Give the Ecker Hill Park and Ride a shot. It may make your ski day even better.

Those of you who follow the Park Rag know I can be skeptical of our bus system. I don’t think we, as a community, are people who embrace the bus. Yet, if the bus experience is better than a car, you may be tempted to try it. That is what I hope you’ll find when going skiing with the Ecker Hill Park & Ride and the 6 Lime Bus.

Let me start by asking a question. If you live in Pinebrook, Summit Park, or Jeremy Ranch, how do you get to PCMR, Deer Valley, or Canyons? You probably get in your vehicle, drive to the resort, and hope there is parking. Then you circle the lot, park, unload your SUV, walk a mile in your boots, with your skis in hand, dragging your kids in tow, and finally get to the base of the resort.

Let me present an alternative. Drive to the Ecker Hill Park and ride. Nobody goes there, so there is a ton of parking. Unload your vehicle in peace, and a couple of minutes later the 6 Lime bus will arrive. You’ll then be driven directly to the base of Canyons in lass than 15 minutes or to PCMR in 21 minutes. If you want to go directly to Deer Valley via the 6 Lime, get on the bus that leaves Ecker at 12 or 42 minutes after the hour. The 6 Lime becomes the 4 bus, which goes to Snow Park Lodge. You’ll be there in 35 minutes.

Despite the resort you choose, you’ll walk about 2 minutes to the lift. You won’t have to stress over parking or lug your equipment a mile across a parking lot.

Yes, you could drive to each resort in a little less time, but once you factor in parking, if you can find it (PCMR we are looking at you), it’s a wash and a lot less stressful to take the 6 Lime bus.

Getting back from the resort is a little more complicated because you have to pay attention to inbound versus outbound buses and potentially make a connection. It’s not hard, you just need to know how it works. So, here are the tricks:

• If you are coming back from PCMR, catch the 6 Lime OUTBOUND. That will take you back to Ecker Hill.
• If you are coming back from Canyons, hop the 6 Lime OUTBOUND. That will take you back to Ecker Hill.
• If you are coming back from Deer Valley, look for any bus. Ask the driver if the bus is going to the Old Town Transit Center (95% of them are). From there, catch the 10 white to the Kimball Junction Transit Center. Then hop on the 6 Lime OUTBOUND to get back to Ecker Hill.

It’s really pretty simple. Unfortunately, if you haven’t done it, it seems daunting. I think that’s why a lot of people don’t try it. I remember reading about the first few weeks of the 6 Lime bus service in the Park Record. They quoted ridership, and I realized my family represented 5% of the riders.

My biggest fear is that not enough people will take the 6 Lime and they’ll cancel it. I personally love it. It’s so much better than driving. I can check email, read the news, and not personally over-pollute the environment.

The next time you are headed to the resort, you may want to consider using the Ecker Park and Ride. The bus comes every 15 minutes. If you try it, I’d be willing to bet you’ll never go back to your car. It’s just that easy and carefree.