Do you need to buy a ''park pass'' to access Whistler's terrain parks?

Do you need to buy a ''park pass'' to access Whistler's terrain parks? Or do you just buy a season pass and go nuts with the jumps?
 
You need to buy a pass to access the highest level Blackcomb park which contains the largest features. You don't need a park pass for the Whistler park or the smaller features in the Blackcomb Park. I think I paid $30 for my highest level pass a couple months ago.
 
You need a black park pass which costs around 30$.

But besides that you have Whistler park and Blue park, definitely not the same size jumps as black park though.
 
^ and it is, you can ride the whis park all day long as well as the blue park on blackcomb. However the black park has larger features, so to stop noob skiers hurting them selves and sueing whistler, there is a $30 pass. Not much to spend for a season of large well maintained features.
 
^ well if you only ride once a year yes. But if you came just 10 times a year, its only $3 a time. Not much for a big, good park.
 
I see the liability issues, and im in favor of screenings to keep people like me out of big parks

but the charge just seems extraneous
 
I think hes saying there should be a "test" of sorts. A rich kid that thinks far to much of himself shouldn't be able to get in more then the broke ski bum, who can slay in the large park.
 
Well when you sign off on the pass you are saying that you agree to the fact that the features are larger and you understand you are taking the risk. This limits the amount of liability of the resort. If anyone just went in and hit the 80 footers with no waiver they could happily sue when they get hurt.
 
That is correct, but by signing off on the highest level park pass, that waiver is even more in depth then your standard release of liability.
 
Regardless of what you sign, or what is printed on the back of the ticket, there are always avenues for suing a lift comapny. The fine print just limits it.
 
Park passes rule.

I would gladly pay up to $50 a season to shred a less crowded park in which I dont need to be concerned about being killed by gapers or features being closed because people did not have necessary skills.

 
so true. and in minnesota, because you get so many laps in, features become rutted really fast. park passes would cut down on that a ton
 
if you think $30 is to much to pay to access a large park for the season you dont deserve to be in it..
 
Yea but the sections of the park that are non-park pass are big and extremely legit so you really don't need the park pass imo.

I didn't get it cause I was only there for a few days and didn't ski that much park there.

The big features that require the park pass are massive.

 
No man, I loved having the park pass, keeps the gapers out and the jumps bumping. There is no way they could make the jumps the size they are without a pass with a waiver. There are two other parks open to the public, whistler has pretty sizeable jumps that are FREE. IF you're just up for a few days there is no way you'll get bored with the public lane that quickly. $30 bucks for a season is nothing, but maybe a park day pass for $5 would be a fair compromise.
 
this the park at my mountain has a park pass system but it is poorly run and the gapers still get in and eat shit and ruin jumps and landings. i dont mind spending extra if it will keep the park to the people who are actually shredding and keep the gapers and little kids in the mini park and the rest of the mountain
 
Like you said Wachusett's park pass has effectively failed, it doesn't keep anyone out. I think it would be easy to change and beneficial for the mountain and kids who ride it.

By the Way have they gotten rid of the machine for park pass checking? I remember that thing and it worked okay.
 
Another reason why mountains require a park pass for the park section of the hill is insurance reasons. Most companies will cover only a certain amount for ''regular classic'' skiing and snowboarding (included in the regular day pass/ season pass). If some guy is doing 50 footers well that's a completely other story and doesn't apply to the regular insurance they have. So basically you are protecting yourself by buying that pass, annnnnd preventing yourself from suing them if you crash hard.
 
And yes it's an extra source of income for the hills. They use that money to keep the park nice and safe. To pay park ranger employees, etc. It only promises that you will somewhat have a nice park to ride in if there is a park pass involved. Where I go it's 15$ I think. I would gladly pay double to have more features to be honnest
 
we should definately have park passes at our mountain. theres a lot of drunken old men hiding on the landings of jumps. and little kids that go crazy and ruin everything
 
I wish my hill had a park pass system. For every park except maybe the kiddies one at low altitude. It would be so much nicer if I could drop on an XL park line without worrying about some dork trying to teach their 6 year old how to pizza on the landing.
 
true, but at the same time there are maybe 200 people that buy an xl pass each year (according to on of the workers there) Whistler loses money making the xl park no question, but they keep making the park for advertisement, so people will make edits and shots get put in the magazine.
 
I don't think they would lose any money, maybe just not make as much profits from what it cost them. Anyway, ive never even been there, and the reason I'm going this winter is for the park mostly (and everything else of course). So even if the parkpass is cheap, since im buying a season pass (or day pass) they still make huge money. They also make money on everything else (hotels, food, etc) so yes, they do make it for advertising also
 
you'd be amazed how much a park costs to maintain, the xl parks im sure costs far more than $6000 per year (which is likely how much they make on the sales of xl park passes).
 
Given the features in there it costs far, far more than that, yes.

And people saying it's a "basic feature" of the resort might have a point if not for the multiple other parks on Blackcomb and Whistler that are accessible without the pass.

Not to mention $30 bucks is pretty much what lunch for 2 people costs up there anyway.
 
Makes sens. Alright well I'm guessing since they do not generate any major profits from the park itself, building one is an investment to attract riders from all over the world. Those riders will use their hotels, their restaurants, buy day passes, etc. So yes they make profits, but only indirectly. And I'm pretty sure it would cost them way more than 6000$ per year to build and maintain the whistler blackcomb parks, or maybe you're right I dont know
 
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