Whiteface Conditions

[Face4Me]

I don't think the wait time is the point here ... The reality is the COVID-19 operating restrictions are the real issue with respect to wait times ... Ordinarily, if you're willing to use the singles line, you can reduce the wait time significantly at the gondola, the Face Lift and the Summit Quad. For the gondola specifically, I'd guess it's loading at about 30-40% capacity on average ... that is certainly going to impact wait times.

My original point was ORDA's focus. At the end of the day, the thing that matters most is the product ... the product is the skiing! The product includes functional snowmaking systems & lifts. The Freeway chair and the Little Whiteface chair have had known issues for years ... How many times do you have to resort to loading every other chair on a lift to recognize that there's a problem that must be dealt with? It's like driving your car with the check engine light on and ignoring it, hoping that you won't end up broken down on the side of the road at some point.

Imagine if this was 2023, and the World University Games were here and the Freeway chair broke down ... Not a pretty picture when you're hosting a major international competition.

 

[Kingslug]

When Alta opened after the storm the wait was 2 hours for first chair...I would not do that. My feet would be asleep by that time.

 

[Campgottagopee]

I don't think the wait time is the point here ... The reality is the COVID-19 operating restrictions are the real issue with respect to wait times ... Ordinarily, if you're willing to use the singles line, you can reduce the wait time significantly at the gondola, the Face Lift and the Summit Quad. For the gondola specifically, I'd guess it's loading at about 30-40% capacity on average ... that is certainly going to impact wait times.

This is was I was thinking while reading the early posts. We certainly are still in a pandemic and guideline restrictions must be followed. Praying that with vaccinations and soon everyone will be back outside next year will be different. As one who wears glasses I CANT STAND MASKS -- lol

 

[Face4Me]

As one who wears glasses I CANT STAND MASKS -- lol

Amen to that!!! I normally ski with a prescription insert inside my ski goggles. With the mask, I absolutely could not come up with any solution that prevented the insert from fogging up. I've been skiing without it since about the second week of the season. I can see fairly well without my glasses, but there are definitely some details in the snow that I can't spot, especially when the light is flat. Fortunately there's almost never flat light at Whiteface!!! I've hit a few things that I never saw that have nearly thrown me on my ass a few times ... that next yard sale is just around the corner!

 

[Harvey]

For me, 15 minutes is over the line for "long wait." I'd wait one time for 15 minutes if I had confidence that the rest of the day would be 2 minutes or less. Like first chair at Gore. Sometimes I go 30 minutes early to get first gondi.

 

[Campgottagopee]

Fortunately there's almost never flat light at Whiteface!!!

LMAO!

 

[Kingslug]

Its why I go to places that have lifts all over the place..
The ones that force you to always go to the bottom have been a problem this year. Just compare Stowe to sugarbush..or Hunter to Gore.

 

[snoloco]

While it's been clear that the Freeway and Little Whiteface lifts needed replacement for years, the covid restrictions made it much more obvious since the gondola has so much less capacity.

 

[Face4Me]

Its why I go to places that have lifts all over the place..
The ones that force you to always go to the bottom have been a problem this year. Just compare Stowe to sugarbush..or Hunter to Gore.

Exactly ... Under normal circumstances, when you ski Whiteface, you never go back to the bottom ... The only reason to do that is if you want to go to the main lodge for lunch, OR, if you want to ski the Wilmington Trail. This is one of the BEST things about the layout at Whiteface ... When all the lifts are running, especially if Hoyt's High and/or Lookout Below are open so you can lap the Lookout Triple, you can always find a lift that has a minimal wait, even on the most crowded days.

 

[JTG]

Question for you WF regulars. Clearly the lift lines on holiday weekends this year have been shorter than in years past. Maybe that is just a quirk of an abundance of non-holiday season pass holders this year? Anyway, my question is this....have the lift lines on non-holiday weekends and weekdays this year been longer than the lines have been on the holiday weekends?

Random life’s truism for the day. If one is inclined to look for something to be unhappy about.....they are going to find something, and be unhappy.

Face, I get that your biggest beef is with operations for not making sure lifts are available that should be available, especially during a pandemic.....but you talk a lot about wait times, and the lack of a singles line to reduce wait times, for a guy who says it isn’t about wait times!

Sorry guys, for better or worse, we have all been spoiled by NY skiing. ‘Normal circumstances’ are so good that it’s hard to stomach the inconvenience of having to go to the bottom, and maybe wait on a 10 minute lift line (gasp, maybe even 15 if the gondola is at its longest wait of the day), if you want to ski Wilmington. Seriously, on any day, holiday weekends no less, pandemic or no, when you have to wait in a 10 or 15 minute line once or twice....and ski on lifts the rest of the day....and you find life lines are too long? That’s spoiled, myself included!

For someone like Face, where you just want to get a few runs in before work I can see the “lift issues” being more frustrating.