April 19th, 2008, Alpental

Yeah, it was pretty crowded. But that last hour (3-4 pm) was great. Everyone bailed out because of the time or falling snow and then the sun came out. There was finally some room to breath and under spectacular conditions. I wish I could get up there this weekend just to get up there.

The profit center was in full swing last weekend.

Hmmm. I wish someone would clue Stevens in about that. In general I think their customer service experience is better, but they do have a weird blind spot about closing earlier than I wish and they do it every year. I was on Heather Ridge on Sunday and looking over at a resort with beautiful cover and runs in fine shape ... but no running chairs. They could a made some money on such an ideal skiing weekend. Hell, there were enough people looked like HIKING the place to have justified trying to open frontside and one lodge.

A still open Crystal would be good too, but they have weird FS restrictions, and with Boyne owning both they don't seem to mind losing their customers to Alpental, do they ...

I wonder if this weird trend Boyne has started with importing the South American kids as workforce is making it harder to extend seasons too. They probably have limited visas, school to go to, plane tix etc.

Problem is that you have to run a lot more lifts at Crystal or Steven's to get the place going. If you took everyone from a ridiculously packed day at Alpental and moved them to Crystal it would probably feel like Crystal was your own personal mountain because it is so much more spread out.

If Crystal opened with limited operations (no High Campbell or Northway, etc) then everyone would just bitch about how they didn't open the whole mountain. It seems like it's pretty much a lose - lose situation from a business standpoint.

I wonder if this weird trend Boyne has started with importing the South American kids as workforce is making it harder to extend seasons too. They probably have limited visas, school to go to, plane tix etc.

Booth Creek had been importing seasonal help from Central America for at least the last four years that I am aware of. Perhaps Boyne is just continuing an established pattern? Alpy had a great crew this year, we got to know several of them quite well waiting for 2 to open on the week days. We'll look forward to seeing them again next season if they come back.

Patrol was stopping people at the mid gate off of International, but only checking for their "backcountry pass," but not for Avalanche Gear. This is really pathetic, and sad because of the litigation society that we live in.

What was even more disappointing was the arrogant patroller "Clark" that informed me that he doesn't bring beacon, shovel and probe; but only his beacon and shovel. I told him that I wouldn't want to be buried and know that he would be looking for me without a probe. He said that he's a really, really fast shoveler (I'm not making this up!) and that he routinely out digs whoever he is with. I inquired a little bit more, as to his super shoveling, and he confessed that he uses a "special shovel."

Now, I think this guy is pro patrol, and this is why I'm calling for a complete makeover of the ski patrol at Alpental, because it's this kind of clueless, litigation oriented and not safety first program that they are running that needs to be changed. Oh, and by the way, if anyone is still curious about his "super shovel," here's the lowdown....you can buy them at REI, and they are called a Snow Claw. Are you freakin' kidding me? I'd like to see that guy out dig someone with a metal shovel in dense avy debris, or debris with trees in it.

-Really frustrated with the Patrol situation at Alpental.

Am I missing something here? Instead of getting so worked up, wouldn't it be better to just sign the waiver, get the BC pass, and never be hassled again? It only takes about 2 minutes.