yardsale;c-47801 wroteslatham;c-47797 wroteI can't believe the Local Pass is only $583 and includes unlimited access to ALL Eastern areas except Stowe, which has holiday restrictions (Not to mention liberal access to Western resorts). On one hand, what a deal. On the other hand, I have to think crowding becomes an even larger issue next year? The logical conclusion is that thus far Vail doesn't consider liftlines to be an issue. This is surprising to me given what I have seen and heard. Or are they betting on "The lines suck but pass is so cheap I can live with it"? Aka you get what you pay for?
Vail addresses potential crowding from the cheap pass in the FAQ's.... for what it's worth, which isn't much. Thankfully, I was able to ski midweek most of the time this year.. It appears I'll be back to being a weekend warrior next year with a new job on the horizon.
"
Will this price reduction lead to additional crowding at the resorts?"
We strive to give everyone the opportunity to recreate outdoors and enjoy the mountains together, and increasing accessibility to skiing and riding is core to our commitment of Epic for Everyone. There are a few peak days with high visitation, but the majority of the season our resorts have minimal crowding.
To improve your on-mountain experience, over the past decade we have invested over $1 Billion in capital improvements with the goal of increasing our uphill capacity and minimizing crowding. We will continue to invest in the experience on mountain. In addition to investing in our resorts, we also continue to explore paths to expand our network of resorts so that you have more destinations to choose from.
I think the reality is that if they can load lifts at full capacity once again, that while sure, there will be some crowded days, just like pre-COVID there were some crowded days, things will likely be more "normal" line wise, which in reality as a Mount Snow regular this season, sure there were lines, however the one's I waited in (and I do ride the Bluebird plenty on weekends if it's cold and windy out) honestly weren't that different time wise, even if the actual physical length was longer mainly due to less queue lanes and less people per chair in most cases.
I have said it before, and I will say it again, the people who though that this season would be all about sub 5 minute lift lines on the weekends, honestly likely had a completely unrealistic expectation of what would be allowed this season.
As I have said on other ski forums, Magic sold out 8 or 9 times this year with reports of 15 minute lines (which is something that you would see at Magic in years past on a GOOD day). Mount Snow sold out 3 times this year and had their typical base area mid day weekend lines in the 20+ minute range. That was viewed as OK for Magic (and I am THRILLED for Geoff and his AWESOME crew) but not OK for Mount Snow, even if on their busiest days this season (and I was there on all of their sold out days) the parking lots WEREN'T as full as they would be on a non COVID crowded day, and there were never the fleet of tour buses parked over at Sundance Lodge on the weekends this season
