More resorts should have tables like these

[ysb33r]

Found these in one of the resorts in Andorra over the summer.

[sempai]

No kidding! That's a simple but brilliant idea.

[Wookie]

I work a lot on resort and hospitality site design (ski resorts, water parks, stadiums, etc.). There are a lot of good and bad seating solutions used and things like these can be awesome and awful.

The Awesome: It's really flexible seating. You can use it in different ways. It very comfortable and much easier to sit at than high school/prison cafeteria style tables. It allows you have an organized place to store your gear, get more people at a table, and keep you stuff off the ground and out of the center of the table.

The Awful: These storage type tables can get staked out by squatters that load up the storage at the beginning of the day, head out on the mountain knowing that their stuff has permanently reserved a table for them all day. Or they become the spot where Mom holds on to the stuff for 4 kids and with a few bags and one butt takes up seating for twelve. Lastly when you give people a place to tuck stuff under their seat the occurrence of lost items goes up as people forget stuff.

When putting seating like this into projects the design teams I work with try to use it at places that cannot be used as home base or where people who are not participating in the sport can get access (i.e the lodge off the parking lot at the base of the mountain). They work best at places that are mid resort like a mid mountain cafe or someplace that can only be accessed by skiing to it or by lift. This way people come in, take a break, then put their gear back on and leave. At the base of the mountain they become locker rooms where people stash coolers and gear they might want to change into but not walk back to the car for.

Sorry for the long commentary but I was just looking at this for a project today. It's a large scale tennis training facility where we are debating the seating and storage solutions for youth tennis programs. The "table squatter" syndrome is also a pet peeve of mine as all the Mid Atlantic US resorts are notorious for the "grab a table and hold it all day" crowd that makes it impossible to find a place to sit at lunch. This is why I tend to eat on the lifts -- yet another benefit of skiboarding -- no poles means hands free for a sandwich on the chair lift.

[sempai]

The Awful: These storage type tables can get staked out by squatters that load up the storage at the beginning of the day, head out on the mountain knowing that their stuff has permanently reserved a table for them all day. Or they become the spot where Mom holds on to the stuff for 4 kids and with a few bags and one butt takes up seating for twelve.

Good points!

Lastly when you give people a place to tuck stuff under their seat the occurrence of lost items goes up as people forget stuff.

TS! If they can't remember to take it with them when they leave, they don't deserve to have it any longer. Their loss will be someone else's gain. Karma's way of paying it forward bitches.

[ysb33r]

When putting seating like this into projects the design teams I work with try to use it at places that cannot be used as home base or where people who are not participating in the sport can get access (i.e the lodge off the parking lot at the base of the mountain). They work best at places that are mid resort like a mid mountain cafe or someplace that can only be accessed by skiing to it or by lift. This way people come in, take a break, then put their gear back on and leave. At the base of the mountain they become locker rooms where people stash coolers and gear they might want to change into but not walk back to the car for.

I go with that. These pictures were taken at the top ttation - only reachable by gondola. Lickliy on the European continent there is less of a 'personal space' problem at tables. If a chair is open at a tanle and no one is sitting there, you can sit down after asking.

Now when some Brits with their rowdy kids on school vacation arrives, it might be another story ...

[Wookie]

...Now when some Brits with their rowdy kids on school vacation arrives, it might be another story ...

I feel your pain. This is not isolated Brits, the rowdy kids effect is a typical weekend at most East Coast US resort.

[shortydude]

At the remote resort of Sun Valley the lodges at the base of the lifts have walls of open covey holes without doors on them that people put street shoes and misc things in with a built in seating bench. It's a really nice high end place and petty theft doesn't seem to be a problem at all. At a high end tennis club or country club that kind of handy temporary storage could work too.

[Zach]

The Awful: These storage type tables can get staked out by squatters that load up the storage at the beginning of the day, head out on the mountain knowing that their stuff has permanently reserved a table for them all day. Or they become the spot where Mom holds on to the stuff for 4 kids and with a few bags and one butt takes up seating for twelve. Lastly when you give people a place to tuck stuff under their seat the occurrence of lost items goes up as people forget stuff.

When putting seating like this into projects the design teams I work with try to use it at places that cannot be used as home base or where people who are not participating in the sport can get access (i.e the lodge off the parking lot at the base of the mountain). They work best at places that are mid resort like a mid mountain cafe or someplace that can only be accessed by skiing to it or by lift. This way people come in, take a break, then put their gear back on and leave. At the base of the mountain they become locker rooms where people stash coolers and gear they might want to change into but not walk back to the car for.

Maybe its from being raised in New York, but thats why i carry everything I need for the day. Otherwise you come back to the lodge and your crawling under tables because someone put your stuff under the table.

then again Maybe its because I like my stuff and DONT want it stolen?

[Wookie]

Maybe its from being raised in New York, but thats why i carry everything I need for the day. Otherwise you come back to the lodge and your crawling under tables because someone put your stuff under the table.

then again Maybe its because I like my stuff and DONT want it stolen?

I hear ya. Riding at the mountains (hills) near NYC is it's own unique experience and makes you more protective of your stuff. Fortunately at the places that I frequent on the Right Coast I have found the safe, low traffic areas where I can stash my gear and know it will be there when I return. Also, being tall, I can typically throw my stuff on top of a locker or bank of cubbies where almost nobody else can reach it.

When I ride at Beaver Creek I swear I could leave my stuff laying in the middle of any room and no one would touch it until the staff takes out the trash at the end of the day since my gear is far below the designer haute couture ski standards of that resort. Certainly don't need to lock up my skiboards since most there look at them like they were something that fell out of the ship at Roswell.

BTW -- back on the original thread topic Beaver Creek does have nice seating in the lodges where the chairs each have a shelf under the seat for your helmet, gloves, and goggles. All the bar seating has hooks under the bar for your jacket and such. Very well thought out.

[Zach]

I've been to BC it was ok, I'm really in love with the local " non resort" feel of a-basin. Stepping in the lodge there feels
Like walking back in time, plus
You can pull your car right up to the lift.

I hate getting to a mountain and it taking me 45 minutes to actually get to the hill, and that's how beaver creek felt.


Beautiful 48 days!

[Wookie]

I've been to BC it was ok, I'm really in love with the local " non resort" feel of a-basin. Stepping in the lodge there feels
Like walking back in time, plus
You can pull your car right up to the lift.

I hate getting to a mountain and it taking me 45 minutes to actually get to the hill, and that's how beaver creek felt.

The Beav is definitely a "Resort" and does not have that local old time skiing feel that A-Basin has. It's not the place to chose if you want that homey, local feel. On the other hand it is great for kids and families and is usually less crowded than Vail or Breck. We starting heading there a few years ago just because we had access to a timeshare in Avon. Now we go back because between the affordability of Epic passes and the paid off timeshare we can get high end "Resort" skiing at a fraction of the price.

As for getting on the mountain quickly there are ways to do that once you know the mountain. Rather than riding the bus from the base parking lots it so much simpler to take the gondola from Avon which drops you right at the base of Bachelors Gulch and away from the congestion of the main mountain.

[Zach]

You won't get me to agree wookie. Now granted I don't have kids, I ski a lot by myself, I get to the basin really early and get one of the spots right up front.

There have been days when I can ski right up to my car, open the back door and throw my stuff in and go.

This is why it's one of my favorite places. Plus once you get up top, your above the tree line.

On a nice powder day, standing at the top and just choosing where your gonna ride.

There's a certain freedom to that. Something so simplistic that I can't explain it...it's just love.

I came very close to not even buying the epic this year. Just buying the a basin keystone pass. It's half the price, and that's where most of my skiing will be done.



And you can't beat skiing in June!




Beautiful 48 days!

[Wookie]

You won't get me to agree wookie......

I'm not trying to change your mind on the Beav or A-Basin. My point on the Beav is it's like one of my single friends questioning why I would ever want to go to the family friendly sit down restaurant that my wife and kids love when he loves the night club that has longer hours, better music, and easier parking. One experience is not better than the other, they are just different.

Sometimes you want a laid back homey resort and sometimes you want luxury grooming, a nice spa, and white table clothes. I love A-Basin and have enjoyed some great riding there, especially really early and really late in the season but the occasional "Spring Break" atmosphere and high altitude (which affects my wife) drop it down the list when looking for a family vacation destination.

A-Basin and Beaver Creek represent the two extremes of skiing near Denver and why the area is so awesome. You can get any ski experience you want all within less than 2 hours of the city.

• A-Basin -- Young, Fun, small feel with big terrain and one of the longest seasons in North America
• Breck -- Gives you close in skiing, a resort that has something for everyone
• Echo - Super close to town and one of the few places you can ski at night. Small but really fun glades.
• Loveland - Usually gets a ton of snow and a ton of intermediate and expert terrain
• Winter Park - Tons of challenging terrain. Steep powder tree runs
• Vail - Huge .... Just freaking huge but something for everyone. Open bowl skiing, tons of varied terrain, shopping, tubing, skibiking, etc.
• Beaver Creek - No shortage of varied terrain including the FIS World Cup Birds of Prey course all delivered in a luxury package with high end dining, ski valets, escalators, heated sidewalks, etc.. Super kid friendly with kid focused programs, glade runs, and awesome instructors (and hot chocolate to start the day and cookies to end the day ... note added by my daughter)

These are just the places I have been to personally. I am leaving off Keystone, Copper, Aspen, Steamboat, and others that each have their own perks. You are, IMHO, living is ski nirvana Zach. Some may like Vermont, Tahoe, or SLC better but for me it's a 2-3 hr circle around Denver.

[Zach]

I completely agreed wookie. There's something for everyone!

And the city of Denver would
Like to use your post in the next advertising campaign.:-)

Maybe that's it. Maybe that's why I didn't really love
BC or breck... I thought it
Was because it was 45 minutes and the mile walk in ski boots carrying all my shit...but you are probable right. If I went with a wife and kids it would entertain everyone.

I'll try the Avon trick this year, but I really hated breck mostly because I hate lines, so I'm probably not going back there!

I I have yet to go to aspen, not only because it's really far ( people don't realize how far it is from Denver) but it's also extremely expensive. I'd love to go spend the weekend there if there is a rich benefactor who would like to put me up.

I haven't skied copper even
Though people in town love it. It may be fantastic but I know a secret place that's
Open forever and I've never really seen a line at:-)

I'll get up to steamboat this year too, cause I hear great things about it too, but I don't know if that's the town... Or the mountain.

I must say wookie.. This is why I love this forum. We can argue that were both right!


Beautiful 48 days!

[Wookie]

.... And the city of Denver would like to use your post in the next advertising campaign....

I'm cool with that. I love Denver. If I didn't have kids in school and need the powerhouse economy of the Northeast cooridor to support my career I would likely move there. It may actually become my part-time home as some business opportunities develop.

..... but I really hated breck mostly because I hate lines, so I'm probably not going back there!...

Especially if you were at Breck on a Friday, Saturday, or Sunday I can see that. The lines get bad particularly on the weekends as Breck is the place to go if you live in Denver and want to ski but be home for dinner. It is a great mountain but the lines make it like Camelback in the Poconos or Mountain Creek in NJ that get overrun with city dwellers on the weekends and you spend 30 minutes or more in every lift line. Yuk.

I must say wookie.. This is why I love this forum. We can argue that were both right!

Yup. It a pretty cool forum. And if you want to swing by the Beav the first week of March I'll loan you a kid so you can get the full "skiing with family experience". I'll make sure she is tired, cranky, hungry, and has to pee so you get the full effect!!