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Woodsrider427

Getting on the lift
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Wake Forest NC
Our first day skiing on our trip at the end of March will be a Sunday and I was wondering which might be the least crowded? Also, is there a shuttle between the two? We are staying at The Resort at Squaw Creek.
 

luliski

Making fresh tracks
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What levels of skiers? If you're experts, either one; if you're intermediate/advanced, you'll probably find more space at Alpine.

The Resort at Squaw Creek is very convenient for skiing at Squaw. To get to Alpine you'll have to take either the resort shuttle or the Mountaineer (a great free, on-demand ride service within Squaw) to the base of Squaw, and catch the shuttle to Alpine there.
 
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Woodsrider427

Getting on the lift
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Joined
Aug 7, 2017
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143
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Wake Forest NC
What levels of skiers? If you're experts, either one; if you're intermediate/advanced, you'll probably find more space at Alpine.

The Resort at Squaw Creek is very convenient for skiing at Squaw. To get to Alpine you'll have to take either the resort shuttle or the Mountaineer (a great free, on-demand ride service within Squaw) to the base of Squaw, and catch the shuttle to Alpine there.

We are intermediate/advanced. We originally had planned to ski Alpine on Tuesday when we check out to head to Mammoth, and just drive over there. But if it's much less crowded we thought maybe Alpine would be a better option for Sunday.
 

luliski

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In my experience, Alpine handles intermediate/advanced crowds better. There always seem to be areas you can go to to get away from crowds, even if you're not skiing expert terrain.
 

raytseng

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Keep in mind, If you're at squaw creek without your own car; you'd have to double shuttle over to village then Alpine which will eat up a lot of time. If you drive over, you maybe sitting in the parking line, then have to get from parking lot to the base, which eats equivilant amount of time.

So, if maximizing skiing is your goal, you might as well stay at Squaw, because the transit time loss is going to be more than the time lost to crowds.

So one possible plan for you, since you're at Squaw Creek , you should be ready to go for first chair and then ski your heart out until around 10 when the crowds really start to come....if it gets crowded then take a break at 11, go have lunch in one of the real restaurants or even go rest in your room. Then you go ski from ~2pm to closing and ski back to squaw creek. (Optionally ski lunch hour 12-1 which should also lighten up).
The crowds will be thinned out by then. People will be beating the traffic to get home to SF bay area and get home for a school night. With this seasons' recent Sunday traffic nightmares, more and more people are get beaten into submission to cut sunday short and get out before the crowds.

(note: timing the magic hours is same advice I gave on beating the crowds at northstar in the tahoe thread)
 
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Woodsrider427

Getting on the lift
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Joined
Aug 7, 2017
Posts
143
Location
Wake Forest NC
Keep in mind, If you're at squaw creek without your own car; you'd have to double shuttle over to village then Alpine which will eat up a lot of time. If you drive over, you maybe sitting in the parking line, then have to get from parking lot to the base, which eats equivilant amount of time.

So, if maximizing skiing is your goal, you might as well stay at Squaw, because the transit time loss is going to be more than the time lost to crowds.

So one possible plan for you, since you're at Squaw Creek , you should be ready to go for first chair and then ski your heart out until around 10 when the crowds really start to come....if it gets crowded then take a break at 11, go have lunch in one of the real restaurants or even go rest in your room. Then you go ski from ~2pm to closing and ski back to squaw creek. (Optionally ski lunch hour 12-1 which should also lighten up).
The crowds will be thinned out by then. People will be beating the traffic to get home to SF bay area and get home for a school night. With this seasons' recent Sunday traffic nightmares, more and more people are get beaten into submission to cut sunday short and get out before the crowds.

(note: timing the magic hours is same advice I gave on beating the crowds at northstar in the tahoe thread)

We will have a car but it's sounding like I will probably just stick to our original plan of skiing Squaw on Sunday/Monday and then hitting Alpine on the way out on Tuesday. It just sounds like too much trouble with either taking two shuttles or driving/parking. Had it been just a direct shuttle from our resort it would have been worth a shot.

Not a big deal, we are certainly no strangers to crowds/lift lines with Snowshoe WV being our most frequent skiing (that schedule you gave is exactly how we usually do Snowshoe). Thanks for your feedback, it definitely helps. Thanks everyone else too!!
 

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