eheathIDK if i'd call the increase "massive" traffic in LCC and BCC has always been a thing. Even 10 years ago if the canyon is closed you sit in a huge line of cars and then creep up to the mnt and you lucky if you're skiing by 10am. There is an increase in skiers though, SLC's population has doubled in the last 10 years, definitely some new skiers in there, like you ;)
The bigger issue I see is parking, BBC especially has some huge problems, the lots are just too small. But, what is the solution? Mammoth has a similar issue, very small lots and everyone just lines the road with cars, seems like the future of BCC at least. I definitely noticed an increase in traffic/parking in BCC this year, Ikon pass as solitude is definitely causing some of that, but the brighton millennial pass did the same thing last year.
But, it's hard to complain this year, of course people wanna go skiing in Utah it has snowed 400" so far. Will be interesting to see how the ikon pass plays out next year, these resorts with 5-7 days of skiing might just say fuck it.
Mtns should have lots where you can get your stuff on and ski down to a t bar or something that takes you to the resort. I'm guessing that resorts would worry about skiers trying to lap through the lot or something for free, so maybe they would still check passes getting on the lift, requiring day ticket holders to walk or valet, but parking lot lifts imo are the best way to get people from huge lots to the mountain. Would be much easier to do this at a resort that continues further down hill from the mountain, but having roads on one side, you could have all the lots funnel into one trail that takes you to the main resort. Winterpark also has that open gondola thing that runs from one of the lots to the base. The issue is that resorts would rather just make more valet space because it's cheaper for them short term, and creates a bigger "need" for valet parking.
The states in general are pretty far behind as far as transportation accommodation goes. Not only that, but the mega resorts of europe (Val Thorens, Val d'Isere, Tignes, etc) have just so many people that they don't really have the option to just be like "lol just walk" because they have such high skier occupancy, that it is worth the ticket sales.
This brings up the other issue that even if a resort can fit every person that wants to ski, customers aren't gonna be happy if even the mid mountain lifts have a 1 hour lift line wait. It seems that on the individual season pass and ski ticket system, it is a lot easier to predict crowds through lodging and online ticket sales, so it makes sense that many of these resorts opting to join these multi resort passes are unprepared to handle the increased traffic.
