A day ticket

[Cliff]

Just thought I'd pass this along. Let's figure that someone wants to ski on a Saturday and doesn't have a pass to any mountain. Gore: $71 + $10, (park close) = $81. Okemo: $77, (no cost to park).

'Nuf said.

[SKIdds]

Not really 'nuff said, I don't think.

If one were making a decision on these two day trips on price alone, they should consider it a win for Gore $71 to $77 (at a minimum). There are several areas where your analysis falls apart. We'll just forget about the probability that if someone were inclined to pay the $10 for close parking, chances are they aren't going to let a $4 difference be their decision maker. But, with that put aside, the biggest flaw in your argument is comparing Gore's price with pay parking to Okemo's price sans any parking fees. I assume you've skied at Okemo? Perhaps you'd like to describe the parking situation there? As you must be aware, from the Okemo base lodge to the closest parking you have to go down several flights of stairs, walk out through the drop off area, go across the street (assuming you were fortunate enough to be in the upper lot) and then find your car in a pretty long parking lot. If you happen to be in one of the lower lots, you hop on a shuttle bus. No, there is no premium lot, but niether is the free parking steps away from the base lodge. In fact, chances are, in any of Gore's free parking, even the new lot a couple hundred yards away, you are likely to be just as close, if not closer, to the base lodge than in almost all of Okemo's free parking. Maybe you can do better as far as parking closer if you park at Jackson Gore, but that presents it's own logistical issues (not so great unless you want to ski Jackson Gore, or if you don't want your base camp to be there for the day, or you fail to get back over there in time at the end of the day)

Okemo is a nice mountain, but even if your $4 savings was valid, Okemo is going to have much bigger crowds on a Saturday, and the terrain isn't nearly as interesting. Oh, and if price is a consideration and you need to do anything more than buy a lift ticket, Okemo loses there as well. Okemo's ski school runs 25 to 50% more than Gore (kids all day program with lift ticket at Gore, $115: Okemo $143)(adult group lesson at Gore, $35: Okemo $52). Not to mention that a beer and a burger (or whatever else you may want to eat) costs a little bit more at Okemo. Oh, and did I mention you probably have a better chance of scoring some kind of discount on a Gore lift ticket than you do on an Okemo lift ticket on a weekend? Well, that too.

But hey, enjoy your day at Okemo and your $4 "savings"!

Now that is truely 'nuff said.

PS.....hope you read that with the tongue in cheek humor intended. No harsh words intended on my part. If you think Okemo is the better deal, have at it, you'll enjoy. My advice to everyone is to not let this Gore parking thing throw you and force any rash decisions.

[Cliff]

None taken. :)
No, I was merely pointing out that Gore has snuck right up there with the "big boys". I really like Gore's terain and old-time feel. That's why I've been buying passes for so long.
I guess the thing that really pisses me off is that I think this was a real underhanded trick. Certainly it won't cause me or the wife to not enjoy our days at Gore this season, for sure though, next season we'll most likely try the Okemo/Stratton Value Pass. We could use a change of scenery anyway! (We did K-Ton for 12 years and that-was-enough-of-that too!)
True, Okemo and Flatten are pretty tame and the lots can be as you described, but Okemo, especially, does a really great job in the snowmaking/grooming department and Stratton is, well...Stratton. I'm 62 and tame maybe ain't so bad nowadays :wink: . As for parking, we get to the mountain ½ hour before lift opening, so the lots aren't an issue for us. We're usually on our way home ~1:30.
Peace

[Harvey44]

Another thing I've taken for granted at Gore. The day care...Bear Cub Den...is excellent...and way cheaper than other mountains. I think Killington is twice the price for a season ticket.

This could be an even more interesting thread if Cliff changed the title to "Gore Value Equation" or something that encompassed more than just tickets.

Hey SkiDDS are you a dentist? :D

[SKIdds]

Dentist? No......but I did stay at a Holiday Inn last night if you are looking for someone to do some work.

[TomCat]

Stratton and Okemo will also have more terrain open early in the season as well as being able to ride high speed lifts all day. So for one or two adults there would seem to be a good reason to mix it up a bit - maybe head to VT early in the season and to Gore during peak season. But if you figure in Junior or Teen passes for a family, Gore will be significantly cheaper.

And the shuttle as Okemo may be free but it's not a bargain. Lugging a family of four with equipment onto the bus, then to the lodge and finally to the slopes takes a lot of time and energy. The Gore drop off at the lodge followed by a moderate walk is far superior.

tom

[Cliff]

Hi folks;
I guess that growing up in the 60's makes me rail against injustices :wink: . I'm old enough to have skied, (and did), Gore in their first season and I remember that their "mission statement", (or whatever you call it), was to offer good skiing, no frills, at a price that was considerably less than the Vermont areas. "Make it affordable" seems to be what they were saying.

My point is not that Gore is any less of a mountain, any less fun, any less family friendly, (to the contrary), and so on. What did happen is their prices have snuck, (is that a word?), up to close enough to VT prices to be called equal. That ain't what they started out to do!

Still a great place to ski! Still like it. Just not gonna support that mgt style next season. I just bought two Okemo, (don't bother bashing, this isn't about the steepness, flatness, crowdedness, or any other BS), frequent skier cards and will use 'em to vary my mix this year.

Look... management hosed us, and it ins't right. It was sneaky at best and I suspect that when all the skiers that do not attend this forum pull in in the next few weeks, they too will be very unhappy. It's chickensh*t!!

Peace and Happy Thanksgiving everybody.

[Harvey44]

I'm old enough to have skied, (and did), Gore in their first season...

Cliff...was that 1964? Was that only the East Side at that time? Or was the North Side also open at the beginning?

Would LOVE to hear more about those days.

Do you remember this map (http://harvey44.blogspot.com/2006/01/old-maps-of-gore-mtn.html)?

Sorry to drift your thread.

[Cliff]

I'm old enough to have skied, (and did), Gore in their first season...

Cliff...was that 1964? Was that it the East Side at that time? Or was the North Side also open at the beginning?

Would LOVE to hear more about those days.

Do you remember this map (http://harvey44.blogspot.com/2006/01/old-maps-of-gore-mtn.html)?

Sorry to drift your thread.

Hi Harvey;
Man, that was a while back..., yup, 1964 sounds right. That was my Freshman year in college and I skied Gore over winter break with my cousin. The memories are a bit fuzzy, but I remember the main double on the front side, (Showcase), but do not remember if the North Face was there then. I do recall that the trails seemed to be narrower. I didn't ski Gore much then, as I was in school, (Potsdam, NY, Clarkson), for the first 4 years Gore was open. I would usually go only once or so/season after that, as Vermont was not really too expensive and offered much more terrain variety.

The old double on the front side could be brutally cold on a windy day, and they would pass out blankets for the ride up. When the original gondola was opened, the lines would stretch out of the building and across the open area at the botton of Otter Slide. Lift lines were really bad in the pre-detachable days. 20 minutes was not unusual on a busy weekend day at any ski area. There were many more people skiing then. The advent of the detachable was good and bad: it really cut down the lift lines, but also made the trails so crowded that most areas had to widen them, losing the charm of the original layout. To go along with that, the surface conditions deteriorated much more quickly with the added traffic. At Killington, most of the steep stuff is gone by 10:00!

I remember skiing to the bottom of Straight Brook, (Old lift), and being in line when it broke down, apparently a pretty serious malfunction, as they took all of us still in line out on cats to the top of Headwaters, so we could ski back down the front side. I assume they evaced the lift that day.

Peace.