Colorado Snowstang to Loveland, Abasin, or Steamboat!

[coskigirl]

The Bustang will become the Snowstang starting December 14th. For me this will enable me to potentially bus to ski a few times and get studying done to/from meaning I get more ski time too! It's not cheap but I think it will be worth it for me to use it at least a few times. I hope it gets some traction (pun intended!)

https://ridebustang.com/snowstang?f...LdRrt13W0RQJ2MlBVt7ARRmCN61sthEqNRJxtOeLgd-8M

 

[Decreed_It]

That's a great idea. The ski bus from Innsbruck when we went last season was awesome. So much eliminated stress just sitting back and riding.

 

[SkiNurse]

I think $25/round trip to Abasin/Loveland and $40 round trip to Streamboat is very reasonable.

 

[VickieH]

Nice arrangement for Steamboat. $40 transportation cost for a weekend trip.

 

[coskigirl]

So, I stopped at Christy's to buy a 4 pack to Loveland today and chatted with them a bit about the Snowstang. Turns out the guy who posted the FB for LL regarding the service yesterday was the one I was talking to. He told me that LL had to put down a significant chunk of cash to make this happen so I assume Abasin and Steamboat did as well. I really hope it's successful so that it can become self-sustaining or at least benefits the resorts enough to continue putting down the cash.

 

[SBrown]

Yeah, those prices are about the cost of gasoline, and much less for Steamboat.

 

[Blue Streak]

Is there a bar onboard?

 

[Noodler]

Yeah, those prices are about the cost of gasoline, and much less for Steamboat.

Every ticket sold is at a loss, but they're going to make it up in volume...

But really, this pricing feels right to me. More than that and you're just not going to get the ridership.

 

[Ken_R]

I think $25/round trip to Abasin/Loveland and $40 round trip to Streamboat is very reasonable.

Yep, totally!

 

[Ken_R]

This bus should help get rid of quite a few drivers under the influence on i70. i70 is bad enough as it is

 

[Itinerant skier]

It's a tiny step in the right direction. Colorado has long needed a better car free way to get to the slopes. There should be multiple buses DAILY (not just weekends) from various parts of Denver to various ski resorts. From Portland (not nearly the skitastic city that Denver is) I can catch the Mt Hood Express to Skibowl and Timberline no less than 8 times a day including trips that allow night skiing for all of $5 round trip. IIRC, the only ski area served by RTD is Eldora, and that's on a fairly limited schedule.

 

[jmeb]

It's a tiny step in the right direction. Colorado has long needed a better car free way to get to the slopes. There should be multiple buses DAILY (not just weekends) from various parts of Denver to various ski resorts. From Portland (not nearly the skitastic city that Denver is) I can catch the Mt Hood Express to Skibowl and Timberline no less than 8 times a day including trips that allow night skiing for all of $5 round trip. IIRC, the only ski area served by RTD is Eldora, and that's on a fairly limited schedule.

While I will always advocate for better public transportation, the economics just don't work for this in the Front Range. As @coskigirl mentions, this round trip is already significantly subsidized by resorts to make it a break even.

The resorts have zero incentive to subsidize outside the weekends. The reason they are subsidizing these weekends isn't because I70 sucks or they are trying to make the world greener. They are subsidizing it because their lots fill up on weekends. Parking capacity is the current limiter on the number of people they can serve. By people taking a bus in, they can put more skiers on the slopes, more patrons at the bar.

To make the argument that the public agency should subsidize recreational trips to the mountains for well off skiers that can take a weekday bus is a political non-starter in a state where the dollar per mile traveled by the public has decreased dramatically for over a decade.

I hope Abasin/Loveland/Steamboat see the value out of this. As I would much prefer increased bus service to cutting more parking lots into these areas and adding additional traffic volume.

 

[jmeb]

Is there a bar onboard?

It's called your backpack.

Source: Drank most of a bottle of 2000 Bordeaux on the way home from Vail last year. Good day.

 

[mdf]

In New England there are ski buses run by private companies, going to several mountains (one per trip). They make several pick-up stops, drive to the mountain, wait, and drive everyone back to the city at the end. The first pickup is at 5 am and the last pickup (fortunately, since I live on the North side of the city, that's me) is at 6:45 am. You don't quite make first chair -- I'm usually geared up and skiing by about 10 am.

Just looked up the price -- same as last year, $89 for bus+lift ticket, or $50 for bus only. They must be getting a great group rate from the ski areas.

One downside is that if they don't sell enough seats they cancel the trip.

Are there any companies doing something like that from Denver?

 

[SBrown]

In New England there are ski buses run by private companies, going to several mountains (one per trip). They make several pick-up stops, drive to the mountain, wait, and drive everyone back to the city at the end. The first pickup is at 5 am and the last pickup (fortunately, since I live on the North side of the city, that's me) is at 6:45 am. You don't quite make first chair -- I'm usually geared up and skiing by about 10 am.

Just looked up the price -- same as last year, $89 for bus+lift ticket, or $50 for bus only. They must be getting a great group rate from the ski areas.

One downside is that if they don't sell enough seats they cancel the trip.

Are there any companies doing something like that from Denver?

There have been many attempts at such services, but I don't really remember specifics. There always used to be a ski bus when I was a kid, but of course that's because kids can't drive themselves.

This looks like the latest one to fail, courtesy of ... Snowstang!
https://businessden.com/2017/04/17/ski-shuttle-slims-operations-cdot-tests-bus-service/

 

[Blue Streak]

In general, we Americans are reluctant to give up our freedoms - however small. To overcome that barrier, the cost must be so nominal as to be diseconomic. The only solution is highly subsidized service.

And a bar.

 

[jmeb]

YMMV, but having the choice to take a regular bus from a convenient location at a comparable cost to driving is more freedom to me than being forced to drive a car in heavy traffic and park at a remote lot.

People hem and haw over subsidies for public transit. Meanwhile, in Colorado user fees (registration, gas tax, etc) doesn't even cover 50% of the money spent on roads. The majority of funds to enable cheap private car use are from the general fund (property taxes, income taxes, sales taxes) that people pay into whether they are regular car drivers or not.

 

[SBrown]

YMMV, but having the choice to take a regular bus from a convenient location at a comparable cost to driving is more freedom to me than being forced to drive a car in heavy traffic and park at a remote lot.

I think this is the problem. As @mdf just pointed out, the first bus riders on his example have to be there by 5 and don't really make it on mountain until 10. If I'm leaving by 5, I sure as hell am getting first chair. Maybe there aren't as many powder days in New England as here, but yeah I'm not jeopardizing first tracks to be trapped in a bus. But mostly, we are just so spread out here, geographically. And if you have a family, or even a couple people in a car, the $$ part isn't really worth it.

 

[jmeb]

I agree -- Snowstang makes little sense for a family in a suburban location.

Where it makes sense is when you're one of the many thousands of people who have moved to within a short walk from Union Station in the last ten years. Whether you're a 20-something singleton, or a couple of retirees who decided to downsize and live an urban lifestyle.

I'm certainly jealous everytime the Loveland employee shuttle takes off from the Dino lots while we settle into a carpool.

 

[mdf]

If I'm leaving by 5

4:30 am unless you live right next to the park and ride lot.