Pacific NW/AK/BC 2021-2022 PNW Ski Resorts/Conditions/Meetups

[slowrider]

White Room at Bachelor today.

 

[Tom Co.]

Crystal today, Monday
Yes! It was a very good day. No lift lines to speak of. The visibility was pretty good most of the day with some big sunny sucker holes. I thought the groomers were in good shape. We did a couple top to bottom finishing up on Lower Bull / Ferks. Green Valley skied well as did Snorting Elk. Even Lucky Shot and Middle Ferks / Iceberg were fun. We didn't feel the need to venture out to Northway or 6 as the rest of the mountain was skiing really well. There was plenty of staff to run things. It was just fun.

 

[dovski]

Crystal today, Monday
Yes! It was a very good day. No lift lines to speak of. The visibility was pretty good most of the day with some big sunny sucker holes. I thought the groomers were in good shape. We did a couple top to bottom finishing up on Lower Bull / Ferks. Green Valley skied well as did Snorting Elk. Even Lucky Shot and Middle Ferks / Iceberg were fun. We didn't feel the need to venture out to Northway or 6 as the rest of the mountain was skiing really well. There was plenty of staff to run things. It was just fun.

Was Northway running? It was down due to mechanical issues yesterday and sounded like it would not be up and running for a couple days. Don't think you missed much on chair 6 as it did not ski well at all yesterday and I am pretty sure the warm temperatures followed by cold improved it any.

 

[tomahawkins]

A wet, snowy day at Baker. Everything off piste was icy, but the new snow filled in fast to softened things up. But it was heavy stuff that compacts to concrete. The mountain is closing down Tuesday and Wednesday for incoming weather.

 

[Tom Co.]

Was Northway running? It was down due to mechanical issues yesterday and sounded like it would not be up and running for a couple days. Don't think you missed much on chair 6 as it did not ski well at all yesterday and I am pretty sure the warm temperatures followed by cold improved it any.

The Gondi opened late as did chair 6. Northway opened even later.

 

[RJS]

Friendly reminder for Ikon Pass holders that parking reservations for Crystal open up at noon today, and reservations for The Summit at Snoqualmie open up tomorrow at 8am. Crystal is beginning starting off by only allowing reservations to be made for the upcoming weekend this week and next, but plan on then opening up reservations for the entire season. Snoqualmie is just using Ikon's existing reservation system.

Having reservation systems last season during COVID made sense, but introducing them partway through this season as a means of crowd control feels a bit slimy on Alterra/Ikon's part. Obviously the fine print in purchasing an Ikon Pass included language about ski areas on the pass being allowed to do things like this during the season, but it is annoying that the pass was marketed as being unlimited for Crystal or having 7 days at Snoqualmie (for the full pass) but then partway through the season having your access limited by parking and skiing reservations.

I can't really blame Boyne for doing this for Snoqualmie, they are a partner resort and should be prioritizing their own passholders. I do find it fairly irritating that Crystal is creating a parking reservation system when the resort is wholly owned by Alterra and has a history of access issues going back at least a couple of seasons. It's not like they couldn't have anticipated this, two seasons ago before last season's COVID-related reservation system the ski area would get parked out on weekends and holidays! It doesn't take a genius to realize that increased demand for outdoor recreation post-COVID combined with no reservation system would lead to full parking lots. All of this aside, Crystal's parking lots are on USFS land and are used by backcountry skiers and snowshoers to access public trailheads, presumably now they too now need to reserve parking spots to access these trailheads?

If Alterra wanted to avoid people showing up to Crystal and not finding a place to park, they should have:

1) Instituted the reservation system before people bought their Ikon Passes, or at least were transparent about there being a strong possibility of this being introduced mid-season. Not that I followed this super closely, but their language pre-season made it seem like reservations were a thing of the past.
2) Pulled a Deer Valley and made unlimited Crystal only part of a Crystal-only pass, and limited the full Ikon Pass to 7 days and the base to the current 5 days with blackouts.
3) Created a compromise system where certain lots require parking reservations, and the rest remain first-come first-serve.

#3 feels like the least bad temporary solution if there has to be a change to the status quo of people just getting to the mountain early. While I don't love the idea of this, I would be OK with lots A-C requiring parking reservations long-term if that was communicated before Ikon passes go on sale as long as the rest of the lots were FCFS.

#2 feels like it needs to happen long-term, there is just too much demand for skiing in the area and not enough ski areas and parking during busy times.

 

[dovski]

Friendly reminder for Ikon Pass holders that parking reservations for Crystal open up at noon today, and reservations for The Summit at Snoqualmie open up tomorrow at 8am. Crystal is beginning starting off by only allowing reservations to be made for the upcoming weekend this week and next, but plan on then opening up reservations for the entire season. Snoqualmie is just using Ikon's existing reservation system.

Having reservation systems last season during COVID made sense, but introducing them partway through this season as a means of crowd control feels a bit slimy on Alterra/Ikon's part. Obviously the fine print in purchasing an Ikon Pass included language about ski areas on the pass being allowed to do things like this during the season, but it is annoying that the pass was marketed as being unlimited for Crystal or having 7 days at Snoqualmie (for the full pass) but then partway through the season having your access limited by parking and skiing reservations.

I can't really blame Boyne for doing this for Snoqualmie, they are a partner resort and should be prioritizing their own passholders. I do find it fairly irritating that Crystal is creating a parking reservation system when the resort is wholly owned by Alterra and has a history of access issues going back at least a couple of seasons. It's not like they couldn't have anticipated this, two seasons ago before last season's COVID-related reservation system the ski area would get parked out on weekends and holidays! It doesn't take a genius to realize that increased demand for outdoor recreation post-COVID combined with no reservation system would lead to full parking lots. All of this aside, Crystal's parking lots are on USFS land and are used by backcountry skiers and snowshoers to access public trailheads, presumably now they too now need to reserve parking spots to access these trailheads?

If Alterra wanted to avoid people showing up to Crystal and not finding a place to park, they should have:

1) Instituted the reservation system before people bought their Ikon Passes, or at least were transparent about there being a strong possibility of this being introduced mid-season. Not that I followed this super closely, but their language pre-season made it seem like reservations were a thing of the past.
2) Pulled a Deer Valley and made unlimited Crystal only part of a Crystal-only pass, and limited the full Ikon Pass to 7 days and the base to the current 5 days with blackouts.
3) Created a compromise system where certain lots require parking reservations, and the rest remain first-come first-serve.

#3 feels like the least bad temporary solution if there has to be a change to the status quo of people just getting to the mountain early. While I don't love the idea of this, I would be OK with lots A-C requiring parking reservations long-term if that was communicated before Ikon passes go on sale as long as the rest of the lots were FCFS.

#2 feels like it needs to happen long-term, there is just too much demand for skiing in the area and not enough ski areas and parking during busy times.

Totally understand where you’re coming from. That said they are now offering fee busses from Enumclaw, and let you know via the app when the lot is full. So on the plus side they have done something to help with this problem granted not ideal.

 

[CascadeConcrete]

I can't really blame Boyne for doing this for Snoqualmie, they are a partner resort and should be prioritizing their own passholders.

You can't have your cake and eat it too. They can't decide they want the money from Ikon, but also decide they don't have the capacity to actually provide the services promised when people decide to *gasp* actually use those services. I say this as a Summit passholder who ostensibly stands to benefit from this change.

The fundamental problem is that these mega passes are dramatically overselling their capacity and then acting shocked when people actually show up to use that capacity. There are bandaid fixes that can be made like reservations, but frankly the resorts need to sell fewer, and/or more limited, passes until such a time that they can expand enough to actually accommodate the usage they're promising. And that assumes they even can expand capacity enough. Honestly, season passes are probably much too cheap right now. Higher pass prices are not fun, but at the current prices, they're selling far too much access to far more people than they can handle and that needs to change.

 

[RJS]

Totally understand where you’re coming from. That said they are now offering fee busses from Enumclaw, and let you know via the app when the lot is full. So on the plus side they have done something to help with this problem granted not ideal.

Encouraging people to use the bus is certainly a good idea, generally speaking. Whenever I am skiing LCC or BCC I take the bus. Right now with COVID I don't feel comfortable taking the bus, but that will certainly change with time. I'm not scared about getting COVID, I think everybody is going to get Omicron or the next variant at some point, I would just rather rather not get sick and have to take time off from work at the moment.

You can't have your cake and eat it too. They can't decide they want the money from Ikon, but also decide they don't have the capacity to actually provide the services promised when people decide to *gasp* actually use those services. I say this as a Summit passholder who ostensibly stands to benefit from this change.

The fundamental problem is that these mega passes are dramatically overselling their capacity and then acting shocked when people actually show up to use that capacity. There are bandaid fixes that can be made like reservations, but frankly the resorts need to sell fewer, and/or more limited, passes until such a time that they can expand enough to actually accommodate the usage they're promising. And that assumes they even can expand capacity enough. Honestly, season passes are probably much too cheap right now. Higher pass prices are not fun, but at the current prices, they're selling far too much access to far more people than they can handle and that needs to change.

I completely agree with everything you are saying. Glad you are saying it as a Summit passholder. I am just choosing to direct my frustration at Alterra for letting this be an option for partner resorts rather than Boyne, even though to your point they are both to blame. I could be wrong on the timing here, but I remember months ago knowing that Jackson Hole was going to have reservations for Ikon passholders, and that didn't feel like a big deal because if it wasn't before I bought my pass, it was well before the season started. The idea of implementing such a system now, in the middle of January, is what feels especially gross.

Agreed too about higher pass prices. If they are going to have reservations (my strong preference would be to raise prices or sell fewer prices so reservations are not necessary) they ought to have multiple tiers where there is a cheaper tier that has reservations and a more expensive tier without reservations.

 

[RJS]

Did anyone have luck making Crystal parking reservations for this weekend? I was on the site right at noon and initially it crashed and I got a "502 Bad Gateway" error, then a minute later it loaded and there were no more spots left for Saturday-Monday. I'm not sure if everybody experienced the initial issue of the site not loading, or if enough people were able to make reservations that everything just filled up within 120 seconds?

 

[John O]

Did anyone have luck making Crystal parking reservations for this weekend? I was on the site right at noon and initially it crashed and I got a "502 Bad Gateway" error, then a minute later it loaded and there were no more spots left for Saturday-Monday. I'm not sure if everybody experienced the initial issue of the site not loading, or if enough people were able to make reservations that everything just filled up within 120 seconds?

The site was broken, they weren't prepared to handle the traffic. It looks like they've got it fixed now, I was able to get a reservation just a few minutes ago.

 

[RJS]

The site was broken, they weren't prepared to handle the traffic. It looks like they've got it fixed now, I was able to get a reservation just a few minutes ago.

Thanks, I was able to make reservations for all three days this long weekend. At least right now I don't want to ride the bus, but in case that changes I also made bus reservations for myself and my partner for every remaining weekend of the season. I'll probably cancel most of them, but I don't like the idea of not being able to access a place that I paid to have access to, even though I hate myself a little bit for being one of those people to make reservations that I won't necessarily use.

Apologies for clogging this thread with negativity. It doesn't look like conditions are great out there today, but hopefully someone here is out there skiing and having fun. If so, please share the stoke !

 

[dovski]

Thanks, I was able to make reservations for all three days this long weekend. At least right now I don't want to ride the bus, but in case that changes I also made bus reservations for myself and my partner for every remaining weekend of the season. I'll probably cancel most of them, but I don't like the idea of not being able to access a place that I paid to have access to, even though I hate myself a little bit for being one of those people to make reservations that I won't necessarily use.

Apologies for clogging this thread with negativity. It doesn't look like conditions are great out there today, but hopefully someone here is out there skiing and having fun. If so, please share the stoke !

You know the nice thing about Alpental is that if you have a season pass (which I do) no reservations needed. Let's hope their reservation system keeps all those IKON ass holders at bay.

 

[David Chaus]

all those IKON ass holders

I resemble that remark.

 

[CascadeConcrete]

Did anyone have luck making Crystal parking reservations for this weekend?

As @John O said, the site was initially broken due to heavy load, but I also got parking reservations eventually.

You know the nice thing about Alpental is that if you have a season pass (which I do) no reservations needed.

Sure, you don't technically need reservations, but they're still dealing with the same fundamental problems. You still need to get up there relatively early (not quite as bad as Stevens and Crystal), and then you get the privilege of standing in 30+ minute liftlines, which exceed an hour at times. Summit/Alpental may hold out a little longer because they have a bit more parking relative to the amount of skiers, but their lift capacity to parking ratio is much more limited than Crystal and arguably worse than Stevens too (at least when the whole mountain is running, Stevens is worse in its current state). I think it would be naive to think reservations or some other major change isn't coming in the next couple seasons. They still have a fixed parking capacity, which they hit regularly on weekends (albeit a bit later in the morning), and the same increasing skier market in the Seattle area to deal with.

Everywhere close to Seattle is simply getting crushed by demand. The Econ 101 solution is higher prices. Alternatively they could cap the number of passes much lower, and sell them first-come-first-served a la concert tickets, have a lottery to see who gets to buy passes, or whatever. Something needs to give. I'm almost starting to think about a Mission Ridge pass for next year because I'm sick of dealing with oversold ski resorts.

Anyways, that's my rant.

 

[dovski]

As @John O said, the site was initially broken due to heavy load, but I also got parking reservations eventually.



Sure, you don't technically need reservations, but they're still dealing with the same fundamental problems. You still need to get up there relatively early (not quite as bad as Stevens and Crystal), and then you get the privilege of standing in 30+ minute liftlines, which exceed an hour at times. Summit/Alpental may hold out a little longer because they have a bit more parking relative to the amount of skiers, but their lift capacity to parking ratio is much more limited than Crystal and arguably worse than Stevens too (at least when the whole mountain is running, Stevens is worse in its current state). I think it would be naive to think reservations or some other major change isn't coming in the next couple seasons. They still have a fixed parking capacity, which they hit regularly on weekends (albeit a bit later in the morning), and the same increasing skier market in the Seattle area to deal with.

Everywhere close to Seattle is simply getting crushed by demand. The Econ 101 solution is higher prices. Alternatively they could cap the number of passes much lower, and sell them first-come-first-served a la concert tickets, have a lottery to see who gets to buy passes, or whatever. Something needs to give. I'm almost starting to think about a Mission Ridge pass for next year because I'm sick of dealing with oversold ski resorts.

Anyways, that's my rant.

This year may be a little better now that they are fully loading lifts and not allowing singles on chair 2. Also if they use their reservation system properly to limit interlopers from Crystal that will also help. But in general agree the hills are getting much more crowded and something needs to be done. Would be nice if they invested in expanding as all local hills have some interesting development plans that have been gathering dust for 20+ years.

In the meantime y'all enjoy your

 

[Bill Miles]

And I thought the Washington Cascades areas were bad on weekends back in the 60's.

 

[Spinning Wheel]

Interim GM hired at Stevens Pass to support 'operational improvement'

In a message to the skier community, Tom Fortune notes many are "frustrated" by how the resort has handled operations so far this season.

www.king5.com

Looks like Stevens Pass is making some management changes! Hope this helps.

 

[tomahawkins]

Interim GM hired at Stevens Pass to support 'operational improvement'

In a message to the skier community, Tom Fortune notes many are "frustrated" by how the resort has handled operations so far this season.

www.king5.com

Looks like Stevens Pass is making some management changes! Hope this helps.

They hired an interim GM because the current one walked off the job today. It has nothing to do with Vail making decisions to fix the problem.

 

[Spinning Wheel]

They hired an interim GM because the current one walked off the job today. It has nothing to do with Vail making decisions to fix the problem.

So even the general manager won't work there. Great.