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Phil56


Posts: 15
Joined: Aug 2018
Last Visited: 10:15
11th Feb 2021
Re: Glenshee Ticketing
Date Posted: 10.24hrs on Mon 26 Oct 20
Let's keep it simple while moving forward. Advance purchase, QR code and pick up the usual style ticket on arrival looks good enough to me.

Agree the advance booking is a pain, but these are exceptional times and I'll take anything that's going this Winter if I can get in some days of skiing in Scotland.

And look on the bright side, once the decision has been made to go, that takes away all the uncertainty and constant checking of the weather app the day (and night!) before heading off.


I have to give Glenshee credit for updating their web-site with this information now.
alan


Posts: 10768
Joined: Nov 1994
Last Visited: 17:02
27th Mar 2024
What's this?What's this?What's this?
Re: Glenshee Ticketing
Date Posted: 18.43hrs on Mon 26 Oct 20
jabuzzard Wrote:

The fabled Scottish mountain weather for systems not working is guff from Luddites to oppose change. I have seen them working just fine on the continent in -20°C whiteout or in the pouring rain and everything in between. All this stuff is well and truly fixed.


You'd be surprised at the amount of kit that 'works in the Alps' that has either failed to work or had an unacceptably short shelf life here - that Trinium's webcam system which relies on mounting high end specially adapted IP cameras upside down outside has retreated from 4 Scottish Ski Areas to just the Lecht is merely one example!

Perhaps ponder what the differences might be between near coastal ski resorts in a maritime climate and continental ski resorts? eye rolling smiley

Severity of wind, persistent high humidity, salt in the air corroding things and trashing IP ratings in short order, level and frequency of icing and resulting ice-jacking of hardware etc.

It's also operational practicality, external installed turnstile gates mean the approaches need to be kept at a near constant level, the problem should be pretty damn obvious here. It's simply a completely unnecessary waste of capital expenditure, on equipment that will frequently sit idle either being bypassed or broken, or consume disproportionate staff time that would be much better spent elsewhere.

This season we most certainly do not want people trying to purchase tickets in the carpark, the point about advance sales is so that numbers are limited by people not travelling without a ticket - to stop base facilities being overwhelmed and also because the ski areas don't want people to spend money on wasted trips, they want people to spend their money on trips where the lift company actually gets some £££ at the end of the journey.
Phil56


Posts: 15
Joined: Aug 2018
Last Visited: 10:15
11th Feb 2021
Re: Glenshee Ticketing
Date Posted: 17.21hrs on Tue 27 Oct 20
alan Wrote:

It's simply a completely unnecessary waste of capital expenditure, on equipment that will frequently sit idle either being bypassed or broken, or consume disproportionate staff time that would be much better spent elsewhere.


Agree 100%
Andy28


Posts: 887
Joined: Mar 2007
Last Visited: 22:01
9th Mar 2021
What's this?
Re: Glenshee Ticketing
Date Posted: 17.41hrs on Tue 27 Oct 20
Looks like I won't be able to ski Glenshee this year. Understand they are doing their best to handle covid and they have given advanced warning of the changes but I always make the call where I'm going with less than a day's notice,usually night before. Sometimes even on the motorway on the drive up before I have finally decided where I'm going.

Wish them all the best
sspeirs


Posts: 370
Joined: Mar 2008
Last Visited: 09:59
22nd Apr 2021
Re: Glenshee Ticketing
Date Posted: 20.20hrs on Tue 27 Oct 20
Although I moaned a bit about the 24 hrs notice above, I do agree with what Phil says below. This year let's be happy for what we manage to get in terms of skiing. I've got a Glencoe season pass so that is my default, unless Glenshee has partic good snow

Phil56 Wrote:
Let's keep it simple while moving forward. Advance purchase, QR code and pick up the usual style ticket on arrival looks good enough to me.

Agree the advance booking is a pain, but these are exceptional times and I'll take anything that's going this Winter if I can get in some days of skiing in Scotland.

And look on the bright side, once the decision has been made to go, that takes away all the uncertainty and constant checking of the weather app the day (and night!) before heading off.


I have to give Glenshee credit for updating their web-site with this information now.

jabuzzard


Posts: 885
Joined: Jan 2010
Last Visited: 11:02
16th Apr 2021
Re: Glenshee Ticketing
Date Posted: 22.13hrs on Wed 28 Oct 20
alan Wrote:
It's simply a completely unnecessary waste of capital expenditure, on equipment that will frequently sit idle either being bypassed or broken, or consume disproportionate staff time that would be much better spent elsewhere.


Sorry but it is not. The centres are a visitor attraction and customer experience is very important. Having to queue to get a ticket when the vast majority of people have extremely positive experiences of handsfree ticketing systems is a bad customer experience. Suggesting a bad customer experience is a good thing is beyond stupid.

Also apparently staff to sell tickets come free; news alert paying less than minimum wage is illegal.

It is the same stupid mentality that says we need lots of drag lifts rather than chairs because they provide up lift in conditions only the mental go out in, Which is another bad customer experience. Though I would note that there is a change in this direction but like the UK COVID response it's "too little, too late".

I note you have quietly dropped the guff about using a handsfree left pass you where spouting earlier when it was pointed out to be the guff it was.

The special weather of Scotland is just an pathetic excuse. They make stuff work in the middle of the North Sea for crying out loud. There is nothing special about the weather and it is not beyond the engineering capabilities to man to make systems work in the weather conditions.


This season we most certainly do not want people trying to purchase tickets in the carpark, the point about advance sales is so that numbers are limited by people not travelling without a ticket - to stop base facilities being overwhelmed and also because the ski areas don't want people to spend money on wasted trips, they want people to spend their money on trips where the lift company actually gets some £££ at the end of the journey.


True, but it would be easy enough to make the system require purchases 24 hours earlier. I also suspect that the proposed system will not reach a wide enough audience and people will turn up regardless unfortunately.

ropetow


Posts: 202
Joined: Sep 2006
Last Visited: 09:08
13th Apr 2021
Re: Glenshee Ticketing
Date Posted: 22.59hrs on Wed 28 Oct 20
Its all about the money.

If there's no return in investment for a handsfree system, either through catching folks without a pass, reducing staff costs at the office - or increased visitors as a result of having a 'better experience' then its just not going to happen.

Simple economics.
alan


Posts: 10768
Joined: Nov 1994
Last Visited: 17:02
27th Mar 2024
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Re: Glenshee Ticketing
Date Posted: 23.31hrs on Wed 28 Oct 20
So Jabuzzard, if low frequency short range RFID with gates such as the skidata system is so fantastic, why do you think Vail Resorts who could certainly afford to physically gate lifts uses long range UHF RFID with gateless gantries and roving human ticket checkers?

An off the shelf ticket system is not designed to work in the North Sea so your comments above are just ridiculous, yes you could build a hardened bespoke gated system but at what price and for what purpose?

Actually one of the factors in ticketing having stayed the way it is here has been a different aspect of the weather factor, being able to give everyone an explicit warning on what to expect or likelihood of everything shutting and on what terms the tickets are sold before they buy. Even then you can get utter brickbats from irate skiers not long after! Since between us we’ve not only bought, but also sold tickets across four of Scottish areas at sometime or another we know the score on both sides of the ticket window!



Edited 1 times. Last edit at 23.33hrs Wed 28 Oct 20 by alan.
Phil56


Posts: 15
Joined: Aug 2018
Last Visited: 10:15
11th Feb 2021
Re: Glenshee Ticketing
Date Posted: 17.16hrs on Thu 29 Oct 20
Discussion and plans could all be in vain, with those in Tier 3 not being able to leave their local authority region for non-essential travel. As things stand, that would be OK for Aberdeen & Perth in Tier 2, but no good for the central belt nor Dundee.

Still, it's two months till January, so let hope things have been relaxed by then.
alan


Posts: 10768
Joined: Nov 1994
Last Visited: 17:02
27th Mar 2024
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Re: Glenshee Ticketing
Date Posted: 17.43hrs on Thu 29 Oct 20
Phil56 Wrote:
Discussion and plans could all be in vain, with those in Tier 3 not being able to leave their local authority region for non-essential travel. As things stand, that would be OK for Aberdeen & Perth in Tier 2, but no good for the central belt nor Dundee.

Still, it's two months till January, so let hope things have been relaxed by then.


Essential and/or permitted purposes for which at present one of the later exemptions is outdoor non contact sports, exercise and mountain recreation. It is the ski areas understanding through discussions that uplift can operate at all levels, though other facilities would become increasingly restricted.

IE if the ski areas themselves are in level 4 there would be no hire, no ski school, no sightseeing, no catering (except takeaway - use your car as your Daylodge type thing).

However it is clear that sustaining such a situation requires widespread compliance and if we want to have a season we should be encouraging everyone to do their bit to avoid us facing a full lockdown again.
oversteer


Posts: 242
Joined: Jan 2008
Last Visited: 19:01
11th Mar 2024
Re: Glenshee Ticketing
Date Posted: 20.40hrs on Wed 4 Nov 20
alan Wrote:
Jamizon Wrote:
ML Wrote:
Like in EU resorts, with a turnstyle system and a RFC card you can place in your arm pocket?

Could be done with a ticket-machine instead of a pay-kiosk. Illimates some but not all of the contact moments.


As apposed to a visually checked day ticket which requires no physical contact?

Indeed, despite the RFID infrastructure behind the Epic Pass Vail Resorts also still used dated and barcoded paper tickets and there’s no gates involved. No nonsense of having to have a jacket compatible with the ticket system which specifies which arm you must have a pocket on. Can’t recall the last time I got through the Nevis ski data gates without having to move or take out ticket, when your holding skis and poles and trying to manoeuvre them through a turnstile it’s it’s just a complete PITA.


Aye, and with Cairngorm levels of ignorance/arrogance they keep the soddin' thing in situ. It usually trips me up about 2 minutes after the ticket office have told me Warrens and Braveheart will be opening shortly. Presumably shortly is within a decade.

A hideous place to ski. Not helped by someone overcompensating with a piste basher at the busiest times.

Will only ski there in times of absolute desperation. Would actually ski Cairngorm ahead of that place.
oversteer


Posts: 242
Joined: Jan 2008
Last Visited: 19:01
11th Mar 2024
Re: Glenshee Ticketing
Date Posted: 20.48hrs on Wed 4 Nov 20
alan Wrote:
So Jabuzzard, if low frequency short range RFID with gates such as the skidata system is so fantastic, why do you think Vail Resorts who could certainly afford to physically gate lifts uses long range UHF RFID with gateless gantries and roving human ticket checkers?

An off the shelf ticket system is not designed to work in the North Sea so your comments above are just ridiculous, yes you could build a hardened bespoke gated system but at what price and for what purpose?

Actually one of the factors in ticketing having stayed the way it is here has been a different aspect of the weather factor, being able to give everyone an explicit warning on what to expect or likelihood of everything shutting and on what terms the tickets are sold before they buy. Even then you can get utter brickbats from irate skiers not long after! Since between us we’ve not only bought, but also sold tickets across four of Scottish areas at sometime or another we know the score on both sides of the ticket window!



Edited 1 times. Last edit at 23.33hrs Wed 28 Oct 20 by alan.

Bravo, Alan.

And as for drag lifts, there's no doubt Glenshee (mark iii) are heading in that direction but costs remain prohibitive.

Bottom line is I trust Glenshee, Glencoe and The Lecht to do the right thing based on a lived experience which involves a bit more than skiing in a different climate.
telemarker


Posts: 2934
Joined: Oct 2003
Last Visited: 14:59
12th Apr 2021
Re: Glenshee Ticketing
Date Posted: 09.31hrs on Sun 22 Nov 20
I see Glenshee have moved camera to top of sunnyside chair now, not sure when that happened I only noticed this week
Probably a better place to have it, can see more of the slops now

Last season I saw rope tow towers put in near top of chair too, hard to tell on camera if that work has finished
oversteer


Posts: 242
Joined: Jan 2008
Last Visited: 19:01
11th Mar 2024
Re: Glenshee Ticketing
Date Posted: 09.01hrs on Mon 23 Nov 20
telemarker Wrote:
I see Glenshee have moved camera to top of sunnyside chair now, not sure when that happened I only noticed this week
Probably a better place to have it, can see more of the slops now

Last season I saw rope tow towers put in near top of chair too, hard to tell on camera if that work has finished


The Rope Tow's been there for a while now. Quite a bizarre location... even in a resort famous for bizarre lift locations...

The new webcam is cracking though. Just hope it can capture a resort full of skiers this winter. They absolutely deserve it.
ML


Posts: 54
Joined: Dec 2018
Last Visited: 15:59
21st Apr 2021
Re: Glenshee Ticketing
Date Posted: 12.18hrs on Mon 23 Nov 20
Does show that the chairlift is in high need of some TLC though.
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