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Is Vail Resorts mandating changes in their parks or something?
I keep seeing bits of info that lead me to believe Vail resorts is scaling back terrain parks at their resorts. I hear about long time park crew members leaving places like Keystone and Breckenridge due to poor management/direction that vail is taking parks in. Feel like I heard something about them scaling back on xl hits. Also saw rip freeway on a few posts...
Park crew guy at big boulder posted this. Pisses me off they are closed this early. I know damn well under old management they’d be open every weekend still and would have a sick ass May Day.
rip
holy shit you could almost have a top to bottom park, that pisses me off
eheathIt's been stated multiple times in this thread that vail has cut budgets across the board because of COVID, people just like to complain and make assumptions.
We crowdfund grants for minorities to ride park and then we ask them to ask VR for bigger park budgets so that the feedback is coming from their new key demographic rather than washed up park rats that don't buy anything except a pass.
Maybe Katz might listen then.
If we can't pull that off we should pitch it as an episode of It's always sunny.
I now own 2x houses and lap park with my wife. But not XL anymore!!
I want more 20ft tables. There’s always a too big of a gap between large and kiddie parks. More in the middle please! My wife^
Saga.Exactly this. Remember how every resort in the 2000s had a halfpipe? Snow features require more snow, more equipment use and more labor hours. When you're looking at what type of terrain the majority of your customers are paying for and what type of terrain you're spending the most money on it's not hard to see the difference and why some resorts will scale back parks.
Unless my college professors were lying to me, real estate is what keeps ski resorts running. The last time I checked I didn't see very many current or potential homeowners lapping the park. Resorts aren't likely to put money into aspects of their business that aren't proven to bring them a solid return on their investment.
snomasterI now own 2x houses and lap park with my wife. But not XL anymore!!
I want more 20ft tables. There’s always a too big of a gap between large and kiddie parks. More in the middle please! My wife^
The general public kills themselves on medium sized jumps medium. Also jumps with real take offs, and landing require lots of maintenance even if they are Small/Medium, so most park crews aint got funding/hours to build/maintain a lot em them. and then a gaper would come be like hey that jumps not very big I'm gonna send it like x games, and land on his neck in the flats. The End
Does anyone know if Pick Axe at Park City is gone now too? It's not on the trail map anymore. First they came for Transitions, it would really suck to lose Pick Axe as well.
CyanicenineDoes anyone know if Pick Axe at Park City is gone now too? It's not on the trail map anymore. First they came for Transitions, it would really suck to lose Pick Axe as well.
who knows, they are building a new lift right through there so maybe they nixed it?
I think the new base terminal for Eagle is shifted a bit. Not sure what way. The only issue that would present is tower placement in relation to half pipe
eheathwho knows, they are building a new lift right through there so maybe they nixed it?
SkiBum.I think the new base terminal for Eagle is shifted a bit. Not sure what way. The only issue that would present is tower placement in relation to half pipe
were talking about pick ax aka neff land up on the ridge, not 3 kings.
Damn, you are totally right. I've never thought of it like that, but it really just isn't economically feasible.
The.FishTo be fair, the xl parks probably aren't the best return on investment since only about 1% of skiers are skilled enough to hit them. They also take a crap ton of snow and cat hours to build. Why bother spending money on something if almost nobody will use it?
eheathwere talking about pick ax aka neff land up on the ridge, not 3 kings.
Ohhh, I can't keep all those names straight, haha.
I think there were plans somewhere for that new Eagle lift that they released. I think the top terminal is little different and I do remember Eaglet lift, the little one along side neff land will be removed.
Maybe this all has been said, Idk, I am sleep deprived and rambling
SkiBum.Ohhh, I can't keep all those names straight, haha.
I think there were plans somewhere for that new Eagle lift that they released. I think the top terminal is little different and I do remember Eaglet lift, the little one along side neff land will be removed.
Maybe this all has been said, Idk, I am sleep deprived and rambling
This has some good info about it, Im stoked they're getting another high speed to the base, PC needs it. I often going to eagle on the weekends because its less busy and now it will be even more convenient.
Yes, I’ve heard from a lot of people, they want it to be more family friendly. While ikon resorts have that send it vibe lol, and a lot of their resorts are smaller family owned vibe. Just like skiing is at the heart and they want everyone to have fun on a small mountain. I don’t know many vail resorts like that.
theabortionatorAcross the board Vail has. een decreasing parks though. They put some money into Afton alps. I think keystone built them features. Idk how successful their park was though. Don't here much about it.
Look at Beaver Creek. They had a lretty sick lark and now I think they're down to one baby park. I guess they built some little jumps and had to tear them down. That park program is a dumpster fire at this point.
Honestly that park was more fun than Vails a lot of times.
Yea 2010ish Beaver Creek was sick! I remember at least 3 different parks with all levels of features, highlighted by a pretty big triple jump line.
In other news about vail, they’re moving the park to a different trail on my my which makes literally no sense. It’s on some blue trail that ends up down in a valley forcing you to take another lift. Previously our park had its own lift and it was nice because you could see the whole park from the lift and there was a nice flat spot to gather at the top. This new trail just merges onto another one and it just literally so stupid. The jbar park is still where it is but it would make more sense to have it be with the whole park imo. Unless they’re getting rid of that too. If anyone from roundtop knows more about this feel free to speak on it, my only source for this was the updated trail map for this year.
ski_salmon69In other news about vail, they’re moving the park to a different trail on my my which makes literally no sense. It’s on some blue trail that ends up down in a valley forcing you to take another lift. Previously our park had its own lift and it was nice because you could see the whole park from the lift and there was a nice flat spot to gather at the top. This new trail just merges onto another one and it just literally so stupid. The jbar park is still where it is but it would make more sense to have it be with the whole park imo. Unless they’re getting rid of that too. If anyone from roundtop knows more about this feel free to speak on it, my only source for this was the updated trail map for this year.
wait which run are they moving it to? Moving the current set up literally makes zero fucking sense
ski_salmon69In other news about vail, they’re moving the park to a different trail on my my which makes literally no sense. It’s on some blue trail that ends up down in a valley forcing you to take another lift. Previously our park had its own lift and it was nice because you could see the whole park from the lift and there was a nice flat spot to gather at the top. This new trail just merges onto another one and it just literally so stupid. The jbar park is still where it is but it would make more sense to have it be with the whole park imo. Unless they’re getting rid of that too. If anyone from roundtop knows more about this feel free to speak on it, my only source for this was the updated trail map for this year.
Yea, not a big fan of the change. Susquehanna should make a decent park, but it won't have the same vibe fife had. It also doesn't make sense since susq is one of the only fun trails to ski. Ski school wanted more room to teach lessons so everyone else gets screwed, including non park riders.
TOAST.Yea, not a big fan of the change. Susquehanna should make a decent park, but it won't have the same vibe fife had. It also doesn't make sense since susq is one of the only fun trails to ski. Ski school wanted more room to teach lessons so everyone else gets screwed, including non park riders.
Yeah definitely. My main concern is it’s a huge connector trail to get to the other side of the mountain and a lot of traffic through the park is never good
Vail got rid of the entire whistler park and only has a park on blackcomb now. This happened last season and I thought was maybe due to a covid year or something but its the same this year as well. RIP whistler park, was always so much fun, mellow and mad flowy. blackcomb park is so steep its such a different vibe :(
the only answer is to spend your money where the mountain is built in a way that suits you. I know I will be getting land only adjacent to a resort which actively invests in it's park. I'm 31 and still lapping the park. Also, be prepared in the future to bring your vision to the industry if you feel it is lacking. It's going to take continued support to keep freestyle skiing on people's minds. Every year old heads fade away and the sport will need new energy to keep the stoke alive.
I would hardly say this is indicative of much, the whole industry has been seeing increased participation since covid and owning such a huge market share they are bound to sell more passes with everyone else
a_burgerI would hardly say this is indicative of much, the whole industry has been seeing increased participation since covid and owning such a huge market share they are bound to sell more passes with everyone else
the epic pass is $200 cheaper this year too so thats mostly why they sold so many this year. I have friends who havent gotten a pass in a couple years and they decided to get an epic local because its so cheap. Lots of these new passholders will ski < 10 days a year, I dont think its gonna make a big difference.
eheathThis has some good info about it, Im stoked they're getting another high speed to the base, PC needs it. I often going to eagle on the weekends because its less busy and now it will be even more convenient.
So we are well above average snow pack right now and we only have one terrain park open right now at PCMR. Contrast that with previous years and by now we should have Transitions, Pick Axe, Little Kings as well as 3 Kings. 2 seasons ago all of those would be open right now. Even last year with crap all for snow they got Little Kings open by Jan 1st. I assume it's partially a staffing issue, but I bought my pass because of these terrain park options and I'm feeling pretty ripped off.
In slightly unrelated news, does anyone know if the rumors about Snowbird revamping their park are true? I heard that Woodward was going to take over the build and that it might be moved to a different lift. Any confirmations?
CyanicenineSo we are well above average snow pack right now and we only have one terrain park open right now at PCMR. Contrast that with previous years and by now we should have Transitions, Pick Axe, Little Kings as well as 3 Kings. 2 seasons ago all of those would be open right now. Even last year with crap all for snow they got Little Kings open by Jan 1st. I assume it's partially a staffing issue, but I bought my pass because of these terrain park options and I'm feeling pretty ripped off.
In slightly unrelated news, does anyone know if the rumors about Snowbird revamping their park are true? I heard that Woodward was going to take over the build and that it might be moved to a different lift. Any confirmations?
Park City has an amazing park on its own lift, miss me with this "im feeling pretty ripped off" take.
Right now they're blowing a shit ton of snow on pick n shovel/the superpipe, no idea about little kings (it was empty on sunday but not open either) and pick axe is usually last, transitions is presumably gone but who knows. With this much natural snow, I would expect both little kings and pick axe to have features, just might take a bit because of staffing.
PC can't even staff up all of their lifts, I'm sure the terrain parks are pretty low on their priorities.
eheathPark City has an amazing park on its own lift, miss me with this "im feeling pretty ripped off" take.
Some of us suck at park skiing.
It turns out it's not that fun trying to learn a basic rail slide while literal pros are whipping by you. It's also unsafe for me and for them, because I'm hitting the features at a quarter speed they are and can only hit about 1/3rd of the features, so I'm clogging up the run weaving over to the one feature I can actually hit, when really I should just be in a park that is built for someone like me. The elitism in park skiing is something that needs to die. Having friendly learner parks available should be a norm and a priority in order to grow the sport as well as keep everyone safe. PCMR used to be amazing for this, but not lately.
It turns out it's not that fun trying to learn a basic rail slide while literal pros are whipping by you. It's also unsafe for me and for them, because I'm hitting the features at a quarter speed they are and can only hit about 1/3rd of the features, so I'm clogging up the run weaving over to the one feature I can actually hit, when really I should just be in a park that is built for someone like me. The elitism in park skiing is something that needs to die. Having friendly learner parks available should be a norm and a priority in order to grow the sport as well as keep everyone safe. PCMR used to be amazing for this, but not lately.
Sorry if it came off as elitism, I didn't mean it that way, I think it's kinda silly to say you felt "ripped off" when park city isn't a "park" mountain. If you bought a membership to woodward and they only had a high level park then sure, thats reasonable.
That being said, I'm a big supporter of the other parks and often ski through the small parks (cause i don't really ski park anymore) when I'm cruising around the mountain. Little kings will definitely get built and I hope for all of us they build pick axe as well, that medium jump line is about all i got left in me.
Sorry if my realism attitude came off poorly, I didn't mean for that, but for now all park city has is 3 kings.
eheathPark City has an amazing park on its own lift, miss me with this "im feeling pretty ripped off" take.
Right now they're blowing a shit ton of snow on pick n shovel/the superpipe, no idea about little kings (it was empty on sunday but not open either) and pick axe is usually last, transitions is presumably gone but who knows. With this much natural snow, I would expect both little kings and pick axe to have features, just might take a bit because of staffing.
PC can't even staff up all of their lifts, I'm sure the terrain parks are pretty low on their priorities.
