Criticism
The impact of such an expensive project on lift ticket prices was always a concern, especially because the gondola would not open any new ski terrain. When the project was announced in 2005, residents were promised that Peak 2 Peak access would be an optional add-on to a lift ticket or season pass. In a 2005 open house, the resort estimated the additional cost on a season pass would be CDN $59. At the time, Whistler-Blackcomb was attempting to secure a tax exemption from the municipality of Whistler for the increased assessments caused by the new terminal buildings. When season pass prices were announced for the Peak 2 Peak’s inaugural season in August 2008, only early bird passes were allowed to decline the Peak 2 Peak option. Whistler-Blackcomb said it was "not specific" about the Spirit Pass when it had said the Peak 2 Peak access would be optional.
When construction was announced, it was claimed that no trees would be cut under the gondola's lift line, resulting in the smallest ground disturbance of any lift project in Whistler Blackcomb's history. When it came time to pull the ropes for the gondola, a swath of trees was cut under the entire lift.
In May 2007, Whistler-Blackcomb announced the naming rights to the gondola were for sale for an undisclosed price. Presumably they were never sold because the gondola has retained the Peak 2 Peak name.
Read more about this topic: Peak 2 Peak Gondola
Famous quotes containing the word criticism:
“To be just, that is to say, to justify its existence, criticism should be partial, passionate and political, that is to say, written from an exclusive point of view, but a point of view that opens up the widest horizons.”
—Charles Baudelaire (1821–1867)
“Parents sometimes feel that if they don’t criticize their child, their child will never learn. Criticism doesn’t make people want to change; it makes them defensive.”
—Laurence Steinberg (20th century)
“It is ... pathetic to observe the complete lack of imagination on the part of certain employers and men and women of the upper-income levels, equally devoid of experience, equally glib with their criticism ... directed against workers, labor leaders, and other villains and personal devils who are the objects of their dart-throwing. Who doesn’t know the wealthy woman who fulminates against the “idle” workers who just won’t get out and hunt jobs?”
—Mary Barnett Gilson (1877–?)