When did that end? There were people coming thru a special line at Woodward Express a couple of weeks ago. I thought it was their Privileged line.Not any more.
When did that end? There were people coming thru a special line at Woodward Express a couple of weeks ago. I thought it was their Privileged line.Not any more.
IMO the tram was a blunder and the new tram plan is a repeat of that mistake. Trams are expensive and low capacity lifts. The existing tram has a very low 200 person per hour capacity which is 20% of a 50 year old double's capacity. A lift up liberty would be much cheaper and effective. Heck, even a T bar up liberty would be a huge improvement. I know that too much traffic on expert runs can ruin snow conditions but I'd think that threshold is much higher than now. Is the terrain really that different than other areas with 5 to 10 times as much capacity such as Crested Butte's North Face, Aspen Highland's Termerity, Squaw's KT, Fernie's Polar Peak, Breck's Imperial or Bridger's Schlasman's? I'd think not and therefore adding a lift up the south side, even if it ended short of the summit would be a huge benefit.BS does have a plan to fix it with a new tram (presumably with more capacity) but they can only install so many lifts at once and base lifts are more important.
This!I‘m certain I can have a superb time at Big Sky without riding the tram.
Not likely to happen at Squaw because its pass is IKON. Resorts in question such as Jackson Hole, Snowbird and Big Sky are partner resorts with 5 or 7 day access.I see a slippery slope where IKON pass holders getting cut out of more access. I'd not be surprised to see Jackson Hole cut tram access as well. Snowbird, Squaw, etc might also jump onto the bandwagon.
As for Squaw, The tram doesn't access special terrain, in fact it accesses beginner terrain and High Camp.
I don't think Big Sky tram lines are just a result of Ikon and multimountain passes. It was a problem before them. Has it exacerbated it? Perhaps, but any more than all other lift lines? Probably not.
This is really a tool for demand management for all skiers with the hope it will reduce the number of people who use it and keep the lines a bit less crazy.
That said, not sure how well it will work on that count - it will certainly raise revenue. But it just means that on marginal days when lines are not bad they'll be even less bad. And on great days people will pony up - or use their included "free" days from their season pass - and the lines are likely still to be crazy.
However I think it sucks as the beginning of a slippery slope to fragment skiing in favour of the wealthiest and is a further sign of the nastiness of "localism" as in " you're not like us so pay a premium to ski this bit of our terrain".
Big sky clearly has the money, they just keep prioritizing other lifts. I don't plan to return until they figure out a solution to the tram line.
Are lines really that bad?
I think most folks in the thread are curious about the effect. I don't think it's "killing" anyone here as I see it. It's just an interesting discussion/effect/concept.So roughly 400-500 lifts and being asked to pay more for this one with the smallest capacity
is killing everyone ?
I rode the Tram twice, coming down Marx once and the Big the other time. I don't remember with confidence, but I think the wait was just over half an hour the first time and about an hour the second. (Of course, we also waited about an hour at the top for our turn to ski the Big Couloir.)The Gathering in 2019 was a good snow week, and the tram was closed for most or all of several of the days. When it finally did open, the wait was at least a half hour, and typically over an hour, from what I remember (though I didn't ride it).
I’m not an IKON P holder so I might need help with the math here.
I can’t believe this thread would get this much traction and think this thread is worthy of a poll.
FIFY - to be pedantic.That's just the waymonopolyduopoly works
This year we took Squaw One more than KT, which was pretty nice because they ran it pretty consistently to take pressure off the Funi.Surely at Squaw the premium lift would be KT-22 which would mean storm days would suck even more if you didn't pony up. Although I suspect Squallytude would see some Alterra assets arsoned or similar if they did try to pull the stunt there.
Did you hit the tram?I've only skied Big Sky two different trips, including just this last week so perhaps I've missed big line days. Ijust didn'tsee any long line situation. Are lines really that bad? I skied 9 resorts this year and Big Sky by far had the shortest relative lines of any other place I visited (besides Solitude) and it was over Easter Week/Spring Break.