Hugh Conway Posted March 8, 2010 Posted March 8, 2010 http://www.skicrystal.com/News/909/GONDOLA-APPROVED-AND-MORE Gondola from base to Summit House. Yay. Quote
JoshK Posted March 9, 2010 Posted March 9, 2010 ganj-o-la...LOL! Crystal really wants to think they are a destination resort. *shrug* Quote
keenwesh Posted March 9, 2010 Posted March 9, 2010 they ain't no destination, but they sure do charge destination prices! a daily lift ticket will be around $70 now. I can't wait! Quote
letsroll Posted March 9, 2010 Posted March 9, 2010 They up thier prices they can count me out. That little hill is hardly worth what they charge now. Not like the ganj-o-la is going to open up any new terrain. Quote
keenwesh Posted March 10, 2010 Posted March 10, 2010 just going to cart more people to the same terrain. That's why I climb and kayak or go to the BC instead of the resort. Quote
AlpineK Posted March 10, 2010 Posted March 10, 2010 Aspen and Telluride are 92/day. Crystal at 70 is only 3/4ths the price. You're saving a ton skiing there I'm mostly pissed based on the routing the whole thing is going to be running right over the top of Exterminator with a tower at the top of X. Of course things could or may be worse soon. I looked at their master development plans. Quote
Joe_Poulton Posted March 10, 2010 Posted March 10, 2010 huh...more parking...a lift to the top of Silver King....a proposed Silver Basin Express...a lot stuff might be changing up there...an East Peak lift... Quote
JoshK Posted March 10, 2010 Posted March 10, 2010 Personally I wish they would leave the overdeveloped "resort" skiing to places like Colorado. There are plenty of areas there where you can get mediocre skiing at high prices with an emphasis more on restaurants and apres-ski. Crystal has better terrain than those resorts, sadly this is just going to over-traffic it even more. Do they have plans to widen or improve the road up there? They damn well better not ask for tax $ to do so... Quote
AlpineK Posted March 10, 2010 Posted March 10, 2010 I remember hearing something about a megatram from 410 up to the ski area a few years ago. I don't know what became of that idea. My dad has some documents from when the ski area was being built. Back then they were trying to talk up putting in lifts to the top of East Peak. The one lift they did eventually put in there got yanked. That wasn't one of the super duper high speed ones though. I guess the current owners are trying to duplicate the CO business model. The best ski areas/resorts I remember there were A-Basin and Eldora. Both of those were ski areas not resorts. Quote
JoshK Posted March 10, 2010 Posted March 10, 2010 Yeah, A-Basin is still pretty non-resort. Eldora also promotes the non-resort, non-I70 traffic appeal as their selling point. Vail, Aspen/Snowmass, and Breck were all super resorty places that cost a huge amount of $$ and did nothing for me other than make me miss the real terrain and snow of the PNW and move back. Quote
ilookeddown Posted March 11, 2010 Posted March 11, 2010 My dad has some documents from when the ski area was being built. Back then they were trying to talk up putting in lifts to the top of East Peak. The one lift they did eventually put in there got yanked. That wasn't one of the super duper high speed ones though. There is still a lift shack 1/2 way up to Bullion Basin they put in. I always wondered if there was ever a lift there when I saw it. Quote
grinter Posted March 12, 2010 Posted March 12, 2010 word up on eldora, i used to run up there from Boulder in half hour catch a few runs and be back for classes in the afternoon, plus season passes were 100$ for students. Its a shame there aren't more local hills that offer moderate pricing, I've basically turned my back on snowboarding because of the resort experience and am heading into the BC with an AT setup Quote
AlpineK Posted March 12, 2010 Posted March 12, 2010 Yep, I lived in Ned one winter. 5 minutes to skiing Quote
JayB Posted March 12, 2010 Posted March 12, 2010 They up thier prices they can count me out. That little hill is hardly worth what they charge now. Not like the ganj-o-la is going to open up any new terrain. It's funny - I grew up skiing at Crystal and dreamed of the day when I could travel and ski at all of the big resorts that had glossy adds in all of the ski mags. I've hit quite a few of them since then, and thought that they mostly sucked. The only places I've been too that I'd potentially trade for Crystal are Snowbird, Mammoth, and Whistler/Blackcomb. Never been to Jackson - but I'm willing to take that one on faith. Nothing on the East Coast even comes close. Ditto for Oregon. Ditto for Colorado (more arguable, but I'll stick with this one after logging four seasons there). Other than the resorts I mentioned, maybe there's something better in the Tahoe area (never skied there)? If Crystal isn't worth it at $65-70/day - what is? Do tell - 'cause I'd love to ski there. Quote
ilookeddown Posted March 12, 2010 Posted March 12, 2010 IMO the only resort worth spend that type of money on is the one where you know where to find that secret stash. Every ski area has them even Hayak. Otherwise you are just funneled down with everyone else. What makes a great day is knowing or knowing someone who can chose the best terrain and fall line that most people don’t know about. Crystal is big enough and has enough terrain to make it worth the cost of a lift ticket. I have even had days at Alpental where I would have paid $100. But, if all you want to do is ride groomers all day, go the summit west and save your cash. Quote
letsroll Posted March 12, 2010 Posted March 12, 2010 They up thier prices they can count me out. That little hill is hardly worth what they charge now. Not like the ganj-o-la is going to open up any new terrain. It's funny - I grew up skiing at Crystal and dreamed of the day when I could travel and ski at all of the big resorts that had glossy adds in all of the ski mags. I've hit quite a few of them since then, and thought that they mostly sucked. The only places I've been too that I'd potentially trade for Crystal are Snowbird, Mammoth, and Whistler/Blackcomb. Never been to Jackson - but I'm willing to take that one on faith. Nothing on the East Coast even comes close. Ditto for Oregon. Ditto for Colorado (more arguable, but I'll stick with this one after logging four seasons there). Other than the resorts I mentioned, maybe there's something better in the Tahoe area (never skied there)? If Crystal isn't worth it at $65-70/day - what is? Do tell - 'cause I'd love to ski there. Could you imagine the cost of taking a family of 4 up to ski? If these prices were in plae when I was a kid I would never have started skiing as I don't think my parents could have afforded it. or how many times a year could you take a family up to the hill for a ski trip. But I think the same things about my local hill, Mt Hood. Any more the lift lines are crazy as well. You are going to pay $70 a day to spend more time standing in line than skiing? Granted I go once or twince a season to the resorts but I spend most of my time in the BC as I am cheep But more importantly I dont have kids to worry about taking up. Quote
Hugh Conway Posted March 12, 2010 Author Posted March 12, 2010 If Crystal isn't worth it at $65-70/day - what is? Do tell - 'cause I'd love to ski there. Few ski areas in N. America are worth the walk up day rate - the increases in lift speed and lift density mean snow doesn't stick around long and with the exception of W/B and Revelstoke few have meaningful side country access. Ya, Crystal does, Kirkwood does, etc. but that's nothing like the Spearhead.... Quote
JoshK Posted March 12, 2010 Posted March 12, 2010 (edited) If Crystal isn't worth it at $65-70/day - what is? Do tell - 'cause I'd love to ski there. Nowhere. That's why I largely gave up on lift skiing. I reserve paying for a lift ticket for those times where some friends want to go up who don't BC ski and I can chalk it up to a social event. Other than that, paying to get carried up the hill so you have your mountain experience crowded by other people isn't worth the money. Edited March 12, 2010 by JoshK Quote
ilookeddown Posted March 12, 2010 Posted March 12, 2010 Like JayB, I grew up skiing at Crystal. I haven’t been back too much since the late 80’s because I am cheap and I tour most of the time unless I am skiing with my son. If you take into account inflation; a lift ticket at Crystal is not going to cost you too much more now than one did in the mid ’80’s. There were also much longer lift lines, no high-speed lift until ’88, and less accessible terrain. Skiing is an expensive sport. It always has been at least as long as I have been doing it. On a positive note for the bank account, next week all Summit at Snoqualmie pass card holders can ski at Crystal for $10 March 15th-21st. Quote
Hugh Conway Posted March 12, 2010 Author Posted March 12, 2010 There were also much longer lift lines, no high-speed lift until ’88 Why are those bad? When Mammoth upgraded Chair 9 from a slow double to a detachable 6 the number of powder runs you could get went from a dozen to a couple in that area. I'll take the slow lift and the line .... Quote
ilookeddown Posted March 12, 2010 Posted March 12, 2010 They were bad as a teenager standing in a lift line for an hour. Now if I want fresh tracks I just work for them. Quote
JayB Posted March 13, 2010 Posted March 13, 2010 I think I remember tickets to crystal being like ~ $35 in the late 80's - not sure what part of the increased price comes from inflation, and what part comes from the capital investment that's gone into upgrading and adding lifts - but I'd guess it's 50-50 or thereabouts. Like others said - it's possible to ski for a lot less than walk-up prices. I've been able to buy unlimited season passes for between $350-$550 from coast to coast since roughly 1998 (here, Colorado, EC) and have gone enough to bring the price per day down into the 20's. The Summit "Gold" pass came with 5 days at Crystal built into the price, and I think that was something like $500. You can ski at Whistler for $48(Can) after April 18th with an Edge Card.... Anyhow - the main comment I was responding to was the notion that Crystal is a little hill relative to some other destination. When you factor in the vert, the stuff under the lifts, and the stuff you can hit with 1-30 minutes worth of hiking I have a hard time putting Crystal in the "little" category vs anything in the PNW aside from Whistler. After serving a three year sentence on the East Coast at little POS resorts with man-made deathpack that charged $65+, so Crystal will always seem like a bargain to me. Quote
JayB Posted March 13, 2010 Posted March 13, 2010 If Crystal isn't worth it at $65-70/day - what is? Do tell - 'cause I'd love to ski there. Nowhere. That's why I largely gave up on lift skiing. I reserve paying for a lift ticket for those times where some friends want to go up who don't BC ski and I can chalk it up to a social event. Other than that, paying to get carried up the hill so you have your mountain experience crowded by other people isn't worth the money. Sounds reasonable once you reach a certain skill level. As other have said, for folks just starting out going the BC-only route is a license to suck.... Quote
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