Finished a week at PCMR, mostly on the Canyons side. Observations:
1) Vail Resorts hit a home run. The place was mobbed on the 24th with long lift lines everywhere except 9990. I cannot remember this kind of crowd before the 26th in any previous year. Four important lifts were closed that day, and are opening now so that should help spread out the skiers and boarders. Thankfully, there were no lift lines today (Christmas). Obviously, it will be very busy for the rest of the week. The hotels on the mountain all seem booked solid.
2) There seem to be a lot of Mid-West tourists skiing west of the Continental Divide for the first time. Lots and lots of locals (including SLC), too. The EPIC Pass is drawing them in. At Heavenly Vail sucks in a good number of Asian tourists. PCMR seems to be the haven for many from the Mid-West.
3) The powder was good and now there is a decent surface almost everywhere on both sides. There is still powder and chop to be had from the last big storm. The Dreamcatcher and Dreamscape lifts opened up but the rope to Dreamcatcher was still up when I was there, and I’m not sure why since it was all untouched powder. What are they waiting for?
4) All the improvements Vail put in seem to be working as intended.
5) Services haven’t declined on the Canyons side, which in recent years were superior to PCMR.
6) There are some lingering issues with integrating to the Vail systems, but they seem to be minor.
7) The chairlift safety bars have the new maps, making things easier for those who don’t know the mountains.
8) Today I rode a chair with SkiLogik Team member Dave Rosen, who was on a BC setup using the Yeti. Another ski I have to try.
9) No new restaurants to report about since the son I traveled with was in the pizza and burger mode for every lunch and dinner.
10) Try not to get stuck on the wrong side of this place when the mountain closes. The shuttle bus works fine, but it still takes some time to get from Canyons Village to the PCMR base (or the other way) due to all the stops. I think you want the "Lime" bus. Most places in the world number their buses. In Park City they use colors, probably to confuse the heck out of the foreigners.
1) Vail Resorts hit a home run. The place was mobbed on the 24th with long lift lines everywhere except 9990. I cannot remember this kind of crowd before the 26th in any previous year. Four important lifts were closed that day, and are opening now so that should help spread out the skiers and boarders. Thankfully, there were no lift lines today (Christmas). Obviously, it will be very busy for the rest of the week. The hotels on the mountain all seem booked solid.
2) There seem to be a lot of Mid-West tourists skiing west of the Continental Divide for the first time. Lots and lots of locals (including SLC), too. The EPIC Pass is drawing them in. At Heavenly Vail sucks in a good number of Asian tourists. PCMR seems to be the haven for many from the Mid-West.
3) The powder was good and now there is a decent surface almost everywhere on both sides. There is still powder and chop to be had from the last big storm. The Dreamcatcher and Dreamscape lifts opened up but the rope to Dreamcatcher was still up when I was there, and I’m not sure why since it was all untouched powder. What are they waiting for?
4) All the improvements Vail put in seem to be working as intended.
5) Services haven’t declined on the Canyons side, which in recent years were superior to PCMR.
6) There are some lingering issues with integrating to the Vail systems, but they seem to be minor.
7) The chairlift safety bars have the new maps, making things easier for those who don’t know the mountains.
8) Today I rode a chair with SkiLogik Team member Dave Rosen, who was on a BC setup using the Yeti. Another ski I have to try.
9) No new restaurants to report about since the son I traveled with was in the pizza and burger mode for every lunch and dinner.
10) Try not to get stuck on the wrong side of this place when the mountain closes. The shuttle bus works fine, but it still takes some time to get from Canyons Village to the PCMR base (or the other way) due to all the stops. I think you want the "Lime" bus. Most places in the world number their buses. In Park City they use colors, probably to confuse the heck out of the foreigners.
Last edited: