Gondola opening now at 9:00 AM

[bigdogmom]

We went to Gore today and the gondola opened late. We heard there is a rumor that the gondola will be opening at 9:00 AM from now on. Sure enough the snow report for tomorrow (12/7) says that the lifts will open at 9:00 AM. This is bad news for me because I ski early, leave early and go to work. I am really going to miss that ½ hour. Sure wish we were told about these changes for the worse before we committed to season passes.

[ka2kci]

I called Gore today about this change in opening time. They told me that this is only temporary and only on weekdays due to the lack of skier traffic in the early morning. I expressed my displeasure with this new policy. Hopefully they were telling me the truth and that the weekend opening time will remain at 8:30 and the weekday time will revert back to 8:30 once the season gets rolling. We''ll see. Matt

[bigdogmom]

Thanks for calling Matt. I could never get through (or maybe they have caller ID and know not to pick up the phone ':wink:') That would be welcomed news that the late start time is only temporary. If the 9:00 AM start time is permanent, it equates to a daily 7% loss but if you only ski a couple hours in the morning and then go on to other activities the lost access to the lift has a much greater impact.

[jmokes]

I e mailed mike pratt this a.m. about this...hopefully the delay in opening is only on weekdays until the season gets going. I'll post his reply when I get it.

[rossi]

Just another way for them to screw midweekers. Close down parts of the mountain and now open later. It doesn't affect me but it's still dumb. Worse part is that they will probably be running the lift anyways for patrol so it's not like they will be saving loads of money.

[Harvey44]

The info I have says that this is not a permanent thing, and will be decided on a case-by-case basis.

Most Gore regulars know that the Gondi goes green when patrol is ready, regardless of published start time. I've been on the Gondi at ten-of-eight.

More here:

http://forum.nyskiblog.com/Gore-Hours-of-Operation-tp2052421p2052421.html

[bigdogmom]

If Gore just did a little PR to offset the rumors, the anger would not ramp up so fast. I’m not sure if the decision to open later is due to light ski traffic, increased snowmaking or a combination of factors. Either way, it is just good business to tell your customers why a standard practice will be changing. BTW- the gondi was down quite a bit this morning. I cut my losses and left at 11:00 AM. Seemed like a long drive for just 2 hours of abbreviated skiing but what was open was decent.