How are the crowds

[4aprice]

Pent up demand and snow. We got a measly 4 -inches but this past weekend was a very busy here locally in NE Pa and from what I'm reading in the northeast in general as well. Would love to hear some reports from out of the west. We hear the struggles. Nice to see the ski areas make some dough on a holiday weekend.

 

[DocGKR]

Squaw was not as crowded as I expected it to be, virtually no significant lift lines on Red Dog, Olympic Lady, KT22 most of the day; while skiing with friends we found Siberia and Shirley had 3-5 min waits.

 

[Wasatchman]

Vail recently reported their skier visits were down 7 percent versus last year. Blamed lack of snow at Whistler. I also wonder if Ikon competition had something to do with it.

As Phil and others have said, holiday period not as crowded as expected, due to blackouts of the cheaper restricted multi-passes.

 

[Wilhelmson]

We experienced the same odd phenomenon in VT over the weekend, though others have different stories.

 

[HardDaysNight]

Vail recently reported their skier visits were down 7 percent versus last year. Blamed lack of snow at Whistler. I also wonder if Ikon competition had something to do with it.

As Phil and others have said, holiday period not as crowded as expected, due to blackouts of the cheaper restricted multi-passes.

I really don’t doubt that Ikon has had an effect. Snow at PCMR has been great. Certainly large enough crowds but not the complete insanity of the pre-Ikon era.

 

[Tom K.]

Mt. Hood Meadows was the most crowded I've ever seen it this past Sunday. I heard, but did not verify, over 15,000 people. Luckily, we were Nordic skiing, so "crowds" of approximately 100 people were present. Probably more like 50.

No IKON or Epic, but crazy cheap season pass prices at Meadows. Doesn't matter what the vehicle is, cheap tickets plus a huge-ish metro area will bring weekend crowds.

And Portland isn't going to stop growing anytime soon.

 

[DanoT]

Vail recently reported their skier visits were down 7 percent versus last year. Blamed lack of snow at Whistler. I also wonder if Ikon competition had something to do with it.

I also wonder if high prices at Whistler and a poor attitude toward Vancouver skiers who spend less than out of towners are affecting overall skier visits but not profits.

 

[crgildart]

Limited terrain open and lack of snow keeps some people away. Heavy rain in the forecast keeps almost everyone away, with the exception of people staying at the resort who couldn't cancel their reservations.

Only lines we saw Saturday were at the rental shop and beginner lift.

 

[Rudi Riet]

Limited terrain open and lack of snow keeps some people away. Heavy rain in the forecast keeps almost everyone away, with the exception of people staying at the resort who couldn't cancel their reservations.

...or the young alpine ski racers who will race in pretty much any weather conditions. In the case of young Pennsylvania racers (U16s and U19s) at Seven Springs, freezing rain on Saturday and cold wind (windchill in the low teens Fahrenheit) and snow on Sunday. The racers accounted for probably half of on-snow traffic at the resort on Saturday, though the lift ticket sales were high due to the holiday weekend and people buying pass/lodging packages.

 

[x10003q]

At Stratton - Thursday and Friday were classic Eastern midweek empty. On Saturday, the lift lines were minimal due to 10F temps with winds, but the lodges were beyond packed. On Sunday, after a 6" snowfall overnight and temps in the high 20 degree F range, the lift lines were beyond 15 minutes on many of the high speed lifts. The FG lifts were much less, but they were running them slower for ease of unloading. The snow was decent.

Some people stopped the lift on their own (South American).

Sunday - Snowbowl HSQ, single line up the trail at 9:30am

Main base at 11am

We drove home Sunday night to avoid the dreaded NYS Thruway on Monday night.

 

[InvalidConflict]

So funny story, was up at my local hill in Alberta this weekend. Usually has no lift lines and nobody there on sunday. This weekend it was actually really busy. So we go up in the afternoon with a patroller and we get talking and mention it's a busy weekend and without missing a beat he's like "yea, 3 or 4 minute lift lines, it's crazy." So yea, i'm spoiled.