Hello Skiers,
I was late getting onto the slope this morning meaning that I missed the soft turns available for those that were lined up early. We received a couple, perhaps three inches of new snow overnight. New snow from the sky and not from a snow gun. Even though I was late to hit the manmade snow, it was delightful. There were not too many people on the hill, or in the line, and the sun popped out making it a very nice day to be outside.
Tomorrow, in addition to the TLC chair, the Gondola will be operating as well as Subway and Meadow Chairs at Alpine Meadows. On the other side Red Dog, Resort Chair, First Venture, and Gold Coast will be operating along with the Gondola, Tram, and Funitel.
Tomorrow is also the first day that reservations are required for parking at Alpine Meadows and on the other side. I think this has been broadcast pretty well so I am not going to try and explain it to anyone.
However, if you live in Alpine Meadows you may take the Mountaineer transportation vans from you home or condominium to the lodge. Below is the information you may wish to review if you plan to use the Mountaineer service this season. This long explanation was provide by Joy Doyle who is the Executive Director for the Mountaineer Transit Company. As you can see Joy is asking that Alpine and Olympic Valley residents use it as much as possible.
Editors Note: Mountaineer service is not available until December 8th.
From Joy:
Mountaineer Transit Company (MTC) acknowledges that during the winter 2022-23 operating season, Mountaineer’s wait times and wait time accuracy were challenging for passengers, especially in Alpine Meadow as a result of technology and electrical issues that were outside of MTC’s control. To address this, teams from Alpine Meadows and Palisades Tahoe worked with Liberty Utilities and in early November, Liberty Utilities completed replacement of the main utility power line in Alpine Meadows. As a result the challenges that we faced with the Mountaineer app last winter should not be an issue this winter and beyond. In the near future, MTC is being told that the cell service companies are also considering upgrades and expansions which will further improve service reliability.
Enjoy your day,
Andy
A little confusion here. Service starts next week:
https://www.mountaineertransit.org/schedule
Correct, Mountaineer’s 6th season of operations commence a week from today, Friday, December 8, 2023 through Sunday, April 7, 2024
We missed you this morning. There was enough new snow today that the surface stayed pretty fresh all morning. We also noted a tiny bit of expansion of Weasel Run, pushing out to the right above the Chalet. These sort of mini expansions are nice to have when the slope gets crowded and you’re looking to avoid a traffic jam.
I’m not totally certain that I buy into the suggestion above that power issues played a significant part of delays for the Mountaineer last season. There was a lot of demand that seemed to overwhelm capacity. I would imagine that poor road conditions and traffic also affected response times. It seems like the Mountaineer has been somewhat co-opted by those looking for a ride back to the lodge after a Munchkins or Field of Dreams run. That has had the unwanted effect of overcrowding those zones.
It is my understanding that the residents of Alpine Meadows asked the Mountaineer powers that be to confirm they had capacity to alleviate neighborhood concerns related to the new parking policies. For example customers parking in vacant driveways, streetside, etc. and then calling for a ride. Despite being funded by a tax on the ski area patrons no such assurances were made, although there does seem to be a promise of extended hours of operation. I will give Ms. Doyle the benefit of the doubt and intend to attempt to use the service this season.
Mark,
Munchkins/FoD users don’t really create an issue for early morning Mountaineer users – and early morning is when we experienced issues last season. I’m not sure what the answer is, but trying to limit riders who use Mountaineer as a “lift” to lap Munchkins isn’t really the issue. Ideally, there would and a swarm of vans available from 7-10am, then a more limited group from then on. But if I were running the service that probably wouldn’t be a viable approach. There were a handful of days where power/cell coverage impacted things, but they were the exception. Logging into the app at 8:00am and seeing a 100+ minute wait time is untenable. I end up driving or getting a ride when that happens – defeating the intent of Mountaineer and putting an extra car in the parking lot. Yeah, there were a few days when I skied home and there was a long wait for a ride back, but those were exceptions and understandable given the volume of people using it as a ski lift.
Having all the cams online and picking up passengers right when the service starts would help. Personally, I’d love a ‘priority ‘ pass for those of us that need to get to work, but that’s a pretty selfish request. I’d be willing to pay a token fee to be a priority client though.
I’m not sure of the perfect solution, and I sincerely appreciate the service. Let’s hope there are more vans and drivers this year. It seems there are more riders every year.
Good to hear from people in the field. Since I don’t live in the valley, I don’t get to experience the Mountaineer service. Every public transportation option from my house would turn into a 90+ minute trip.
Mountaineer will operate 12 vans this year. That was confirmed when I inquired a few months ago. That is between both mountains, so it would be optimistic to assume a 50/50 split. But assume there are 6 dedicated vans for Alpine. Then recall excessive morning wait times last year. Then look at all the marketing material advising people to use mountaineer to avoid the parking reservation systems. Even without doing some basic math, it is pretty likely Mountaineer will not be a viable option for morning transport to the mountain. It is very clear that there has been no investment to expand capacity in anticipation of increased demand due to the parking reservation requirement. It is also not clear that mountaineer is a priority (they could use parking reservation funds to expand mountaineer). Remember, Mountaineer primarily serves locals… most already have ikon passes and aren’t spending much more on food and additional services.