Industry News
Several resorts requiring parking reservations are punishing those who make reservations but fail to fulfill them, Peak Rankings reports.
From December 9th, Killington, VT introduced a ‘Cancel for Karma’ policy, asking guests who could not make their reservation cancel at least 90-minutes before the resort opens or face not being able to make future bookings.
Other resorts soon followed suit, with Snowbird, UT, Copper, and Eldora in Colorado, and Mt. Bachelor, OR also warning of a similar fate. All resorts are owned by Powdr.
A tiered penalty system is in place. A first-time no-show will receive a warning email, second-time will lose their next parking reservation, and third-time and beyond will lose all remaining reservations currently booked.
The resorts implemented parking reservations as a way to control crowds as a result of covid-19.
Jay Kay , I’m 55 years old and I have literally been skiing for most of those 55 years, my parents had me on skis when I was old enough to stand up on skis , and it’s not the tires or the type of vehicle that you drive it’s the experience and driving skill that most people lack to safely navigate mountain roads in winter. Just look at the towing companies storage yards after a big winter storm and the wrecked vehicles and it’s very clear that some people should not be driving in the snow. I guarantee I am a way better skier than you and an even better driver . The IKON pass , the EPIC pass and all combo passes created this problem, Covid just amplified it . Parking lots have been overflowing with vehicles for years, Too many people and not enough space on the mountain. And I don’t have studded tires on my Tundra , just common sense and better driving skills than you .
If you can’t drive a car on snow and ice covered roads then maybe skiing and snowboarding isn’t for you .
Ski resorts have made it too easy for people to get on the mountain, ski valets, preferential parking, online lift tickets . It used to be a little more challenging to get to the mountain and generally that weeded out the posers.
Maybe skiing/snowboarding isn’t for you , Jay Kay .
Mr. Anonymous,
I’ve probably been skiing longer than you’ve been alive. I don’t understand the point of your retort, that only cool people like you can get to the resort, your a child. I go five days a week and my studded Nokian Hakkapeliitta 9 tires get me there just fine. The point of the paragraph was about POWDR’s cancellation policy.
POWDR has set up a system that is inherently flawed.
There is bus service (The COVID Express) and unlimited drop offs allowed so they really have no idea how many people are on the mountain at any given time, this in no way keeps numbers down, in fact I have seen longer lift lines this year than any year previously.
The system has encouraged carpooling, hitchhiking, and the before mentioned bus rides, which they doubled the price of this year. Doesn’t sound like a plan for controlling the spread of a contagious disease.
This system also has set up a situation where people are having to drive up to the mountain on dangerous snow and ice packed roads just to get their parking pas scanned if they failed to cancel it before 7am.
No one has ever accused POWDR Corp of being a smart company (research how they lost Park City) but this particular problem they have created is even dumb by their standards.
This was about parking and reservation, specifically… just sayin’ ski on my friend!
Good – A lot of people will put every-day reservations in place to cover all of their bases in case they want to ski, then decide not to show up that day and fail to cancel. Cancellation would allow others to take their place who maybe didn’t have the ability to make their reservations at the exact time the reservation slot opened. If you can’t be responsible and unselfish enough to cancel your reservation, then action should be taken.