Vail Pass fees start Nov. 27: Thin snowpack restricts snowmobiles at Vail Pass area

[black swan]

i agree w/ you Bug,

I would even support a speed limit in the parking area. The wreckless behavior in the lot gives the anti-crowd plenty of ammo. the hill climbing out of the lot is visible from i70, and never looks pretty. Esp in the spring when people are still pounding that hill to the scrub brush. As far as the rent a rangers, i have had nothing but good interactions with them and appreciate them keeping an eye on security and lawless-ness.

 

[Hammertime]

So do the skiers and snowboarders pay the 6.00 if not why NOT? Fair is fair everyone should pay no matter what.

 

[Kevin]

Yes, all users pay the daily use tax. However, only some users (us) also pay annual registration tax.

 

[hellasnow]

i'm a snowmoboarder and ride VP allot through the winter. i'm mainly there to access the boarding i can get due to easy access and knowledge of the area. i'm not found of the pay fee wasn't there when i first was riding VP but do deal with it now. i'm also not a fan of how many boarders and skiiers are up there these days as well but they are all figuring out what i figured out 8 years ago. get a sled and get away from the resort idiots. i'm also finding now those resort idiots are making into the BC. i would hope any of you that see me out get "respect" from me as a snowboarder (cause i also LOVE sleds!). you'd know me cause i ride my alpine double track out there all the time as well as my 01 summit. love that old sled!! haha.

if there is anyone besides the xcountry guys that annoy me it's the "new" school skiers and boarders out there that are acting like it's all theirs and not showing respect for others. he!! i even offer a tow to the xcountry guys or skiiers skinning out the the huts or hills. usually they deny but just trying to show good vibes to all.

the one thing i don't get about the xcountry guys is why are you not going across the hwy to the UNTOUCHED that we would love to tear up? oh yea cause you love the packed trail we make but hate us.... hmmm kind of a double standard...lol

i'm so so with the rangers. know a few of them by first name and they know me from the alpine. the only real beef i've had was just this past winter. no one was in the booth when i got there to pay to. the pay yourself had NO envelopes. saw 2 of em on the top of ptarmigan. they asked for the day passes i explained why we didn't have any. he then basically thought i was lying to him (i use the area enough i know the rules). he then "lets" me buy them from him. i joke while handing him a 20 stating i'm sure you don't have change either...lol.... he turns to me PISSED! saying i'm lucky he's even letting me buy it at all and that he "could or should" be giving me a ticket! that was alittle uncalled for. maybe he had a bad day who knows but he even recognized me by my old sled so should know i always pay.

needless to say i plan to expand my riding areas this year. just like VP for access and knowledge of good boarding. i'm a weekend warrior and love to board so hard to scout for new stuff all the time

 

[black swan]

pls corect me if i'm wrong, but why arent these BC skiers using the North side of i70. I realize that it's wilderness, but isnt that what wilderness is for?

 

[skibreeze]

pls corect me if i'm wrong, but why arent these BC skiers using the North side of i70. I realize that it's wilderness, but isnt that what wilderness is for?

No freakin chit! They won't go there, because there are no groomed trails. They beotch about us, but won't go where we can't.

 

[tubblemaker]

I rode VP m t there was plenty of snow everywhere the USFS just wants money and no services in return they suck

 

[tubblemaker]

I rode VP M T plenty of snow and fun. USFS wants money for nothin in return, they suck.

 

[backcountryislife]

you're responding to a thread & conditions report FROM LAST YEAR. (the uh, date from two days into the future didn't do it for ya?)


you tell em.

 

[scottbilt95]

vp

doesn't look that thin:

http://www.snowestonline.com/forum/showthread.php?t=237126

used to like going to vp for testing. rangers were okay. most skiers and boarders were okay except for one boarder who threw a snowball me because "i got in the shot" his 12 year old girlfriend was filming....can you say tool? in the spirit of getting along, i said nothing but did cut a 2 foot deep trench through the booter he was setting up for.

what has bummed me out is that every year, this place shrinks. two of our favorite "honey holes" are now off limits. we liked them because they were way off the beaten path and you never saw anyone. i don't know who determines what stays open but momentum is against the sledders. i would guess in 5 more years we will only be allowed on trails at vp.

i'm not an expert but if there are studies done by objective people that show snowmobiles f*ck these habitats up then shut the place down. i always thought wildlife was pretty resilient as long as your not running it over but i could be wrong. if it's for the skiers/boaders to have more places then they already have, that's also f*cked up. go across the highway or anywhere else we can't go. at the end of the day, it seems like the dollars we provide are still wanted by the haters. keep funding csa, saws, whoever. hopefully they try to keep it fair.

jeff

 

[black swan]

still kinda funny tho......someone post up some super deep 18" PICS PLS....

 

[Kid Rock]

so the 2 year old on the front page of the post today who rode up on the M to the hut to spend thanksgiving is gonna have to walk out i guess tomorrow...

 

[BadAftertaste]

you're responding to a thread & conditions report FROM LAST YEAR. (the uh, date from two days into the future didn't do it for ya?)


you tell em.

Awesome!

 

[Doctor D]

Vail pass has turned into a joke in the last 2 years, no camping, to much management etc. The best spots to ride are now out of bounds. Anyways its a good place for the weekend warriors.

 

[milehighassassin]

Vail pass has turned into a joke in the last 2 years, no camping, to much management etc. The best spots to ride are now out of bounds. Anyways its a good place for the weekend warriors.

I've been riding Vail Pass for probably 25+ years. I still love the place. I don't know how everyone says there is too much managment. I talked to the Ranger who was super nice. I gave him my license and $40 for a season pass. I went and parked, unloaded and got dressed. I drove my sled back to the ranger "station"/stand. He hands me my license back, my annual pass and tells us to have a good time. He also mentions that there is good coverage but there are still rocks, so pay attention. He also throws in that he doesn't want to see me using my Float 30 today. I laugh and tell him I don't ever plan on using it.

I have never once in the 25+ year of riding up here had ONE single problem with any of these guys. I am fully convinced that the guys that are having issues are the guys drive me nuts by speeding up and down the road in the parking area, jumping off the burms, reving up their double straight piped sleds being total tools.

There is no camping because that road barely gets plowed now. If people were camping up there, no way it would be done. FTR, the plowing is done by CDOT.


There are TONS of good spots to ride. Places we got that are in bounds but for some reason we never see anyone else there....

 

[AndrettiDog]

People are too caught up on the fact that it is a "controlled" area. Don't do anything wrong and you will be fine. If we were not paying the $6 usage fee we would likely loose this area. I've done a lot of work on the Travel Management Plan and battling Hidden Gems. This are has been dubbed a multi-use area and the fees go to the Vail Task Force and Forest Service to manage the area. Trust me...there are too many idoit riders for this to be left alone. The parking lot is a joke half the time. If you ride your cool sled at 50 mph down the parking lane, you must be cool right?

 

[Vailguy]

Time for me to chime in on this revisited thread.

I LOVE VAIL PASS! I will say it again, I LOVE VAIL PASS!

Why? Is it the fees? the groomed trails? The abundance of entitled REI greenies making the trip to Mecca? Well Yes.

In a previous life, I snowboarded...A LOT! I know some other former RM circuit junkies who have made the slednecks switch as well...cough...BCIL...cough.

Eventually, I got sick of living in the mountain ski towns, Durango, Park City, Vail; and couldn't stand the crowded resorts especially on the weekends, and started sledding. When I started boarding, resorts weren't very accommodating, boarders were the outcast among the pretentious skiing class. They didn't like us and we didn't like them and we let them know it. We rode picnic tables, handrails, and launched natural hits that the patrol had no idea they had to monitor yet.

What changed? The money, and the resorts followed it. The kids wanted to board and the parents still skied. Resorts that outlawed boarding didn't appeal to the family vacations, and were soon outlawing their own existence (Aspen, Alta, Taos excluded). One of the last resorts to embrace snowboarding in Colorado was Keystone. I wish Keystone had stayed a skier only resort. The terrain and the moguls are just more suitable to skiers. I wanted a place for skiers to be alone in their element, and to keep their grumpy skiers away from the places that mattered, I places I went.

Vail Pass is this area! Let the pseudo backcountry types have their easy access playground. Supplement them with a dose of rental sleds on tours. I want the greenies exposure to sleds to be slow organized lines on trails, quiet pipes, and low egos.

I believe mountain sledding is in Jeopardy, I will be surprised if we will have legal access to National forest 10 years from now. And when the bills come down the pipe, I would like the skiers to recognize that they are just like us, and in jeopardy of losing their access rights of well. The USFS doesn't make much if anything off skiers and snowshoers, and Off road vehicle registration fees go a long way to help a already cash strapped service.

I say give them Vailpass, it is a good area for the greenies to have shared access, get minimal exposure to passive sledding, and for the USFS recognize the value of our monitary contribution via ORV registration. What is our cost? Marginal terrain for sledding, even on a good day.

my .02

-l-

 

[Doctor D]

Hey Mr. Milehigh-***-in, what the hell is wrong will jumping off berms, and reving up your sled, speeding through the parking lot is not cool, like I said VAIL PASS IS FOR THE WEEKEND WARRIOR. SO STAY THERE AND ENJOY PAYING FOR YOUR BEGINNER TERRAIN...

 

[milehighassassin]

Hey Mr. Milehigh-***-in, what the hell is wrong will jumping off berms, and reving up your sled, speeding through the parking lot is not cool, like I said VAIL PASS IS FOR THE WEEKEND WARRIOR. SO STAY THERE AND ENJOY PAYING FOR YOUR BEGINNER TERRAIN...

Do I really have to explain this to you,

If you are out of the parking lit, nothing is wrong. In the parking lot you are just an attention whore d-bag.

Yeah, vail pass is the bunny slope, you're right.

 

[AndrettiDog]

Hey Mr. Milehigh-***-in, what the hell is wrong will jumping off berms, and reving up your sled, speeding through the parking lot is not cool, like I said VAIL PASS IS FOR THE WEEKEND WARRIOR. SO STAY THERE AND ENJOY PAYING FOR YOUR BEGINNER TERRAIN...

What?