Mt Ellen Ticket - Question....

[mattlucas]

Assuming midwinter, all lifts open etc....

Will a Mt Ellen ticket get you on the slide brook at 3pm-ish if you're staying on the mountain at south, or do you have to wait for the bus?
Seems like it would be a nice courtesy to be able to take the chair, not sure if the lifties have specific instructions about it.

It's not quite all access, you board at north, and it acheives the goal of spreading out traffic, correct?

[vonski]

I don't think they will let you board to go across with out an all mountain ticket. They have scanners at the lift at least they did in the past. Now if U bribe them or something that may work.

[ski_resort_observer]

People that have an All Mountain tik/SP pay much more for being able to ski both mountains and use the SBX which connects the two mountains. Sugarbush pays alot of money to offer a free shuttle around the resort, between the two mountains and to get to Warren and Waitsfield which is a wonderful courtesy appreciated by 99% of our guests. It works for them.

[summitchallenger]

People that have an All Mountain tik/SP pay much more for being able to ski both mountains and use the SBX which connects the two mountains. Sugarbush pays alot of money to offer a free shuttle around the resort, between the two mountains and to get to Warren and Waitsfield which is a wonderful courtesy appreciated by 99% of our guests. It works for them.

And how does this answer the question?

To answer you, plan on riding the bus. The tickets are coded differently and, assuming that they check your pass at Mount Ellen before boarding, which in my experience they sometimes don't do, then you have no dice.

[gone.skiing]

Never been scanned at SBX, not sure if they could tell by looking at the pass. The problem is that from the top of SBX you can get to the top of Gate House and then skate over to North Lynx or Castlerock connection which gets you to the rest of the mountain for the last hour.

[ski_resort_observer]

People that have an All Mountain tik/SP pay much more for being able to ski both mountains and use the SBX which connects the two mountains. Sugarbush pays alot of money to offer a free shuttle around the resort, between the two mountains and to get to Warren and Waitsfield which is a wonderful courtesy appreciated by 99% of our guests. It works for them.

And how does this answer the question?

To answer you, plan on riding the bus. The tickets are coded differently and, assuming that they check your pass at Mount Ellen before boarding, which in my experience they sometimes don't do, then you have no dice.

I thought I did......you pay more for the All mountain tik which includes the use of SBX. A Mt Ellen tik does not. Letting folks use the SBX with a Mt Ellen only tik is not fair to those who have paid the extra moula. The scanning thing doesn't play into the OP at all.

[Strat]

I've been scanned at Slide Brook at North... I don't take it terribly often but I wouldn't say it's an unusual occurrence...

[Tin Woodsman]

People that have an All Mountain tik/SP pay much more for being able to ski both mountains and use the SBX which connects the two mountains. Sugarbush pays alot of money to offer a free shuttle around the resort, between the two mountains and to get to Warren and Waitsfield which is a wonderful courtesy appreciated by 99% of our guests. It works for them.

Doesn't really answer the question. Rather just parrots the party line. I don't think opening up the SBX for the last 30 minutes of its operation would be too bad. That's when you're generally going to have the most traffic between the resorts and by the time you get to South, you don't have much time before the upper mtn lifts close anyway, so you're not getting much of a freebie, if any.

As for SB paying a lot of money for the Mad Bus - they did so before the invention of the Ellen only pass, so that's irrelevant.

[win]

The answer is no!

[mattlucas]

yeah, this isn't about skating over to catch a last ride on castlerock...just about easing the burden on the bus between 3-4 pm when it gets crowded with teenagers, commuters, and people exiting slide brook as well as people looking to get from base area to base area. Over the last few years, I have noticed tremendous scanning, even for midmountain lifts like HG or NL and many more people on the mad bus.

My intention would not be to exploit the mountain, this is more about saving time and money with guests and I see 3pm transit to the base area of South being a sunk cost regardless. That said, I do agree that the ride on the slide brook is spectacular enough to charge, but if four people spend 50 bucks each to ski ellen for a day i don't think sending them back to south in the afternoon (particularly if they are checking tickets on mid mountain chairs) as being a bad thing.

Is this clear now? Am i just wrong to feel this way?

I haven't decided yet if i will be purchasing an all mountain ticket or an ellen ticket for this weekend and this might convince me to buy an ellen only ticket one of those days.

[HowieT2]

yeah, this isn't about skating over to catch a last ride on castlerock...just about easing the burden on the bus between 3-4 pm when it gets crowded with teenagers, commuters, and people exiting slide brook as well as people looking to get from base area to base area. Over the last few years, I have noticed tremendous scanning, even for midmountain lifts like HG or NL and many more people on the mad bus.

My intention would not be to exploit the mountain, this is more about saving time and money with guests and I see 3pm transit to the base area of South being a sunk cost regardless. That said, I do agree that the ride on the slide brook is spectacular enough to charge, but if four people spend 50 bucks each to ski ellen for a day i don't think sending them back to south in the afternoon (particularly if they are checking tickets on mid mountain chairs) as being a bad thing.

Is this clear now? Am i just wrong to feel this way?

I haven't decided yet if i will be purchasing an all mountain ticket or an ellen ticket for this weekend and this might convince me to buy an ellen only ticket one of those days.

If you want to park at LP, drink at LP or ski at LP why would you buy a restricted ME only pass? I totally understand why SB wouldn't let ME only passes on the SBX. Once you take the SBX to LP, you could ski anywhere. The only thing you couldn't do is use the lifts from the base.

[vonski]

Win, summed it up no! But the comment that if you could ride the SBX back at three and that is why you would only buy an Ellen pass: Is the point that the mountain does not do that as they will loose money that way. Cause what your saying is that I won't buy an all mountain pass cause I can get back to South anyways. Defeats the purpose in my opinion. Also if you catch the bus by 3:00 it is never that crowded at that point.

[summitchallenger]

Unfortunately, there has to be a line drawn somewhere. You are getting a cheaper ticket and if that means you have to drive the two miles or so, you are still saving money.

[boze]

The question is a valid one, esp when viewed as a guest services matter.
There's lots of scenarios where one might want to ski ME all day, then return to LP to meet up with friends, family or head back to their LP house / condo / rental. Sure there's the bus option, got that, fine. But for many there is a much preferred / easier way - the SBX.

Opening up the SBX at 330p for all comers during its final loading would pose what issue? I've never encountered a huge line at that time, and the chair is spinning & manned - sunk costs. If there is a crowd then loading would be on a space-available basis (but maybe that's too much training / logistics). Anyway, by the time the ME guests disembark on the LP side, around 345p, the mid-mtn lifts at LP will be closed. And it's much more likely some of these folks would stop off at Gatehouse / CR pub and may spend a few bucks...I doubt any on the bus would do the same.

So, it's about serving the guests, reasonable acoommodations, and not making this into some class warfare of ME tix/passes vs All access tix/passes. There's hardly a comparison to the amount of terrain the all access folks enjoy, and offering very limited late-day access to the SBX for ME tix is hardly going to dillute the overall value of the all access tix.

[Yard Sale]

The question is a valid one, esp when viewed as a guest services matter.
There's lots of scenarios where one might want to ski ME all day, then return to LP to meet up with friends, family or head back to their LP house / condo / rental. Sure there's the bus option, got that, fine. But for many there is a much preferred / easier way - the SBX.

Opening up the SBX at 330p for all comers during its final loading would pose what issue? I've never encountered a huge line at that time, and the chair is spinning & manned - sunk costs. If there is a crowd then loading would be on a space-available basis (but maybe that's too much training / logistics). Anyway, by the time the ME guests disembark on the LP side, around 345p, the mid-mtn lifts at LP will be closed. And it's much more likely some of these folks would stop off at Gatehouse / CR pub and may spend a few bucks...I doubt any on the bus would do the same.

So, it's about serving the guests, reasonable acoommodations, and not making this into some class warfare of ME tix/passes vs All access tix/passes. There's hardly a comparison to the amount of terrain the all access folks enjoy, and offering very limited late-day access to the SBX for ME tix is hardly going to dillute the overall value of the all access tix.

Why not open all the lifts at 3:30 free of charge? They can't possibly sell tickets at that hour anyway. The lifts running anyway. Maybe this good will would prompt the additional sale of a beer or a t-shirt.

Guest service and reasonable accomodation are service items that are paid for. Even "complementary" services are also typically paid for but the cost is hidden. You get what you pay for.

I imagine that the principle might be that offering open an lift policy would diminish the value of the full price ticket.