indiggio

Learn a lesson from my misfortune. We were up skiing in the bitter cold and wind last night. I get down to the lifts (luckily it was the doubles) and proceed to go through the scanners there and NOTHING. I look down at my pass and it's gone. I had it in the Blue Mountain provided tag older (the clear plastic thingy) on one of the old retractable cord extensions. They told me when I got the pass that it would be OK to do that and it's convenient when you go to the food cashier for them to scan it. Well, looks like the clear plastic covers aren't capable of handling the bitter cold and the damn thing cracked and lost my pass. Word to the wise: Don't use the provided clear plastic cover and keep your pass inside your jacket or somewhere!

I just tried and it's a no-show for me as well.

Blue needs someone like Shawnee has to keep people informed. 'Like' Shawnee on Facebook and you get a constant stream of status updates from them. Blue, uh, not so much... Oh and at least one of their webcams work!

Looks good for upcoming week....

They could point the cam up the mountain to show if they're blowing or not...

Too bad there's no techies at Blue to get their webcam going so we can check out what's happening w/out having to travel up there. Hmmm...perhaps that's their plan???

Indeed, rain just trickles through the snow. Fog is the real snow eater. Some of the best skiing can be had when it rains as it loosens up the hard stuff. If it's cold enough, blow, blow, blow!

I went up too to get my pass exchanged. Was flurrying all the while. Had snow on pretty much all of Main Street down to orange and blue lifts. Little bits here and there on other trails. Took a walk out on new porch. They didn't have hardly any snow out there. Must have been employee instruction day as they had bus-loads of people down at the valley and groups at both lift scanners. Probably showing them how they're gonna work. Getting really antsy with all the snow the West is getting... Come on Mother Nature, deal us the cold!

I called up there and yes, we need to get replacement passes. The response I got from the girl was a bit disturbing though: "Oh, the camera is working today, so if you come over now you can get it done..." Might be fun going there the first day and causing a CF at the lift line with the old pass

Guess those of us that got this year's season pass at the end of last season will have to get replacements.

Upper lot - too lazy to drive to the bottom of the other side Parking lot - too cheap to pay for locker anymore Yes - Coats, hats, pants, even an old pair of Blizzards from the rockin 80's Do state stickers count? (VT)

And to the Ski Patrol for waiting until like the last few operating days to finally mark it with warning poles....

Yeah all those windows, we'll see how many they have open each morning...2, maybe 3 tops! (Not that it matters to season pass holders, but still)

So they sh!t-canned it then, I take it??

I seem to recall they were looking at putting up a windmill at the top, left of the Comet lift?

Good point! Especially if the goggles have reflective lenses.

Take a look at the Line (http://lineskis.com/) line of skis.

Always got a kick out of that, riding up the lift with the guns a blazin' and wind howling, only to have all the snow they're making wind up in the woods. Like you say: JADIP!

Better hope for a lot of dumps this year to do any glade skiing.... Open ticket booths early? We're talking Blue here...

Exactly. I'm sure that's why they implemented the barcoded passes in the first place (reduced loss). However, I'm sure there were still cheats taking runs after the ticket expires. Now with the scanners, there's all sorts of info they can track. Did some Googling on the big SKIDATA on the scanners and found http://www.skidata.com/index.php?id=1048 They can display pictures of the skier above the lifts to make sure you're the passholder, etc. Guess this EpicMix thing out at Vail is causing all out uproar about tracking...

Honestly? No! Remarkably, they do (sometimes) have a webcam though!

Yikes! I thought that cement base was just a mount for the scanners and with the rope there, they hadn't put it in its final resting place. If it is indeed that far back, I have to agree that they've probably got something different in mind. Oh boy, it's gonna be interesting to say the least... Wonder if the new passes (and those purchased at the end of last year) have an RFID chip or are they going to reissue passes? Inquiring minds want to know! Interesting.... Just went to Alta's web page and it shows you can enter a Web ID from your pass to get run information. Perhaps Blue bought an entire pass system that provides this functionality??? Might have to get one of these if it is RFID.... http://skipassdefender.com/

Yeah, I guess it's true that there wouldn't be a buldge for RFID. Guess it really doesn't matter, but it'd probably be a lot quicker if it was RFID (no need to show barcode). We're gonna have to live with it either way...

Anybody remember the old ski passes that had the barcode blacked out so you couldn't even see the lines? Whoops, might be dating myself...Oh well!

Really, they're RFID? I find that hard to believe as I already have my pass for this season and I doubt there's a RFID chip in there. Also you can see the barcode scanners on the gates (those bright red circles). I don't think they'll have any impact on the VIP line. I bet they mount these just before the lift chutes. You'll still have the big open area where the lift line attendant calls you out which is after the VIP line. All the groups will funnel down to the scanners and then into the lift chute. It's definitely going to slow things down a bit as the lift grouper attendant is going to have to be slower at sending out groups to the scanners. Disclaimer: I don't know for sure, just a SWAG and how I would do it...