the old way of things. I can understand the way he feels. I would be a little pissed off too.

But what are you gonna do?

 

[Harvey]

Here's an unpopular opinion:

I'm tired of skiers who whine about businesses doing business. Many of us, myself included, have benefited, on paper at least, from the shit show that is the market economy. Somehow Vail isn't supposed to do what many of us do at work every single day?

I'm not saying the system is good or just or fair. But if you're going to reject it, reject it. Don't buy the product.

I REALLY don't like what is happening to skiing. I don't want Vail to buy the mountains I love. I hate to see the economic pressure that megapasses are applying to independents.

But I don't have any right to be outraged by it. I'm part of the problem.

 

[raisingarizona]

Here's an unpopular opinion:

I'm tired of skiers who whine about businesses doing business. Many of us, myself included, have benefited, on paper at least, from the shit show that is the market economy. Somehow Vail isn't supposed to do what many of us do at work every single day?

I'm not saying the system is good or just or fair. But if you're going to reject it, reject it. Don't buy the product.

I REALLY don't like what is happening to skiing. I don't want Vail to buy the mountains I love. I hate to see the economic pressure that megapasses are applying to independents.

But I don't have any right to be outraged by it. I'm part of the problem.

Yeah maybe but you are also a huge proponent of supporting the little, mom and pop ski areas. The people who are bitching the most are going to continue to buy that mega pass because in their mind they have to go ski mountain rad x or whatever it is.

I’m with ya, I simply won’t go to those places. It sucks, I really would like to take Cody up to Jackson to ski and meet my old friends but it’s just too much now.

 

[MarzNC]

I saw that! Alta is a classic but I’ve never thought of it as laid back. They don’t call it the “Altatude” for nuthin!

In comparison to neighboring Snowbird, Alta seems more "laid back." But that's on a normal day, not a day when Devil's Castle or the High-T are opening up for the first time since a powder storm.