Whiteface Conditions

[snoloco]

Freeway is done for the season so I've heard. In a normal year it wouldn't matter because I can ride the gondola at non peak times and ski the terrain off one lift, and use the Facelift to lap Wilmington without much of a wait. This year, it basically leaves just Summit and Little Whiteface if you don't want to wait in a significant line.

I ended up bailing at 10 on Saturday and going to Gore when I came off Wilmington and both the gondola and Facelift were out of the ropes.

 

[JTG]

I could very well be wrong, as I’ve only skied MLK and Prez Day weekends.....but I think people perceive the gondola line to be longer than it really is. I waited for it multiple times, both weekends, when the corral after ticket scan was full, they locked out the scanner to slow the line and create space, the line snaked around, and was out just past the fencing. Guess what? The line didn’t take very long. No longer than the lines on pre-COVID MLK and Prez Day weekends. On the whole, shorter, actually.

Maybe non-holiday weekends are worse? Maybe people are just spoiled and can’t handle a 10 to 15 minute line??

 

[Face4Me]

Maybe people are just spoiled and can’t handle a 10 to 15 minute line??

I won't say no to that!!!

 

[Q*bert Jones IV]

I could very well be wrong, as I’ve only skied MLK and Prez Day weekends.....but I think people perceive the gondola line to be longer than it really is. I waited for it multiple times, both weekends, when the corral after ticket scan was full, they locked out the scanner to slow the line and create space, the line snaked around, and was out just past the fencing. Guess what? The line didn’t take very long. No longer than the lines on pre-COVID MLK and Prez Day weekends. On the whole, shorter, actually.

Maybe non-holiday weekends are worse? Maybe people are just spoiled and can’t handle a 10 to 15 minute line??

Is 15 minutes a normal wait for a lift?

 

[CarlS]

New Whiteface slogan "We're not happy till your not happy"

NYS and ORDA need to figure out the aging lift system at Whiteface. Mountain run lift and Parkway lift are 41 years old. What other mountain in the east has a lift that old. Crazytown!

 

[SudsNBumps]

Guess I am totally spoiled...15 minutes is a lap

 

[snoloco]

I could very well be wrong, as I’ve only skied MLK and Prez Day weekends.....but I think people perceive the gondola line to be longer than it really is. I waited for it multiple times, both weekends, when the corral after ticket scan was full, they locked out the scanner to slow the line and create space, the line snaked around, and was out just past the fencing. Guess what? The line didn’t take very long. No longer than the lines on pre-COVID MLK and Prez Day weekends. On the whole, shorter, actually.

Maybe non-holiday weekends are worse? Maybe people are just spoiled and can’t handle a 10 to 15 minute line??

This weekend is still a holiday weekend for ORDA based on the pass blackouts, but it was much more crowded than the first weekend of President's Week, even though that is normally busier.

I made my decision knowing I'd be limited to only 2 lifts for the better part of the day and I'd already skied most of the trails off one of them. Checking the Gore webcam and seeing both base area lifts with short lines also influenced my decision.

 

[JTG]

Is 15 minutes a normal wait for a lift?

I don’t think 15 minutes is an abnormal wait for a lift, especially on a holiday weekend. Mind you, at WF that was for the gondola, once. Most other times it was less than 10, at times walk on. All other lifts were ski on. For a holiday weekend most places I don’t think that’s normal, I think lift lines are longer.

I get it if people pass on the gondola because of COVID precaution, but not because the lift line is too long.

 

[DanS]

I don’t think 15 minutes is an abnormal wait for a lift, especially on a holiday weekend. Mind you, at WF that was for the gondola, once. Most other times it was less than 10, at times walk on. All other lifts were ski on. For a holiday weekend most places I don’t think that’s normal, I think lift lines are longer.

I get it if people pass on the gondola because of COVID precaution, but not because the lift line is too long.

As JTG said, most of the day was essentially ski on at the LWF double and the summit quad. I have waited longer for the gondola at gore and whiteface than I did this past Saturday, although I only took it once. I have definitely waited longer for a chair out west (more than 20 min) than I have at any time during the current season. I wonder how long this line was:

 

[snoloco]

That picture is a worst worse scenario, but even pictures of "normal" lines at Vail would be unheard of here in the east. I think people in the west are generally more tolerant of lines for whatever reason. Everyone has their own tolerance. Mine goes down significantly if lines are created by a resort's failure to operate enough lifts for the crowd that shows up.