# Ski-in, ski-out timeshare in western USA



## EAM (Feb 28, 2007)

Which timeshare resorts, if-any, in the western USA are ski-in or ski-out or both?


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## T_R_Oglodyte (Feb 28, 2007)

Some of the Whiski Jack resorts in Whistler are ski-in/out.  Others are only a short walk to the lifts.


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## laynemiller (Feb 28, 2007)

*ski in ski out*

Hi,
One of the nicest is Marriott Mountainside in Park City. We don't ski, so I haven't stayed there during the winter, but a week last summer was sure nice. It sports an excellent array of outdoor hot tubs and small pools a very nice outdoor pool, BBQs and other amenities. Skiing at Park City is great- I hear.
Layne


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## calgal (Feb 28, 2007)

Are either of the Park City Marriotts walking distance to the children's ski school?


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## Judy (Feb 28, 2007)

Grand Timber Lodge in Breckenridge, Colorado


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## SilkRoad (Feb 28, 2007)

Red Wolf at Squaw Valley, Olympic Valley, CA


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## Blues (Feb 28, 2007)

Ridge Tahoe in South Lake Tahoe.  Note -- not Ridge View, Ridge Crest, Ridge Sierra, just the original Ridge Tahoe.


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## labguides (Mar 1, 2007)

We are not skiers, but it appears that Westgate Park City is a ski in/out resort.


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## madherb (Mar 1, 2007)

Calgal,  Marriott Mountainside is at the main base of Park City Resort.  Easily within walking distance to the ski schools (like 50 yards from the front door).  The other (Summit Watch??) is downtown, not an easy walk in boots with skis but the free bus takes you right to the mountain.   

Another Park City resort to consider is Sweetwater Lift Lodge accross the street from Mountainside.  It is older and not as luxurious but it has all the amennities (pool, hot tub, sauna, game room).  VRI has taken over management recently and is making a lot of upgrades to furniture, appliances and the inside and out of the building.


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## JROBIN (Mar 1, 2007)

Marriott Mountain Valley Lodge in Breckenridge (only 1 BR and studios though)


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## daventrina (Mar 1, 2007)

Marriott Timber Lodge, Tahoe,
Stardust Tahoe (across the street)


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## planner (Mar 1, 2007)

A couple of smaller out of the way places we had some fun with were The Mountanside at Silver Creek a ski-in ski-out that is outside of Winter Park, CO(we also skied Winter Park and Keystone) Another place you might try is Powder Ridge Village a ski-in ski-out in Eden, Utah (we also skied SnowBasin and Deer Valley. Hope that might help.


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## Bill4728 (Mar 1, 2007)

T_R_Oglodyte said:


> Some of the Whiski Jack resorts in Whistler are ski-in/out.  Others are only a short walk to the lifts.



Mountainside Lodge is less than 100 yard from the base of the gondola in Whistler. Club Intrawest is about the same to the base of Blackcomb. And the Lake Placid lodge is the same from the base at Creek side.


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## talkamotta (Mar 1, 2007)

Mountainside Park City is ski in and out and I think Summit Watch has a shuttle.  Westgate Canyons is ski in and out.  Snowbird has Cliff Lodge (my favorite) and Iron Blossom.  

I havent skiied for years..... My son has a condo that he rents out, it is between the two Cottonwood Canyons.  The people that rent out his condo usually like to go to different resorts for different reasons.  Such as Alta and Snowbird have harder runs.  Alta doesnt allow snow boarders.  

I think you would enjoy the area more if you rent a car. Even if you stay in Park City, you might want to take a day to go to Snowbird, Alta or Brighton.


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## PA- (Mar 1, 2007)

madherb said:


> Calgal,  Marriott Mountainside is at the main base of Park City Resort.  Easily within walking distance to the ski schools (like 50 yards from the front door).  The other (Summit Watch??) is downtown, not an easy walk in boots with skis but the free bus takes you right to the mountain.
> 
> Another Park City resort to consider is Sweetwater Lift Lodge accross the street from Mountainside.  It is older and not as luxurious but it has all the amennities (pool, hot tub, sauna, game room).  VRI has taken over management recently and is making a lot of upgrades to furniture, appliances and the inside and out of the building.



I checked out Sweetwater Lift lodge 2 years ago.  Unless VRI razed it, burned the remains, dug up the dirt it was built on, and rebuilt it entirely after fumigating the site, I'd avoid it.  Anyone planning to stay there would do very well to inspect it before reserving it.  It was one of the grossest places I've ever seen.  

Granted, I may have seen a different unit than Madherb stayed in.   But it was very unpleasant.


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## PA- (Mar 1, 2007)

EAM said:


> Which timeshare resorts, if-any, in the western USA are ski-in or ski-out or both?



There are MANY timeshares that are ski-in/ski out.  But sometimes, people disagree on the definition.

Pretty much everything in Copper Mountain is ski-in/ski-out, in my opinion.  Though since you have to walk across a little courtyard, some may not agree.

Virtually all timeshares in Beaver Creek are ski-in/ski-out, in the truest sense of the word.  But once again, some people might quibble with Hyatt Mountain Lodge, since you have to cross a little street. 

Why do you ask?  Are you putting together a list for TUG, or are you thinking of a trip and want to stay where you can ski in/ski out?


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## madherb (Mar 2, 2007)

PA,

Sorry you had such a bad experience we own 3 consecutive weeks at Sweetwater (51,52,1) and have enjoyed it every year.  They have had some challenges with some of the other amenities (sauna, laundry) but have never experienced any of the problems you expressed.  Of course our unit is one of the better units in the main building but my brother stayed in a 3br a couple years ago in a different building and it was fine.  Like I said it is older and showing some age but not as bad as you make it sound.  VRI appears to have trippled the size of the maintenance and houskeeping staff and added a couple to the front office.  Also one of the first things they did was change the door locks from keys to a card reader, nice but certainly a pretty low priority (in my opinion) if the resort needed a major overhaul.  My concern now is when VRI will try to hit us up for a special assessment.


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## bogey21 (Mar 2, 2007)

madherb said:


> My concern now is when VRI will try to hit us up for a special assessment.



Soon, I hope.  I want the Lift Lodge to be a nice as possible.  I bought a Week 47 on Ebay in 2001 for $800 (could probably get it for $400 today).  With a $500 Special Assessment I'll have a nice unit right accross from the Marriott (and access to ORE/VRI exchanges) for $1,300.  What a deal!!

GEORGE


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## madherb (Mar 3, 2007)

Guess VRI won't be hitting us.  I received notice they are leaving effective the end of this month.  So no access thru ORE/VRI.


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## TomF (Mar 3, 2007)

PA- said:


> There are MANY timeshares that are ski-in/ski out.  But sometimes, people disagree on the definition.


My definition of ski-in /ski-out is:

In the morning, you walk outside to the edge of the property, put on your skis, and ski down to the lift.
At the end of the day, you ski to the edge of the property, take off your skis, and walk inside.
Ski-out is skiing out of the property in the morning.  Ski-in is skiing into the property in the evening.  Anything else is "located close to/near the lift" or "located xx distance from the lift".  If I have to walk across a plaza, that's near the lift.  If I have to walk across a road, that is definitely not ski-in/ski-out.


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## T_R_Oglodyte (Mar 3, 2007)

TomF said:


> My definition of ski-in /ski-out is:
> 
> In the morning, you walk outside to the edge of the property, put on your skis, and ski down to the lift.
> At the end of the day, you ski to the edge of the property, take off your skis, and walk inside.
> Ski-out is skiing out of the property in the morning.  Ski-in is skiing into the property in the evening.  Anything else is "located close to/near the lift" or "located xx distance from the lift".  If I have to walk across a plaza, that's near the lift.  If I have to walk across a road, that is definitely not ski-in/ski-out.



That's how I interpreted it, and that is how I answered.

At Whistler, the Whiski Jack properties in the Upper Village are true ski-in, ski-out.  In the Main Village everything is "near".  That's true even for Powders Edge and Westin, both of which are nearer the edge of the snow and closer to the lifts than other properties that are true ski-in/ski-out.


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## PA- (Mar 3, 2007)

TomF said:


> My definition of ski-in /ski-out is:
> 
> In the morning, you walk outside to the edge of the property, put on your skis, and ski down to the lift.
> At the end of the day, you ski to the edge of the property, take off your skis, and walk inside.
> Ski-out is skiing out of the property in the morning.  Ski-in is skiing into the property in the evening.  Anything else is "located close to/near the lift" or "located xx distance from the lift".  If I have to walk across a plaza, that's near the lift.  If I have to walk across a road, that is definitely not ski-in/ski-out.




That's a pretty restrictive definition, that would exclude a lot of properties that are far more convenient to the lifts than what your definition includes.  My definition is that you don't have to get in a car or shuttle bus, or walk in ski boots more than a short distance, or walk in any kind of shoes more than a block.  Take the Grand in Steamboat.  You get up, walk across the street to a private valet with your boots and skis, and get on the gondola.  Not many places more convenient than that.


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## T_R_Oglodyte (Mar 3, 2007)

PA- said:


> That's a pretty restrictive definition, that would exclude a lot of properties that are far more convenient to the lifts than what your definition includes.  My definition is that you don't have to get in a car or shuttle bus, or walk in ski boots more than a short distance, or walk in any kind of shoes more than a block.  Take the Grand in Steamboat.  You get up, walk across the street to a private valet with your boots and skis, and get on the gondola.  Not many places more convenient than that.



I agree it's very restrictive, but when someone advertises a unit as "ski-in/ski-out" that is what is meant. Typically, a true ski-in/ski-out is a resort located *above* a lift and immediately adjacent to a ski run.

Logical or not, that type of property often commands a premium.


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## happymum (Mar 3, 2007)

Since we seem to be treating western Canada as synonymous with US, then we could add II's Northstar Mountain Village • (NSL) located at the top of the bunny hill. Not a huge ski resort, but excellent facilities - particularily for disabled skiiers.


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## EAM (Mar 3, 2007)

PA- said:


> Why do you ask?  Are you putting together a list for TUG, or are you thinking of a trip and want to stay where you can ski in/ski out?



My teenage son wants us to consider ski trips for spring break during his remaining years in high school.  The last time we took teens (my older son and his friend, both 18), they wanted to be free to go and do some things on their own.   We were staying in Frisco and driving to the ski slopes, but the young men were taking the (slow) public transportation system and once, getting back to Frisco after the last bus that stopped close to the resort.  

I once stayed in a ski-in ski-out lodge (Ptarmigan Inn?) at Steamboat (not a timeshare), and found it to be the most convenient skiing arrangement I'd ever had.  It was great to be able to leave the lodge and ski to a lift and ski back in later in the day.   Easy to stop at the lodge for lunch, too.  

And you lose so much time waiting for a bus, walking to a lift from the bus stop or parking lot, etc.  

We have access to both RCI and II, and early April is not really prime ski season, so I hope we'll be able to get a good unit.

But all this may be a pipe dream, because occasionally my son says something about a beach for spring break instead....  

We have only a few years left when he'll be vacationing with us, and I hope our trips will be special and fun times for all of us.


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## TomF (Mar 5, 2007)

PA- said:


> That's a pretty restrictive definition, that would exclude a lot of properties that are far more convenient to the lifts than what your definition includes.  My definition is that you don't have to get in a car or shuttle bus, or walk in ski boots more than a short distance, or walk in any kind of shoes more than a block.  Take the Grand in Steamboat.  You get up, walk across the street to a private valet with your boots and skis, and get on the gondola.  Not many places more convenient than that.


Maybe so, but it still ain't ski-in/ski-out!  Ski-in/ski-out is just what it says!  The Grand sounds convenient, but there's lots of places like that.  It's whats described as "next to the lift", or gondola in this case.

I'm not "excluding" any resorts, I'm just giving my definition of ski-in/ski-out, which doesn't include walking across the street.  And who needs a valet if you're skiing in or out?


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## beejaybeeohio (Mar 5, 2007)

*Montana*

The Big Mountain has the Edelweiss, but you may have to cross a parking lot to get to the lift.


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## marinersfan (Mar 13, 2007)

labguides said:


> We are not skiers, but it appears that Westgate Park City is a ski in/out resort.


Not a true ski in/out as per above definition, but a very nice place to stay and ski. There's a skier service that takes your ski's to the Gondola and back. Grand Summit Hotel next to the Westgate is a ski in/out.


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## hipslo (Mar 18, 2007)

marinersfan said:


> Not a true ski in/out as per above definition, but a very nice place to stay and ski. There's a skier service that takes your ski's to the Gondola and back. Grand Summit Hotel next to the Westgate is a ski in/out.




I just returned from a week at the Marriott Mountainside in Park City.  While there I was able to check out Marriott's Summit Watch, Westgate Park City, and the Grand Summit, as well.  For what its worth, I agree with Tom's definition of ski in/ ski out.  Being able to ski FROM the property to the lift is ski out, and being able to ski TO the lift from the property is ski in.  Anything else is either adjacent to the lift, or near the lift.  Personally, I put a high premuim on ski in/ ski out.  Others may not, and that's fine.  Prices for condos, homes, etc are almost always higher, sometimes signifcantly, all things being equal, for a true ski in/ ski out property, leading me to believe I am not alone in associating this sort of a premium with ski in/ ski out access.  To me, it is the same as a distinction between "beachfront" and "near" or "walking distance to" the beach.  Others may disagree, and that's fine, but I agree with Tom that this is how those terms are properly used.

That said, Mountainside is true ski in/ ski out, and is among the best properties in terms of ski in/ ski out access that I have ever seen.  Marriott really pulled off a coup when they got the development rights to that parcel, which is essentially 100 yards or so UP the payday run.  The access is just unbelievable.

Summit Watch is in a terrific location at the foot of Main Street in Park City.  However, it is not ski in/ ski out.  It is near the lift.  Nothing wrong with that, but its not ski in/ ski out.  

Grand Summit (a very impressive property, far nicer in terms of amenities, finish, etc. than Mountainside) is adjacent to the lift, and perhaps even ski in, though maybe just short of ski in, there wasnt enough snow for me to really see where the run under the gondola ends.  It is not, however, ski out.

Westgate is also a very nice property (though I could certainly do without the 100 or so framed photographs of Westgate founder David Siegel that line the main corridor), and is also nicer than Mountainside in terms of amenities and finish level (though its hard to beat the Mountainside slopeside pool and hot tubs, and I dont think that either Westgate or Grand Summit come close in that area).  Westgate is (sort of) near the lift.  But not that near.  Not even close to ski in/ ski out.  If I were using the beachfront analogy, Westagte strikes me as a block or two back from the beach, rather than beachfront.

For me, location and ski in/ ski out access is the most important thing, assuming that the basic quality hurdles of the resort and the rooms are met (Mountainside easily satisfies this criteria, for me, anyway, though as I said above, Westgate and Grand Summit are nicer properties).  Others may of course feel differently.  Hopefully this synopsis will be helpful, though.


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## hipslo (Mar 18, 2007)

hipslo said:


> Being able to ski FROM the property to the lift is ski out, and being able to ski TO the lift from the property is ski in.



Oops - correction - should have read -  "Being able to ski FROM the property to the lift is ski out, and being able to ski TO the property from the slope is ski in."


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## hipslo (Mar 18, 2007)

madherb said:


> The other (Summit Watch??) is downtown, not an easy walk in boots with skis but the free bus takes you right to the mountain.



"Not an easy walk in boots and skis" is an understatement - Summit Watch is probably about a mile walk, give or take, mostly uphill, to the ski school - walking is not a practical alternative.  The free bus does stop reasonably close to the Summit Watch property, though.  Also, depending on the skiing ability of those in your party, Summit Watch is a short walk to the Town Lift.  After riding the chairlift up, it is possible to ski down the mountain on fairly easy terrain to the ski school, though true beginners would likely have trouble doing this.  (Wouldnt work for my 4 year old, for example).  We just stayed at Mountainside this past week, and the walk to the ski school from the resort takes about a minute, maybe less.  Or, you can take the elevator down to the pool, walk to the edge of the resort's property, take your skis from the rack located right there, put them on, and ski down about 200 yards to the ski school.  Anyone who has been on skis for 4 or 5 days would have no problem negotiating that terrain - my four year old did this (sort of - with some help) by the end of the week.  For beginning skiiers and/or young kids, you just can't beat Mountainside's access and convenience in Park City.  However, if proximity to town is more important than proximity to the ski school and the skiiers in your party are reasonably competent, then I'd say Summit Watch is the way to go.


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## hipslo (Mar 19, 2007)

PA- said:


> That's a pretty restrictive definition, that would exclude a lot of properties that are far more convenient to the lifts than what your definition includes.



Since the ONLY purpose of using a ski lift is (presumably) to go skiing, how can ANYTHING possibly be more convenient (let alone "far more convenient") than actually SKIING to the lift?!


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## PA- (Mar 20, 2007)

hipslo said:


> Since the ONLY purpose of using a ski lift is (presumably) to go skiing, how can ANYTHING possibly be more convenient (let alone "far more convenient") than actually SKIING to the lift?!



Let me give a couple of examples.

1)  The Park Plaza in Beaver Creek is next to the lifts.  To get to the lifts, you take an escalator.  By the definition above, not technically ski-in/ski-out.

2)  The Sheraton in the Steamboat ski village doesn't meet the definition above, since you have to walk about 20 feet from the door of the hotel to the snow.  But it's within about 75 feet of the gondola across the plaza.  By far the most convenient location on the mountain.

3)  There are several condos in Steamboat that fit the definition above of "ski-in/ski-out", such as the Christy Club.  However, to get to the lifts, you ski down a fairly flat green run to the christy lift (which will probably require poling for part of the way), take it up, then ski down to get to the Gondola if you want to go up the mountain.

Which is more convenient in your opinion?


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## PA- (Mar 20, 2007)

EAM said:


> My teenage son wants us to consider ski trips for spring break during his remaining years in high school.  The last time we took teens (my older son and his friend, both 18), they wanted to be free to go and do some things on their own.   We were staying in Frisco and driving to the ski slopes, but the young men were taking the (slow) public transportation system and once, getting back to Frisco after the last bus that stopped close to the resort.
> 
> I once stayed in a ski-in ski-out lodge (Ptarmigan Inn?) at Steamboat (not a timeshare), and found it to be the most convenient skiing arrangement I'd ever had.  It was great to be able to leave the lodge and ski to a lift and ski back in later in the day.   Easy to stop at the lodge for lunch, too.
> 
> ...



I also far prefer being right next to the lifts rather than having to take a shuttle or drive.  And I don't want to have to walk several blocks at the end of a long day of skiing.

We stayed at Copper Mountain 2 years ago in a condo at the ski village.  We could literally walk less than 150 feet to the lifts across a paved plaza.  Very convenient.

For your needs, if you limit yourself to the technical definition of ski-in/ski-out, you may be missing out on some great resorts that are extremely near and convenient to the slopes.  

Silvercreek in SolVista is ski-in/ski-out; on a VERY mediocre ski mountain.  And it's not what you would call extremely luxurious accomodations.  On the other hand, there are many luxurious accomodations that don't fit the above definition of ski-in/ski-out.  

Perhaps, for your situation, a better question might be a list of those resorts that fit your quality criteria that are very convenient to the lifts.  Close enough that if one of your party wanted to quit early, or if you wanted to go back to the condo for lunch, it would be easy to do so.  Just my opinion.

If you could limit it to a few areas of the country you think you want to visit, perhaps we could help you zero in on some choices.  

Where do you live?  Do you need to be able to drive there, or are plane trips ok?


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## TomF (Mar 20, 2007)

Just to refocus this thread, it started out with the OP asking about ski-in/ski-out timeshares. Specifically, he asked "_Which timeshare resorts, if-any, in the western USA are ski-in or ski-out or both?_" As a matter of definition, various opinions were offered as to what constitutes ski-in/ski-out.  Now there seems to be a debate about what's "convenient" as compared to "ski-in/ski-out".

"Convenient" and "ski-in/ski-out" are two different descriptions, not mutually inclusive or exclusive.  A ski-in/ski-out property may not be as convenient to actually get to a desired lift, but if you ski FROM the property to a lift, it's ski-out and if you ski TO the property from the slope, it's ski-in.  If skiing out gets you to a desired lift or gondola then that's also convenient.  I think that ski-in/ski-out is a relatively objective description.

"Convenient", on the other hand, is a relative description.  To me, if it's not ski-in/ski-out but it's "convenient", or to be more precise, "conveniently located", "near lifts", etc., means I have to walk, with my skis, but I don't have to walk very far, or uphill, or downhill, or up an escalator, or across a street, or across a parking lot, or up the block.  Ski boots are not made for walking and the less walking, the more convenient, the more walking, the less convenient. Others may find that walking 150 feet across a flat plaza is more convenient than walking uphill across a 150 foot muddy parking lot, but to me it's not more convenient than simply walking out the door of the resort, stepping into my skis, and skiing to the same lift.

To me walking 20 ft from the door of a resort to the snow and skiing down to a desired lift would still be convenient ski-in/ski-out because I don't expect snow to be right up to the door of the resort.  That's basically what you have to do at MountainSide, which was offered as a definition of a convenient ski-in/ski-out property.  BTW, you do have to walk up a small flight of stairs to get to the slopeside gate of the property.  That's not as convenient as if I didn't have to walk up the flight of stairs, but the end result is that it's still relatively convenient and I can ski from the property to a desirable lift.

If the original poster had asked "What timeshares ... are convenient to a lift or gondola?" then we could all talk about resorts that are convenient, and that could include ski-in/ski-out.


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## hipslo (Mar 20, 2007)

PA- said:


> There are several condos in Steamboat that fit the definition above of "ski-in/ski-out", such as the Christy Club.  However, to get to the lifts, you ski down a fairly flat green run to the christy lift (which will probably require poling for part of the way), take it up, then ski down to get to the Gondola if you want to go up the mountain.
> 
> Which is more convenient in your opinion?



I see your point, and agree with you.  I was not really thinking about those "special purpose" lifts that can only be "sort of" skied to, don't really get you to where you want to be skiing, and are simply built so that certain properties can claim the distinction of being "ski in, ski out".  I was thinking more along the lines of the scenario at Mountainside, where, as Tom indicates, you step off of the property onto the snow, put your skis on, and ski (not pole) down to the MAIN lift at the base of the resort.  I dont see how anything could be more convenient than that.  (Although I suppose, as Tom says, if I didnt need to walk up about 7 steps located on the property to get to the snow, that would be a bit more convenient).  As I say, I do agree with you that I'd prefer to walk a few feet to a lift rather than poling a few hundred feet to a lift that is not truly providing access to skiable terrain, so you can consider my comment withdrawn!


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