2011-12 Skiing Thread - Page 2 - Calgarypuck Forums - The Unofficial Calgary Flames Fan Community

troutman · 11-04-2011, 03:32 PM

Has anyone done the math? If you have a Sunshine card and/or a Louise card, what do you do when you have 7 visits? Does it make sense to buy another card? Or would it better to have a season pass?

username · 11-04-2011, 03:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by troutman

Has anyone done the math? If you have a Sunshine card and/or a Louise card, what do you do when you have 7 visits? Does it make sense to buy another card? Or would it better to have a season pass?

I believe they stop selling them around xmas so chances are you're not going to have used it 7 times by then.

A season pass makes sense if you plan on going more than 10 times to most resorts. I get one to Revy each year but I'm fortunate that my company contributes 500 towards the cost with our health and wellness fund.

DownhillGoat · 11-04-2011, 04:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by troutman

I will add that, but is it about 5 hours away?

IIRC it's a about 1-1.5 hours past Golden. Depending on weather and traffic.

Quote:

Originally Posted by troutman

Has anyone done the math? If you have a Sunshine card and/or a Louise card, what do you do when you have 7 visits? Does it make sense to buy another card? Or would it better to have a season pass?

The cards are registered to your name, and you can only buy one per person per season.

A few years ago I did the math on them (alignment is slightly different now, so it may have changed), and I would have had to ski more than 26 days to get to the point where buying a pass made more sense than buying all the cards (Pano/Louise/RCR/Sunshine/Revy). And even then, it boils down to if you want to ski one or two hills all season or not. Getting one of every card made more sense to me. It allows for way more variety, and allows one to take advantage of some pretty decent ski and stay packages without thinking "well, do I want to pay this to ski here when I have a pass for there?"

Now, if you're only planning on doing one or two hills anyways, the math skews from the way I figured it out.

freedogger · 11-04-2011, 04:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dubc80

Are snowboarders allowed in this thread?

Do people really still do that?

DownhillGoat · 11-04-2011, 04:30 PM

For those interested in the discount cards:

Louise/Kicking Horse/Revy/Castle
http://skilouise.com/louise_cards.php

Sunshine/Marmot
http://www.skibanff.com/liftpasses/s...FUgZQgodfi4VEA

Panorama
http://www.panoramaresort.com/snowcard

Fernie/Kimberly/Nakiska/Snow Valley/Blacktail/Rabbit Hill
https://secure.skircr.com/pass_types...js=1&season=11

Barnet Flame · 11-04-2011, 05:26 PM

I loved Fortress when I was a kid even though I had some of the coldest ever days skiing there - sat on stationary lifts as the wind howled.

It would be wonderful if it opened in time for my ski trip in March.

RatherDashing · 11-04-2011, 06:17 PM

Where do you guys take your skis to get tuned up? I've always done my own waxing, but I don't have room at my new place.

Redliner · 11-06-2011, 11:41 AM

Getting Fortress open again would be awesome as long as they don't completely jack the prices. Before it shut down it was one of the last "affordable" places to ski. With my kids all getting to the age now where they want to try bigger hills, it would be nice to have somewhere to go that wouldn't mean a $400 day.

I almost choked when I saw that an adult day pass to COP is 50 bucks now. Insane.

username · 11-07-2011, 08:35 AM

Did anyone make it to Louise this past weekend? Was it just a sheet of ice or was it actually half decent?

DownhillGoat · 11-07-2011, 08:39 AM

I talked to one girl who said it was a fantastic opening weekend. However she may have been exaggerating to rub in the fact that I'm stuck at work.

MacDaddy77 · 11-07-2011, 09:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RatherDashing

Where do you guys take your skis to get tuned up? I've always done my own waxing, but I don't have room at my new place.

TEchno Sport on 17th is my choice for maintenance. They also have a store in Avenida shopping mall that you can drop your skis off and tehy take them to the 17th ave store.

The 2 stores aren't affiliated any longer, however the 17th store still does all the tunings.

troutman · 11-07-2011, 09:18 AM

http://www.skibanff.com/conditions
SNOW REPORT
Heavy snowfall weekend

24 hours = 9 cm
48 hours = 15 cm

greyshep · 11-07-2011, 09:19 AM

Would love to see Fortress open up again too. Loved that place!

Crossing my fingers on this one.

troutman · 11-07-2011, 09:21 AM

http://www.skilouise.com/conditions/snow-report.php

Glacier express and Sunny T-Bar are open, with four groomed runs - Bald Eagle, Wiwaxy, Easy St., and Sunnyside - available for you to enjoy. See you there!

troutman · 11-07-2011, 01:57 PM

SunshineVillage Sunshine Village
@SunshineVillage opening date is now Nov 18 RT

Huntingwhale · 11-07-2011, 03:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bunk

I'm more and more convinced that Castle is the best hill in the region. Sure, it has a terrible lodge and crappy lifts - it's also further than Sunshine or Louise, but that's what keeps the big crowds away. Amazing terrain, great snow. Plus little old ladies give you hugs as they scan your lift ticket.

My favorite hill by far. My aunt has a cabin 20 minutes away from the hill so I hit up this hill as often as possible. I woudn't say the lifts are crappy....ok maybe the red one is kind of old and shaky but that because it's at such a high elevation. But once you get to the top of that lift you really feel like your on top of the world.

And the little old lady who gives you a hug, I forget her name but she is definitely a hilight! I love how Castle is much more of an advanced hill and it keeps the amateurs/newbies away. Definitely NOT the hill you want to go to if you are learning to ski/board.

chalms04 · 11-07-2011, 07:34 PM

I miss living 20 mins away from Red.

Roof rack going on tomorrow, woo.

mrbanffgirl · 11-08-2011, 07:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Huntingwhale

My favorite hill by far. My aunt has a cabin 20 minutes away from the hill so I hit up this hill as often as possible. I woudn't say the lifts are crappy....ok maybe the red one is kind of old and shaky but that because it's at such a high elevation. But once you get to the top of that lift you really feel like your on top of the world.

And the little old lady who gives you a hug, I forget her name but she is definitely a hilight! I love how Castle is much more of an advanced hill and it keeps the amateurs/newbies away. Definitely NOT the hill you want to go to if you are learning to ski/board.

I coach up at Norquay, an when we are there, they all love the Hugs lady!
And the old red chair, the reason for it being old and creeky, in it's former life, it was the divide chair at sunshine. "ridden hard and put away wet'

rd_aaron · 11-08-2011, 09:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kunkstyle

IIRC it's a about 1-1.5 hours past Golden. Depending on weather and traffic.

The cards are registered to your name, and you can only buy one per person per season.

A few years ago I did the math on them (alignment is slightly different now, so it may have changed), and I would have had to ski more than 26 days to get to the point where buying a pass made more sense than buying all the cards (Pano/Louise/RCR/Sunshine/Revy). And even then, it boils down to if you want to ski one or two hills all season or not. Getting one of every card made more sense to me. It allows for way more variety, and allows one to take advantage of some pretty decent ski and stay packages without thinking "well, do I want to pay this to ski here when I have a pass for there?"

Now, if you're only planning on doing one or two hills anyways, the math skews from the way I figured it out.

I've seen people trying to sell partially used cards on Kijiji (ie. something like "$40 for the RCR card, has one free day of skiing left on it). I've never bought a card. Is it impossible for more than one person to use the card?

DownhillGoat · 11-08-2011, 09:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rd_aaron

Is it impossible for more than one person to use the card?

With the cards you either have to go to the full service window, and show ID or use the self-serve kiosk (if available) and use the birthdate that was registered with the card. So in theory you could use a second hand card if: the seller gave you his birth date, the hill has self serve kiosks (IIRC Panorama, Revelstoke, and Kick did not have this option), and the kiosks are actually working. They have a tendency to fail, and that'd be a pretty huge waste of a drive and the money spent on an unusable card.

I could see buying a second hand card that hadn't been activated (provided the seller lets you activate it online prior to purchase to verify that it hasn't been activated), but you're rolling the dice if you buy a used card from someone you don't know.

Most of the cards pay for themselves after one or two uses. You're probably better off buying a card new, if you think you're going to go to that hill any time during the season.