Out of interest, which do you think costs more per day, running a JCB and paying 5 trail workers, or running ~ 11 extra chairlifts/gondolas and associated lifties/maintenance crews?
lets calc:
season pass in pds: 233,- eur for 2 months (june 28th - sep 1st), most lifts close at 17:00,
season pass in whistler: 409,- (+tax) for 5 months, extendend play in the main months, at least double the trails
i know that les gets has some trail workers, also chatel and ben walker in morgins. i never saw anywhere else someone working on trails.
when it rains in pds no one gives a fuck, all trails are open, even if there are big, deep mudholes that do no good to any trail. in whistler i experienced trail closures when there was bad weather to save them.
the trail sweep done in whistler after each day? never heard of in any resort i visited yet. 2 trucks on the mountain to rescue fallen riders? thats taken care of by the mountain rescue service in europe.
there are also a lot more hikers than in whistler who also use the lifts. so in total i still think whistler is spot on with its pricing, maybe not for the one staying only 2 weeks there, but for a months riding i am more than willing to pay 400eur to ride, if only the airline prices would still be in the region of 2010 :(