12-22...we out here

[Shadows]

rain condition is usally pretty interesting snow though

[SallyCat]

7 hours ago, GrilledSteezeSandwich said:

Is the VIP line helping things

No, it just puts you into the corral with everyone else. I hope they make it a distinct line soon. 

[SallyCat]

7 hours ago, GrilledSteezeSandwich said:

Is the VIP line helping things

 

Edited December 23, 2017 by SallyCat
Duplicate post. Sorry.

[saltyant]

4 minutes ago, SallyCat said:

No, it just puts you into the corral with everyone else. I hope they make it a distinct line soon. 

I had high hopes for the VIP line. This is a bit disappointing. I can avoid the crowds most of the time at CB by using their singles lines, regardless of how busy it is. They do a great job with crowd management.

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

12 minutes ago, Shadows said:

rain condition is usally pretty interesting snow though

Usually really nice snow. Soft and fast. 

[SallyCat]

11 minutes ago, saltyant said:

I had high hopes for the VIP line. This is a bit disappointing. I can avoid the crowds most of the time at CB by using their singles lines, regardless of how busy it is. They do a great job with crowd management.

It's early; hopefully they will rope off a line soon.  if they don't have a legitimate bypass for season pass holders they are going to spend all season getting yelled at on FB. 

[saltyant]

1 minute ago, SallyCat said:

It's early; hopefully they will rope off a line soon.  if they don't have a legitimate bypass for season pass holders they are going to spend all season getting yelled at on FB. 

That's what I hope if I get a pass. It's not peak time yet so we can cut them some slack. But not having a separate line defeats the purpose of the VIP scanner.

[eaf]

3 minutes ago, saltyant said:

That's what I hope if I get a pass. It's not peak time yet so we can cut them some slack. But not having a separate line defeats the purpose of the VIP scanner.

So you aren't kidding, are you? But hey with a 2K budget you can get plenty of passes this season. Don't forget to leave some for RTM

[AtomicSkier]

The dedicated VIP line was there last weekend (on the left side)?  Maybe they're not putting it up on weekdays?  I bet it'll be there next week.

[saltyant]

Just now, AtomicSkier said:

The dedicated VIP line was there last weekend?  Maybe they're not putting it up on weekdays?  I bet it'll be there next week.

Ah good to hear. Weekends are critical. I doubt it really matters during the week.

[saltyant]

3 minutes ago, eaf said:

So you aren't kidding, are you? But hey with a 2K budget you can get plenty of passes this season. Don't forget to leave some for RTM

Nope. If lines are too long I will ski early or late. My legs get tired from standing still for too long. I dont really have a set budget, but I dont go crazy dropping bank left and right either.

Edited December 23, 2017 by saltyant

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

1 hour ago, SallyCat said:

It's early; hopefully they will rope off a line soon.  if they don't have a legitimate bypass for season pass holders they are going to spend all season getting yelled at on FB. 

If it's not fixed I'll talk to Barb or Jim about it.  I have a decent amount of pull at Blue. I'm essentially an unpaid PR person for them. 

[indiggio]

Y'all need to calm down with the VIP line issue.  Yesterday's crowd didn't warrant them getting an attendant out. 
The line was constantly moving and wasn't even a 5 minute wait the entire day.
When it gets REALLY crowded, they'll get an attendant out and that's when the VIP line will be in effect.

Looked like they blew all over the mountain yesterday and the snow was pretty good all over, except for under the fan guns they still had running, which were spraying almost straight water. 
Poor Rodney went under one at the bottom of Paradise and his skis stuck to the snow but he didn't.  Word is he double ejected and landed pretty hard on his ribs.
Hope is all right.  He ended up leaving short after.
SP finally got sticks out and they even brought up a groomer to grind in the wet snow.  We also watched as the gun at the bottom of Sidewinder caught people as well.
Be wary of snow guns!

[momskeeztoo]

I've fallen a couple times under snow guns. Never double ejected! That sucks. 

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

1 hour ago, momskeeztoo said:

I've fallen a couple times under snow guns. Never double ejected! That sucks. 

The worst is when one ski is in fast snow and the other is in slow snow...fresh manmade snow is my least favorite conditions unless it's chalky. 

[SallyCat]

1 hour ago, indiggio said:

Y'all need to calm down with the VIP line issue.  Yesterday's crowd didn't warrant them getting an attendant out. 
The line was constantly moving and wasn't even a 5 minute wait the entire day.
When it gets REALLY crowded, they'll get an attendant out and that's when the VIP line will be in effect.

 

Agree, the lines were fine-- I was just anticipating crowded weekends; worrying too soon. I liked Main St. a lot yesterday so just stayed on the slow double much of the time. 

 

[RidgeRacer]

I had high hopes for the VIP line. This is a bit disappointing. I can avoid the crowds most of the time at CB by using their singles lines, regardless of how busy it is. They do a great job with crowd management.

Why are you, a Camelback passholder, "disappointed" at Blue's VIP system? You are unable to, nor have you ever used it. There's zero for you to be disappointed about...Or are you just trying to get people riled up?

[RidgeRacer]

No, it just puts you into the corral with everyone else. I hope they make it a distinct line soon. 

Correct. It helps in that it gets you through the turnstiles quickly

 

Edit... This applies to usually the midweek school crowds. Jeff's right in that weekends usually see a separate line

[Shadows]

That was rodney? Whos rodney? I saw it from the lift. Next run had poles up.

i kinda laughed honestly. Those spots were getting me too.

Edited December 23, 2017 by Shadows

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

1 minute ago, Shadows said:

That was rodney? Whos rodney? I saw it from the lift. Next run had poles up.

i kinda laughed honestly. Those spots were getting me too.

Rodney is an old guy who is at Blue almost everyday..he's in the head of the crew that always used to hang at the power transformer in the lower lot.  Others in that crew are Slim, Gary, Gary, Gary and the MILFs..yeah like 32% of 50 something year old men are named Gary.  

Everybody have fun at Blue this weekend I'm leaving for Virginia in a few. 

[saltyant]

1 hour ago, RidgeRacer said:

Why are you, a Camelback passholder, "disappointed" at Blue's VIP system? You are unable to, nor have you ever used it. There's zero for you to be disappointed about...Or are you just trying to get people riled up?

I was basing my analysis off reports from SallyCat and my observation on Wednesday night when I noticed zero separation between the VIP and regular lines, despite there being two VIP readers. However, I believe I fully acknowledged somewhere above that it's still relatively early in the season, and both instances were on weeknights. AtomicJeff then stated that the VIP line was in use during weekends, which I was glad to hear. It matters to me only because I'm a prospective Blue season pass holder and am looking for a reasonable comparison between the two mountains' crowd management systems.

Edited December 23, 2017 by saltyant

[SallyCat]

6 minutes ago, saltyant said:

am looking for a reasonable comparison between the two mountains' crowd management systems.

@saltyant  it sounds like you and I are probably of similar ability and skiing experience.  I find that when the VIP line becomes a necessity it's then so crowded on the trails that I usually go home.  You get a couple of really good hours on weekends before it gets to that point, though.  I love Blue, and them being open until 10pm on weeknights means it's easy to avoid crowds and still get a lot of skiing in.

Camelback is good at opening lifts as crowds increase so that you can sort of work your way across the mountain avoiding the lines at the high-speed lifts. But I never go to CBK unless I get a free pass from work and and I really want to ski on a Saturday, because I just find the trails kind of meh. And short. 

The February season pass deal from Blue  is awesome. If you want to ski a lot, get it. 

(This year I got fancy and got a MAX pass so I could go to the Catskills and New England on weekends and school breaks. I should get my money's worth out of it easily, but we'll see how all the driving and paying for AirBnBs go. I'm just trying to ski a lot so I can get better as fast as possible). 

[saltyant]

14 minutes ago, SallyCat said:

@saltyant  I love Blue, and them being open until 10pm on weeknights means it's easy to avoid crowds and still get a lot of skiing in.

Blue earns a lot of points from me for being open until 10 pm. Most mountains seem to close at 9 pm every night. That extra hour provides line-free runs down empty slopes.

That Max Pass sounds interesting, I'll look into it. I'll have to learn to sleep in my car to avoid paying for hotels every night. AirBnB just sounds too sketchy to me.

[Ski2Live Live2Ski]

Awesome to hear VIP line not being effectively used to create neo-apartheid situation for Blue skiers. 

[tarponhead]

[mention=13055]saltyant[/mention]  it sounds like you and I are probably of similar ability and skiing experience.  I find that when the VIP line becomes a necessity it's then so crowded on the trails that I usually go home.  You get a couple of really good hours on weekends before it gets to that point, though.  I love Blue, and them being open until 10pm on weeknights means it's easy to avoid crowds and still get a lot of skiing in.

Camelback is good at opening lifts as crowds increase so that you can sort of work your way across the mountain avoiding the lines at the high-speed lifts. But I never go to CBK unless I get a free pass from work and and I really want to ski on a Saturday, because I just find the trails kind of meh. And short. 

The February season pass deal from Blue  is awesome. If you want to ski a lot, get it. 

(This year I got fancy and got a MAX pass so I could go to the Catskills and New England on weekends and school breaks. I should get my money's worth out of it easily, but we'll see how all the driving and paying for AirBnBs go. I'm just trying to ski a lot so I can get better as fast as possible). 

 

I find that on crazy weekends (MLK/Prez) when the citizens line is nuts the slopes get to a point where uphill capacity gets saturated and the traffic on the hill levels off. I never found it intimidating traffic wise.also helps if you play in bumps/trail sides and the stunt ditches.

 

Typicality VIP line gets you 3-4 runs vs citizen’s line during peak times. Awesome awesome set up