MarzNC
Well-known member
- Joined
- Jul 18, 2020
Mt. Hood Meadows in Oregon is mainly a day trip for people in the Portland area. What they have planned to keep the number of people on the slopes in control is based on crunching numbers from past seasons. Their cap goal is 3000 people, about 60% capacity. Meadows installed RFID in 2014. Read on or check out the video for details.
Mt. Hood Meadows won't have a reservation system for 2020-21. However, they aren't just limiting passes and day tickets, and hoping for the best either. Deliberate adjustments are being made to both season pass options and day tickets with the goal of encouraging people to start skiing later in the day. People who are renewing before Nov. 8 can get a discount on any of the pass options, including the 5-pack or 10-pack. Options for new passholders will be more limited. Pretty clear that All-access passes for new people will sell out soon.
While an unlimited pass will still exist, the emphasis is on the Value pass. The season pass webpage shows Value passes for the different age categories as the default, with the usual all-access pass as an "add-on" that almost doubles the price. Nov. 8 is the deadline for renewals. A Value pass is good on less busy days starting at 9am, but on busy days--weekends and holidays--it still can be used but not until 2pm. Sounds like the last couple seasons the starting time was 3pm. The hope is that more people will opt for the much cheaper Value pass.
For day tickets, the choice will be 4-hour, 7-hour, or open-to-close (including night session). Start times for a given day could be 9am, 12 noon, 2pm, or 5pm. People who want to start at 9am will pay a premium. Or put another way, there will be more of a discount the later someone starts. For example, for a Wed in Jan the price for 7-hours could be $89 for 9am, $59 for noon, $39 for 2pm. What start times are offered and pricing will be very dynamic, meaning could be different every day of the week and change week to week. People willing to commit farther in advance will have more options.
My home hill, Massanutten, went to 4-hour or 8-hour lift tickets about ten years ago. The change clearly helped to spread out what time people got to the parking lot in the mornings. Many beginners or even intermediates who only ski <5 days a season would opt for 4-hour tickets. Mnut has night skiing.
Mt. Hood Meadows is usually open well into late May. Timberline at Mt. Hood can be seen from the upper section of Meadows. I had a good time checking it out one day a few years ago as a day trip from Sun River near Mt. Bachelor. Would love to go back a bit earlier in the spring season.
The video explaining the thinking that went into the plan includes graphs of usage from past seasons that were the basis for the plan.
Managing visitation by spreading out demand to responsibly accommodate the most skiers and snowboarders possible
Mt. Hood Meadows won't have a reservation system for 2020-21. However, they aren't just limiting passes and day tickets, and hoping for the best either. Deliberate adjustments are being made to both season pass options and day tickets with the goal of encouraging people to start skiing later in the day. People who are renewing before Nov. 8 can get a discount on any of the pass options, including the 5-pack or 10-pack. Options for new passholders will be more limited. Pretty clear that All-access passes for new people will sell out soon.
While an unlimited pass will still exist, the emphasis is on the Value pass. The season pass webpage shows Value passes for the different age categories as the default, with the usual all-access pass as an "add-on" that almost doubles the price. Nov. 8 is the deadline for renewals. A Value pass is good on less busy days starting at 9am, but on busy days--weekends and holidays--it still can be used but not until 2pm. Sounds like the last couple seasons the starting time was 3pm. The hope is that more people will opt for the much cheaper Value pass.
For day tickets, the choice will be 4-hour, 7-hour, or open-to-close (including night session). Start times for a given day could be 9am, 12 noon, 2pm, or 5pm. People who want to start at 9am will pay a premium. Or put another way, there will be more of a discount the later someone starts. For example, for a Wed in Jan the price for 7-hours could be $89 for 9am, $59 for noon, $39 for 2pm. What start times are offered and pricing will be very dynamic, meaning could be different every day of the week and change week to week. People willing to commit farther in advance will have more options.
My home hill, Massanutten, went to 4-hour or 8-hour lift tickets about ten years ago. The change clearly helped to spread out what time people got to the parking lot in the mornings. Many beginners or even intermediates who only ski <5 days a season would opt for 4-hour tickets. Mnut has night skiing.
Mt. Hood Meadows is usually open well into late May. Timberline at Mt. Hood can be seen from the upper section of Meadows. I had a good time checking it out one day a few years ago as a day trip from Sun River near Mt. Bachelor. Would love to go back a bit earlier in the spring season.
The video explaining the thinking that went into the plan includes graphs of usage from past seasons that were the basis for the plan.
Managing visitation by spreading out demand to responsibly accommodate the most skiers and snowboarders possible
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