Colorado Winter Park "improvements"

[Magi]

... how does it make a difference to the rest of the mountain if there are 300 people standing in line at the base or not? ...

All I can say is that a 13k skier visit day (which is a fairly busy day) no longer feels like a madhouse.

[warning: speculation ahead] I think the Gondola is spreading people out across the other lifts more, and more people are lapping to the bottom and taking the gondola back up, instead of lapping the Eskimo or prospector. For me, at least, once I was out of the WP base, I took the Eskimo back up because skiing down to the bottom via Hughes/Sale/Parkway felt like a giant waste of time. Now I'll happily ski down to the bottom, enjoy another 500 feet of vertical, and Gonolda back up. I think decisions like that have simply spread out traffic across lifts, because there's no more "don't go there, its not worth it" zone.

 

[Slim]

Let me add that the Gondola has made an immense difference at the base of WP and over the mountain in general - 13K skier visits feels almost empty because people can move up and out and lap at the base without an issue getting places.

It's pretty cool.

That’s great to hear for me. Usualy we stay in town and drive to MJ C-lot, but this upcoming trip we splurged for a condo in the IronHorse complex, along the MJ->WP connector, sonach time we leave the condo we will be heading up that lift.

 

[headybrew]

[warning: speculation ahead] I think more people are lapping to the bottom and taking the gondola back up, instead of lapping the Eskimo or prospector.

I know it was just speculation but yeah that makes sense

 

[headybrew]

Hey good job everyone! Winter Park reinstated season pass benefits because enough of us raised the issue with management. Thanks for all your hard work.

Both this and the Eldora parking fiasco earlier in the year are these resorts testing the waters under their new affiliations. The people have won these first couple of battles however there will be bigger changes coming down the pipeline that I am afraid we won't be able to change.

 

[aerojack]

Hey good job everyone! Winter Park reinstated season pass benefits because enough of us raised the issue with management. Thanks for all your hard work.

Both this and the Eldora parking fiasco earlier in the year are these resorts testing the waters under their new affiliations. The people have won these first couple of battles however there will be bigger changes coming down the pipeline that I am afraid we won't be able to change.

What benefits were reinstated???

 

[headybrew]

What benefits were reinstated???

The 2018/19 WP pass did not come with ANY benefits other than unlimited riding at WP. It was a play designed to coerce people into the Ikon pass and was not well received up here in Middle Park.

On Friday the 11th I received an email stating they had added back the 10% cafeteria and retail discounts, 20% rental and tubing discounts, and provided five 25% off buddy passes. In all honesty it is only going to save me $20 bucks in the cafeteria over the course of the season but it goes a long way to making the locals feel like Alterra cares about them.

 

[xwpracer]

Please don't talk about Belle F....e on a widely read forum, it's going to get overused by the same people who bump out the runs nearest to Eagle Wind lift! The thinning is ongoing, if they lightly thin the bottom of Medicine man, Left Hand, etc: it will make the terrain more "friendly".I love lapping back there on a day w/ new snow, but after 6or 7 laps the tight trees at the bottom of any of those runs can become real leg burners! The gondola is nice on a cold windy day, but seems sort of silly for such a short ride, until you consider that it is ultimately planned to top out higher. If you want to talk about how thinning the tree's in Parsenn has changed it, I've got lots of stories of skiing it, and what is now the Cirque via snow cat in the early 80's. I've skied at, worked for, or raced for WP since the mid 60's and the changes are mid boggling, from a 3 chair, 2 t bar "area" to the mega "resort" its become. Still one on my favorite Colo. mountains and free, (for now) parking close in at C lot can't be beat!

 

[cosmoliu]

The 2018/19 WP pass did not come with ANY benefits other than unlimited riding at WP. It was a play designed to coerce people into the Ikon pass and was not well received up here in Middle Park.

On Friday the 11th I received an email stating they had added back the 10% cafeteria and retail discounts, 20% rental and tubing discounts, and provided five 25% off buddy passes. In all honesty it is only going to save me $20 bucks in the cafeteria over the course of the season but it goes a long way to making the locals feel like Alterra cares about them.

OK, so now I'm a little behind the times on this one- I bought the Ikon Pass this year since it fit my needs so well the places other than WP that I ski. After buying the WP Pass for the previous 5+ years. Does the Ikon Pass have the same cafeteria, Mary Jane shop and F/F discounts that I had become accustomed to with the WP Pass?

 

[pete]

OK, so now I'm a little behind the times on this one- I bought the Ikon Pass this year since it fit my needs so well the places other than WP that I ski. After buying the WP Pass for the previous 5+ years. Does the Ikon Pass have the same cafeteria, Mary Jane shop and F/F discounts that I had become accustomed to with the WP Pass?

here's a link to comparison benefits. I presume the WP pass is less costly and if one doesn't travel, why spend more?

That was generally my issue with Ikon, I used the WP RMSP+ with a big reason being 6 un-blacked out days at Steamboat. With the change, I'd cost me some $800 more min (family numbers) where I'd get only 5 days with blackouts .. less I wished to jump to $1800 more total ...

I digress, here's the current comparisons:

https://www.winterparkresort.com/plan-your-trip/tickets-and-passes/passholder-perks

 

[cosmoliu]

^^^ Thanks for that! I won't be going to WP until March, but it will be for an extended 1.5-2 week stay.

Like you stated above, the 15% off cafeteria food won't allow me to retire early, but it is nice to be appreciated. I asked at JH in Dec if the Ikon Pass holders got a food discount, and got a blank stare. Without digressing too much, I bought a Snowbird pass this year when I did the numbers on exceeding the Ikon's 7 days and then paying full boat for the up to 12 more days I'll be skiing there this year. (Actually, qualifying for the senior's pass rate made it a no-brainer) It is nice to have the Ikon Pass in my back pocket if I get the itch to cross over to the Alta side. Another blank stare when I asked about a season pass holder's discount at the Summit Restaurant. I do see that the old Jane Shop discount of 20% has gone the way of the dinosaurs.

 

[headybrew]

here's a link to comparison benefits. I presume the WP pass is less costly and if one doesn't travel, why spend more?

I digress, here's the current comparisons:

https://www.winterparkresort.com/plan-your-trip/tickets-and-passes/passholder-perks

Correct the WP only pass was something like $459 early season pricing. I travel to ski...this season's plan has me skiing at 10 resorts across 4 states and 1 Canadian province but the Ikon pass still doesn't make any sense to me.