rjnakata Posted January 15, 2020 Report Share Posted January 15, 2020 Can anyone confirm this story? Crystal Closes its Doors to Walk-up Lift Tickets I'm a Seattle native and have loved my times at Crystal... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ExcelsiorTheFathead Posted January 15, 2020 Report Share Posted January 15, 2020 (edited) Crystal's web site has some info. There was also much coverage in the Seattle press. Crystal's Open Letter. Edited January 15, 2020 by ExcelsiorTheFathead 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Posted January 17, 2020 Report Share Posted January 17, 2020 That kind of looks like a business that's placing safety and the quality of the experience they offer over making money...hats off to Crystal for having the guts to go through with this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allee Posted January 17, 2020 Report Share Posted January 17, 2020 This is actually awesome. Limit the people to preserve the habitat, instead of trampling the habitat to accommodate the people? Bravo. Can someone please do this in Banff? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rjnakata Posted January 17, 2020 Author Report Share Posted January 17, 2020 They ran out of parking.... Good or bad (idk) it seems there's a shift toward favoring multi-passes, and online ticket sales. Locals were complaining the Ikon pass holders were causing crowding. I've wondered if the Multi-pass model is economically advantageous to the Corporations over the buy-at-window model. I've also wondered which is best for the user/mountain. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ExcelsiorTheFathead Posted January 17, 2020 Report Share Posted January 17, 2020 When I was at Targhee last season I met more than a few Jackson skiers who said that many locals were complaining about congestion and crowding (seemingly) caused by the new participation in the Ikon pass. Also note that A-Basin took themselves off of the Vail Epic Pass. It was probably unsustainable. All I know is that when I look around for a resort to visit (for an entire season), I now check to see if they are on some kind of mega-multi-pass, and consider such participation to be a demerit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jng Posted January 20, 2020 Report Share Posted January 20, 2020 There are signs alerting folks that there are no walk up tickets in Enumclaw about 40 miles from Crystal just before heading onto the 2-lane mountain road . On Saturday, they sent a text at 7:18 that if you had not passed Enumclaw, you would not find parking. On Sunday they did not run out of parking. The difference was that Saturday was a powder day (a few feet during the week, with a 5" Friday night refresh). It was glorious, but getting the family out of the house at 5:20 was brutal. On 1/17/2020 at 10:18 AM, Allee said: Limit the people to preserve the habitat, instead of trampling the habitat to accommodate the people? I think Crystal is mostly trying to preserve their reputation, and fend off all the angry calls from people who prepaid for tickets. Parking was the limiting factor, not on-mountain crowds. Lift lines were long, but better than holiday lift lines at destination resorts. On 1/17/2020 at 11:19 AM, rjnakata said: Locals were complaining the Ikon pass holders were causing crowding. I don't think we can completely blame Ikon. This weekend showed that great conditions were the driving factor. However, on powder days, Ikon pass holders probably have a disproportionate impact since they have no reason not to hit the slopes; whereas, the $138 weekend rates would force a non-pass holder to make one extra decision. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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