Crystal Mountain Becomes Alterra

[altasnob]

From Crystal's web page:

-Vehicles without a reservation will receive a $100 parking violation. Repeat infractions will be subject to towing and banned from making future parking reservations

-Reservations must be cancelled by 8am, no shows will be treated as a violation and will receive a $100 infraction. Repeat violations will be banned from making future parking reservations.

[Buster Highmen]

Wants more ski areas, it’s an important distinction

Several measures of desire are the obvious and well documented over saturation and demand for lift served skiing in the Puget Sound. Let's not go down your usual argument on that.

Most recently logged areas are on private land, the exception is some salvage logging in fire areas on the east slopes. Refresh us on the areas that lws has listed.

I'm not going to do that for a variety of reasons.

[Buster Highmen]

I know and agree (and know you do the same thing), but it doesn't seem to have changed at all that if you hit 410 by 6:30 or earlier you're good to go. At least that's been my experience even on busy days in the last two seasons. And judging from the timing of the "full lots" messages I've been seeing this weekend, that still rings true.

I mean, it's just survival of the fittest. If you want to go skiing get out of bed. It's always been that way and should remain so.

Lift lines and crowds are of course another story. Pics from the last two days are just unbelievable in that regard.

I do think Xtal has been trying the last week with their increased communications but that doesn't resolve or forgive the massive overselling of passes and unserviceable numbers. It also doesn't forgive the complete denial of any accountability which is simply stunning. Or not.

Somehow I come off ,like I'm arguing the major point. I don't mean to, it _should_ be a function of who gets up earliest.
We did it with our kids.

But year before last, I sat in a huDge line on 410 at 7:00 because some nitwits had tried to go up the blvd in a 2wd with crappy tires. It happened again 2 weeks later.

Remember when WSP would be at the vase of the blvd, turning ill equipped cars away or forcing them to chain up.

[ptavv]

[Bandit Man]

From Crystal's web page:

-Vehicles without a reservation will receive a $100 parking violation. Repeat infractions will be subject to towing and banned from making future parking reservations

-Reservations must be cancelled by 8am, no shows will be treated as a violation and will receive a $100 infraction. Repeat violations will be banned from making future parking reservations.

So, a place you paid for an unlimited season pass is going to penalize customers with “infractions” since people didn’t follow rules that didn’t exist when you bought your pass? Is Alterra trying to one-up Vail for anti-customer service?

[nickwm21]

What hours will the parking reservations apply?

I ask - because today I skied to the car at 11:30 for lunch and passed several open spots and zero traffic coming up the Blvd.. this is on one of the busiest non-powder/non-holiday days I’ve seen.

You could have easily planned for a noon arrival, missed the traffic, and got a parking spot…


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[AK47bp]

So, a place you paid for an unlimited season pass is going to penalize customers with “infractions” since people didn’t follow rules that didn’t exist when you bought your pass? Is Alterra trying to one-up Vail for anti-customer service?

I’m laughing here. So you make a reservation and forget to set your alarm and sleep in, or shit came up in life and you just can’t make it. As a season pass holder not only do you miss your ski day but you get a $100 fine.

Anti-customer service is a good word.


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[BeardedClam]

That's awful high-brow for having a subsidized plow service to their doorstep

[AK47bp]

Wasn’t the reason for the reservation system because they had to reduce capacity due to government restrictions?

Aren’t those restrictions gone and they are now allowed to operate at 100%

Why are they doing this? I love Crystal and would love to go like I used to but maybe those days are over.




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[Stikki]

What hours will the parking reservations apply?

From their site:
-No parking reservations needed after 1pm

[oftpiste]

Do you actually have kids?

I did it for years. 3 (then) little kids in programs, no spousal assistance. So did a shit ton of other people then. It was the only way (before my 5 year wait on the list for A-lot parking paid off) to get it done. It was fucking hard and required planning, food packing, car loading the night before, then just drag them to the truck at 5:30, sometimes kicking and screaming, literally. Then they slept.

Get there early and get them geared up, get some breakfast in the lodge, take a shit before the bathrooms are destroyed. By then it was 30 minutes to opening/dropping them at program.

I wouldn't trade a fucking second of it. You know what else? As adults now, THEY know that if they wanna get some on the hill, they have to get the fuck out of bed. To this day, Sorry, but reluctance to get after it seems pussified. Sack the fuck up and do what needs to be done. And AGAIN, making reservations at a limited number means you can't fucking ski when you want to.

Parents of kids in programs now at risk of having to sit in the car all day with the reservation system. Fuck that.

C'mon man. SMFH.

I don't know, the standard of getting to the mountain 2.5 hours before it opens seems like a waste of everyone's time. leaving Seattle by 5 is pretty unreasonable expectation for anyone with kids. Maybe instead of passes costing $1500-$2000 the barrier to entry will be affording a second home on 410.

I'm actually ok with reservations. -if they plan 8 months in advance and be transparent.

[oftpiste]

I do brother, and know - again - we're on the same page here. There's always going to be that anomalous morning when the universe fucks us no matter how early we get up. Not hearing an argument from you! xoxoxoxoxo.

And I do remember that thing with WSP, as well as the days Xtal would have staff down there.

I dunno, it feels to me like a question of them accommodating the lowest common denominators. And that's not that it 'should' be about getting up early, or maybe....

Why should the slackers be accommodated?

Somehow I come off ,like I'm arguing the major point. I don't mean to, it _should_ be a function of who gets up earliest.
We did it with our kids.

But year before last, I sat in a huDge line on 410 at 7:00 because some nitwits had tried to go up the blvd in a 2wd with crappy tires. It happened again 2 weeks later.

Remember when WSP would be at the vase of the blvd, turning ill equipped cars away or forcing them to chain up.

[Buster Highmen]

I
Why should the slackers be accommodated?

Because they're entitled princesses?

[PNWbrit]

Had someone rent our place recently who texted the first night they were there needing instructions how to light the fireplace.

Because they had never lit a fire before.

[Northway]

Had someone rent our place recently who texted the first night they were there needing instructions how to light the fireplace.

Because they had never lit a fire before.

You told them it was out of order and refunded them $5, right? Small price to pay for them not burning down your place!

[PNWbrit]

You told them it was out of order and refunded them $5, right? Small price to pay for them not burning down your place!

They asked if we could have "someone" come over and do it for them.

[eleeskiing]

They asked if we could have "someone" come over and do it for them.

The irony is that they probably work in tech and design complex software platforms that generate millions in revenue.

[PNWbrit]

The irony is that they probably work in tech and design complex software platforms that generate millions in revenue.

He certainly seemed from a higher caste.

[eleeskiing]

He certainly seemed from a higher caste.

He probably works at google and is accustomed to catered lunch and assisted ass wiping.

[m2711c]

should've gone over and charged 'em a $75.00 fire start-up fee and sold them a subscription service for daily artesianal log deliveries. see, the subscriptions are where the real big money is. people never remember to cancel their subscriptions.....








step 3 - profit.

[oftpiste]

I seriously wept with laughter at that. And those are the people we're competing with for the access to skiing. And I also know and believe that everyone should have equal access to everything. That doesn't mean you get to skip the line.

And the starting point for all is: learn how to do the whole thing, including how to get there to participate. If you really wanna do it you'll do what's necessary.

Did you call Joe to go help them? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

They asked if we could have "someone" come over and do it for them.

[Northway]

Why should the slackers be accommodated?

I’m following in yours and Busters footsteps here, now lugging my kids to the mountain to get them to their programs on time (or a family ski day). We don’t miss a day, we make sure we’re among the early traffic, we crushed the reservation system last year. We get it done. We ski.

But man, it is for sure an ever earlier crush of traffic. How do you end what will be an arms race of early birds? How early is too much to ask? It’s not the slackers that need to be accommodated, but man, full lots before the lifts crack?!

This is all due to Alterra overselling passes.

The 2 res limit on parking reservations will be super problematic for sure, but I’m in the camp of something needs to be done. Preferably running Alterra out of town.

Whatever. In the midst of a crazy busy day on the hill today, this afternoon our group dropped into Paradise bowl, skied some nice wind-buffed pow, then stood in the basin watching the spindrift blow off the ridge in the sun then skied out I-5 and did not see one other person on that lap after we dropped in. Fucking love that mountain.

[Buster Highmen]

They asked if we could have "someone" come over and do it for them.

Uber Lights?
You should have put a call in to the Naches. Surely someone there would have taken $20 to start their fire.

I still miss Slippery Creek.

[powder_to_the_people]

I did it for years. 3 (then) little kids in programs, no spousal assistance. So did a shit ton of other people then. It was the only way (before my 5 year wait on the list for A-lot parking paid off) to get it done. It was fucking hard and required planning, food packing, car loading the night before, then just drag them to the truck at 5:30, sometimes kicking and screaming, literally. Then they slept.

I wouldn't trade a fucking second of it. You know what else? As adults now, THEY know that if they wanna get some on the hill, they have to get the fuck out of bed. To this day, Sorry, but reluctance to get after it seems pussified. Sack the fuck up and do what needs to be done. And AGAIN, making reservations at a limited number means you can't fucking ski when you want to.

C'mon man. SMFH.

Very impressive that you managed to do that for so long. And I bet your kids will be forever thankful.

This is probably going to be an unpopular opinion, but the “I had to do it if I wanted to ski back then, and I was able to do it, so why can’t everyone else (kids or not) do the same thing?” doesn’t really acknowledge the fact that other people (or parents) might simply not have the bandwidth to only sleep a few hours on a weekend night. I don’t think that makes them less deserving of getting a ski day in––they spent the same amount of money on their pass as everyone else, and got screwed over by Ikon overselling passes, just like everyone else.

I don’t have kids, but if I did, I probably would be relieved to see the reservation system be put in place, especially if I had been turned around at the boulevard a couple of times this season already. I'd still be just as furious that Ikon screwed us all by overselling passes though.

[PNWbrit]

Bandwidth????

WTF?

Do you need instructions for the fire place?