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First Day Reports, 2020

nopoleskier

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
#1 for me at Gore yesterday- (they opened 12/5) Not too bad- just 1 lift Quad to the Saddle- Showcase was only trail- well a short side trip down a bit of twister. Only open to season pass holders and pre purchased tickets, Gore is a ghost town midweek non holiday and yesterday it was really a ghost town. As you can see it wasn't wall to wall, was a WROD- glad not many people

some thin spots, snow boarders got it down to the ice by noon.

They are allowing changing and leaving bags inside although most people booted up at their cars. II dislike booting up at car) I went inside no one there. Bathrooms cleaned as soon as any one used them. only 8 allowed in at one time. I only saw 3 other women all day!! Everyone was respectful with mask wearing. Skiing most used their neck gaitors as masks in line- no problem.

They are blowing tons of snow to get more open. Couldn't even see the top of the Mt and it was snowing from Gore snow guns down on Peaceful Valley road- maybe they should adjust the guns so the snow stays on the Mt?!!

It was very cold, 20F and with the guns going sort of a freezing fog at top of quad- it stuck on goggles
I took a break at the saddle- No drinking water?!! That was bad- only sold big bottle of water- too much to drink in one break so I got tomato basil soup- was like crushed tomatoes w/fresh basil - I got spoiled at Snowbasin they have the best tomato Basil soup imo, but it did warm me up.

I'll go back to Gore on Thursday, gotta work today- may take a ride up to White Face to see how they are doing. we need some natural snow to help the snow makers and COLD temps to stick around. 1607434016228.png1607434034170.png1607434049632.png1607434063548.png


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SkiBam

Angel Diva
Pet peeve of the 2 days, was the race teams. Tremblant race teams were all over the place. There was really limited terrain for the number of kids that ski fast. I heard that on Friday they actually had a partial run closed for them. Many people not happy about that. They didn't do it on the weekend. Conditions were man made ice base with loose snow on top. Typical start of the season especially with the warm Saturday and freeze overnight into Sunday.

Absolutely ditto this re race teams. I skied yesterday and that steeper pitch on Nansen was closed all day for their use. And I LIKE that pitch. Anyway, I realize these kids (many seemed to be from Ontario) need somewhere to train, but I do wish they would be educated on trail etiquette. Just because they're young and invincible (!) doesn't give them to right to whizz by others (small children, seniors etc.) at top speed with very little distance to spare. They need to learn that it's a privilege for them to be there and that they DO NOT own the mountain. Maybe some kind of campaign needs to be directed at their coaches...
 
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Susan L

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Kids on ski teams thinking they own the mountain are everywhere! I have seen so many skiing aggressively and narrowly missing other people all the time. I don’t know where the attitude comes from and why the coaches don’t teach trail etiquette!
 

marzNC

Angel Diva
Kids on ski teams thinking they own the mountain are everywhere! I have seen so many skiing aggressively and narrowly missing other people all the time. I don’t know where the attitude comes from and why the coaches don’t teach trail etiquette!
Yep, have run into the same in multiple states in the past 4-5 years at larger resorts. Usually the tweens more than the older racers in my experience.

Never an issue at Massanutten. Sometimes a small mountain in the flatlands has advantages. :smile:
 

MissySki

Angel Diva
Kids on ski teams thinking they own the mountain are everywhere! I have seen so many skiing aggressively and narrowly missing other people all the time. I don’t know where the attitude comes from and why the coaches don’t teach trail etiquette!

It’s horrible at Sunday River sometimes. The little ones and the tweens. One advantage of having a mask on is muffling my muttered expletives recently when this has happened.
 

newboots

Angel Diva
Wow, @nopoleskier - that's some thin cover! I was just thinking about skiing with my rock skis on Day 1, in case I run into something like that. Don't need to bust up my bases on the first day!

I have had my fill of race kids, as it seems everyone has. I guess since they are racers, they must spend all their time going at warp speed. Kids!
 

nopoleskier

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Wow, @nopoleskier - that's some thin cover! I was just thinking about skiing with my rock skis on Day 1, in case I run into something like that. Don't need to bust up my bases on the first day!

I have had my fill of race kids, as it seems everyone has. I guess since they are racers, they must spend all their time going at warp speed. Kids!

more terrain opened today, I'll go tomorrow and check it out. It's snowing here today- should pick up a few inches up there and lots more man made. No Racers train at Gore :-) At least not yet
 

StayWarm

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
I took a break at the saddle- No drinking water?!! That was bad- only sold big bottle of water- too much to drink in one break so I got tomato basil soup- was like crushed tomatoes w/fresh basil - I got spoiled at Snowbasin they have the best tomato Basil soup imo, but it did warm me up.

Since getting sick from being dehydrated from skiing a couple years ago, I've been using a Camelbak Zoid so that I can sip on the lifts. The drinking tube is insulated and the whole thing does pretty well except for on the coldest days, when the mouthpiece sometimes freezes. This year, my husband wished for one for Christmas -- he usually drinks at the water fountains when we stop for restrooms, but that isn't an option this year.

Edit to add: It's very lightweight and low profile -- no issues with bulk on the lifts.
 

StayWarm

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
On the parking shuttle topic, which I know is a concern for many (including me), I thought the below was an interesting response from Copper on their Instagram today (Alpine Lot is the primary free parking lot at the resort this year, I think). The idea of being in an enclosed space for any period of time with 50 other people, even if that means capacity is at 50%, doesn't sit super well with me. Given that we've already purchased season passes at Copper, I'm happy to keep paying $25/day for a paid lot closer to the lifts this year so I can be comfortable getting out there.

IMG_9955.jpg
 

Christy

Angel Diva
They use actual buses? Even in the best of times, doesn't loading and unloading take a while?

Crystal uses open air trams, like you'd see at Disneyland, etc. Every row has an exit on both sides.
 

StayWarm

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
They use actual buses? Even in the best of times, doesn't loading and unloading take a while?

Crystal uses open air trams, like you'd see at Disneyland, etc. Every row has an exit on both sides.

Open air trams would be great! But no -- all of the resorts I've been to in CO and UT have enclosed buses.
 

NewEnglandSkier

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Open air trams would be great! But no -- all of the resorts I've been to in CO and UT have enclosed buses.
The resorts and ski areas I've been to here in the Northeast also use busses. Stratton comes to mind; I think Okemo, Sunapee and Wachusett also use enclosed shuttle buses. Normally I get there early enough not to need them, but that is what I've seen driving around.
 

Christy

Angel Diva
Interesting. I don't think any of us think the trams are anything great--they are very bouncy, and pulled by a pickup, so you a little exhaust if you sit up front (and whiplash if you sit too far back). Since there's no sides I suspect a person could fall out if the driver took a corner fast enough. But they are Covid friendly, and at least you don't have to line up to get on and off. I actually looked for a photo and it's kind of funny I can't find one--I guess they are nothing Crystal wants in any promo materials.
 

StayWarm

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Interesting. I don't think any of us think the trams are anything great--they are very bouncy, and pulled by a pickup, so you a little exhaust if you sit up front (and whiplash if you sit too far back). Since there's no sides I suspect a person could fall out if the driver took a corner fast enough. But they are Covid friendly, and at least you don't have to line up to get on and off. I actually looked for a photo and it's kind of funny I can't find one--I guess they are nothing Crystal wants in any promo materials.

Does the tram at Crystal go on public roads at any point? I don't think I've ever seen a tram elsewhere, and as I think of the resorts with buses, almost all of them go on a non-resort road at some point, so I'm guessing they need to comply with certain highway safety rules. In any case, this would probably be the only year in history where a tram would be preferred to an enclosed bus, especially when it's cold! Sigh.
 

Christy

Angel Diva
Does the tram at Crystal go on public roads at any point? I don't think I've ever seen a tram elsewhere, and as I think of the resorts with buses, almost all of them go on a non-resort road at some point, so I'm guessing they need to comply with certain highway safety rules. In any case, this would probably be the only year in history where a tram would be preferred to an enclosed bus, especially when it's cold! Sigh.

Ahh then that's it. Yes, the tram just uses the Forest Service road aka Crystal Mountain Boulevard that dead ends at the ski area base. I mean, it's public, but the typical Forest Service road is one lane, very rough, and with setep, long dropoffs, so I don't think there are many safety rules around them.

Here is Crystal's parking situation. There's a truck and tram inside the red circle. It just has to go from the parking lots strung out along the road, like big B lot shown here, to the buildings in the background.

bnagle1219-web.jpg
 

marzNC

Angel Diva
Only open-air trams I can remember out west were at Big Sky and Taos.

Taos is not running their parking lot shuttles at all for 2020-21. May well be a staffing issue more than anything else. At 25% or 50% capacity, not going to be that long a walk for the people who drive and those will mostly be locals.
 

santacruz skier

Angel Diva
Northstar Monday! A foot of snow fell in 24 hrs! Lots of fun! 100% mask compliance! Took shuttle, used bathroom twice, used lockers, no bench inside to boot up but benches outside. Good groomers but lots of ungroomed out there. I stuck to just cruising around with two friends who wanted to stick with groomers. Started late (noon - yes I know) and skied until 3:30 when light started getting very flat. Hopefully we’ll go out earlier today!
 

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