Holiday Crowds 2020

[hillbangin]

So....It was pretty quiet up there over the break. The 2 footer before XMas had bigger crowds.

New Years weekend crowd barely used up the parking in K1, Lower Shed, 1/2 of Vale, and a 1/4 of Bear. And the skiing was much better than last year if I remember correctly.

I'm guessing that the business will run based on Season pass sales and some fraction of expected IKON visits.

Mother nature better kick in at some point. I don't think or expect that we are going to get The Glacier or any massive snowmaking show.

Mountain IMO has done a great job so far considering the situation.

[skilab]

Interestingly many businesses on the access road were overwhelmed this past week. I had two business owners tell me they had their highest revenue in a December ever. It will be interesting to see the fallout from all the non quarantining partying as usual visitors over the next few weeks.

[Stormchaser]

All condo lots full. Barely any lift lines. Empty parking lots.

[ski]

It will be interesting to see the fallout from all the non quarantining partying as usual visitors over the next few weeks.

The fallout has begun . . . . Clear River Inn in Pittsfield is closed because of a positive in the management team . .

[hillbangin]

All condo lots full. Barely any lift lines. Empty parking lots.

Bizarro.....

As for the comment about the best December ever....That could mean a lot of things. I HIGHLY doubt best REVENUE ever. It's not possible given the lack of attendees over the break. Maybe most profitable because Staff costs are so far down with everyone running skeleton crews. Unless they are making it up Mid Week due to all of the new Killington residents?

[Seacoaster]

My friends and family must be at a different resort, they reported to much traffic, mots days they were out for less than an hour as "it wasn't worth it".
My hope is midweeks go back to somewhat normal loads. I think a lot of people had a lot of vacation time to burn and used it in December. as for the temporary residents, they are likely just that, about the time we are still getting snow in April/May and we have 4-6 weeks of "the cloud" not seeing the sun, the twinkle in their eye will squander.

[jimmywilson69]

so you're telling me everyone was in Killington but not skiing? even if conditions were meh, as I read on here, I'd think they'd have been out. Was everyone taking a shuttle to the mountain?

something doesn't add up...

[spanky]

As I mentioned in a couple of the daily reports last week, while there were some long lift lines at Hunter, the trails never felt crowded... even with limited terrain open. I attribute the long lift lines to reduced lift capacity and not to overcrowding.

Yes, there were a few instances where Belt Parkway was a little “intimate”, but even that wasn’t too bad considering the holiday.

[tyrolean_skier]

As I mentioned in a couple of the daily reports last week, while there were some long lift lines at Hunter, the trails never felt crowded... even with limited terrain open. I attribute the long lift lines to reduced lift capacity and not to overcrowding.

Yes, there were a few instances where Belt Parkway was a little “intimate”, but even that wasn’t too bad considering the holiday.

Will we see you at Killington this year or are you only skiing Epic resorts?

[BoozeTan]

I rode on Wednesday and Thursday last week and other than the K1 and the S6 there were no lift lines at all, even the SPE4 had no lines.

[RENO]

I expected Saturday to be packed because of fresh snow overnight and maybe the usual weekend crowd along with holiday people, but it was pretty empty. Rode most of the day by myself. Maybe 2 lift rides with another person. Hardly any lift lines. Didn't bother with the gondolas. Thurs and Fri wasn't that bad either. New years day is usually pretty quiet early because of all the partiers, but it never really got crowded. Not much partying at the establishments on K Road either. Hopefully people also kept the partying to a minimum in homes,hotels, etc... I just walked to and from the ski area from my condo. Didn't even bother with the shuttle. 10-13 minute walk to Snowshed or Rams.

[spanky]

As I mentioned in a couple of the daily reports last week, while there were some long lift lines at Hunter, the trails never felt crowded... even with limited terrain open. I attribute the long lift lines to reduced lift capacity and not to overcrowding.

Yes, there were a few instances where Belt Parkway was a little “intimate”, but even that wasn’t too bad considering the holiday.

Will we see you at Killington this year or are you only skiing Epic resorts?

If you don't see me, does that mean I didn't ski there? ;)

I'm optimistic on K-mart but the Epic pass may lure us further north if we want to follow VT quarantine rules.

[KingsFourMan]

Was up there for a few days between Christmas and New years and was pleasantly surprised, other than the usual crush at Rams Head, the K1 and the bubble from about 10:00-11:30, I thought the crowd was very manageable. And all of those lift lines were only big because of spacing. We thought it was pretty obvious that there were a lot less people there due to the quarantine restrictions. The good folks down at First Stop Ski shop said that their business traffic was way down for that time period which they attributed to the travel restrictions. I incorrectly predicted that skiing was going to be a major cluster this year but so far it doesn't look that way. Seems a lot more people than I thought are respecting the quarantine rules. We even sat in the K1 lodge and had lunch one day. Fortunately we got there about 10:45 and were able to walk right in. By the time we left, a fairly long line to get in had formed. We ate in the almost empty Mahogany Ridge bar, I couldn't help but think about all the lost revenue from all those expensive drinks not being sold at the bar which is usually 3 people deep by that time of day.

[RENO]

Was up there for a few days between Christmas and New years and was pleasantly surprised, other than the usual crush at Rams Head, the K1 and the bubble from about 10:00-11:30, I thought the crowd was very manageable. And all of those lift lines were only big because of spacing. We thought it was pretty obvious that there were a lot less people there due to the quarantine restrictions. The good folks down at First Stop Ski shop said that their business traffic was way down for that time period which they attributed to the travel restrictions. I incorrectly predicted that skiing was going to be a major cluster this year but so far it doesn't look that way. Seems a lot more people than I thought are respecting the quarantine rules. We even sat in the K1 lodge and had lunch one day. Fortunately we got there about 10:45 and were able to walk right in. By the time we left, a fairly long line to get in had formed. We ate in the almost empty Mahogany Ridge bar, I couldn't help but think about all the lost revenue from all those expensive drinks not being sold at the bar which is usually 3 people deep by that time of day.

It was pretty depressing going into any of the lodges. Just absolutely dead. Usually you see a lot of happy people, drinking, eating, watching sports, laughing, etc... Maybe someone playing guitar in the corner. Grab a beer or other drink. Only went in a couple times to hit the bathroom and get some water. Felt like a prison line. Getting scanned. Really just sucks everywhere right now. It's like a bad twilight episode! Hope things get better...

[hillbangin]

Was up there for a few days between Christmas and New years and was pleasantly surprised, other than the usual crush at Rams Head, the K1 and the bubble from about 10:00-11:30, I thought the crowd was very manageable. And all of those lift lines were only big because of spacing. We thought it was pretty obvious that there were a lot less people there due to the quarantine restrictions. The good folks down at First Stop Ski shop said that their business traffic was way down for that time period which they attributed to the travel restrictions. I incorrectly predicted that skiing was going to be a major cluster this year but so far it doesn't look that way. Seems a lot more people than I thought are respecting the quarantine rules. We even sat in the K1 lodge and had lunch one day. Fortunately we got there about 10:45 and were able to walk right in. By the time we left, a fairly long line to get in had formed. We ate in the almost empty Mahogany Ridge bar, I couldn't help but think about all the lost revenue from all those expensive drinks not being sold at the bar which is usually 3 people deep by that time of day.

It was pretty depressing going into any of the lodges. Just absolutely dead. Usually you see a lot of happy people, drinking, eating, watching sports, laughing, etc... Maybe someone playing guitar in the corner. Grab a beer or other drink. Only went in a couple times to hit the bathroom and get some water. Felt like a prison line. Getting scanned. Really just sucks everywhere right now. It's like a bad twilight episode! Hope things get better...

Skiing is fun - but I miss happy hour, music, and the hot tub.