Purg, Wolf Creek, & Loveland haven't had big lines any times I've been there. My mother said Los Alamos, Santa Fe, & Taos lift lines are far better now on powder days than when she grew up thanks to more chairs on lifts + high speed lifts.

In the case of Loveland, you just have to contend with the snarl of traffic on I70. It's right before the Eisenhower tunnel, so it isn't as bad as Vail or Copper just up the road, but I70 traffic has gotten pretty brutal over the years. I've had routine 1 hour drives to/from a resort turn into 3-4+ hours more often than not.

Wolf Creek makes sense though - that's a bit more of a commitment. Your typical skier is probably going to be there for a few days and not just swinging up for a Saturday (at least coming from the front range.)

I-70 is the reason I didn't apply to jobs in Colorado. I don't know how much people carpool, but at least there's some infrastructure for it now. I just wish the state would put some extra tax on the resorts to fund a free ski bus with dedicated lanes where convenient. How sick would that be?

I liked what Vail resorts (and maybe others, dunno) implemented last year due to COVID: a reservation system to limit the number of people on the mountain. Lines during the middle few hours of the day were still pretty bad, but not the 30 minute logjams we've been seeing during the last decade. Early and late in the days, no lines at all. I wish they'd kept the reservation system this year. I fear we'll be back to the usual circus this season.

Wolf Creek sucks.

You'd hate it there.

Thanks, added to my "do not miss" list!

> and the lines just getting absolutely ridiculous

Leave the US.

I worked at a mountain in the US where it was quite normal to have a line from 30 minutes before opening until after closing. I would load passengers on every single chair, all day, every day.

I moved up to Canada. It was quite common to go 15-20 minutes without a single person getting on my lift. I regularly ski runs and don't see a single person for the entire run. I often only cross/see my own tracks.

Leave those crowds behind.

Where in Canada? Not Whistler...

Colorado has 32 ski resorts and Vermont 26. I don't think you need to go to the backcountry to avoid the crowds, just to a smaller lift serviced mountain.

Wait till you find out how overcrowded backcountry skiing has gotten too.

Agreed. It has been trending up for years with better equipment, but COVID opened up the floodgates. Now the NPs have to employee "ski rangers" to help assist the chaos that is bc skiing in popular spots. I don't like where this is headed. Serenity and solitude get removed from the outdoors more and more every season. Summer and winter.

I am really torn. Part of me wants everyone to enjoy nature and outdoors, but the other part of me wants to keep it pristine. These desires seem at odds with each other.

It wouldn't be so bad if these new outdoor people actually respected the outdoors. Yet they show up with blue tooth radios and leave trash around

Everyone is a new person to someone