Stevens Pass Open Forum

I have to work that day so here are my thoughts:

the good:
RIFD or whatever it is called seems to be working smoothly, I no longer see huge lines at the ticket window, (mind you I have not been there on that many weekends (I can imagine there would have been quite a few lines yesterday), It also seems to be alleviating lift lines a bit. (again I have not been there on that many weekends). but there does seem to be less hassle associated with getting on a lift.
However some of the sensors are better then others. for example the ones of sky have been great. The ones on chief suck. and I really mean they suck.
I do think this system has a lot of pottential in the future too. for example lift tickets/passes that are only good on certain lifts, a certain amount of runs, a set time interval, or even a set amount of vertical. So some one could buy a pass good for 8000 vertical feet over two days.
It would also be cool if you guys came up with a 'mystevenspass' website where people could track such personal stats like average vertical/time, total vertical feet, which lifts they have ridden, which lifts they ride more then others and so on and so forth. I think that would be really cool and provide a unique experience for customers.

grooming/run maintence has been outstanding when I have been up there. even when it was icy the runs were nice and smooth.

the park can almost be considered into this catagory.  It started out great.  I was really impressed with the ammount of features opened on the first day.
but now while the park is still decent it is in my opinion not up to what it could be. Yes there is not alot of snow right now and the cold night temps with warm day temps make moving and shaping snow hard. but there should be some more rails set up. the lower part of the park is nonexistant. set some rails up down there, you have the rails sitting to the side of the runs. look at places on the east coast that have half the snow we currently have (or even 1/4) yet they are still able to get their rails up.  So far all the boxes/rails I have hit have been supper smooth, and set up really well, so get some more out there.

the bad:
picking up season passes on the first day. It was run like shit. I mean shit, what the fuck were you thinking? Send everyone up to a makeshift guest relations place that could at max serve three people at once, that was when one of the GR people was running off taking a break or dealing with some kink that should have been worked out before hand? Also it seemed to me that half of those people should not have been in that line since they could have had their passes mailed to them. There were plenty of people in that line who bought an adult pass that did not need to show proof of age or enrolment or whatever to get their pass. Would it really have been that hard to transfer everyones photo and info to the new system? My guess is that I could pull one under grad out of the CSE program at any college/university and they could have it figured out in an hour, and at most a day.

your toliet seats , yes this one is kind of a joke but when I went in to take a crap, and holy shit was that toilet seat low. It fealt like my but was just above my ankles.  not a biggie just sayin.

The ugly:
This next grievence is the worst by far: and that is the rail jam,
First off I never heard who won the 14-18 skier and the 18+ skier catagories. It seemed like you just jumped from the

the only thing i will agree with you on

wow my post got cut off so continuing on from my last post about the failure of the comp:

So did no one enter the 14-18 and 18+ age groups? or what? never heard who won those (skiing)
And for the real error, was the failure to give out cash prizes as promised. If I am not mistaken no cash prize was awarded to either the 1st place pro skier or pro snowboarder. Whats up with that. Many of the people who turned out traveled a pretty significant distance to compete because they were under the impression that there would be a cash prize (well it was promised). I was pretty impressed with the turn out this year, and that is due to the cash purse that was advertised. If Stevens is deciding it is time to start a new policy of not following through with what they promised then I would not be surprised if it falls down to the level that it was a few years ago.
I really hope Stevens realizes its mistakes with the rail jam, rights them by awarding the prizes they should have, and ends their current policy of inadequacy.  Because right now their behavior is unacceptable.

yes the toilet seats are low. and the toilets are also run off of non-potable water, so be careful. a couple more hooks or baskets would be nice in the stalls.

parking lot expansion. why oh why is yodelin getting the priority?

i feel like a cow in the RFID processing units. some people haven't quite figured out it works better to keep your pass/ticket on the left-hand side where the scanner is....maybe the lift attendants could give "helpful hints" to struggling guests? can't really complain though, if you're sneaky and only with a few people you can jump thru the RFID gates faster and be a few chairs and ahead and gain 30 seconds of skiing.

the outer limits grill. the smell is soooo good and gets my stomach growling and angry when im in the big chief line.

and i want $50 seasons pass, a pony, and a rainbow.

yup. agreeed

You guys didnt make it snow enough this year.

ahem, billy~

the park is real nice, but while ago there was a suggestion for getting rid of th pipe for like 4 jumps and more rails? that would be nice. also the propane bonk/tap thing needs a a wider take off and jump so you can it the right side and sort of hand drag the tank.

Cobra-

Thank you for your input I’ll try and respond the best I can;

I will agree the RFID implementation hasn’t gone off without a hitch this season, however I do believe there’s a learning curve associated with that. This year is definitely about getting familiar with the RFID both as a resort and as a guest. Once people get the hang of using the media and the gates, things will be much more enjoyable. Also as people become more familiar about the benefits of the online features of RFID things will go a lot smoother at the ticket windows. This also correlates to your comments about the season pass lines at the beginning of the season. Next year it will be possible for every season pass holder to renew their pass online. Thus not having to wait in line for a new pass, but heading straight to the lifts on your first day.

We’ve thought about a vertical feet tracker and it’s something we’re planning on implementing. I can’t tell you exactly when it will be in fruition but hopefully sooner rather than later. That goes with the ‘lift specific’ tickets as well. With the new RFID system the possibilities are endless. We’ve got other awesome ideas such as a facebook app that will tell you where you friends are on the mountain at any given time so you can track them down. Personally I think the future looks bright with RFID, it just takes time to work everything out.  At this point getting the basic features and functionality on lock down is key.

Thank you for your comments about the grooming I will pass them along. We’ve made great strides in making sure the grooming of the mountain is superb as well as keeping it as environmentally friendly as it can be with our grooming patterns.

As for the park, not sure when the last time you were up was but I can say this past week several new features have been added. New jumps, rails and features make for pretty fun laps right now. I was out there yesterday for a couple runs and had a blast! A few storms wouldn’t hurt the building of jumps and such, even the new features that were put in this week have evidence of dirt in them. The park is an ongoing process throughout the season and is one that mother nature has not cooperated on.

Toilets? Really? This is a first! I will inquire about this suggestion. I would recommend the bathrooms outside the Foggy Goggle, use them frequently never have the fear of falling in. Maybe also try and go for the pre-gamer sans ski boots.

The rail jam- on the skiing side there was no one entered in the 15-17 age category and only one person entered in the non-open pro 18+ division (which I’m assuming was you?). Since there was only one person in that category they automatically got moved into the Open Pro division which it stated on the info sheet at registration. It stated: **If any categories have 5 people or less they will be combined**.  I let it slide for the 14&Under which had 3 competitors but to only have one person in a division isn’t much of a competition. I apologize if that was not made clear I will take your input and make sure it is acknowledged for the next jam.   

As for the cash prize purse, I’ll be honest I completely spaced it during the awards. I didn’t have physical cash or check to give the winners at the time so it wasn’t even on my radar. However I contacted Brett M. & Ivan M (the open pro winners) and have sent them their checks. I know it looks bad that I didn’t give them their checks at the award, and believe me I feel like an idiot, but rest assured they were awarded their cash prize for taking top honors.

Thanks again Cobra for sharing your thoughts, all of which are valuable and issues that need to be visited. As for everyone else I hope you all can make it out this Saturday to let us know your comments & concerns about these types of issues. Thanks again dudes!  

-Nate-

Kudos to you then.

and a facebook app sounds awesome.

and yes, I was the one person who entered the 18+, and I really just did it for shits and giggles. I know I skied like crap, that was my second day of skiing rails so whatever. I did not care about that.

just to clear it up.

Dudes, WTF?! No one showed up for this! I had to eat 4 pizzas to myself then I had to use those short toilets...

You guys can never say we didn't try! I understand that everyone likes to sit at home behind their computer screen and bitch so maybe we will try a different avenue.

Would you guys be up for an online open forum? I'm thinking if a couple Stevens Pass representatives were online at certain time would you type your questions or concerns there? Ultimately we are attempting to listen to what you guys have to say and in turn make this place way radder than it is. If you guys aren't into something like this that's cool too but let me know and i'll try to set it up. Let me know dudes...

-Nate-

I told you so.

I would have been there but I had to work.
the other kids are just lazy.

Fuck! I broke my bindings around 2 that day and had to go in but completely forgot. Not sure I had anything to say but I wouldve chilled with you haha. Yeah online forum is much more practical really, the problem with trying to get your core skiers to meet at the hill is well, obviously they are on the hill so they are only going to be thinking about skiing~

I wish I had an opinion! I haven't been skiing yet

fucking money

Nate,

Would have come, but work called. The community that rides up there is very... patchy. We're up at times, mostly when you least expect us. You did try, I think we all commend you for that, and thanks for attempting to get feedback from us, really. As bad as it might be, I think comment cards and listening to the community on here might simply be the best way of finding out our likes and dislikes.

So far though, aside from the lack of new snow, Stevens has really raised the bar this year. The RFID transition has had few snags, at least in my eyes, and I really hope you can get some kind of tracker for how many feet each person logs each year, just for yuks and bragging rights. My only gripes so far are this:

- Seating in Granite Peaks: Good, but fuck me does it get crowded. Overall, more places to hang AND dry your gear would help this, as 6 seats are taken for 3 peoples asses, plates and helmets, goggles, ect. Just some coat racks and hangers would work well, something to consider next year.

- Parking: I know this isnt something that can be fixed easily, but it is an issue. I'm a weekday skier this season, but when I went during peak times in December-Jan, dear god. Something needs to be done to increase capacity at the area. Yodelin is a bitch. Nordic center, Christ in a chicken basket. Most of the time I dont have to use them, but when you are filled to the brim, you need another solution. Especially if the area is going to put in more chairs and increase their capacity.

I'm not to ride park that much, but considering the conditions, the park has been stellar this year. I just hope we can finally get some lights on it so that night sessions are so sketchy, especially the top section.

Lastly, can we get a jaccuzzi near the bathrooms at the backside base?

second that

thirds