{"id":93928,"date":"2019-11-08T08:28:40","date_gmt":"2019-11-08T16:28:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/?p=93928"},"modified":"2020-05-22T13:03:18","modified_gmt":"2020-05-22T20:03:18","slug":"never-wait-in-a-lift-line-while-skiing-again","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/snowsports\/never-wait-in-a-lift-line-while-skiing-again","title":{"rendered":"Never Wait in a Lift Line While Skiing Again"},"content":{"rendered":"

Cheryl Varner won\u2019t say what time she gets to the mountain on a powder day. But she will tell you it\u2019s still dark and it\u2019s earlier than you think. \u201cI\u2019m an early riser,\u201d she said. \u201cWe\u2019ll leave it at that.\u201d Varner has been skiing Squaw Valley, California, for 30 years. She regularly logs well over 100 ski days a season. Her favorite lift on the mountain is <\/span>KT-22<\/span><\/a>, the 2,000-vertical-foot quad that rises from the bottom of the mountain. She\u2019s earned the nickname \u201cKT Cheryl\u201d over the decades because she always manages to score first chair on KT-22 on a powder day\u2014not an easy feat at an iconic ski resort known for its powder-hungry crowds.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIf you\u2019ve skied KT before, you know it\u2019s like a mountain of its own,\u201d said Varner, who is 68 years old and works as a freelance bookkeeper.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

How she does it is pretty simple: Wake up very early, walk to the ski area (she lives nearby) and stand in line until the chair opens. While she waits, she chats with others who show up pre-sunrise\u2014there\u2019s a solid crew who makes a powder-day habit of early arrivals at KT-22. \u201cIt\u2019s become a huge social event,\u201d she said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Her tips? Leave way early. \u201cHit the road sooner than you think. There\u2019s more traffic out there than you\u2019d ever imagine,\u201d she said. Dress warm, since you\u2019ll be standing around in chilly temperatures. <\/span>Hand or toe warmers<\/span><\/a> can help you stay warm. You can always ditch a layer once you start skiing, Varner added. And respect the etiquette of queuing up\u2014no saving spots for friends who aren\u2019t there yet, no leaving your skis and running to grab breakfast or going to warm up inside and, most important, be patient and enjoy the process. \u201cGetting angry about the wait defeats the purpose,\u201d Varner said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

When that rope finally drops and the lift starts turning, you\u2019ll be in the number one spot. \u201cIt\u2019s just heaven. There\u2019s nothing like rising up the mountain on the lift and not seeing a single track down it,\u201d Varner said. \u201cKnowing that you\u2019re going to be one of the first people down all that\u2014it\u2019s absolutely worth the wait.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\"An

This is the view of KT-22 that Cheryl Varner gets first thing in the morning on a powder day. (Kate Abraham\/Squaw Valley Alpine Meadows)<\/p><\/div>\n

If arriving at the mountain before untold hours on powder days isn\u2019t your thing, there are other, perhaps easier ways to beat the crowds and avoid standing in long lines. You could skip the morning rush entirely, sleep in and show up at the mountain after lunchtime to snag a less-expensive afternoon lift ticket (most resorts sell a cheaper ticket that starts around 12:30pm). You\u2019ll miss some first tracks, but you\u2019ll rarely find lift lines after 2pm even at the busiest resorts, and most lifts run until 4pm. <\/span><\/p>\n

Or, you could choose a mountain that\u2019s known for having zero crowds. That might mean visiting a <\/span>smaller, more off-the-radar ski area<\/span><\/a> or one that\u2019s not on one of the <\/span>two popular mega passes<\/span><\/a> currently on offer, the Epic Pass and the Ikon Pass. Often times, near a larger, more popular ski area, you\u2019ll find a smaller one without as many people.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

For example, instead of standing in the tram line at the legendary <\/span>Jackson Hole Mountain Resort<\/span><\/a>, head over Teton Pass to ski the less packed <\/span>Grand Targhee<\/span><\/a>, or stay in the town of Jackson to ride the locals\u2019 favorite hill at <\/span>Snow King<\/span><\/a>. If you\u2019re in Colorado on a busy weekend, you\u2019ll most likely find queues at <\/span>Vail<\/span><\/a>, <\/span>Keystone<\/span><\/a> and <\/span>Copper Mountain<\/span><\/a>, but a less busy scene at smaller hills like <\/span>Eldora<\/span><\/a>, <\/span>Ski Cooper<\/span><\/a> or <\/span>Loveland<\/span><\/a>. On the East Coast, <\/span>Killington<\/span><\/a> and <\/span>Stowe<\/span><\/a> may be jammed on a Saturday midwinter, but <\/span>Mad River Glen<\/span><\/a>, <\/span>Pico<\/span><\/a> or <\/span>Bolton Valley<\/span><\/a> may not. Skip the lines at <\/span>Mammoth Mountain<\/span><\/a>, in California, and veer toward nearby, less busy <\/span>June Mountain<\/span><\/a> instead.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"The

There’s not much in the way of lift lines at Utah’s Deer Valley. (Photo Courtesy of Deer Valley)<\/p><\/div>\n

A few ski resorts even limit the number of lift tickets and season passes they sell in order to keep masses to a minimum. <\/span>Deer Valley<\/span><\/a>, in Utah, limits <\/span>daily skiers to between 7,500 and 8,500<\/span>, and they\u2019ll stop selling lift tickets if they reach capacity. <\/span>Powder Mountain<\/span><\/a>, also in Utah, restricts season pass sales to 1,500 adult passes and 3,000 total passes per season, and they limit daily lift tickets to 1,500 as well. <\/span>Magic Mountain<\/span><\/a>, in Vermont, has a daily ticket cap\u2014even on busy holiday weekends, you won\u2019t find much of a crowd here.<\/span><\/p>\n

Technology at some ski resorts has helped improve communications about lift lines, too. The innovations haven\u2019t necessarily reduced the line itself, but at least they help notify skiers and snowboarders when and where a line exists so they can steer clear. Vail Resorts debuted its<\/span> EpicMix Time feature in 2015<\/span><\/a>, which lets guests view and compare current lift wait times at its Colorado resorts while using the <\/span>EpicMix app<\/span><\/a>. The technology is now available at a dozen Vail Resorts-owned properties. At many Vail Resorts properties, riders can also text <\/span>Emma<\/span><\/a>, an AI-powered digital assistant, to ask for the wait times at various chairlifts.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Skiers

Use an AI-powered digital assistant at Vail Resort in Colorado to help you determine which lift has the shortest wait time. (Jack Affleck\/Vail Resorts)<\/p><\/div>\n

Mont Tremblant<\/span><\/a>, in Quebec, Canada, has a large electronic board at the top of the mountain, which shows the average current wait time at each lift alongside a trail map, so you can make a more educated decision about where to ski or ride next.<\/span><\/p>\n

At <\/span>Squaw Valley Alpine Meadows<\/span><\/a>, where Varner skis, the mountain operations team manages a<\/span> Twitter account<\/span><\/a> that delivers up-to-the-minute details on lift status on powder days. The updates also appear as notifications on the resort\u2019s app. The tweets don\u2019t exactly say: \u201cThere\u2019s a massive lift line at Granite Chief. Go elsewhere.\u201d But they will tell you when a lift is expected to open, so you can get a jumpstart on everyone else.<\/span><\/p>\n

Or almost everyone else, that is. Varner will be there before you\u2014guaranteed. She has no plans to give up her early morning first-chair ritual anytime soon. \u201cI hope to be doing this as long as I\u2019m still skiing,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/span>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Cheryl Varner won\u2019t say what time she gets to the mountain on a powder day. But she will tell you it\u2019s still dark and it\u2019s earlier than you think. \u201cI\u2019m an early riser,\u201d she said. \u201cWe\u2019ll leave it at that.\u201d Varner has been skiing Squaw Valley, California, for 30 years. She regularly logs well over […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":26,"featured_media":93932,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[727,364],"internal-tag":[],"class_list":["post-93928","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-snowsports","tag-latest-posts","tag-snowsports"],"parsely":{"version":"1.1.0","canonical_url":"https:\/\/rei.com\/blog\/snowsports\/never-wait-in-a-lift-line-while-skiing-again","smart_links":{"inbound":0,"outbound":0},"traffic_boost_suggestions_count":0,"meta":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","headline":"Never Wait in a Lift Line While Skiing Again","url":"http:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/snowsports\/never-wait-in-a-lift-line-while-skiing-again","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"http:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/snowsports\/never-wait-in-a-lift-line-while-skiing-again"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2019\/11\/PowderMountain_CreditPaulBundy.jpg?resize=150%2C150","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2019\/11\/PowderMountain_CreditPaulBundy.jpg?fit=1500%2C835"},"articleSection":"Snowsports","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Michelle Flandreau"}],"creator":["Michelle Flandreau"],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Uncommon Path \u2013 An REI Co-op Publication","logo":""},"keywords":["latest posts","snowsports"],"dateCreated":"2019-11-08T16:28:40Z","datePublished":"2019-11-08T16:28:40Z","dateModified":"2020-05-22T20:03:18Z"},"rendered":"