2020 location tactics.

The Points Guy did not mention the other issue of remote parking with shuttle buses at many of the big areas. Mammoth has an advantage there with multiple parking lots within walking distance of access lifts.
 
Big Sky

I wonder what their Summit Tram situation is going to be like this year? Currently it's 15 passengers/tram and 200 skiers/hr. If you cut that to 25-50% capacity, basically not many people are getting to the top everyday. Assume lines will 60min+ everyday?
 
ChrisC":2kobaf8s said:
If you cut that to 25-50% capacity, basically not many people are getting to the top everyday. Assume lines will 60min+ everyday?
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Big Sky is an example of a ski area to avoid in 2020-21 for that reason. Probably Jackson too. That's unfortunate because we might pass by both driving between the interior Northwest and Iron Blosam week.

Needless to say, we won't be skiing the Alps until we are vaccinated.

FYI the Loveland pass must have attracted attention. They sent out e-mails requesting that people pick them up in person at their ticket office. Both Lonnie and Liz had to call and explain, no we're in California and they need to mail the pass. We'll be making another call when we get home from Florida Dec. 1 if it hasn't arrived by then.

James will presumably get his Loveland pass in person.
 
ChrisC":2qwxdpyx said:
Wow - that Loveland Pass has quite the collection of ski areas on it.
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I just looked at the Loveland pass. Seems fantastic value.
I have used Mountain Collective as the pass when road tripping - most times flying into SLC. This Loveland pass could also work well. Would be even better coupled with a MC pass if on extended holiday. The contrasts could be quite interesting. Aspen one day and then Sunlight the next. Or Snowbird and Powder Mountain. Big Sky and Grand Targhee.
The trip from Salt Lake to Colorado would be great with Brian Head and Powderhorn interspersed with the Utah National Parks.
Bring on 21/22.
 
Tony Crocker":1wo78pee said:
James will presumably get his Loveland pass in person.
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I got mine yesterday and will pick it up on Dec 8. For me, there's no substitute to going to the Alps; however, the Loveland Pass will be a good consolation prize. I've received press season passes to a couple ski areas in the past; however, this is the first one I've ever purchased. In a perfect world, I'd combine it with the Indy Pass to go on multiple road trips throughout the west; however, my realistic hope across four-ish visits to and through Colorado is to get 22-25 days at the following ski areas (supplemented with family day trips in the Poconos and Catskills):

CO: Loveland, Monarch, Cooper, Sunlight, and Powderhorn
NM: Angel Fire, Pajarito, Sipapu
ID: Schweitzer, Silver

It's always entertaining to post your plans for the season beforehand and then go back post-season to see how much of it panned out. COVID (and how soon the vaccines can be distributed) will add an additional variable. I recall the Yiddish proverb that I heard while learning German: "Mann tracht un Gott lacht" -- Man plans; God laughs.


Interesting to read the fine print about the three reciprocal days at Powder Mountain:
To provide ticket reservations and contactless pick-up, Powder Mountain Resort is requiring partner resort guests to purchase tickets online at full price to secure your spot in advance. Partner resort guests will be reimbursed upon arrival and redemption at the ticket window. If guest fails to show, no refund will be issued.
 
November so far is falling into a classic La Nina pattern. James may want to take a pass on NM and hit the interior NW (overall the region most enhanced by La Nina) more than once. Whitefish, Brundage and Bogus Basin are on the Loveland Pass. James would also enjoy Montana Snowbowl, Lost Trail and Discovery even though they are not on the pass. Perhaps our paths will finally cross this season at some of these places!
 
Loveland seems to have decently stringent COVID protocols in place, copied below. You're there to ski, nothing else, including any kind of food & beverage (theirs or BYO) in the lodge. Hardly a surprise but still a bummer is that the free cat skiing along the ridge won't be in operation this season. It's less than an hour drive from where I'll be staying in Denver -- thank god no fighting the traffic on the other side of the tunnel -- so I'm ready to give this a try.

Lifts
Lift tickets will need to be purchased in advance, online. Lift tickets will not be sold at the window the day of. Physical distancing will be mandatory in all lift mazes. Guests will not be required to ride on a chairlift with people outside of their party. Individuals who are not from the same party may ride a chairlift together with a minimum of one seat separating the unrelated individuals or parties. Face coverings will be required in lift mazes and on lifts for everyone age 5 and above. Hand coverings (gloves/mittens) will be required on all chairlifts.

Lodges
No food, beverage, or bar services at lodges. No picnic style or brown bag lunches allowed into the lodges. Significant occupancy reduction in the Basin & Valley lodges. Guests who want to rest/warm up will be greeted by hosts who will escort them to a table with their cohort party only (no eating/drinking at tables). A table tent with the time in and 30-minute departure time will be placed on the table. Hosts will monitor tables to ensure guests do not stay past 30 minutes. Face coverings must be worn at all times for anyone ages 5 and up while indoors.
 
Loveland can be a very tough place in high altitude and chronic wind. Know your cold tolerance or watch the weather forecast carefully if you know you can't shelter inside.

At China Peak with similar rules Mar. 19 it was snowing nearly all day but it was 15-20F and all below treeline with no wind; balmy vs. what you can get at Loveland.
 
Tony Crocker":309kfyqd said:
Loveland can be a very tough place in high altitude and chronic wind. Know your cold tolerance or watch the weather forecast carefully if you know you can't shelter inside.
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Almost an understatement. While it's not unskiable or something, I would certainly make sure to be early enough to be in the main parking lot and not parked downhill at the Valley. That way you could get to your car quickly to warm up. I believe Colo is going with 30% reduction in supposed capacity for ski areas for the winter which means there will still be people forced to shuttle up from the Valley.

I bet Loveland wishes that they still had the old lift #5 in working order this season. That would be the old lift that connects the Basin and Valley parts of the hill. They stopped running that a couple decades ago, but have let that lift just sit there collecting rust. No idea why they never removed it. This isn't Lake Louise where they have to negotiate new lifts by removing old ones. (historical map: https://skimap.org/data/515/1017/1350419904.jpg)
 
Tony Crocker":2q3ezf66 said:
November so far is falling into a classic La Nina pattern. James may want to take a pass on NM and hit the interior NW (overall the region most enhanced by La Nina) more than once. Whitefish, Brundage and Bogus Basin are on the Loveland Pass. James would also enjoy Montana Snowbowl, Lost Trail and Discovery even though they are not on the pass. Perhaps our paths will finally cross this season at some of these places!
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Spokane: Schweitzer and Whitefish are really class A mountains that are relatively low key. Silver has some good terrain too - especially in the Wardner Peak sector.

Boise: Bogus Basin, Tamarack, and Brundage are another close collection of areas with relatively drier snow from other NW resorts.
 
Re: Brundage/Tamarack/Bogus... The recent 2 week storm cycle we had was good, especially for Nov., but that last one was too warm, as it rained up to mid-mtn for most of the event. (I got almost 1.5" of rain at my place at 4,100 ft) While the resorts did get some good base snow, it wasn't a whole lot. That said, it is enough to open all 3 of the Boise region ski areas later this week and into the weekend, although I think it's for passholders only. I may try and head to Brundage on Wed. for opening day, but will wait for more snow at Tamarack since its an hour drive, vs 20 min.
 
EMSC":1a48q7sa said:
I bet Loveland wishes that they still had the old lift #5 in working order this season. That would be the old lift that connects the Basin and Valley parts of the hill. They stopped running that a couple decades ago, but have let that lift just sit there collecting rust. No idea why they never removed it.
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I was always curious about that lift but never asked anyone about it. I guess this'll be the season I can try the 3.5 trails on the Valley side, just to say I skied it.
 
jamesdeluxe":xh97eobo said:
I guess this'll be the season I can try the 3.5 trails on the Valley side, just to say I skied it.
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If this year is anything like past years, you'll only be able to get to 2 and a half trails at the Valley end. Typically the trail under the lift is 100% dedicated to the race program. Not sure what Lovelands protocols will be this year for racers though. They seem to be all over the map in Colorado, from lower #'s allowed with dedicated parking and hill space (usually on somewhat modified time of day schedules) all the way to some clubs being told they will not be allowed to train on weekends.
 
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