NorthStar California Sucks | VailEpicFail
The good, the bad and the ugly about NorthStar California ski resort and Vail Resorts
Hours long wait at free parking to get on the bus that takes you to the mountain. Paid parking is mostly empty! Vail Resorts is ruining our ski day at Northstar!
Alex Colodner (via Twitter)
The reservation system is a massive farce. The crowds on the Sunday of MLK weekend were bigger than anything I had experienced in prior seasons. They also weren’t blowing any snow and temperatures were hitting the mid 50’s, making the riding conditions very dangerous. I was there in December and they were blowing snow while it was snowing. Dope logic, Northstar. The bar is closed for bogus reasons, and if you’re hungry get ready to pay $14 for a cup of chili and $7 for the most garbage cup of coffee I’ve ever had in my life.
Separate incident: My partner lost her phone on Saturday. Someone found it on the run and turned it in to the lodge. i could see it’s location. When she went inside to ask, the woman at the hand sanitizer station insisted that it wasn’t there and that it would be turned in to lost and found. She just said this based on the question. Do the employees get a morning lost & found report? Do they get a detailed briefing of all items in the lodge before their shift? I’m curious how she was so sure that it wasn’t there. I was waiting outside and after hearing this went in and showed her that the phone was in the building. That was enough to make her put in 5% of effort and go upstairs and ask. Sure enough it was there. Maybe try like a little bit, in the future.
I’ll start off by saying today was a miserable experience, and has inspired me to drop my Epic season pass and move to Icon instead. I figured, as a pass holder and with a reservation, Northstar would follow Covid guidelines and limit the amount of people allowed on the mountain. The line on a Sunday for the Gondola wrapped around the entire village, no social distancing, and more were coming at 9:30 when I finally gave up and left without seeing a ski slope. Had I stayed it would have been well over an hour wait just to get on to the mountain, not including the additional lines for ski lifts. Northstar has always had a traffic/people management problem pre pandemic, it seems worse now than ever. My season pass is rendered worthless if I cannot get near a ski slope without 2-3 hours spent in lines. AVOID!!! Other ski resorts in the area that don’t treat you like cattle and create super-spreader events. It’s a shame because I used to really like the runs at NStar.
Jeff C. (via Yelp)
Angelotta, a 43-year-old Truckee man who worked at a ski shop at the resort, told friends he was going to go skiing at Northstar before meeting them for Christmas dinner, the Sheriff’s Office said in previous statements. When he did not show up for the dinner, friends reported him missing. Angelotta’s ski pass was scanned around 11:30 a.m. on Christmas at Northstar’s Comstock lift, and his vehicle was found parked in the ski resort’s parking lot, but rescue crews were unable to locate him.
There was “no realistic possibility Rory has survived the severe winter conditions,” the Placer County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release Thursday.
Read more at: https://www.sacbee.com/news/local/article256964167.html
From the editor: we feel sorry for the victim’s family.
This is a great resort if you enjoy waiting in lines. 20 minutes waiting in a line of traffic going to the parking area, 30 minutes waiting for the parking shuttle, 1 1/2 hour waiting for rental skis I reserved ahead of time, 20 minutes waiting for ticket pickup, 20 minutes waiting for your first lift. Got here before 8 and wasn’t skiing until 11:30. Then it was 10 minute waits for the bathroom, 15 minute lift lines. It wasn’t even a particularly crowded weekend. Total waste of time. Go to literally any other Tahoe resort. I’ve been to 5 others this season, including during the true busy weeks around the holidays, and this was my only bad experience.
Jason R. (via Yelp)
With a limited amount of people allowed on the mountain they did a piss poor job on planning for the number of people they sold tickets to.
Jason J. (via Yelp)
Just to get tickets and you have to wait for a long line.
The line to get to the gondola is crazy long too.
They can’t handle the crowds. Skims lifts are over crowded.
Quan D. (via Yelp)
Photo credit: Quan D.
I came here for a wedding and rented one of the condo. It was very disappointing the code they gave did not work and no one answer at the front desk. I found they had sent us the wrong code. The manger Bridgette on duty was very rude and not helpful at all. I will never stay there again and I have told my friends the same.
Sydney M. (via Yelp)
They over sell lift tickets that are already over priced then don’t have enough parking and if you’re lucky enough to get in you can fit in 2-3 runs and buy a $45 dollar hot dogs. The guest services were also rude as when I tried to refund my ticket as we couldn’t park!
Stephanie L. (via Yelp)
From the editor: Kirsten Lynch (who is the CEO of Vail and responsible for day-to-day operations, according to her profile and the article at Aspentimes.com), you are very proud of the increased sales, are you not?
Kirsten and Rob! We think you could shove your “success”. You are complete failure.
Hours spent in lines is a typical experience at Northstar.
This is why I’m giving up going to Northstar. I just go to my local DMV instead. Less driving, close parking, shorter lines!
22percentmilk (via Redit)
How the f*ck could anyone find this enjoyable?
Jetsgopro (via Reddit)
The lines are super long at lunch time and each line only sells specific items. There’s no sign that says that. I stood in line for 30 minutes just to find out I have to go in 3 different lines if I want to get burgers, tenders and soup. Its such a waste of time to have lunch here.
Little one C. (via Yelp)
Very badly managed and horrible customer service. As walk-in for rental equipment at 9am, our group was told by staff that there was a three hour wait and we received text confirming we were 15th in line. Couldn’t drive back to town for rental alternatives because parking lots and shuttles were too full/slow. Three hours later and no additional text we inquired and were told that they had lost our reservation. By that time it was too late to use full day lift tickets that we’d bought the previous night so at suggestion of Information staff we called Northstar management (530-562-1010, option 3) and were adamantly told that Northstar does not offer half day tickets. We then stood in ticketing line for an hour and told by staff that, contrary to management’s assertion, half day tickets were available. By then it was too late to get rentals and wait in the first gondola line: total loss of the day without any concession offered by any of the many Northstar representatives we talked with.
To me this is not a good place for people new to boarding/skiing and I would not recommend it to anyone.
Louis B. (via Yelp)
NorthStar California Sucks | VailEpicFail 