Whiteface Conditions

[Face4Me]

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?

Based on my experience, I would say that the average wait times this season, at the gondola and the Face Lift specifically, have been longer than they normally are. Several factors for this ...

• COVID-19 restrictions reducing the loading capacity of these lifts. This no doubt is the biggest factor by far.
• From what I heard, a 30% increase in ORDA season pass sales this year bringing more people than normal to the mountain, particularly on non-holiday period weekdays. Whiteface is normally a ghost town during the week. That has not been what I've seen this season. I would imagine the impact of the pandemic on jobs, work schedules, school schedules, etc. is also responsible for this as well.
• Lift issues! These have been a combination of wind/weather related issues (absolutely nothing they can do about that), staffing issues (maybe if you treated your employees better they'd be more likely to show up on time and when they're supposed to) and mechanical issues.

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.

Not sure if this was directed at me, but if so, in the immortal words of Bugs Bunny ... "he don't know me very well do he".

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!

Ok ... you got me ... I do hate to wait on lines. Guilty as charged. Cool.

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!

I've been at Whiteface in the past for some of the record attendance days, and I've waited in long lines. That's not what bothers me. If you're operating at your capacity, sometimes your capacity isn't enough, and that's ok. On days like that, I can choose to wait in lines or not. I don't really think of that as being spoiled. I will say, that if I knew I would have to wait in line for 15 minutes before every run I took, I'd probably not be doing this anymore.

What does bother me, is the Groundhog Day effect. It seems like every time you go to the mountain, there's some kind of issue with something ... it could be a lift issue, a snow-making issue, a staffing issue, a power problem ... whatever.

Whiteface was always a little "rough around the edges", and in a lot of ways, that was part of its appeal. ORDA is clearly trying to move away from that image, and I'm fine with that, but the reality is, they still have a very long way to go.

Just my humble opinion. ?

 

[JTG]

No Face, that comment wasn’t directed at you. My brother had a terrible experience Saturday of MLK weekend. Not because anything terrible happened....but he just wanted to find a problem. His attitude toward everything from COVID response, to having to use a kiosk, to perceived lift lines (compared to any other holiday weekend)....he turned little things into big problems, and created his own negativity. I don’t get that vibe from you. There may be other ‘round here who I perceive as willing to cut off their nose to spite their face, but not you.

I don’t like lines, either. I guess I’m just lucky this year to have only skied holiday weekends, where avg lift lines have definitely been shorter than normal. Even if I’ve had to suffer thru a wait of 10 or 15 minutes on occasion, that’s pretty good compared to years past. I can see where that wait could seem more pronounced other times, non-holiday and weekday when such waits didn’t exist. Added frustration is understandable when operational shortcomings exacerbate COVID impacts on loading efficiency.

 

[snoloco]

The impact of covid restrictions should be taken into account for any complaint about lift lines, but I do not see the circumstances this season as an excuse for repeated failures. Everyone is operating under the same guidelines.

 

[Moe]

Just wrapped up 3 days at WF. The base was crowded Saturday but even then the wait at the Face wasn't long enough to get annoying. Otherwise everything moved well. The crowd found the summit yesterday so chair 6 was busy.

I can't complain about WF this year. They had their obligatory broken pipe in mid December but they look like they have blown more snow than ever. It also looks like they have fixed the electrical issues that always had the little WF double down when they torched the mid lodge and built a new one. Its always annoying when the lift you want is not running or broken but shit happens and it isn't realistic to just say they should replace everything.

 

[Ripitz]

torched the mid lodge and built a new one.

Can’t stop laughing. I liked the old one. Haven’t seen the new

 

[snoloco]

They have blown more snow than ever.

False. They didn't make snow on Hoyt's or Lookout Below.

 

[Face4Me]

They had their obligatory broken pipe in mid December ...

This really makes my point. Why is it that we have come to "expect" problems? New York State pumps millions of dollars of our (taxpayer's) money into ORDA each year. Is it wrong to expect better? Is it not possible to test the system in late October or early November so these problems can be found and fixed BEFORE you need the system?

... but shit happens ...

Yes ... I totally agree with this. You can't possibly anticipate and protect against everything, but to phrase it humorously, it seems to me that Whiteface has a bad case of diarrhea.

 

[Moe]

I understand, and agree for the most part with the frustration. It is an individual choice to decide how much it will impact your day. This year I think they have done a better job than years past. Factoring in COVID I think they have done a great job. Capacity is way down and they still have everything open (besides Hoyts and lookout below). I was worried that they would cut capacity by 50% and cut terrain by 50%.

Everyone has their thing that pisses them off over the course of the day. I kills me that people can't figure out how to merge 3 lines into a single lift line without a liftie having to stand there, point and say, "your turn". Seriously kills me that we are collectively that stupid. How fucking hard is 1, 2, 3,...1, 2, 3,... Apparently very.... SMH

 

[Kingslug]

People can't handle traffic in cars..lift lines too apparently...
Famous line in the Movie Master and Commander....".Men must be governed!" ......

 

[jasonwx]

I have zero tolerance for lines or traffic
I’m so nuts I have walked out of a supermarket if I see 2 pp lined up at the check out
Yep I need psychiatric help