36 replies to this topic

[Powdr]

Just put together this map of the Wasatch Front Areas. All it would take to connect 7 resorts together is four lifts (in purple on the map):

- PCMR: HSQ up Homelight Bowl (Pine Cone Ridge) alllowing access into Iron Canyon.
- The Canyons: HSQ up Iron Canyon (between Homelight and Dreamscape)
- The Canyons: HSQ up the backside of Big Cottonwood Canyon from Solitude.
- Brighton: HSQ from the base to Catherine Pass, allowing access into the Point Supreme area.

Just think what this would create:

15250 Acres of Terrain

3 Gondolas/Trams
29 Detachable Lifts (+4 more for the interconnect)
49 Fixed Grip Lifts

11,000 Top elevation
6,400 base elevation
4,600 total vertical (3250 skiable at once)

 Wasatch_Winter_3D_small.jpg (395.68K)
Number of downloads: 195

WOW!

[Bill]

That would be awesome, but imagine the cost of the lift ticket... Ouch!

Which leads me to point number 2:

If a resort has two or three interconnecting, they could sell a 3 area ticket for a specific amount and then a single area ticket for a specific amount.

Now as for controlling the access? Put a little sensor (like they do in your CD cases) and then have gates on the lifts, if you paid for that access the gate opens, if not, sorry...

Neat idea eh?

- Bill

[SkiBachelor]

Actually if the resorts merged like what we see above, ticket prices would go down. Taxes and insurance prices would go down and the newly formed resort company could buy food in bulk along with other stuff.

What Bill is talking about, there is already a few companies that make those types of senors, skidata and skikey.

[floridaskier]

Solitude already has tickets that you put in a pocket on your left side, and when you go through a gate at each lift, it would open automatically. Great system.

[Powdr]

Europe has many areas connected like this. Ownership of individual resorts is still in the hands of the oringinal owner. A single interconnect ticket is issued (or you can still buy a ticket for the individual resort) and the sales are divided amoung the connected resorts, based on percentage of users before the connection. In general, all the resorts do better, because of the increased usage of all the resorts.

Just think what an interconnected Wasatch would mean to business for these resorts. There would be no question that that the interconnect would be one of the best ski-circuses in the world. I personnally would love to head over to Alta from my home town of Park City without getting in a car. Little Cottonwood canyon folks could go to PCMR/DV for food & cruiser runs. Better yet would be a transport Gondola like Teluride has, that would be open at night so that the LLC folks could party in PC at night.

Powdr

[floridaskier]

In the winter, it's a pretty long drive up the Cottonwood canyons from Park City. This would be great for Park City people

[KZ]

That is really cool. I doubt it would happen, but if it did that would be amazing. Snow not too good at the canyons, go over to Brighton or Solitude. Maybe have a system where you buy a ticket for the resort you drive to, then if you want to enter on of the other resorts you pay at the gate or even better yet, pay 1 general price for all of the resorts, so say $70 for a day. Now you have an electronic sensor which counts what lifts you ride at each resort then at the end of the day the money is divided up by which resorts lifts you rode more. So if you did say 20 laps at the canyons then 10 at PCMR, the canyons would get 2/3 of $70 and PCMR would get the remaining 1/3. Maybe then the resorts that get less people could charge less so that they would be skied more. It would be pretty complicated to get it to work, but it is possible.

[snowboardguy]

This would be awsome. However getting this idea through the Forrest service. Is this all forest land? Good luck

[edmontonguy]

Though they aren't close together two hills in banff did this to try and compete with the larger resorts like sunshine and Lake Louise. Nakiska and Fortress Mountain Used a combine lift pass that was valid all day and required just a few minutes of driving. this offers skiers with twice the terrain for the same price.

[SkiBachelor]

This same type of offer is good with Brighton and Solitude and Alta and Snowbird. There is also a season pass which is good at all 4 of these areas.

But I doubt Deer Valley would ever join this ring of combined resorts.

[edmontonguy]

If all the resorts agreed to a trial Multipass for a season or two to see what would happen no one would loose out on anything. The Multipass would be offered in conjunction with a regular pass and the flow of skiers tracked. Resorts would then be given the option to invest in the veture given the results of the test. I think this would be an important initial step towards a Multi Resort.

[mcjones55]

I've heard it talked about at DV before, but more along the lines of having a gate between PCMR and DV. One of DV's complaints is over crowding at the restauants, and lifts like empire express. I don't think everyresort should be like DV but it does have it's niche in the market and i like the elbow room when i'm out on the hill.

[floridaskier]

People would cross over for the food, and if they think the restaurants arte crowded now, wait till they let in other people.

I remember TR a few years ago talking about how he's caught snowboarders crossing over into DV for lunch. How dumb can you get

[Powdr]

Here is what an interconnect gondola (in yellow) would look like:

 Wasatch_Winter_3D_Lifts_2.jpg (627.09K)
Number of downloads: 109

The gondola would have:

- 7 stages
- a total of about 7.5 mile travel length
- Start (or end) in Park City's Old town
- Mid stations in DV's Empire Canyon (2), Brighton's Great Western Area, Brighton's base area & Alta's Point Supreme
- End at Alta's Albion base area

Powdr

This post has been edited by Powdr: 13 October 2004 - 02:44 PM

[edmontonguy]

A gondola of hose proportions could be used as a huge marketing tool. It would probably break numerous records and be a huge winfall for whoever got the contract.

[SkiBachelor]

This might be kind of expensive but probably a better idea, but what do you guys think about a subway system, the kind of system that some resorts over in Europe have?

I think a gondola would be cool but if it's 7.2 miles long, that would take over an hour from Alta to Park City.

[Powdr]

SkiBachelor, on Oct 13 2004, 03:01 PM, said:

This might be kind of expensive but probably a better idea, but what do you guys think about a subway system, the kind of system that some resorts over in Europe have?

I think a gondola would be cool but if it's 7.2 miles long, that would take over an hour from Alta to Park City.
<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I figure it would take about 6 min/mile. Add in the six stations @ about 1 minute each and you get about 50 minutes. Remember though, that you don't have to go all the way to Alta on one ride. You could stop at any of the stations and ski for a while, then move on.

Powdr

[floridaskier]

They could do it like at Sunshine Village, more like 8 or 9 m/s (is that what it is?) and that would cut off a little.
Isnt there already a plan drawn up for the first two stages of that gondola from the Town Lift plaza to DV's Empire Lodge, stopping at the top of the Payday lift at PCMR?

[SkiBachelor]

Yes, there were plans but that has been scrapped from what I have heard. But in SAM, i think it listed it running only at 1200 feet per minute, the speed at which most gondolas run at. But Sunshine might run it at 6.01 m/s to make it be the fastest gondola in the world.

[SkiBachelor]

Here's a map of the proposed Utah Interconnect from a 1982 SAM.

 map.jpg (203.04K)
Number of downloads: 97