20/21 season

BedBugDoug

BedBugDoug

Member
This upcoming season is probably going to be the last one where I can/will want to spend a shitload of time in the mountains. I'm going to be the douche that buys an ikon and buggers up everybody's local mountain. BUT I don't think it will be worth it if i gotta make reservations and stuff and can't just freestyle a month long road trip through the west. They got the adventure assurance deal where you can defer your payment to the following season, but it'd be real slick if they operated full capacity this coming season. I saw an article where Katz said they plan to open fully, and if they did I would assume Alterra would too. I'm thinking this could just be positive thinking or a way to keep investors excited or something, but still nice to hear.

I figured this could be a thread about news or whatnot for the upcoming season. Please don't argue about the morality of opening during a pandemic. There are plenty of other threads for that.
 
Going to make a prediction based on nothing here. On hill operations will look pretty close to normal. Might be only people of same party on a chair or something, maybe lift ticket cap but still really close to normal. Inside the lodge and restaurants on the other hand will be very different. Wouldn't be surprised to see really complex rental situations and little to no inside food service.
 
I bought my ikon pass when it went on sale, and my wife’s pass when they added the assurance program. My advice for anyone who’s buying a pass, consider buying tickets at resorts instead of using your pass so you can get a full use pass next season instead of however the hell they will penalize partial usage at least til seasons in full swing. For example I’m gonna visit a few mountains that aren’t on my pass in November and first few weeks of December, then hit my local on pass, and if all’s good come jan1 I’m starting my 4+ week trip. I’m already looking to book lodging, most is discounted right now, some are offering free cancel, some small cancellation fee big whoop even with a few days.

That said, snowshoe has already canceled some summer events which doesn’t bode well for future, I wish us all luck, next seasons all I think about.

Ski essentials has YouTube videos every Friday and has been a pleasant place to get a mix of ski news
 
14158911:r00kie said:
Going to make a prediction based on nothing here. On hill operations will look pretty close to normal. Might be only people of same party on a chair or something, maybe lift ticket cap but still really close to normal. Inside the lodge and restaurants on the other hand will be very different. Wouldn't be surprised to see really complex rental situations and little to no inside food service.
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That would almost be better than usual operations! I spend little to no time in the lodge and having no lodge operations might keep the veryjerries off the mountain altogether.
 
14158922:SavageBiff said:
I bought my ikon pass when it went on sale, and my wife’s pass when they added the assurance program. My advice for anyone who’s buying a pass, consider buying tickets at resorts instead of using your pass so you can get a full use pass next season instead of however the hell they will penalize partial usage at least til seasons in full swing. For example I’m gonna visit a few mountains that aren’t on my pass in November and first few weeks of December, then hit my local on pass, and if all’s good come jan1 I’m starting my 4+ week trip. I’m already looking to book lodging, most is discounted right now, some are offering free cancel, some small cancellation fee big whoop even with a few days.

That said, snowshoe has already canceled some summer events which doesn’t bode well for future, I wish us all luck, next seasons all I think about.

Ski essentials has YouTube videos every Friday and has been a pleasant place to get a mix of ski news
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The price for fully unlimited is 1050 right now, were you able to get yours cheaper than that? I'm assuming you're over 23 so you gotta pay the most expensive price.
 
Ya I’m 36, pretty soon I’ll get the senior discount. I got the cheapest price possible cause I bought right when they offered the discount to last years pass holders, 699 Or 799 I think for ikon not base , even at $1k it’s worth it, I get ten discounted tickets for my kids or friends, and %15 off food and shopping at some places and I pass those savings in via tip , as well as a discount on lodging if there’s not currently a better discount available, and I typically ski 4+ of 7 days a week November 22 to season end. I could really recommend the base if you wanna save money, you wouldn’t be missing anything imo. They also give you a discount when you buy a pass if you had one the previous year.

Your probably aware but there’s epic pass, as well as other multi resort passes, for instance Killington offers an unlimited Killington pass , called beast pass or something that comes with an ikon base pass , which woulda been dope but I’d already but the ikon , maybe check your local resorts see if they’re doing anything like that

14158927:BedBugDoug said:
The price for fully unlimited is 1050 right now, were you able to get yours cheaper than that? I'm assuming you're over 23 so you gotta pay the most expensive price.
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This is the first year I got an icon pass... ironic since I’ve spent the past couple seasons giving all the ikon people shit. I’m gonna be at UC Santa Barbara this year and so it works out well for me since Mammoth and Big Bear are on there, plus I got it for pretty cheap by getting the pass through school. I figured if I’m gonna be online for the fall I might as well take advantage. If any of you guys hit Mammoth or Big Bear a lot shoot me a DM! I’m probably not gonna be skiing with my usual ski buddies a lot anymore so I’m always down to meet new peeps.
 
All Im gonna say is because the 19/20 season was cut short the stoke rolling into 20/21 is at an all time high. Even if its currently July
 
I hate to say it but I think there will end up being a lottery system, if not a reservation system, in places like the Front Range. Too many people trying to ski. I assume they'll have to use social distancing for managing the ski lifts, and there is just no possible way to do that with the number of people that ordinarily show up. A-basin opened late season 2020 and attempted a reservation system that failed because of too many people. They went to a lottery with a cap on the number of people. When I went on the lottery system, it seemed like the cap was low because there were very few people on the mountain and the reservation system was maxed. I can't imagine how something like this will affect the lodging industry. If you bought a ski rental condo last year, I'm sorry. As someone else said, all on mountain lodge services will probably be non-existent.

This will be fine for people that only ski here and there. For people that ski more than half the days of the week on a whim it will obviously be a total game changer.

I'm wondering how Vail and Alterra plan to handle pass-holders if they go with a lottery system. I imagine if you make it up on the lottery like 10 times, they'll issue no percentage refund or rollover value. If you only get like 5 days on the lottery maybe they'll do a partial refund. I'm used to skiing at 50 or 60 days a year, usually deciding the morning of, and I'm afraid this might be a thing of the past.
 
14158937:SavageBiff said:
Ya I’m 36, pretty soon I’ll get the senior discount. I got the cheapest price possible cause I bought right when they offered the discount to last years pass holders, 699 Or 799 I think for ikon not base , even at $1k it’s worth it, I get ten discounted tickets for my kids or friends, and %15 off food and shopping at some places and I pass those savings in via tip , as well as a discount on lodging if there’s not currently a better discount available, and I typically ski 4+ of 7 days a week November 22 to season end. I could really recommend the base if you wanna save money, you wouldn’t be missing anything imo. They also give you a discount when you buy a pass if you had one the previous year.

Your probably aware but there’s epic pass, as well as other multi resort passes, for instance Killington offers an unlimited Killington pass , called beast pass or something that comes with an ikon base pass , which woulda been dope but I’d already but the ikon , maybe check your local resorts see if they’re doing anything like that
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Damn all those benefits are sick. I'm not worried about the cost, but I would have loved to get those on top of the pass. I've been saving a lot of money working these last couple years and was pumped as shit to have a real big baller winter this year. I checked out those other collective passes and ikon is definitely the one I want. Was just kinda curious about price cuz I thought they said their early buyers price was extended, but I am a first time buyer so I don't get that discount.
 
14158966:skeirman said:
I hate to say it but I think there will end up being a lottery system, if not a reservation system, in places like the Front Range. Too many people trying to ski. I assume they'll have to use social distancing for managing the ski lifts, and there is just no possible way to do that with the number of people that ordinarily show up. A-basin opened late season 2020 and attempted a reservation system that failed because of too many people. They went to a lottery with a cap on the number of people. When I went on the lottery system, it seemed like the cap was low because there were very few people on the mountain and the reservation system was maxed. I can't imagine how something like this will affect the lodging industry. If you bought a ski rental condo last year, I'm sorry. As someone else said, all on mountain lodge services will probably be non-existent.

This will be fine for people that only ski here and there. For people that ski more than half the days of the week on a whim it will obviously be a total game changer.

I'm wondering how Vail and Alterra plan to handle pass-holders if they go with a lottery system. I imagine if you make it up on the lottery like 10 times, they'll issue no percentage refund or rollover value. If you only get like 5 days on the lottery maybe they'll do a partial refund. I'm used to skiing at 50 or 60 days a year, usually deciding the morning of, and I'm afraid this might be a thing of the past.
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That's exactly what I'm scared of. It would make a badass road trip almost impossible. And I'm in a very similar position to you based on number of days and how I choose when I'm skiing. So something like that would suck even just sticking around my local hill
 
I just finished helping my wife get her backcountry setup. Were just gonna tour around in lcc and bcc if things are looking bad with a lottery system or ticket cap this season.
 
14159002:Jbleddy said:
I just finished helping my wife get her backcountry setup. Were just gonna tour around in lcc and bcc if things are looking bad with a lottery system or ticket cap this season.
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I think all of us are working on a tour setup at this point ... No one , including myself in my family has experience for bc so ima take some classes but still go alone unless I make some bc friends

thinking of putting dukes on commander 108, 1 issue is will they fit ... other issue is will they fit, gonna be close

also having an issue with the cost of avy bags ?
 
14159005:SavageBiff said:
I think all of us are working on a tour setup at this point ... No one , including myself in my family has experience for bc so ima take some classes but still go alone unless I make some bc friends

thinking of putting dukes on commander 108, 1 issue is will they fit ... other issue is will they fit, gonna be close

also having an issue with the cost of avy bags ?
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I have shifts on commander 108s, they worked great (after i fixed the prerelease issues) and were a reasonable weight for touring. they kick ass because they handle mixed/shitty conditions so well but are still enjoyable for pow/corn. no issues

touring on them this spring/summer besides myself being slightly out of shape from quarantine.
 
14159022:Trefin said:
I have shifts on commander 108s, they worked great (after i fixed the prerelease issues) and were a reasonable weight for touring. they kick ass because they handle mixed/shitty conditions so well but are still enjoyable for pow/corn. no issues

touring on them this spring/summer besides myself being slightly out of shape from quarantine.
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Those finicky issues of the shift are why I’m waiting for the duke 16, and I want the extra strength as well.

Did you mount yours at rec or elsewhere? I’m gonna use mine inbounds and bc so I’m still torn between -6 and -8
 
14159027:SavageBiff said:
Those finicky issues of the shift are why I’m waiting for the duke 16, and I want the extra strength as well.

Did you mount yours at rec or elsewhere? I’m gonna use mine inbounds and bc so I’m still torn between -6 and -8
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I had them mounted at both.I bought them used and original mount was at -8.5, was good but def more a drive the shovels style. -6 is way better, you get similar performance but its way more forgiving.

Yeah the shifts were a pain in the ass at first due to lack of info, my first day i tomahawked when i jumped off a mellow cat track into pow, it was like having the dins set at 5. Later in the season after making recommended adjustments from TGR i still had a heel prerelease when blazing through chop and ended up tumbling down 1/3 of a steep run. after that i found leelaus post and dialed them in. I dont ski reckless on my shifts anymore but ill probably end up testing the limits again next year, My dins set are about 2 higher than my other skis now. Ive talked to some guys and shop techs who rip harder than me, they had similar issues too no matter what they did, the shifts cant act as a traditional alpine binding if you are above 200lbs and skiing hard. They are fine if im skiing like 90% of max effort, but when you are resort skiing and really pushing it is when the release problems happen, prob doesnt help im 6'2 and 215. kinda wish i wouldve ponied up for a cast setup but didnt think id need it because im not dropping 20 footers, but the shift heel behaves badly with quick impacts like blasting chop.

Im sure the duke will be better in that respect, but i could see the toepiece being a pain in the ass sometimes with icing on that one.
 
I’ll take the icing if it performs like a 16 din binding.

also gonna look at cast , rn my options are completely open except the ski will be the commander 108 and I do really like pivots but 18s are a lil much maybe

gonna grab some day makers for my other stuff, prob make a good side country tool
 
I have a hard time believing lifts won't be spinning next year. Lodge revenue will be a tough pill to swallow for many resorts, but I still think the cost of not operating for a year outweights the cost of running a hybrid form. If bike/national/state parks are any indication, bigger resorts will likely have a reservation system. If that's a deal breaker for you I would consider bumping it a year
 
The Cast system also works with the Pivot 15 metal toe piece as well. Good for those who don’t need the 8-18 of pivot 18s

14159080:SavageBiff said:
I’ll take the icing if it performs like a 16 din binding.

also gonna look at cast , rn my options are completely open except the ski will be the commander 108 and I do really like pivots but 18s are a lil much maybe

gonna grab some day makers for my other stuff, prob make a good side country tool
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Prepare for Worst case scenario and come visit me at Evo so I can sell you your Covid uphill survival set up! ?
 
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