Passes for 2020 - 2021

[Harvey]

Gore has a reasonably big base area so you could probably spread out the maze. Probably not enough to handle a normal holiday (?) but could help on many ski days.

 

[Milo Maltbie]

I'm hoping that they will use the new High Peaks chair with the AE2 more than they have recently. That makes an open-air route to the top and takes some traffic away from the gondola. It also means that Darkside would be skiable. A lot of weekdays last year they didn't run HP, which IMO deteriorates the Gore experience.

mm

 

[Brownski]

Gore has a reasonably big base area so you could probably spread out the maze. Probably not enough to handle a normal holiday (?) but could help on many ski days.

Yeah
Ditto for the base lodge. They could remove half the tables easily

 

[MarzNC]

Last I heard - is that you go on the Gondola with who you agree to. They won't pack you in or fill the cab. Same with chair lifts - you ride with family, friends, people you agree to. I would imagine this will lead to longer lines.

Lines will look longer with more spacing as well. That was clear in Australia after the first couple weeks of early season. But with the limited number of people, no one was waiting more than 10-15 minutes even during busier times. Like the northeast, Australian ski resorts traditionally get pretty packed on weekends and holidays. The mountains are relatively short on vertical and have short lifts. So base lifts are the issue but people can get spread out after a lift ride or two to a section away from the main bases.

I think the max capacity for the Snowbird tram this summer was 50, which is just under 50%. Even less for the Jay Peak tram, at the decision by resort management to be below VT rules.

 

[MarzNC]

Checking summer operations for ski resorts can be a good way to get some sense of how what changes will be noticeable during the winter.

 

[x10003q]

I think that will be true once they get enough terrain open. We’ll also be able to use burnt ridge to make our way to the summit.
early season and especially Christmas week are a concern.
Tom

Gore is never going to blow snow on the 7/10 mile Cedars Traverse to get access to the BR HSQ to get to the upper mountain.

 

[MarzNC]

The $469 price for the MCP is gone. Now $489 for adults and $149 for children. Probably will last until late October but very hard to predict in 2020. Final price for 2019-20 was $579/$199 in Jan.

 

[TheGreatAbyss]

Yeah
Ditto for the base lodge. They could remove half the tables easily

I was at Gore the final weekend last season when they tried this. The problem was that removing half the tables didn't remove half the people, and more people ended up crowding around fewer tables.

 

[The UNHOLY]

I was at Gore the final weekend last season when they tried this. The problem was that removing half the tables didn't remove half the people, and more people ended up crowding around fewer tables.

Yeah - same thing at Whiteface ....same people, less sitting spots ---like playing musical chairs.
If you are keeping with all the rules that apply to most everything else - you need to reduce capacity, reduce the amount of people at any given venue - you need to put cap on skiers. If the crowds are typical of past season - you are brewing a powder keg of pissed off people if chairs, tables, storage, rest rooms are in short supply.

Looking at the current situation - no sporting games have fans, no movie theaters, no entertainment venues and a reduced capacity at restaurants ...there's no way a ski resort in this current climate can operate. Bottom line - you need to reduce patrons.

 

[MarzNC]

If you are keeping with all the rules that apply to most everything else - you need to reduce capacity, reduce the amount of people at any given venue - you need to put cap on skiers. If the crowds are typical of past season - you are brewing a powder keg of pissed off people if chairs, tables, storage, rest rooms are in short supply.

Hence the likelihood of requiring reservations, at least for traditionally busy days like weekends. Copper and Killington are using parking reservations as well as other approaches to limiting the number of people on the slopes.

This weekend was the first at Biltmore Estate (huge private mansion and park in Asheville, NC) this summer season with the playground open. They hired people to keep watch that the limit of 25 people was followed. They will have staff on hand every weekend through the fall color season.

My impression is that all ski resorts that had indoor buildings open during the summer had people making sure that capacity limits were followed. They can't afford to mess up. Any case of COVID-19 could result in a shut down for potentially two full weeks. If you read the statements coming out about the upcoming season from ski industry CEOs and GMs, they all make it very clear that people who don't want to follow the rules will be unwelcome.