Paying for the Park Pass

C

Crankset

Active member
I've noticed that over the years, more and more mountains are requiring you to pay for a park pass before you enter their main park.
A few years ago it seemed common to get a park pass, which was free, by merely signing a waiver and agreeing to wear a helmet (or something of the sort).
Now it seems like a bunch of mountains are making you pay for a park pass. I mean, I understand that building a park is an expensive thing to do. But there are mountains (such as Mont Saint-Anne for example), that make you pay $15-$20 for a park pass , and then roll out the shittiest park! It's not my home mountain, so I refused to pay for it, but if I was a season pass holder I would be fucking pissed off.
Is this just an east coast phenomenon? Thoughts?
 
I had to pay $5 for mine. i think the reasoning is that most peopllee who ski park will pay the $30 or whatever and gapers from out of town will not want to pay the money, thus keeping them away from the park.
 
wachusett has the same program but it's only five dollars. the thing that bothers me is that they sell the passes to little children that hardly know how to french fry and can only pizza over the larger features. i'm all for progression, but when i'm bombing in on a 50 footer, i shouldn't have to be worried that i might kill a small child on the landing. there has to be a point where rider safety supersedes profit. the park just becomes over crowded with people who have no intention of hitting the features. there are progression parks with the sole purpose of catering to the needs of younger, less skilled riders. i have enough on my mind each run that i shouldn't have to worry about the riders who carve the trail like they own it, or sit on the knuckles of all the landings. i know it sounds pompous as shit, but it's the truth.
 
talking to a ski patrol at Copper last week, he told me that some resorts are starting to think about getting of parks. He told me Beaver Creek and Vail are thinking about it.
 
Our park in Idaho just started doing this. We don't have to pay but you have to watch a 12 minute movie and every time you go to the park you have to show your pass. Its not too bad i guess its just kinda one more thing to worry about before even getting into the park.
 
two of the mountains near me require a park pass, both only 5 dollars and require that you sit through their video. the one mountain that doesnt, the park is overrun by 6 year olds who love to cut you off when youre bombing at a feature. that being said, the main reason they started the whole park pass phenomenon is because 4 years ago there were a bunch of lawsuits against the resorts with parks because someone got seriously injured and it ran one of the resorts in washington out of business and they had to sell the mountain. this takes off their liability for this and gives them a little bit more money to keep the park in good shape.
 
At my mountain I have to pay 5 bucks for a season park pass, and the park is pretty nice to. And like the guy said, it keeps gapers away.
 
Whaaat thats so much, especially on top of the whistler day/season pass. Guess that's what you pay for one of the best parks in the world
 
yes that is the main reason, at my mountain season pass holders get them for free, and also it is good because they invest a good amount of money in features and park crew.
 
i dont kno that seems like its kinda gettn unreasonable, but atleast you dont have gapers carving up and flattening all those lips
 
you guys dont have it bad

$10- local mountain

$20- other local mountain

$12- mont st anne for my 3 day trip, still deciding if its worth it (2days at st anne)

$15- tremblant, ill be up there for 5days during march break so its probably more worth getting a pass for that. If not i can always hit up the mini park.
 
blackcombs XL park requires a $30 park pass. not that bad, but that fact you have to be 19 to sign really sucks. us students who are out here and are still 18 with no parents to sign for us are SOL...
 
lulz, $30 is nothing for the quality of park and amount of cat/labour costs that goes into Whistler's HL park. It's also a good thing as it keeps gapers out.
 
You don't need to buy one or sit through anything up here in Utah. Most people, even kids, know what they're doing, or at least common courtesy. But, sometimes the stupid ones still get in. Yesterday, there was this dad who was having his like 3 year old daughter hold onto his poles as he skis thru the park, going over lips and cutting across the jumps and stuff.

 
Sounds pretty rough if its a shitty park they're throwing together and still making you pay. But for everywhere else most often the park they're making you pay for is usually pretty sick. For whistler even if it is 30 bucks, if you get the pass you are most likely gonna ski the park a bunch. if you ski it 30 times its a dollar a day, 15 times its 2 bucks a day, not really that substantial of a price. I guess it is pretty unfortunate if you buy the pass to ski it only once or twice but if you're only skiing the mountain once or twice there are a couple other parks that will definitely suffice for your likings.

 
Haven't seen this yet in the maritimes, but we don't exactly have world class parks. No gapers would be worth a couple bucks though
 
Yeah I was for the day on Saturday, couldn't believe that park would have cost me $15 - basically a mini rail garden. Shitty, especially because all the trees were closed too..
 
from a legal perspective its simply to differentiate between the park and other areas of the mountain. if a normal skier buys a lift pass they enter into a contract whereby they pay a certain amount and agree to ride in control and the mountain operators agree to provide a safe environment and mark obstacles. those same rules apply less and less when you start putting in features that are deliberately difficult. big jumps and rails come to mind.
the amount you pay for the park pass doesn't mean anything. its just a way of making sure that you sign the extra waiver and enter into a contract stating that you understand the risks you're taking by engaging in that activity. it doesn't necessarily mean you can't sue but it does draw a distinction between the regular mountain and the park.
it also keeps kids and inexperienced people out of the park. they might get a sudden impulse to try something. making them go to the office and pay $15 for a pass gives them time to think about that. on a practical level that also stops kids from getting in the way and potentially getting hit (see skier jibs little girl video).
 
I've never heard of this but I think it's a genius idea. I'd pay $5-$20 to keep the gapers/crowds out of my way.
 
To be honest, and I know this sounds ridiculous, but I wish our park passes were more. $5 doesn't cut out all the gapers, and it's annoying when I'm riding with people who DON'T get a park pass. Just watch the video and get your pass. Ya know?
 
You guys that have park passes are lucky! I wish I had to pay $30 for a season park pass if it meant that I didn't have to be scared of hitting a jump because there's a likely chance that a six year old kid is sitting in the middle of the landing.
 
I think this is the major discrepancy. If it is your home mountain (and you own a season pass there), then paying a one off $5-$20 for a park pass during the season seems fine. But if you travel around to different mountains during the season, maybe want to take a lap or two through the park at some point in the day, then fuck that - this sport is already expensive enough
 
Its a bit of a grey area causing some people to think the mountain is trying to nickel and dime you. But I think its a good idea as long as the cost doesn't become astronomical. It will help keep people out of the park that dont relly belong there.

 
As Alex said, it's more of a legal point than anything else. Sort of a the last savior in a lawsuit if Billy from Podunk somehow gets injured in the park and claims he didn't know it was a park or something like that. Some places are doing it, some are not.
 
Insurance costs $$

Lawsuits cost $$

Kid gets hurt + insurace company getting involved = lawsuit = $$

you want a big(ger) park, be prepared to pay money. remember, they don't have to build a big park for you.
 
As long as a resort has proper signage before entering a terrain park-which includes Smart Style and a sign about the size of the features in the park, that's all you really need. The terrain park sign that encompasses the park/feature size also reinforces that one is entering the terrain park and assumes all risk - man made features and natural.
The only loop hole would be if the terrain park managers/supervisors and ski patrol are ignoring a consistent group of injuries on one feature.

 
I hope this doesn't get to my mountain. I might stop skiing park if I have to pay extra for it...

Unless you could buy a season pass that includes "Park Riding"
 
Ive skied Tahoe, Hood, Summit, and Utah and still didn't even know resorts were doing this. In most cases I would say it's worth it but like some have said it would suck if the parks are shitty and you frequent 3+ resorts.
After jumping a 8 year old standing on the knuckle at Keystone last weekend I'd say it's probably a good idea.
 
$5 at stevens, $5 for snoqualmie. I think thats really reasonable and I don't mind paying at all, if it were upwards of $20 for one resort, and the park wasn't that great, I would think twice for sure. The only reason I can think a resort would need that kind of money per person is if very few people were riding park, which seems unlikely.
 
the only time i payed for a park pass was at lake louise when they were still with RCR and they gave you a $5 food voucher to use inside. wait no i payed for one at blue mtn, $10, but the chair services the park only so its kinda like a lift ticket i guess.
 
I think it's a law in Mass. or something but I found that usually the more you have to pay for the pass, unless its a rad local mountain the more the park will suck. One western Mass. "resort" for example requires payment, a waiver, and watch a safety video to ride their JIB PARK... It's almost always a scam or result of a lawsuit (which are typically the cheaper ones) they don't keep the "gapers" out and the money usually doesn't go into park building/maintenance.
 
im assuming you mean Jiminy Peak. I hate that place but its the only place in the albany area with night skiing worth the drive.

I like the idea of paying more for a pass especially when you have a season pass to the mountain. Stratton gives them to anyone and i almost landed on a Jersey Tucker because of how easy it is to get the pass.

Pay the money, get in the park.

Id even be all for a test in a small park where you have to demonstrate you can hit the features before you are allowed the park pass to the other larger parks. Should have multiple tiers for park passes.
 
i have to watch a video, do a test and get a waiver signed. i then get a sticker that we have to show each time we enter. longer but better than paying i guess
 
i love the idea but since i ski at a lot of different mtns in nh i wouldnt want to buy 10 diferent passes. one universal pass for any area would be great
 
at my mtn its 10 dollars for the season, I think that its good cause the money goes to upgrading the park, and it also keeps most of the gapers, racers, etc. out
 
Basically it sucks unless it is your home mountain. Especially when you have to watch a video and shit and sign stuff. It's a huge pain in the ass to do that to ski park for like one day.
 
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