The latest ORDA brightspot

Johnnyonthespot wrote

I hear even Snoloco was impressed.

I skied with him for a couple hours and he was impressed

Gore sends you an email wishing you a Happy Birthday.

Farm Burger at Cloudspin......one of the best burgers, anywhere.  Ask for it rare.  Great beef, bacon, the heirloom tomato jam (whole roasted cherry tomatoes), a runny egg.  Damn, that’s good stuff.

When it’s over cooked?  Not so good.  Did I say ask for it rare?

Perhaps I missed it somewhere else, but it seems Belleayre is getting a new quad to replace (over the same line) Lifts 1 & 2. (The old lifts have also been sold to another hill, but I haven't been able to figure out where they're going.)

Is it a detachable? (Hopefully.) Anyone have any info? Great beginning terrain at Belle, but those lifts were ridiculously slow and uncomfortable.

Didn’t they have weird plastic seats on em or am I thinking of somewhere else?

A new fixed grip quad would probably do just fine in there too.

Don’t know if it’s a fixed grip or detach- I’d guess a detach though, based on the dollars quoted. That article says they’re also moving their learning area Magic carpets to below the discovery lodge. You think they’ll add another 50-100 feet to their vert?

raisingarizona wrote

Didn’t they have weird plastic seats on em or am I thinking of somewhere else?

Yep, ugly green plastic slats, if I remember correctly. Spent a lot of time on that lift with my son a decade ago.

Just saw a Instagram message from a former NYSB’er that the new Belle Quad is a fixed grip. Don’t know where he got the info but probably reliable since he eats, sleeps and breaths this stuff.

I know a lot of people here are season pass holders but for anyone who only skis the ORDA mountains a few times a year; the Gore 4 Pass is on sale now. $239 until 8/17 then goes to $269.
I'm not sure if it was true last year but it is interchangeable with Belleayre and Whiteface.

Gore 4 Pass 

I just got post card from Gore to remind me to renew my pass. It included this:

Gore recently won another environmental excellence award- this time from the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation.

It's like NYS government giving itself a hand job. I'm surprised it didn't mention "under the leadership of Governor Cuomo."

In other news, their gonna have RFID passes, and apparently "More Gore" has been replaced by "Explore Gore" with a new font and everything.  Now I'm really excite for a better than ever season.

mm

Milo Maltbie wrote

 

It's like NYS government giving itself a hand job.  
 

FTW!!!

Too bad it's a fixed. Burke still wins the cup for best beginner area that I've seen (not saying best experience, snow, or anything else; just lift and terrain) with its long-reach detached quad. Repetition, repetition, repetition.

Still, as long as Belle runs the new quad slightly faster than a snail can amble, it'll be an improvement.

Milo Maltbie wrote

 apparently "More Gore" has been replaced by "Explore Gore" with a new font and everything.  Now I'm really excite for a better than ever season.

I like the new slogan better. "More Gore" always felt weird to me. Like a critique of a tame horror movie.

Milo Maltbie wrote

In other news, their gonna have RFID passes, and apparently "More Gore" has been replaced by "Explore Gore" with a new font and everything.  Now I'm really excite for a better than ever season.

Thoughts from the group on RFID passes?

irrespective of history demonstrating Gore struggles with technology (web cams, wifi, etc)....I'm not sure where I land on this change yet. I kind of like the laid back queue style (chaotic as it may be at times)...thinking the RFID may require fixed lanes per person, would certainly change the layouts and character of base lifts. Maybe they read the RFID at queue entrance rather than right before you get slide into lift loading area for the gondi?

But I do hate the impersonality and "disneyfication" of turnstyles. Just sucks a bit of life out of the skiing experience for me.

Then I wonder if they'll add on the $5/fee for the RFID card for day tickets like everyone else does. That'll sting a bit I'm sure. But also curious that my season pass doesn't feel like it's RFID. Maybe I didn't notice it, though. Anyone else pick theirs up and can confirm/deny?

Thanks for the reminder, got a ton going on and totally forgot about my pass.  Just bought my full Gore.

Jackson went to RFID 6 or 7 years ago. It has overwhelmingly been a benefit.

The company eliminated the green pass, so I guess that sucks for the broke local, but otherwise lines move quicker, with more seats being filled. Out here, especially now that we have to deal with our Ikon overlords and crowds, that is nice.

The lineups don't really change outside of you will need to go through a turnstile. Gapers are going to gape it up anywhere, but it usually is pretty funny to watch them try and Texas suitcase their way through on a gondola.

You honestly will not care about it. Your "personality" qualm goes right out the window when you see yourself getting on the lift quicker.

If you track days, it is pretty nice also.

SIAWOL wrote

Thoughts from the group on RFID passes?

irrespective of history demonstrating Gore struggles with technology (web cams, wifi, etc)....I'm not sure where I land on this change yet. I kind of like the laid back queue style (chaotic as it may be at times)...thinking the RFID may require fixed lanes per person, would certainly change the layouts and character of base lifts. Maybe they read the RFID at queue entrance rather than right before you get slide into lift loading area for the gondi?

But I do hate the impersonality and "disneyfication" of turnstyles. Just sucks a bit of life out of the skiing experience for me.

Then I wonder if they'll add on the $5/fee for the RFID card for day tickets like everyone else does. That'll sting a bit I'm sure. But also curious that my season pass doesn't feel like it's RFID. Maybe I didn't notice it, though. Anyone else pick theirs up and can confirm/deny?

There is more than one way to implement RFID.  At Alta, can have a hard plastic card for season passholders or a cardboard card for day tickets.  Last April I ended up with a cardboard MCP card because they ran out of MCP blanks.

Only recently learned that Vail Resorts uses hand scanners for RFID lift access.  Experienced it at Sunapee but thought it was temporary.  VR picked a different RFID system back in 2008 than Alta, Solitude, and other early adopters.

Waterville Valley has a gateless RFID system.  But not sure which vendor.  They don't charge for RFID cards.

JH charged $5 even for the MCP when I was there a few years ago.  Alta and Snowbird don't charge MCP holders.

SIAWOL wrote

Thoughts from the group on RFID passes?

If I'm running a mountain, I would want this for sure.  It's gotta be a data gold mine.  Tracking back to the purchase to know where your customers come from (ROI for advertising dollars), how often a lift is used by each skier (expansion/upgrade plans), avg. number of runs per skier, etc. etc.  Overlay that data with weather or snowmaking windows/snow conditions not to mention reduced staffing levels.  Wow.

From a guest POV, I don't mind much.  Jay (last time I was there) had knee high gates about the size of a swimming noodle.  Those are much better than the chest-high saloon style things I recall Park City had, although the saloon doors may have been in conjunction with 6-pack lifts.

D.B. Cooper wrote

SIAWOL wrote

Thoughts from the group on RFID passes?

If I'm running a mountain, I would want this for sure.  It's gotta be a data gold mine.  Tracking back to the purchase to know where your customers come from (ROI for advertising dollars), how often a lift is used by each skier (expansion/upgrade plans), avg. number of runs per skier, etc. etc.  Overlay that data with weather or snowmaking windows/snow conditions not to mention reduced staffing levels.  Wow.

From a guest POV, I don't mind much.  Jay (last time I was there) had knee high gates about the size of a swimming noodle.  Those are much better than the chest-high saloon style things I recall Park City had, although the saloon doors may have been in conjunction with 6-pack lifts.

Having skied at Alta with RFID gates when Snowbird didn't have them, it was much better to be using RFID.  Totally annoying to have to pull out a combo MCP card for hand scanning when skiing at Snowbird for half a day.

Using RFID doesn't necessarily reduce staffing that much at the base of a lift.  VR has people hand scanning.  Alta has a liftie with a tablet looking at the photos and info for season passholders.

Whether or not gates can be moved vertically makes a big difference.  When Alta started exploring RFID, one of the requirements was to have gates that would move vertically as the snow base depth increased, as well as twist completely out of the way so that a full-size groomer could redo the loading zone.

They said new pass would be issued when the rfid was ready.