Grab your bear can or camp chair, kick your feet up and chew the fat about anything Sierra Nevada related that doesn't quite fit in any of the other forums. Within reason, (and the HST rules and guidelines) this is also an anything goes forum. Tell stories, discuss wilderness issues, music, or whatever else the High Sierra stirs up in your mind.
Yosemite National Park has a pest problem: Ticket scalpers who are selling the limited camping reservations at exorbitant prices.
The nation's third-most visited park has only 900 reserved campsites available at any given time. They go for $20 a night but scalpers advertising on Craigslist are offering them for $100 or more - sometimes for hundreds of dollars.
They're also selling permits to climb Half Dome, which the park essentially issues for free.
Gediman says it appears that some scalpers may have devised ways of jumping the reservation queue, possibly through automated computer programs that can instantly snag cancellations.
I don't see anything wrong with that. It doesn't matter what they are charging if people are willing to pay it. I don't even consider the idea of camping in Yosemite Valley because it's pretty much impossible unless you have your trip planned out 6 months in advance when the reservations come online and your damn lucky to get one in the 5 minutes that they sell out.
There is of course the notion that perhaps people reserve camp sites and permits for the sole purpose to sell them like concerts. Now that would be ********.
Campsites can be canceled. They should be, if you can't go. Let someone else pick them up. there are other campgrounds in the park with first come/first serve for people who can't get reservations.
Half Dome permits are free and generally available at the bottom of the cables from the ranger, who is given unclaimed permits by people who have friends bail out on them - no need to scalp them either.
I don't think making money off these situations is ethical, really. And people who intentionally snatch up campsites with intent to jack up the price and resell should be stopped.
RoguePhotonic wrote:There is of course the notion that perhaps people reserve camp sites and permits for the sole purpose to sell them like concerts. Now that would be ********.
That's exactly what IS going on!! It is illegal to scalp permits and I hope NPS comes down on them. This is stealing the opportunity from others who are legitimately trying to get a permit. A lot of people are missing out on a rare opportunity as it is, with the number of people applying for these permits, without A$$HOLES trying to make a buck.
Sorry for the rant!!
I heard about this on the radio, and am sure that they could come up with some
type of ID code system that would ensure that the purchaser is the one using the
ticket, and that no one else could, though I am also sure this would increase the
costs of the reservations.
Professional Sierra Landscape Photographer
I don't give out specific route information, my belief is that it takes away from the whole adventure spirit of a trip, if you need every inch planned out, you'll have to get that from someone else.
Have a safer backcountry experience by using the HST ReConn Form 2.0, named after Larry Conn, a HST member:http://reconn.org
hmm.. they already check me for ID when i pick up a wilderness permit and give an option for an alternate for a trip leader. seems the problem can be solved easily. no name changes, person requesting the permit, or alternate at time of request are the only one's that can use it, with ID.
Exactly. Make the person picking up the reservation show an ID. If the names not the same, then they don't get the reservation. As for Craig's List, when is the government going to hold them responsible for all the illegal activity they facilitate?
I don’t need a goal destination. I need a destination that meets my goals.
This is NOT the same as scalping concert tickets. These people are making profit on something that WE all own. The national parks are the property of the people of this country, and any profit to be made should go back to the people. Oh my, I starting to sound like a communist now!