Super sad, I read Howard and the Dweebs faithfully for years.
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*** Official Snow Surfing Thread ***
- Thread starter 92122
- Start date
Nights are getting cooler... water took a big dive... areas are starting to have snow line up.
New Chair-1 bottom station nearing completion at Mammoth. Courtesy of MammothSnowman.com
The new top station at Chair-16 Canyon Express is much better situated for the large crowds to unload and spread out... assuming the skiers / riders are going to come out of the 'garage'?
New Chair-1 bottom station nearing completion at Mammoth. Courtesy of MammothSnowman.com
The new top station at Chair-16 Canyon Express is much better situated for the large crowds to unload and spread out... assuming the skiers / riders are going to come out of the 'garage'?
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1 should calm down the crowds a bit.
Good about 16, it was kind of a cluster in the area getting off the chair and I never saw it during busy crowds
Good about 16, it was kind of a cluster in the area getting off the chair and I never saw it during busy crowds
I am old enough to remember side-stepping up to chair 1.
The new high capacity lifts are great as lines are minimal compared to a decade or two ago but they put so many people on the mountain that everything is pretty much skied out by noon (11 on a Saturday). Gotta get your turns in early, kids!
The new high capacity lifts are great as lines are minimal compared to a decade or two ago but they put so many people on the mountain that everything is pretty much skied out by noon (11 on a Saturday). Gotta get your turns in early, kids!
Quicker you get burned out, the sooner you get jacuzzi beers which is the best part of snowsports
Goddamn it I remember getting there late but just moving the barricade back behind my car. Got caught once but was a nice little trick. Generally used to be easy to get front and center parking at 2. That was the refuge.
It's weird. I think the number of people on the mountains on weekends has stayed pretty similar. But is it just me or is parking and general mountain flow gotten worse? I mean, don't get me wrong, if you show up at 10 AM on a powder weekend, your parking situation is way down the hill. And I remember 45-60 minute lift lines for sure but maybe it's that up-the-hill transfer.
OTOH, that Heavenly photo from a season or two ago was nuts! I could run up that hill faster than the lift line would take. Probably even get two runs in.
Looking forward to this season. Although may switch to Ikon pass next year. Kirkwood is good but need some variety and Heavenly/Northstar are unacceptable versions of variety.
Dave McCoy would NOT approve.
TBH I am sort of glad I'm phasing out of winter mountain activities. It's gotten to be stupid
We have good mountains but overall, expensive, difficult, and crowded with kooks/fobs. Things are cyclical though and the perpetual beginners aren't going to maintain because they won't progress, it's financially unsustainable, they've gotten their selfie footage, and skiing will "die" again.
Pickleball clearly needs to further expand its reach to speed the process.
It's tough for where you are at because other than Big Bear/Baldy, you have several hours of driving and are pretty much subjugated to a few-day trip. And with $30-quality hotels going for $200+/night, gets out of hand. I know a lot of people in SoCal who don't even bother with Mammoth/Big Bear and go to Park City, Jackson Hole, etc. as it ends up almost being the same price.
You know things are out of whack when a 1-week trip to Hawaii is cheaper than a weekend at Mammoth.
Your statement is pretty close.
Just for fun I just priced out the second weekend in Jan (2 nights) at Mammoth (drive) and the second week in Jan (6 nights) in Honolulu (LAX-HNL). Mammoth includes 2 days lifts and ski rentals for wifey and me, Honolulu includes 6 days car rental. Costs include transpo and lodging but excludes food and drink.
Honolulu: $2177 (stay @ Hilton Vacay Club on the Ala Wai harbor, walk to Ala Moana)
Mammoth: $1856 (stay @ Juniper Springs, walk to Chair 15)
The ski/snowboard industry is sacrificing long-term sustainability for short-term money. Ski areas are now owned by glorified real estate conglomerates (Alterra and Vail) and are not interested in catering to anybody but lawyers and investment bankers who don't flinch on spending $10-20K taking their family skiing for a week (and looking at some investment condos while they are at it). They are all chasing after the same rich customers and screwing the little guy who just wants to get some turns in.
IMO this is an unsustainable model and sooner or later the bottom is gonna fall out of the resort real estate market or stonks are gonna have a really bad bear market and Vail and Alterra are gonna be hurting because the rich won't go any more and the little guy without a pass can't afford it.
I stopped driving to Tahoe because of the time it takes to get there due to all the crashes every season, and with just how crowded the slopes are + money.
Haven't been to Mammoth in quite a while but been itching to go. But goddamn, to go for a 3-day weekend would set me back at least 800 between gas/food and lodging/lift tix.
Haven't been to Mammoth in quite a while but been itching to go. But goddamn, to go for a 3-day weekend would set me back at least 800 between gas/food and lodging/lift tix.