SteveInOregon Posted March 8, 2010 Report Share Posted March 8, 2010 Funny but I have never really thought about why the resorts open at 9AM near me which seams late in the morning instead of 8 or 7 or even sunrise ??? I never paid attention, is it that the slope Zamboni's take that long to get off the mountain , or workers take to long to get organized ???, black ice on the road up ??? If I could ride at 8AM that would be 1 extra hour of open clean groom to ride before the mob shows up at 12 noon. I would be willing to pay a higher "early bird" fee get on the lift before the mob arrives. You guys who work or worked at resorts, can you answer my question ??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dingbat Posted March 8, 2010 Report Share Posted March 8, 2010 If I could ride at 8AM that would be 1 extra hour of open clean groom to ride before the mob shows up at 12 noon. Bingo. No mountain is going to spend the cash to spin a lift for you. They spin it for the mob. Your options are either snowshoes or footing the bill for the electric, lift staff, and ski patrol. Oh, and don't forget the maintainance guy who knows how to run the diesel back-up you have to pay to be around when the lifts are running. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RideGuy Posted March 8, 2010 Report Share Posted March 8, 2010 At our hill ticket sales don't start until 9am, but you can get on the lift at 8:30am if you have a seasons pass or a pre-bought ticket. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobdea Posted March 8, 2010 Report Share Posted March 8, 2010 the biggest bottleneck is patrollers at most resorts. they usually have SOMETHING to deal with be it boo and ropes, blasting or whatever. my lifts at sunday river I liked to have running for 20 min before I even loaded patrol or lifties usually if the **** is gonna hit the fan it will be in the first thing in the morning. if pressed I could get a lift open in 15 minutes, checks and letting it run for 10 minutes included. there's way more going on first thing in the morning than most people understand. even just from a lift perspective sometimes you show up and you need to rebuild a loading ramp or unloading area. that can take a hour if you're alone. maybe the damn thing does not want to run for some reason or the chairs have a 1/2 inch of ice on them and need to be cleaned before they are ready for the public. anyway, you get the idea. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
photodad2001 Posted March 8, 2010 Report Share Posted March 8, 2010 Funny but I have never really thought about why the resorts open at 9AM near me which seams late in the morning instead of 8 or 7 or even sunrise ???I never paid attention, is it that the slope Zamboni's take that long to get off the mountain , or workers take to long to get organized ???, black ice on the road up ??? If I could ride at 8AM that would be 1 extra hour of open clean groom to ride before the mob shows up at 12 noon. I would be willing to pay a higher "early bird" fee get on the lift before the mob arrives. You guys who work or worked at resorts, can you answer my question ??? We must sleep in here in Ohio. Our resort opens at 10 weekday! Actually seasons about over here. After having record snowfall through Feb., we've had 50 degree temps with on and off rain. Resort is closed during to week for "snow conservation mode". It will re-open Friday at 4pm for the weekend then depending on the weather this may be it till next season.:( And I had the day off and it's sunny today! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KingCrimson Posted March 8, 2010 Report Share Posted March 8, 2010 Hours of Operation Monday - Friday: 8am to 4:30pm. Sat. Sun.& Holidays: 7:30am to 4:30pm Close: Last ride up at 4:30pm Very little sweeping at Baldy, it's hopeless anyway...The patrol basically puts up ropes before the sudden cliffs on the sides of the trails. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sultan Guy Posted March 8, 2010 Report Share Posted March 8, 2010 If I could ride at 8AM that would be 1 extra hour of open clean groom to ride before the mob shows up at 12 noon. I would be willing to pay a higher "early bird" fee get on the lift before the mob arrives. Whistler gets started at 8:30 and they have a "First Tracks" lift ticket that starts even earlier. Good option for a morning carver. My hill publishes an opening time of 9 AM but unless there is a big dump that requires them to be blasting they usually let us up at 8:45. I really wish that for night boarding they did a late day grooming on a couple of runs. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alaskan Rover Posted March 8, 2010 Report Share Posted March 8, 2010 I think it's undoubtedly a monentary concern....a lot of areas have 3 different shifts...daylight shift (patrollers, first-aid, lift-op, greeters, ticket sellers, rental, office clerical, maintenance, etc etc); evening shift (pretty much the same except for office clerical); night-time shift (snow-making, janitorial, maintenance, mechanical). If you have night-skiing 'til 10 pm, your snowmaking crew might come in at 10pm and work until 7am with a 1 hour lunch, same with your night maintainence. Your day-shift either comes in at 7 or 8 depending on job, and work until 4:30 or 5pm, Night-skiing areas often have split-shifts for their on-mountain crew or often evening crew is part-time. Anytime a mountain is running that is a LOT of money being paid out and being used up by fuel, etc...AND insurance actuarial tables for determining coverage policies often are dependant upon total hours an area is open to John Q. Public. Bottom line is that the majority of the people don't begin comning to an area (whether it be a day area or a inclusive resort) until 8:30, 9am 9:30. That 9 to 4 pm crowd is their bread and butter...so they're not just going to open early to capture an extra say 7% of early-birds. Even though many (myself included, would LOVE that!). Myself, I am a big fan of Head-Lamp Riding VERY late a night under the moon, AFTER the snowmaking/grooming crew has finished with a particular trail and are gone...then it's Ninja-time for me...ha ha....(not gonna say WHERE, though!!). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
k2slopesurfer Posted March 8, 2010 Report Share Posted March 8, 2010 Hours of OperationMonday - Friday: 8am to 4:30pm. Sat. Sun.& Holidays: 7:30am to 4:30pm Close: Last ride up at 4:30pm Very little sweeping at Baldy, it's hopeless anyway...The patrol basically puts up ropes before the sudden cliffs on the sides of the trails. Winterplace West Virginia, 9 am - 10 pm m-f, 8 am-10 pm s+s Booyahh! most weekends dead till 10 am at least:biggthump Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KingCrimson Posted March 8, 2010 Report Share Posted March 8, 2010 We get an 8:30 opening on weekdays, 8:00 on weekends with lifts till 10pm 7 days a week at the other resort to which I have a pass. Ever spend a whole day at the resort? Closest I've come is 10 hours of actual on-snow/lift time. Can't say anything about empty till 10 though. :( Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bora20 Posted March 8, 2010 Report Share Posted March 8, 2010 SUN PEAKS, 8:30am to 4:00pm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
photodad2001 Posted March 9, 2010 Report Share Posted March 9, 2010 Winterplace West Virginia, 9 am - 10 pm m-f, 8 am-10 pm s+sBooyahh! most weekends dead till 10 am at least:biggthump Mad River Mountain weekend hours... 9am - 3am. They shut down for an hour at 9pm to groom. Did I just say fresh groom at 10pm? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr D Posted March 9, 2010 Report Share Posted March 9, 2010 Depends on new snow. supposed to open main lift at 9:30 but it is often delayed on heavy snow days due to avalanche control efforts. we get one of the beginner chairs at 8:30 (good for a warm up) then a decent chair at 9am main chair to summit at 9:30. likely its a safety issue! OR the patrol hasn't got their obligatory freshy runs in yet! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveInOregon Posted March 9, 2010 Author Report Share Posted March 9, 2010 Mad River Mountain weekend hours... 9am - 3am. They shut down for an hour at 9pm to groom. Did I just say fresh groom at 10pm? --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Yes, I was sitting on the chair around 7pm durring a night time session and thinking why dont they do a lunch break groom run in the day , or a groom machine pass at night to freshen up the slope, so Your resort is on top of it. I guess it wouldn't work on some resort-mountains, I suppose it depends on the terrain lay out, size and other factors as to if its feasible at other mountains. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
photodad2001 Posted March 9, 2010 Report Share Posted March 9, 2010 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------Yes, I was sitting on the chair around 7pm durring a night time session and thinking why dont they do a lunch break groom run in the day , or a groom machine pass at night to freshen up the slope, so Your resort is on top of it. I guess it wouldn't work on some resort-mountains, I suppose it depends on the terrain lay out, size and other factors as to if its feasible at other mountains. I think they did it more for a safety precaution, not to do us a favor. If you go from 50 degree temps during the day and it drops to 15 degrees at night and combine that with the drunk crowd.... Our hill has a team of 4 groomers with only 144 acres it gets done pretty quick. And they don't do everything, just the main runs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arclite Posted March 9, 2010 Report Share Posted March 9, 2010 Big Bear - 8 am - 4:30 i believe. June - Chair 1 - 7:30 Chair 2 - 8:30 All others - 9 Mammoth - 8:30 - 4:30 in mid may (i think?) they open an hour earlier. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave ESPI Posted March 9, 2010 Report Share Posted March 9, 2010 Jiminy Peak. 8:30 am till 10 pm. Work there, and get "first tracks" @ 8:05 am. except you have to set up speed signs and repair downed fencing and look for hazzards on the trails ... but still a nice treat to be the first person to hear the "BURRRRRPPPTT" under your feet as you unzip the cords :) I'm hoping to have a season that last into april, but 54 degree days won't help the carving situation.... already getting the early morning frozen granular sand and sinkholes of death. Soon it will be slush puppies and "corn" snow.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wvrocks Posted March 9, 2010 Report Share Posted March 9, 2010 Lifts start spinning at Timberline in WV around 7:15 for me (patrol). Public starts loading at 8 am during the regular season and 9 am during early/late season. 9:30 close for night skiing, 4:30 pm otherwise. Honestly I prefer the 9 am opening. It gives me an extra hour to sleep in/recover from the previous night! ________ Headshops Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveInOregon Posted March 9, 2010 Author Report Share Posted March 9, 2010 Big Bear - 8 am - 4:30 i believe.June - Chair 1 - 7:30 Chair 2 - 8:30 All others - 9 Mammoth - 8:30 - 4:30 in mid may (i think?) they open an hour earlier. June opens at 7:30 am > . I hear June is sweet, I have done Mam a lot, but not June, so what is your assesment of June for carving long board style ???? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nekdut Posted March 9, 2010 Report Share Posted March 9, 2010 June opens at 7:30 am > .I hear June is sweet, I have done Mam a lot, but not June, so what is your assesment of June for carving long board style ???? June has amazing carving runs. Wide and perfectly groomed. We are holding SNES there particularly for this reason. Go check out the SNES thread in the Southern Cal forum for more information. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveInOregon Posted March 11, 2010 Author Report Share Posted March 11, 2010 June has amazing carving runs. Wide and perfectly groomed. We are holding SNES there particularly for this reason. Go check out the SNES thread in the Southern Cal forum for more information. Sweet, looks like I'm gonna do a June Mnt run next year then ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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