24-25 Ski and Snowboard Thread

jdog said:
On a busy day at Stratton Mountain Resort, with a lift capacity of 33,928 people per hour, you could expect several thousand skiers to ride the lifts throughout the day, though the exact number would depend on factors like lift lines, skier turnover rate, and overall resort capacity; a conservative estimate for a very busy day could be around 5,000 to 10,000 skiers.

Key points to consider:
  • Lift capacity: Stratton's lifts can move 33,928 people per hour.
  • Peak times: The busiest periods are likely to be weekends, holidays, and school breaks.

33,000 people up the hill per hr is insane!
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Bike N Gear said:
But truly taking their life in their own hands. Reports of 35 working patrollers who are not familiar with the mountain compared to the normal 200 per day. No local knowledge of avi terrain after over two feet of snow. This isn't east coast terrain.
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If only 18% of PC was opened I would feel safer sneaking into a closed run with good snow on it vs dealing with a trail packed with people. I've skied PC and I remember being way more scared of the funnel trail at the end of the day (Homerun I think) vs riding the top area with a couple of hikes to Jupiter Peak.

Case in point was skiing Stratton last Feb with my wife. We were going down one of the blacks that was groomed and my wife can handle well. But she got taken out by an out of control skier that shouldn't have been on that trail. With (what feels like) double the amount of people on the mtn as most ski places there just isn't any room when people get loose. Not to mention how wacky the trail layout is at Stratton. It felt like there was an intersection/merge everywhere.

But all said - I agree that the low number of non-local knowledge ski patrollers is very dangerous for a big operation like PC.
 
jdog said:
All this makes non epic /icon mtns looks ideal for family trips.

My daughter almost had a panic attack when she saw how many people were at stratton on a weekend day. This after two days at Pico with mostly untracked fresh snow and likely 100-ish people on the hill vs tens of thousands of people at stratton:



On a busy day at Stratton Mountain Resort, with a lift capacity of 33,928 people per hour, you could expect several thousand skiers to ride the lifts throughout the day, though the exact number would depend on factors like lift lines, skier turnover rate, and overall resort capacity; a conservative estimate for a very busy day could be around 5,000 to 10,000 skiers.

Key points to consider:
  • Lift capacity: Stratton's lifts can move 33,928 people per hour.
  • Peak times: The busiest periods are likely to be weekends, holidays, and school breaks.

33,000 people up the hill per hr is insane!
Click to expand...
Why the mad river single is the absolute best.... No possible way for the mountain to get crowded
 
don said:
If only 18% of PC was opened I would feel safer sneaking into a closed run with good snow on it vs dealing with a trail packed with people. I've skied PC and I remember being way more scared of the funnel trail at the end of the day (Homerun I think) vs riding the top area with a couple of hikes to Jupiter Peak.

Case in point was skiing Stratton last Feb with my wife. We were going down one of the blacks that was groomed and my wife can handle well. But she got taken out by an out of control skier that shouldn't have been on that trail. With (what feels like) double the amount of people on the mtn as most ski places there just isn't any room when people get loose. Not to mention how wacky the trail layout is at Stratton. It felt like there was an intersection/merge everywhere.

But all said - I agree that the low number of non-local knowledge ski patrollers is very dangerous for a big operation like PC.
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So in my time living in park city, I never heard of an inbounds avalanche.... However, my God it seemed like every week someone died in the "backcountry" like just outside of the ski resort boundary, or when the mountain was closed... My dad's buried at that cemetery on the hill in pc and he's surrounded by victims of avalanche accidents..... Way too many stories of expert backcountry people dying... Enough that I always respected the ropes in the bowls. Our high school science teacher was a ski patroller at park city... She was so awesome... She would have Saturday avalanche classes for us at the top of jupiter... She had some crazy stories.
 
don said:
If only 18% of PC was opened I would feel safer sneaking into a closed run with good snow on it vs dealing with a trail packed with people. I've skied PC and I remember being way more scared of the funnel trail at the end of the day (Homerun I think) vs riding the top area with a couple of hikes to Jupiter Peak.

Case in point was skiing Stratton last Feb with my wife. We were going down one of the blacks that was groomed and my wife can handle well. But she got taken out by an out of control skier that shouldn't have been on that trail. With (what feels like) double the amount of people on the mtn as most ski places there just isn't any room when people get loose. Not to mention how wacky the trail layout is at Stratton. It felt like there was an intersection/merge everywhere.

But all said - I agree that the low number of non-local knowledge ski patrollers is very dangerous for a big operation like PC.
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We had the same experience at Stratton in December. Limited terrain open, ice everywhere, and people out of control. We did 2 hours and called it. I’ve rarely had a great experience at that hill.
 
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stupid question, but are there any places to get deals on lift for any of the upstate ny or pa mountains? I will probably only go 1-3 times this year and it looks like they aren't selling any of the ikon or epic passes anymore and its mind blowing to have to pay $160 for a shitty local mountain
 
Skiied blue today it was alright dark and snowy day plus them blowing nonstop and some fog made visibility rough on a few trails. But there were No lines and I got 25 runs in before I had to get home for work. I must be getting old because it was cold AF today even took a few breaks in my truck which I never do.
 
Danimal said:
stupid question, but are there any places to get deals on lift for any of the upstate ny or pa mountains? I will probably only go 1-3 times this year and it looks like they aren't selling any of the ikon or epic passes anymore and its mind blowing to have to pay $160 for a shitty local mountain
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Too late now, but NY's Ski3 frequent skier pass is a great deal. $59 gets you 1/2 off midweek or 25% off weekends at Belleayre, Gore and Whiteface. You can still save money at most ski areas just by purchasing lift tickets in advance online. The further in advance you can usually save more.
 
Danimal said:
stupid question, but are there any places to get deals on lift for any of the upstate ny or pa mountains? I will probably only go 1-3 times this year and it looks like they aren't selling any of the ikon or epic passes anymore and its mind blowing to have to pay $160 for a shitty local mountain
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check out AAA and Sams Club. You need to be a member to purchase, but i understand the vouchers are transferable.



(would suggest checking that they are transferable before purchasing).
 
Today Show just covered the Park City strike. Of course, while they mentioned the union wants $2 more per hour and the 50% raise they received over the past 4 years, they neglected to mention that they are talking about going from $21 to $23. The uneducated viewer could think they're fighting about going from $50 to $52 or $100 to $102. Kinda slants the story against the patrollers.
 
Bike N Gear said:
Today Show just covered the Park City strike. Of course, while they mentioned the union wants $2 more per hour and the 50% raise they received over the past 4 years, they neglected to mention that they are talking about going from $21 to $23. The uneducated viewer could think they're fighting about going from $50 to $52 or $100 to $102. Kinda slants the story against the patrollers.
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Just watched that news item. Very bad look for management. But then again ski areas have always been notorious underpayers. Taking advantage of our love for the outdoors. Killington gets a lot of it's workforce from J-1 visa workers. I once looked into becoming a Killington Ambassador to get a "free" season pass since I'm retired. Having to be on the hill for 23 days 8-4 didn't equate for me.
 
kidzach said:
Just watched that news item. Very bad look for management. But then again ski areas have always been notorious underpayers. Taking advantage of our love for the outdoors. Killington gets a lot of it's workforce from J-1 visa workers. I once looked into becoming a Killington Ambassador to get a "free" season pass since I'm retired. Having to be on the hill for 23 days 8-4 didn't equate for me.
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You bring up a good point about working for the free season pass. Back when season passes could be in the $2000 range people didn't mind being underpaid. Now, if the pass is $600 it's not as big of a perk as it used to be.
 
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kidzach said:
Just watched that news item. Very bad look for management. But then again ski areas have always been notorious underpayers. Taking advantage of our love for the outdoors. Killington gets a lot of it's workforce from J-1 visa workers. I once looked into becoming a Killington Ambassador to get a "free" season pass since I'm retired. Having to be on the hill for 23 days 8-4 didn't equate for me.
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A majority of the resorts are on Federal land. https://www.google.com/search?q=ski...AxMjNqMGoxNagCCLACAQ&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8
1736255813715.png
 
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i find it interesting that skiing accounts for nearly half of all ski visits in the United States. What accounts for the other 'over half' (i assume) of the ski visits?

1736256401811.png
 
Bike N Gear said:
Today Show just covered the Park City strike. Of course, while they mentioned the union wants $2 more per hour and the 50% raise they received over the past 4 years, they neglected to mention that they are talking about going from $21 to $23. The uneducated viewer could think they're fighting about going from $50 to $52 or $100 to $102. Kinda slants the story against the patrollers.
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Its really absurd when you consider the amount of different skills it takes to become a ski patroller....I used to think....oh I can do this as a side job one day since im a good skiier.....wait I have to scale 50ft high lift towers? Become an EMT? Become an avalanche expert? Deal with idiots all day...in the case of tri state area mountains....drunken shit heads? Ya no thanks.....They are INSANELY underpaid.
 
UtahJoe said:
Why the mad river single is the absolute best.... No possible way for the mountain to get crowded
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No possible way for the mountain to get crowded, but very possible to wait in line for an hour+ to get on the lift. I love MRG, it’s a magical place, but I’ve only skied it during the week when you can just ski onto the single. I’ve seen some pictures of crazy lines at that lift on any given weekend.
 
UtahJoe said:
Its really absurd when you consider the amount of different skills it takes to become a ski patroller....I used to think....oh I can do this as a side job one day since im a good skiier.....wait I have to scale 50ft high lift towers? Become an EMT? Become an avalanche expert? Deal with idiots all day...in the case of tri state area mountains....drunken shit heads? Ya no thanks.....They are INSANELY underpaid.
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And it’s a seasonal job which makes it even tougher.


When I was out there a few years ago, we hired a fly fishing guide to take us out. That was his summer job. His winter job was ski patrol. Cool way to make a living, but considering the cost of living in UT, he’s far from thriving financially.
 
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phillychris498 said:
No possible way for the mountain to get crowded, but very possible to wait in line for an hour+ to get on the lift. I love MRG, it’s a magical place, but I’ve only skied it during the week when you can just ski onto the single. I’ve seen some pictures of crazy lines at that lift on any given weekend.
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ya I dont mind that on a day when the snow is great...ill take an hour at MRG and getting some good runs in...vs an hour and skiing anything at killington for example.
 
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