Crystal is getting a gondola

Crystal Mt claims they will be able to keep the upper mountain open in windy conditions , when they usually have to shut down REX and Ch 6. Good enough reason for me to ride the tram.

Funny thing about this whole thing is: Whistler/Blackcomb talked about a "Peak to Peak" tram two years ago. It is already built.

Crystal proposed a tram in 1995 at their initial "Master Plan" meeting. Crystal finally gets to build it after 15 years of pissing contests and concerns over that little spotted salamander in Hen Skin Lake.

If Crystal Mt didn't have to spend $5 million in EIS, they could have had a tram built 13 years ago , without extra costs in lift tickets.

Thank your Sierra Club, PETA and every other environmental wacko group for stalling improvements at Crystal Mt.

Thank your Sierra Club... every other environmental wacko group for stalling improvements at Crystal Mt.

No thanks required. It was our pleasure.

Crystal has great terrain and cannot change its latitude or its elevation. I don’t ski Crystal all that much, about 15 days last year, 10 the year before and none so far this year
However, there are a number of areas for vast improvement. Listed in no particular order:

1. Incentivize workers to be happy or at least treat the customers well. The employees at Baker look to me like the happiest people on earth and are friendly and seem happy to be alive. Crystal employees are always pissed and aren’t pleasant to deal with. Recommendation to management – go to Baker and see what they are putting in the cool-aid. Then copy them.
2. Increase number/efficiency of ticket sales booths. There should be no need for a queue to sell tickets. Recommendation – staff booths for morning rush. Consider a cash only line and mobile credit card readers with cashiers.
3. Queue management on Forest Queen. Paid customers should never be hit with a bamboo pole. Recommendation – figure out how to utilize the mazes to ensure full chairs and happy riders. A college or high school business ops class could study this and make a recommendation from original research (on this lift) if ski industry does not have this data currently for 6 packs (I suspect this info exists).
4. Get rid of crotch kicking kickback gates. Those just piss people off. Recommendation: sell for scrap.
5. Food blows. Recommendations: Change the recipes, no need to drop prices if food is good, but dropping the prices would be good too. Read the Whitewater ski area cook book. Amazing food, low prices, use their recipes.
6. Treat your locals like they matter. Recommendations: Create a loyalty program like the Edge Card from Whistler (would also help with item 2). Red, White and You card is the right idea but poorly executed since it was only available in the States.
7. Drop the big Cap Ex projects. Northway has not motivated me to go to Crystal, nor has Warren Miller, nor will the gondola. Recommendation: Spend money on other items, preferably variable costs that benefit local users. Local, roving, happy Ambassadors could work wonders at bottle necks such as ticket booths, kids dropping skis, lift service when needed, clearing table in the restaurant. Sun Peaks does a good job of this, as does Fernie.
8. Take care of and increase the Ski Patrol. They are the life blood of what makes Crystal good, open, safe terrain. Recommendation: Hire more, use more bombs, start em early. They do a hell of a job.

you clearly haven't talked to someone who skis crystal regularly!   

Quotes I've heard in the last year:
"There's just no place in the WORLD as good as Crystal"
"I wouldn't WANT to ski anywhere else but Crystal"
"I just don't think ANYwhere else has the terrain Crystal has"


PS  Alpy rules! 

Not to denigrate Crystal, but it would be obvious to me that those folks have yet to ski in Utah.

:

Can you identify the employee who so long ago tapped you with a bamboo while directing the FQ line?

Cause I'd like to buy them a beer for helping to keep you away and  perhaps give them some coaching on getting the correct amount of backswing and follow through for next time you come visit.

By the way, the single longest ticket window line I have repeatedly seen is at Mt Baker. Maybe too much time spent on meaningless staff civility programs? But you do make a good point about the food at H2O though.

Crystal Mt claims they will be able to keep the upper mountain open in windy conditions , when they usually have to shut down REX and Ch 6. Good enough reason for me to ride the tram.

Funny thing about this whole thing is: Whistler/Blackcomb talked about a "Peak to Peak" tram two years ago. It is already built.

Crystal proposed a tram in 1995 at their initial "Master Plan" meeting. Crystal finally gets to build it after 15 years of pissing contests and concerns over that little spotted salamander in Hen Skin Lake.

If Crystal Mt didn't have to spend $5 million in EIS, they could have had a tram built 13 years ago , without extra costs in lift tickets.

Thank your Sierra Club, PETA and every other environmental wacko group for stalling improvements at Crystal Mt.

Not bad for Crystal considering it took White Pass 25 years to get their chair lifts in, fighting the tree huggers and so forth.


Here is a pic of the new Gondola's that will be going in.
i39.photobucket.com/albums/e165/hyak/gondolacrystalcropped.jpg