Northstar Announces it Will Charge for Parking this Winter

Northstar California Resort recently announced it will be charging for parking at the ski resort beginning this winter, drawing sharp criticisms from its paying customers. The plan includes charging $10 on weekdays and $20 on weekends at the Village View parking lot. The ski resort will still offer free parking down at its Castle Peak lot.

The park says the move will ease congestion at the resort and encourage people to carpool and use ride sharing apps to get to the slopes. For many locals, it was seen as a money grab for the resorts new owners, Vail Resorts.

When the complaints began flooding in from season pass holders, the Northstar communications team needed to respond.

“Really what it comes back to is what we’ve built this program around — improving congestion on Northstar Drive and the guest experience,” Tony Karwowski, Northstar director of base operations, said to the Sierra Sun. “The idea is that the time it takes to pull into Castle Peak, boot up, and hop on a bus, and then ride to the village is equal or less than the time it takes to drive up Northstar Drive, drive through the village, boot up, and walk down to the village to the lift.”

Even with the explanation, season pass holders didn’t buy the plan, asking for a refund of their passes based off the announcement. Northstar responded that all sales are final. By the way, their adult day pass lift ticket is already $125.

What do you think? Will this help guest experience or is it just a money grab from Vail Resorts?