Isn't the picture from when they had to close a chair this past weekend. And that chair is the only way out. Saw it somewhere....Ski Diva or Facebook...
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Pacific NW/AK/BC Crystal Mountain to discontinue weekend walk up lift tickets
- Thread starter Analisa
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Must be ski diva cuz I saw it and I’m not on Facebook.
But I also thought it was from a different resort (Steven's Pass?) so maybe it's not the same exact picture. Crowded lift lines look an awful lot alike!
Just to clarify, there is no "Crystal only" pass anymore. The only product you can buy if you want a season pass to Crystal is the Ikon pass.
On a weekend, how many Ikon visitors are there compared to the old resort specific season pass visitors? And how many of the Ikon holders otherwise would've been using a day off of a 5-pack in past seasons? I don't think it's reasonable to blame Ikon for it being crowded those days. The circumstances are very different than those at destination resorts.
I wouldn't feel very bad for people who show up wanting a walk up ticket and who are turned down. It is all over their website, and I always read pertinent sections of a resort's website before visiting. For those too stuck in the past to access the site, it was also in the Seattle Times.
The fact that the details of their free shuttle program were not clearly laid out in advance certainly didn't help. All communications that I observed ahead of the days in question related to shuttles were about paid service. Even still, the information available re: schedule and so forth is lacking. As it is, the information accessible through the CM app doesn't have a schedule for free shuttles or information about where to park and get on. I saw the day of notification about the fairground parking lot or some such, but that needs to be established prior to the day in question for people to plan to use it (including packing their crap accordingly).
I wouldn't feel very bad for people who show up wanting a walk up ticket and who are turned down. It is all over their website, and I always read pertinent sections of a resort's website before visiting. For those too stuck in the past to access the site, it was also in the Seattle Times.
The fact that the details of their free shuttle program were not clearly laid out in advance certainly didn't help. All communications that I observed ahead of the days in question related to shuttles were about paid service. Even still, the information available re: schedule and so forth is lacking. As it is, the information accessible through the CM app doesn't have a schedule for free shuttles or information about where to park and get on. I saw the day of notification about the fairground parking lot or some such, but that needs to be established prior to the day in question for people to plan to use it (including packing their crap accordingly).
I am surprised that they have a Crystal Only pass
This is what I thought. Most of the resorts that are actually Alterra resorts are IKON only (or MCP)
At Squaw/Alpine IKON is your season pass.
I had not heard that but I'm glad I know. We have a few media events we're doing there and this will make it easier.Deer Valley has for ages limited the number of tickets sold/people on the slopes on a particular day. Ikon passholders, are asked to make online reservations, but DV specific passholders are not required to do so.
Ikon Pass Holder Reservations At Deer Valley
ikonres.deervalley.com
No clue how well it works.
Plenty of people just get in the car and go. There is no precedent for needing to check whether a mountain is selling tickets or not, "limited ticket sales" areas excepted. Weather, lifts, conditions sure, if you care and there is any question. But driving up on a patently good snow day?
Am I the only one who’s confused?
Crystal has a parking problem. But they’re implementing changes in day tickets?
While the two are related. People who needs parking are also using the lifts. Still, those aren’t the same problem.
To deal with parking problem, you stop the cars. Or run shuttle. Or require carpool. Or...
Stop selling tickets after people put up with the traffic delay only to find they can’t buy lift ticket will REALLY endear them to the local population, NOT!
Crystal has a parking problem. But they’re implementing changes in day tickets?
While the two are related. People who needs parking are also using the lifts. Still, those aren’t the same problem.
To deal with parking problem, you stop the cars. Or run shuttle. Or require carpool. Or...
Stop selling tickets after people put up with the traffic delay only to find they can’t buy lift ticket will REALLY endear them to the local population, NOT!
If the parking capacity limitations means they turn vehicles away, none of those people in those vehicles would buy day tickets anyway. What Crystal mgmt is trying to do is ensure that passholders and advance tickets sales purchasers, who have already bought their access to the lifts for that day, have access to parking at Crystal.
The people they don’t want to piss off are you and I. Pissing off passholders who drive up (which for me is a 2 1/2 drive each way when there’s no traffic delays) is the one thing they don’t want to do.
The people they don’t want to piss off are you and I. Pissing off passholders who drive up (which for me is a 2 1/2 drive each way when there’s no traffic delays) is the one thing they don’t want to do.
Andy Mink
Everyone loves spring skiing but not in January
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Ahh, the Epic/Northstar theory of operations.
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And the question that would follow such a lucid statement would be:
Are the Ikon pass holders new visitors to Crystal, meaning they had never/rarely skied at Crystal before and are now doing so because it's part of the Ikon pass. Or, were they regular skiers at Crystal in the past who either bought tickets or a Crystal-only season pass and are now Ikon pass holders instead due to the attractive economics and/or attractive ski options the Ikon pass affords them?
The Ikon pass, as is often the case with the Epic pass, likely offers a lower cost for unlimited/season skiing at Crystal, along with tilting the economics much more in favor of buying a pass than buying tickets. If that is the case, then data from other mountains where this has happened (Ikon or Epic pass replacing single mountain pass) shows a much greater degree of 'herd mentality". This is likely due to the fact that with a pass you have a sunken cost and most folks don't feel as motivated to ski in poor conditions and are able to pick and choose where they ski with greater flexibility.
Not sure my question is as lucid as your statement
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That photo is indeed the Chinook chair lift queue. As a matter of fact, @DanoT, you and I have taken that lift. It’s a 6 pack express, and I’m guessing from the photo it’s around 9am when patrol is still doing avy control, so there’s a delay in spinning lifts. It would not take long for the crowd at the base to disperse, also they have the gondola, and most of the time people don’t ski all the way down to the base, instead using mid-mountain lifts like Rainer Express, Green Valley and Forest Queen. The sad truth is weekend mornings on a powder day, and even some non-powder days, look like that, then crowds disperse and it ceases to be an issue.
Nope, you’re thinking of the Jupiter express quad at the backside of Stevens, which closed mid-day on Sunday the weekend before. The only other way out is Southern Cross, a longer, fixed grip triple, and that afternoon there were lift lines there exceeding an hour. Ski Patrol was at the top of Double Diamond (which is the frontside the up-and-over Southern Cross/DD chair) warning of the issue. The rest of the ski area was relatively quiet with no lift lines at that point.
I paid $649 for an Ikon Pass with unlimited access to Crystal. Crystal has long been my home mountain but I never got a pass because with our other travels, I was never sure it would pay off. But at $649, who can resist? That's significantly cheaper than the Crystal season pass was. I think a lot of others did that same thing--bought the Ikon as a Crystal season pass--particularly since there's the bonus of having access to other resorts if the season here turns out to be a stinker. (I will not be visiting other Ikon resorts, btw).
So, we have a newly inexpensive season pass (essentially) + massive population growth, and it's not surprising what has happened. For years now I've been surprised that Crystal has been as uncrowded as it has been. As a hiker I've seen the explosion of people on our summer trails, and we all know about the crowds/parking issue at Stevens; it seemed only a matter of time before it happened to Crystal.
I'm happy with these changes for now though I understand it's going to be hard for some people. I'm glad they addressed the issue. It seems like there are a lot of possible solutions and they are already implementing some things (more buses). Parking reserved in advance would cut down on useless trips where you get turned around. Maybe they need to make Ikon more expensive, or limit the days at Crystal. A cheap unlimited pass might not be the way to go for a ski area near a large metro area.
So, we have a newly inexpensive season pass (essentially) + massive population growth, and it's not surprising what has happened. For years now I've been surprised that Crystal has been as uncrowded as it has been. As a hiker I've seen the explosion of people on our summer trails, and we all know about the crowds/parking issue at Stevens; it seemed only a matter of time before it happened to Crystal.
I'm happy with these changes for now though I understand it's going to be hard for some people. I'm glad they addressed the issue. It seems like there are a lot of possible solutions and they are already implementing some things (more buses). Parking reserved in advance would cut down on useless trips where you get turned around. Maybe they need to make Ikon more expensive, or limit the days at Crystal. A cheap unlimited pass might not be the way to go for a ski area near a large metro area.
Andy Mink
Everyone loves spring skiing but not in January
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This is the question that we would all like to hear the answer to from ALL the areas that are now affiliated in one way or another with IKON or Epic. Why would you renew your yearly pass at (fill in the blank) if you can get one that is substantially cheaper and offers more opportunity? If you have places like Deer Valley or Jackson Hole that are either 5 or 7 days on the IKON how many people used to have only a DV or JH pass but didn't really ski that much or figured out even if they had to pay a reduced rate after that 5 or 7 days it would still satisfy their skiing needs and still be less than a resort specific pass?
I suspect its the regular skiers at Crystal that normally buy the Crystal Pass that given the option for the same amount of money they went for the IKON whether they intend to go to other resorts or not. Heck, the 10% off on the ski lodge food and rentals with your IKON benefits makes it worth while right there!
I think the early bird special on both the IKON and the Crystal pass were both $649 at that time so yeah, why not go for the IKON?
I think the early bird special on both the IKON and the Crystal pass were both $649 at that time so yeah, why not go for the IKON?
It's out in the wild untamed West. No, we don't fight Indians out here, that was a long time ago....sheesh. 
We are blaming it on the locals, this time. 
No one other than them folks living in the north left corner of the country have ever heard of Crystal Mountain. Most people think it's the one in MI.
When I told people I skied Crystal Mountain, WA in 1990. They all told me I must have fell of the edge of the earth and bonged my head. Now I know I wasn't abducted by aliens.
No one other than them folks living in the north left corner of the country have ever heard of Crystal Mountain. Most people think it's the one in MI.
When I told people I skied Crystal Mountain, WA in 1990. They all told me I must have fell of the edge of the earth and bonged my head. Now I know I wasn't abducted by aliens.
I can send you a copy of my Crystal Pass 2019/2020 pass if you like.
Interesting. I'm fairly sure that was not there when I bought my Ikon pass back in the spring, but I do see it on the website now. I wonder if they added option that once you could no longer buy an Ikon pass, perhaps? Either way, I stand corrected.
We are blaming it on the locals, this time.
No one other than them folks living in the north left corner of the country have ever heard of Crystal Mountain. Most people think it's the one in MI.
When I told people I skied Crystal Mountain, WA in 1990. They all told me I must have fell of the edge of the earth and bonged my head. Now I know I wasn't abducted by aliens.
I was surprised to learn that Crystal only has 50 runs as it skis a lot bigger than that.
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