Fast Tracks: Paying to Cut the Line

[MarzNC]

The more I think about it I actually like the way they structure the fast pass. Limiting it to 2% is going to have very little effect on wait time for the common folk. The extra 10k per day the resorts get can have a positive effect on everyone's experience.

The Powdr location I wonder about is Bachelor, not Killington or Snowbird. Copper already has a history of something like Fast Tracks so it's not so much of a shock.

I don't quite understand why essentially all the lifts are included in Fast Tracks for Bachelor. They finally updated the website for winter operations. Here's the Fast Tracks blurb. Anyone care to guess if Fast Tracks will sell out on any day before Dec. 18?

If everything goes according to plan, I'm headed to Bachelor in April after Alta. So paying more attention than usual. Had a good time in early May several years ago but that was a little too late so not all the lifts were still running. The amount of terrain accessible by the long high-speed lifts makes for fun skiing, even when it's too warm by lunch time. There used to be a spring pass for something like $199. Day tickets are very reasonable in the late season when hours are 8:00-1:30 anyway. Now Bachelor is on Ikon so going for 5 days of skiing is a bonus on top of my other trips out west for Taos and Alta.

 

[Cornhead]

Did the Alpinezone summit at Sugarloaf a couple times. Part of the package was first tracks on Sunday. An hour's access to the main lift an hour before opening. I must admit, it was pretty sweet, 6 warp speed runs on virgin cord on empty trails. I remember hustling to make it 7, but the masses were loading when I got to the lift, sulked away to another lift.

I always looked at people in the first tracks with distain, until I got to partake. Not sure how I feel about the fast tracks. Thought it was swarmy that it was announced after season pass cutoff. I don't think they'd have offered a full refund if people didn't raise a stink. I do see how it might be worth shelling out for it on a powder day, or if on vacation. Not a big fan of all of the mega passes of late. Part of my fun of skiing, ferreting out deals, seems to be a thing of the past.

 

[Harvey]

I tried to express on the front page that I'm not down on the Fast Trackers in line. Everyone spends their money the way they feel they get the most benefit. We all do it.

If I'm down on anyone it's Pass Math Bro, and Vail. If a lift ticket is a loss leader, you have to make it up somewhere. Clearly Vail gets it. It's Pass Math Bro who thinks he getting a great deal.

 

[D.B. Cooper]

I tried to express on the front page that I'm not down on the Fast Trackers in line. Everyone spends their money the way they feel they get the most benefit. We all do it.

I feel badly for the lifties who are going to have to police this nonsense. I wouldn't be surprised if there are fist fights in line.
Putting this bull excrement tax in place shows that the resort has an uphill capacity issue that they won't/can't or don't have the time to resolve, a business model that blows dead goats and disdain for its customers.

 

[x10003q]

I feel badly for the lifties who are going to have to police this nonsense. I wouldn't be surprised if there are fist fights in line.
Putting this bull excrement tax in place shows that the resort has an uphill capacity issue that they won't/can't or don't have the time to resolve, a business model that blows dead goats and disdain for its customers.

There will be none of the nonsense you are fantasizing about. People who pay for the fast pass will show up and get blended into the line less frequently than the ski patrol. Nobody will even notice.

 

[Ripitz]

I feel badly for the lifties who are going to have to police this nonsense. I wouldn't be surprised if there are fist fights in line.
Putting this bull excrement tax in place shows that the resort has an uphill capacity issue that they won't/can't or don't have the time to resolve, a business model that blows dead goats and disdain for its customers.

Amen.
My first job in ski country was managing lift lines at Attitash in 1992. They had a new system where you bought points based on vert. You could use the points on different days and give the ticket to someone else. It was a cool concept that was a little too early. It allowed people to take a few runs in the morning and come back another day. A Mom and Dad with a newborn could take turns on snow and watching the baby because the ticket could be shared. The system involved a turnstile that people weren’t used to. Public relations was necessary to explain the system and calm tempers. Ironically the biggest challenge was explaining to grown adults the concept of alternating and waiting their turn. People who think Fast Tracks is no biggie never stood in the snow for an 8 hr day in sub zero temperatures dealing with assholes who think they should be in front of everyone else.

 

[Campgottagopee]

People who think Fast Tracks is no biggie never stood in the snow for an 8 hr day in sub zero temperatures dealing with assholes who think they should be in front of everyone else.

That's why I made snow and was never a liftie

 

[Brownski]

That's why I made snow and was never a liftie

It’s not that bad. You just have to set the tone early. Pick out the biggest dude in line and call him an asshole while you clip his ticket- doesn’t matter why- just that you’re loud about it

 

[D.B. Cooper]

Pick out the biggest dude in line and call him an asshole while you clip his ticket

I worked at a resort once where my cohort and I were able to clip tickets. You could outright clip the ticket or use a marker. An 'X' revoked a ticket, an 'A' was a warning. The 'A' stood for "asshole."

 

[Brownski]

Yeah, where I worked each bottom shack got a little Fanny pack full of trail maps for the ticket checker to hand out- they had a set of wire clippers attached with a shoe lace. I was actually too laid back to ever clip anybody’s ticket. I mostly was bumping chairs. I saw lots of bad behavior though- Lots of people that maybe deserved it.