COVID Crowds At Resorts - A Sign Of Things To Come?

tri_photo

tri_photo

Active member
Will the reservation system last beyond this year?

Have the days of being able to wake up and say “I want to ski (insert other local resort name here) today” passed us by due to crowds growing so rapidly?

If herd immunity isn’t achieved by next winter, (it should at least be close, though), will lodges be closed and masks be as strictly enforced? Will they finally let us load chairlifts 100% to get these AWFUL liftlines moving again?
 
I do not think the reservation system will continue, at least at PC it doesn't do anything, I doubt vail wants to limit their customers. We're gonna have herd immunity by summer, I'm guessing less people will ski next year because they will be able to live their normal lives, I only think resorts are "so busy" this year because ppl have nothing else to do.
 
My mountain doesn't have any reservation system for pass holders, but it does limit the number of tickets sold. Honestly, I hope that system sticks around since it's really helped with weekend crowds. The lines are still pretty bad, but not as horrible as it would be in a normal year.
 
14253306:eheath said:
I do not think the reservation system will continue, at least at PC it doesn't do anything, I doubt vail wants to limit their customers. We're gonna have herd immunity by summer, I'm guessing less people will ski next year because they will be able to live their normal lives, I only think resorts are "so busy" this year because ppl have nothing else to do.
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Good points here. Just for the sake of conversation, the lift lines, at least at ski areas like Steven's Pass, do NOT reflect reservations, man... It is so crowded beyond belief, even on a midweek day.

I'm almost wondering if the whole reservation system is a scam of sorts to make people think they are getting a coveted spot to ski at, when in reality, they have gotten everyone to think that and thus have inflated sales beyond belief...
 
As far as I can tell the reservation system is just something the resorts do so they don’t get shut down with the exception of a few places like eldora. Parking lots have been full so idk what they are limiting. I guess maybe there are fewer people per cars. I think it’ll be gone next year.
 
Hmm to be honest I'd say most of these COVID rush folks aren't exactly type III skiers, if you catch my drift, and will probably flit back to the gyms and bars once those are operating at normal capacity.

Lol, imagine working out and socializing instead of dedicating your life to spinning different directions on tubes.
 
I think by next season we should be pretty damn close to normal, resort workers have gotta be pretty damn fed up with liftlines+ too.As far as the masks go I dont know how well its gonna be enforced, I've kinda envisioned "if you're sick, wear a mask" type rules. COVID seems to be on its sunset stage with the vaxx out and herd immunity too, I think if we keep our shit together for 3-4 months we will have this shit pretty snuffed out

Disclaimer: this is simply opinion gathered from my own reasoning from experiences with covid rates in my hometown, it may be different by your experiences where you're at...
 
14253312:tri_photo said:
Good points here. Just for the sake of conversation, the lift lines, at least at ski areas like Steven's Pass, do NOT reflect reservations, man... It is so crowded beyond belief, even on a midweek day.

I'm almost wondering if the whole reservation system is a scam of sorts to make people think they are getting a coveted spot to ski at, when in reality, they have gotten everyone to think that and thus have inflated sales beyond belief...
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As that other dude said, the reservation system is just to cover vails ass, its the same thing with the spread out lift lines.
 
I don't think the crowds are going anywhere. There are so many people learning to ski now and there are still many people who aren't traveling and staying at home this year, so next year should be busy too. By fully loading lifts the lines should move 40% faster, but overall the trends are more and more people skiing.
 
this makes sense too. in Washington state, it was just announced that more people have been Vaccinated than are actually infected with Rona. So that is pretty rad.

14253320:CrunnchyVanMan said:
I think by next season we should be pretty damn close to normal, resort workers have gotta be pretty damn fed up with liftlines+ too.As far as the masks go I dont know how well its gonna be enforced, I've kinda envisioned "if you're sick, wear a mask" type rules. COVID seems to be on its sunset stage with the vaxx out and herd immunity too, I think if we keep our shit together for 3-4 months we will have this shit pretty snuffed out

Disclaimer: this is simply opinion gathered from my own reasoning from experiences with covid rates in my hometown, it may be different by your experiences where you're at...
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I don't think the reservation system is going to stay.

Epic said earlier this year that the only reason they have it is to prevent those odd saturday's where way too many people show up. So far I've been able to ski every day I've wanted to on as little notice as the night before. Overall the reservation thing went way more smoothly than I thought it would.
 
14253318:bertBertson said:
Hmm to be honest I'd say most of these COVID rush folks aren't exactly type III skiers, if you catch my drift, and will probably flit back to the gyms and bars once those are operating at normal capacity.

Lol, imagine working out and socializing instead of dedicating your life to spinning different directions on tubes.
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Fr they’re just a bunch of nerds ?
 
14253331:tri_photo said:
this makes sense too. in Washington state, it was just announced that more people have been Vaccinated than are actually infected with Rona. So that is pretty rad.
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Same here in Wisco. My town is only getting 1-20 new cases a day and I'm pretty sure the state is like 15% vaccinated
 
I can see resorts, especially the bigger ones, adopting some sort of "crowd control" system for the busier weeks/weekends moving forward, but no I don't think the actual reservation system will last.

With how many people flocked to Utah this winter, I do see our ski areas not really ceasing on the crowds though. SLC is one of the hottest housing markets in the country currently and lot of people took advantage or are currently in the process of it. We can blame the crowds on the Ikon Pass all we want but we forget that places like SLC are less than an hour from pretty killer skiing so it was only a matter of time before this place was gonna turn into LA.

Hands-down the worst congestion ive ever seen in my life living here though this season. Could be worse though. We could all be dead from COVID haha

**This post was edited on Mar 4th 2021 at 12:49:52pm
 
Praying that when bars open and football is normal again that everyone frigs off and stops skiing.

But considering ski shops have had record years last year even with being closed 3 months I doubt it.

Resorts may have more incentive to better address crowds when there is more stability following covid.
 
I think while there is SOME additional crowding. It seems worse because chairs are going up with 1 person on them. I know locally 2 of the 3 resorts have no singles line, and one of them is allowing 2 singles. so lines are just longer because uphill capacity is decreased.

I never worry about the parking lot because I just get up early, and then sleep for an hour or two when I pull in to to practically empty lot.

I don't see reservations staying. Why would I buy a pass at a place if I could not go spur of the moment to chase pow? That is why I didn't actually buy a pass this year. I just ended up with one from a new Subie purchase.
 
I bought a pass because it was the only guarantee that I could go spur of the moment. The resort said that passholders would never have to make a reservation. I typically just arrive early too and sleep, just like what I do for work Lol

14254209:Session said:
I think while there is SOME additional crowding. It seems worse because chairs are going up with 1 person on them. I know locally 2 of the 3 resorts have no singles line, and one of them is allowing 2 singles. so lines are just longer because uphill capacity is decreased.

I never worry about the parking lot because I just get up early, and then sleep for an hour or two when I pull in to to practically empty lot.

I don't see reservations staying. Why would I buy a pass at a place if I could not go spur of the moment to chase pow? That is why I didn't actually buy a pass this year. I just ended up with one from a new Subie purchase.
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If anyone thinks that mtns are going to limit ticket sales moving forward you're lost or you only ski Deer Valley.

The economics of skiing will only get worse. Operating costs will continue to grow, and as climate change continues, more and more mtns will have less and less snow.

In the immediate future, mtns are going to try and recoup lost cash this yr, by opening it wide up next year.
 
I doubt reservations will last. Vail wants to make money. I can't see them continuing a reservation system next year unless legally required to. You might see expanded black-out dates.
 
Work at a resort and you won’t have to deal with making reservations

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But as others have already stated I don’t think the absurd crowds will continue next season. There’s so many first timers and tourists traveling to use their stupid fucking ikon and epic passes that they only bought because they have nothing else to do. on top of that I see the work from home thing dissipating substantially over the next year and kids being back in school full time which is gonna force these people back to their city lives instead of infesting mountain towns like a plague of Jerry’s.
 
14253318:bertBertson said:
Hmm to be honest I'd say most

Lol, imagine working out and socializing instead of dedicating your life to spinning different directions on tubes.
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Working out? Socializing? Nah man I'll stick to my tubes.
 
[video]https://www.newschoolers.com/videos/watch/996059/VID-380680703-161718-530-mp4[/video]
 
14254429:b0ss said:
[video]https://www.newschoolers.com/videos/watch/996059/VID-380680703-161718-530-mp4[/video]
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Lol was that last year at Vail? I was there it was horrid.
 
14254285:Jpurd said:
If anyone thinks that mtns are going to limit ticket sales moving forward you're lost or you only ski Deer Valley.
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when I said reservation system, I wasn't saying that ticket sales would be limited. I think that by having even a phony reservation system set up, it makes getting a lift ticket more 'coveted'... so I'm essentially wondering if that is going to cause the crowds to not decrease, only increase
 
I stood in my longest lift line yesterday all season. A whopping 10 minutes to get on the chair.

Life is good.
 
There’s claims of enough vaccines for every adult by may, which gives them months to get into arms and prep for next season, plus no resort wants to limit their numbers so I think the reservation system will go away as well as most other restrictions.

What you should be asking is will it frickin snow next season.

topic:tri_photo said:
Will the reservation system last beyond this year?

Have the days of being able to wake up and say “I want to ski (insert other local resort name here) today” passed us by due to crowds growing so rapidly?

If herd immunity isn’t achieved by next winter, (it should at least be close, though), will lodges be closed and masks be as strictly enforced? Will they finally let us load chairlifts 100% to get these AWFUL liftlines moving again?
Click to expand...
 
I mean the problem in WA is that pre-covid normal was an unmitigated disaster as far as parking lift lines and over capacity is concerned. If you grew up your whole life just being able to “go skiing” around here this hoard shit is fucking terrible. This is why everyone in Seattle is a bitter asshole they just wish you would leave so they can function again.

**This post was edited on Mar 6th 2021 at 11:22:04pm
 
I know this may be a unpopular opinion but fuck it. Obviously no one wants obnoxiously long lift lines, and shit parking if you don’t get to the mountain an hour early, and having lines even for their mid week laps. But I’d say all together it’s still a net positive, yea most ppl who are transplants for the winter will leave when things go back to normal and there is hella jerrys, but if 1 out of 10 of these new skiers actually carry on skiing and getting better that only helps the ski industry and injects more money into it. So silver linings I guess.
 
14254669:Casey said:
If you grew up your whole life just being able to “go skiing”

**This post was edited on Mar 6th 2021 at 11:22:04pm
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This. This. I did grow up like that. Always lived 45 minutes from Snoqualmie, and was able to get a pass almost every year growing up. Never had to deal with liftlines. Night skiing was hot lapping... man those were the days huh
 
14254833:tri_photo said:
This. This. I did grow up like that. Always lived 45 minutes from Snoqualmie, and was able to get a pass almost every year growing up. Never had to deal with liftlines. Night skiing was hot lapping... man those were the days huh
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Amen brother, should’ve known that level of paradise wasn’t going to last ?‍♂️
 
14254833:tri_photo said:
This. This. I did grow up like that. Always lived 45 minutes from Snoqualmie, and was able to get a pass almost every year growing up. Never had to deal with liftlines. Night skiing was hot lapping... man those were the days huh
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Lucky for you guys, growing up the closest place for me was 2+ hours away
 
I’ve got 7springs about an hour away but I won’t even ski there, haven’t for a very long time , my daily resort is 3.5 hours from home, problem now is after skiing a basin I’ve no desire, 0, to ski anywhere other than Colorado or west and north of Colorado, the east, just can’t do it anymore. Luckily Covid had basically 0 effect on my skiing this season I’m already done for the year @87 days ? but that’s cause I’m already prepping for next years season and we’re def buying a rental property out west this summer

14254959:jprene8 said:
Lucky for you guys, growing up the closest place for me was 2+ hours away
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14254999:SavageBiff said:
I’ve got 7springs about an hour away but I won’t even ski there, haven’t for a very long time , my daily resort is 3.5 hours from home, problem now is after skiing a basin I’ve no desire, 0, to ski anywhere other than Colorado or west and north of Colorado, the east, just can’t do it anymore. Luckily Covid had basically 0 effect on my skiing this season I’m already done for the year @87 days ? but that’s cause I’m already prepping for next years season and we’re def buying a rental property out west this summer
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have fun skiing in colorado LULW
 
Oh I do, always did in the past as well, I don’t intend to ski solely there, just kinda set up shop somewhere there, we had always planned to, just advancing that by 3-4 years since I’m not immortal I don’t think , the kids are all computer schooled at the moment, I’m ready to let the company be managed until contracts expire and liquidate from there, rental props are all paid off, so there are just many things lining up making it a good time to move, plus if I wait 3 more years there may not be snow anymore, not to mention the mtb terrain, rock climbing and everything else the west has for the family to experience.

14255084:eheath said:
have fun skiing in colorado LULW
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14255090:SavageBiff said:
Oh I do, always did in the past as well, I don’t intend to ski solely there, just kinda set up shop somewhere there, we had always planned to, just advancing that by 3-4 years since I’m not immortal I don’t think , the kids are all computer schooled at the moment, I’m ready to let the company be managed until contracts expire and liquidate from there, rental props are all paid off, so there are just many things lining up making it a good time to move, plus if I wait 3 more years there may not be snow anymore, not to mention the mtb terrain, rock climbing and everything else the west has for the family to experience.
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There is definitely gonna be snow in 3 years what? lol
 
Was just joking about the whole no more snowpack below whatever elevation the global warming crazies said there wouldn’t be snow at.

in all seriousness tho, this year aside, my local has gotten less and less snow every year, and there’s def even a better quality to the snow out west and it varies resort to resort, not that I need to tell any of you, but over here, all the snows the same, hard.

14255091:eheath said:
There is definitely gonna be snow in 3 years what? lol
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14253318:bertBertson said:
Lol, imagine working out and socializing instead of dedicating your life to spinning different directions on tubes.
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At least tubes can't tell me, "I already have a boyfriend, thanks"
 
14310120:AndrewLampi said:
Before the trip. The main advice is not to neglect the instructions and spend time planning. Even if you are not afraid of the risk of contracting coronavirus, there are other restrictions associated with the pandemic. You cannot enter most countries without a Covid-19 test. ... Get insurance that covers covid. And have a reserve of money in case you are forced to stay in a foreign country due to illness, border closures, flight cancellations and other unpleasant surprises. At the airport and in flight.For example, my wife and I were easily able to cross the border with a vaccination, but our friends bought antigen corona test tests before traveling to make sure that they do not get sick. I want to advise you to take care of your health as best as possible during this difficult time!
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Wut?
 
At least in Utah, tons of people have realized there is way more shit to do here and will be staying indefinitely as far as I can tell. Because of the job market, people will realize that they have no reason to live in a city anymore, and will instead be quite content making their lives outside of concrete hellscapes. I expect next season to have shorter lines because of 4 people per chair, but equal total crowds because of the amount of people who will continue to work remotely. Fuck offices, down with prison cubicles. I'm super happy for everyone who gets to enjoy more life now than they would have before.
 
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