Whistler 22-23

[t.odd]

the mountain cycling this weekend was exquisite, even if I'd rather be skiing pow!

[TripleT]

anybody try the uphill route to excel yet? how'd it go?

[LeeLau]

anybody try the uphill route to excel yet? how'd it go?

We've tried the second part of that route being the skin from close to bottom of Crystal (enter via end of Twist and Shout ski run) then up to just across from the Way Poopy slackcountry skin run (ie the northernmost Poop Chutes track). It's slow going taking almost twice the time one would expect (ie uphill progress is approx 200m/hour) and convoluted.

Wasn't entirely surprised as we've also exited via this route before and, at least on the way down) there are little mini terrain features all over.

On another note - There are a pair of skis in the LA area I'd like to get up to the Vancouver/Whistler area and save the cost of shipping? Anyone coming up from the LA area? I'd make it worth your while to grab a pair of skis for me to get up here to Whis/Van

[Bamski]

One of the most unexpected busy days I’ve had the misfortune of seeing in a while. Left home around 7:40, at lot 8 around 7:50 and it was full

[FlimFlamvanHam]

I heard it was beyond grim.

[eSock]

All the line videos I'm seeing are unreal

[Cocximus]

The good ol' COVID days. It was like a time machine to what I imagine was like in the 90s.

[Sylvan]

All the line videos I'm seeing are unreal

Glad I took the dog into the forest instead. Good news is there's more in the forecast mid-week.

[gramboh]

Why isn’t Vail increasing the Epic pass price? Surely at some point the negative guest experience decreases future pass sales? Not just at Whistler, it’s a problem at many of their resorts. Would think they’d follow other service models that jack rates once adequate subscribe base is achieved. Bump the price up 30-40%. Give a locals discount.

Also put a toll on the highway on weekends. I say that as a citiot mostly weekend warrior.

[Toadman]

Why isn’t Vail increasing the Epic pass price? Surely at some point the negative guest experience decreases future pass sales? Not just at Whistler, it’s a problem at many of their resorts. Would think they’d follow other service models that jack rates once adequate subscribe base is achieved. Bump the price up 30-40%. Give a locals discount.

Also put a toll on the highway on weekends. I say that as a citiot mostly weekend warrior.

Only 30%-40% increase? Seems low. Go big. Double the price. Paid parking. The closer you are, the more expensive. Like the toll idea too.

[apex dave]

For me the good old days at WB ended in 1995 so I switched to Baker which I gather is also now a gong show. Moved to Sparwood in 2004 for 10 years and now ski Apex which is deserted midweek. If you have to ski WB you are cursed by the hype and I suspect it will only get worse. The snow isn't even all that good. If at all possible maybe it's time to look elsewhere.

[Huskier]

Why isn’t Vail increasing the Epic pass price?

Because skiing is the gateway drug. One they hope to make, at some point, for 0.5% of customers, the accessory expense.

[The AD]

Nobody skis at Whistler anymore. It's too crowded.

[raypruit]

I was actually pleasantly surprised today. Got in the bcomb gondy line at portobello’s at 830. Thought it would take an hour from there. Took 40 min. Got couple jersey laps in while ppl started waiting for glacier to crack. Line for glacier when it did was the longest I’ve ever seen. App said all of whis alpine was open with 5 min lines. Didn’t quite believe it cause it said glacier was 5 min when it was clearly at least 30 but decided to head over to whis. py vis usually means short peak chair lines though and that was the case today. Did 6 peak/red laps and didn’t wait more than 5 min for either chair. Solid day

[Cocximus]

Today was awesome. Short lines and nice resort snow.

[paulster2626]

Bump the price up 30-40%. Give a locals discount.

Assuming you mean anyone in the Greater Vancouver Area / Pemberton is a local, I can't understand how this would fix the problem. Tourists travel on weekends (vast majority). It's those damn locals ruining the experience on Sat/Sun! Maybe I'm missing something.

Can't believe people are still surprised when one of the world's most famous resorts is busy on a Saturday. The only solution to limit skiers on a mountain is to require reservations. Of course, if they tried to implement this on weekends, the local complaints would fill up the Pique newspaper.

My idea: increase local pass price 3x and offer deals for tourists to spread out the use Mon-Fri vs. jamming in everyone and their uncle from Squamish and south on a Saturday. I'm joking of course, but it's Vail so maybe this flies...

[t.odd]

If Whistler, the town, was actually concerned with 'over-tourism' and gridlocked highway, they'd be actively lobbying the SLRD to get GAS, or other regional equivalent, built ASAP instead of years of lobbying to protect WB's monopoly in the corridor which will only continue to exacerbate all the existing issues over the long term. Demographic estimates are 1 million new residents in the lower mainland in the next 15+ years (100,000 in BC last year alone...), better figure out how to provide more recreation ops sooner than later.

[The AD]

Crystal Mountain, Washington skiers have reported much better conditions as far as crowds this season due to pass changes. Full Ikon Pass holders get seven days, and Ikon Base Pass holders get five. You need to buy a much more expensive Crystal Mountain season pass to get full access. This might be something to consider to reduce the crowds at Whistler. How much it would help is debatable, of course but restrictions would certainly have some effect.

[paulster2626]

Crystal Mountain, Washington skiers have reported much better conditions as far as crowds this season due to pass changes. Full Ikon Pass holders get seven days, and Ikon Base Pass holders get five. You need to buy a much more expensive Crystal Mountain season pass to get full access. This might be something to consider to reduce the crowds at Whistler. How much it would help is debatable, of course but restrictions would certainly have some effect.

They gotta figure something out, I guess. But aren't there a bunch of other places around Seattle? Whistler's got this problem of being this world famous destination behemoth that is pretty much the only real option for Vancouver skiers, and as todd pointed out the population is only increasing.

I'm doing my part this year though by going somewhere else, so you're all welcome.

[Cocximus]

Vail, Whisler and BC will never cater to locals. Careful wishing for epic prices to increase. There's zero economic incentive to give pesky brown bag locals a discount.

Who owns the land the ski slopes are on? Does Vail own the land up to garibaldi park, or it is some kind of tenure from the province?

[t.odd]

Who owns the land the ski slopes are on? Does Vail own the land up to garibaldi park, or it is some kind of tenure from the province?

Crown land tenure, controlled recreation area

[The AD]

They gotta figure something out, I guess. But aren't there a bunch of other places around Seattle? Whistler's got this problem of being this world famous destination behemoth that is pretty much the only real option for Vancouver skiers, and as todd pointed out the population is only increasing.

The situation in Washington has some similarities and some differences. The primary resorts that draw most day skiers from the Seattle metro are Crystal, Snoqualmie Pass, and Stevens Pass. They split up the traffic because they're all on different highways, but at the same time each of the three is much smaller than Whistler Blackcomb, so the same crowding problems exists, just on a different scale.

Perhaps limiting days on the Epic Pass would cause more Vancouverites to choose one of the north shore mountains more often?

[Cocximus]

Crown land tenure, controlled recreation area

Time to put the squeeze on them. Paul Kubik or Chris Ludwig for BC's president.

[Bamski]

Where could the lower mainland foreseeably host competition for WB? Chilliwack?

Living in the S2S over the past few years, the level of traffic that the highway is dealing with just blows my mind. A hypothetical resort in Squamish or Pemberton would choke the corridor even worse.

[gramboh]

Assuming you mean anyone in the Greater Vancouver Area / Pemberton is a local, I can't understand how this would fix the problem.

No, I meant local as in Whistler address (yes people would game the system) get a discounted pass, to help out local families and people earning min wage (but not at an employer that gets staff pass). Lower mainland plebs (like me) need to have their pass cost jacked way the fuck up to mitigate weekend crowding. Or have weekend premium pricing somehow. The Ikon system at Crystal sounds like it's been successful, basically need to make going more than 5ish days a season way more expensive so regional (lower mainland) crowd has to be more picky and not just try to go every weekend. Make the "unlimited" season pass $2500-3000 or something like that.

Weekend highway toll (funding mass transit options) is my other suggestion to deal with the highway.

Todd brings up another good point about access to recreational opportunities (not just skiing). That needs to change or everything will continue to suck as more people move here. Hemlock/Harrison Hot Springs and that Chilliwack idea are two others. Skiing would probably be meh/suck at all 3 but at least it would draw people away.