3 Thoughts from me about last weekend

[mattlucas]

1. The patrol and Mountain ops did a fantastic job.

I felt bad that they spent so long foot packing lift line to watch the wind scour it, but I had so many good experiences with staff it really reminded me of the best that Sugarbush has to offer.

Everyone that came to ski Sugarbush with me this weekend has been truly converted due to snow, customer service, terrain, the valley etc.
LP and ME were skied sans Slide Brook. No one had any complaints (except me), just lots of smiles. Thanks for vindicating my 20+ years on the mountain,
you guys are doing a phenomenal job.

2. (beware of whining!) MGMT - Can you please reassess the cost of RF tickets each year until they become feasible?

As an impatient NY'er/part time Jerk, the sight of all those empty chairs going up the hill even for the GATE HOUSE at 3:30 was heartbreaking.
The scanner batteries die all the time in the cold, and I'm lucky if half the time I get a ticket that can be read the first or second time. I understand that you
guys need the data to distribute labor efficiently and make snowmaking decisions etc, but RF is just much faster and I feel that the art of loading
chairs has been totally lost EVERYWHERE due to these devices, not just SB.

3. Thanks again for an awesome trip.

[shadyjay]

As part of the Sugarbush team, thanks for the positive comments. While I've only been with the mountain a week, we all do what we can to provide the best possible experience for our customers. Obviously we cannot control some aspects, such as wind and weather

I truly feel your pain (and everyone else's) about the scanning. They do seem to have some issues in the cold. From what I have noticed, it kind of better manages the crowd control within the corral. After a row has been scanned, they move directly up towards the chair. The only time when chairs get sent up empty is if it is slow - vs the corral full. I apologize but it is our duty to scan everyone. I'm not sure what is done with the data that is scanned, but for those who have "direct to lift" cards, that is how they get charged for their day. It isn't fair to those who pay $70+ for a lift ticket and then to have someone slip by with a Sugarcard and ride for free because they weren't scanned. I've heard it all about the scanners since day 1. Understand they don't work the best on really cold days and that us in lift ops have no control over their replacement. That's just my $.02 on that.

Merry Christmas everyone..... be back to the mtn on Saturday!

[TimKeogh]

Even if it takes 2 or 3 shots at reading the barcode, it is really a non-issue IMHO.

The lines are usually non-existent, and my heart is racing and I am breathing hard as I approach the lift.

So a minute or two interacting with a SB employee during a scan is actually a welcome breather and an enjoyable time to chit-chat.

[skibum1321]

The only time when chairs get sent up empty is if it is slow - vs the corral full.

That is not true at all. It took at least a minute for them to scan my fiancee's pass on Monday morning (when there was a line for first chair). As a result at least 2 chairs went up empty while we waited. Especially for season passes, I think they should try a couple of times and then just let you go. The better lifties definitely do that, but some just keep trying.

[Lostone]

The better lifties definitely do that

"better" is a point of view. The people paying them would say they weren't really better, as they aren't doing their job. The scanners' job is not only to get people on the lift, but to ensure that only those who've paid do so.

I agree that the scanners are a pain, but by your own statement,

It took at least a minute for them to scan my fiancee's pass

It ain't that long. Granted, on Monday morning, a minute seemed like an hour, but it is still... a minute.

[Strat]

In my experience, most of the time if it doesn't work within 10 seconds or so, they let you go ahead... it's the rare liftie who puts in more effort than that...

[skibum1321]

I agree that the scanners are a pain, but by your own statement,

It took at least a minute for them to scan my fiancee's pass

It ain't that long. Granted, on Monday morning, a minute seemed like an hour, but it is still... a minute.

That absolutely is a long time to scan one pass. Just imagine if it took them that long to scan every pass. I realize that they want them to scan all of the passes but they also shouldn't be holding up the line to do so. There is a fine balance there and I think that scanning 95% of the passes should be good enough (and I think most lifties do realize that).

[vonski]

I believe it was two years ago, that I had an older style pass. The barcode was much smaller. The liftie saw the pass and scanned it quickly and said that the old passes scan much easier than the new ones. Not sure why they switched the bar code to the bigger style, but the scanners used to work quickly. Could there be something with the new barcodes that actually causes the problems? I am only going by what a liftie told me. Maybe the bigger bar code holds more secret information about us!!!!

[shadyjay]

By scanning... we know EVERYTHING about you! It even has a GPS tracking system in it so we know when you expert skiers are going down Pushover, and we know that everyone's favorite trail is Downspout

Seriously, unfortunetely from what I've experienced, the following effect the scanners:
* snow
* direct sunlight
* rain
* cold

We do our best - its our job - and we try to be fair. I haven't seen any of my fellow lifties spend more than 10 sec on someone. If your pass isn't scanned one round, it'll get it the next time around. But our word is to scan everyone everytime.

[slatham]

Win, there needs to be a "from the top" simple rule that chairs don't go up empty due to scanning issues. It is a sin to have this happen. But baring an empty chair, everyone should get scanned.


BTW, I don't personally recall any issues, but I'm unfortunately a lift ticket vs seasons pass guy, and it seems most of the issues are with passes.

Also, I find it very difficult to believe someone is going to try to sneak on without a pass/ticket or an old one when there's someone scanning everyone. To think that the handful of people who might go by unscanned in order to avoid an empty chair are sneaking by without a ticket is a stretch, IMHO.

[Tin Woodsman]

It ain't that long. Granted, on Monday morning, a minute seemed like an hour, but it is still... a minute.

That's an incredible cop out. You think it's acceptable to allow 10 chairs to go up empty with long lift lines just so that stubborn ticket can finally get scanned? That's a rather perverted view of quality guest service.

[Tin Woodsman]

While we're talking about three thoughts from the weekend, here are mine from this weekend:

1) Great job by mtn ops getting the hill in good shape the last few days despite incredibly challenging weather conditions. Snowball/Spring Fling were great the last 3-4 days as were most other groomers. We drove up on Wednesday night with the lowest of expectations and they were very much exceeded.

2) Every year when I arrive for the first time, I take stock of what the mtn forest looks like and I was once again appalled by the lack of attention paid to the health of trees on or around the trails. A significant portion of a beautiful birch glade on mid Ripcord was killed by the snowmakers this year - the trunks and crowns look like they exploded. That entire area on skiers left of Ripcord down to the Paradise Extension merge and beyond looks increasingly sickly. Still more damage to trees on/around other snowmaking trails like Glade. The upper mtn forest continues to thin out with blowdowns and other accelerated areas of deadfall. Looks like skier's left of Jester will be an open snowfield in 10-20 years. I understand that we've got to deal with the USFS here, but surely they are as incentivized as anyone to ensure the health of the forest, no? How the avoidance of tree damage isn't a priority for the snowmaking team is really beyond me. And if it is, then the program is a failure.

3) For a resort that styles itself as a family oriented mountain, can someone please explain to me why there is not ONE single child booster seat in the entire Gate House lodge? Sure, I could get one in Timbers, but that's not where 95% of customers spend their time, and most kids (or more likely, their parents) aren't interested in Fish and Chips for $18. It's either an oversight, or a conscious decision. Neither option paints SB in a flattering light.

4) Love my annex but the bar still sticks out too far, cutting off flow in the room. Whatevs - the extra space was desperately needed.

[Lostone]

You think it's acceptable to allow 10 chairs to go up empty with long lift lines

I think that is a total exaggeration. He said 2 chairs. You boosted it to 10. My statement was that the delay was for a very short time. I stand by that. He said it took at least a minute! That would be 60 whole seconds!

You may not like it, but the job of the scanners is to scan every ticket. You know that getting past the scanners once allows you to ski all day, without a ticket.

You may feel the percentage being allowed is too small versus the irritation of the paying customers. You're entitled to your opinion.

[Tin Woodsman]

You think it's acceptable to allow 10 chairs to go up empty with long lift lines

I think that is a total exaggeration. He said 2 chairs. You boosted it to 10. My statement was that the delay was for a very short time. I stand by that. He said it took at least a minute! That would be 60 whole seconds!

10 chairs go by in a minute - one every six seconds. I trust you don't find that stopping a crowded liftline for a full minute is acceptable from a customer service perspective.

You may not like it, but the job of the scanners is to scan every ticket. You know that getting past the scanners once allows you to ski all day, without a ticket.

You may feel the percentage being allowed is too small versus the irritation of the paying customers. You're entitled to your opinion.

Yes, and my opinion is that relying upon a technology which is proven to be faulty in weather conditions that are commonly experienced in mountain environments is empirically idiotic.

FWIW, out of the three days I skied since Thursday, I had a "clean" scan (scanned correctly the first time) maybe 5-6 times out of several dozen opportunities for same. That lack of reliability will lead not only to people getting on w/o being scanned (the employees have a job, but they're human beings too) but also to customer dissatisfaction due to ongoing delays and a perception of a slapstick operation. I think we all agree that some sort of system is necessary for the reasons you mentioned. No one has argued against this, so please stop doing so. The issue is what's in place today.

[Lostone]

As a matter of fact, when there are lines, the scanners generally advance thru the lines, scanning long before people get to the merges. I see very little of chairs going up empty because of scanning problems.