Ski Area Walk-up lift ticket rates, 2013-14

[Abubob]

All I can say is that Vail is vast. Simply vast. It's the only place I'd consider paying $100 for and that was 4 years ago. Something happened between 2011 and today. in 2011 it was $108.

There is no place vast enough to justify this kind of pricing. I mean to say would you be able to ski everywhere in that one day? Doubtful. Secondly I never really enjoy a trail unless I've skied it two, three or more times in order to sample all the lines that might be available. So how much of the mountain will I have paid for and not used? It's simply a waste.

We have to be careful when looking at walk up rates. Online, advance or promotional purchases are changing the ticket pricing dynamics. Everyone offers a "discount" online nowadays. Mark it up to mark it down. No quibbles, prices have become crazy. It was only 15 years ago that Colorado lift tickets were dirt cheap compared to the east. Cruise into any hotel and get an even deeper ticket discount. No more happy days...

So who is really paying walk up rates at a "destination" resort? No one. That's more of a "walk away ... now" rate.

 

[BenedictGomez]

Colorado daily lift tickets are so ridiculously marked up, but their season passes discounted so heavily that if you are skiing like only 4 days you'll save more money buying a season pass instead.

Just makes me less apt to choose Colorado for a western ski vacation over Utah, Montana, or Wyoming etc...

I think they get away with that because skiing in Colorado is almost a name brand to itself. Sort of like how Vermont Maple Syrup comes to people's mind first, when in reality it's not any better than NY, Quebec, or NH maple syrup.

 

[VTKilarney]

Sort of like how Vermont Maple Syrup comes to people's mind first, when in reality it's not any better than NY, Quebec, or NH maple syrup.

Did we have to go there???

 

[dlague]

Glad to see mountains like Black, Magic, and Suicide Six bucking the trend. If we want to see lift ticket prices drop we should support these mountains.

Not sure if they are bucking the trend with the exception of Black of Maine at $15 the others are smaller so I would expect to pay less. For example $64 for Suicide Six and $69 for Jay Peak - which would you pick!

I know Jay Peak actually went down a in the past couple years from I believe $76 to $69. That's also a nice change of pace.

 

[drjeff]

There is no place vast enough to justify this kind of pricing. I mean to say would you be able to ski everywhere in that one day? Doubtful. Secondly I never really enjoy a trail unless I've skied it two, three or more times in order to sample all the lines that might be available. So how much of the mountain will I have paid for and not used? It's simply a waste.



So who is really paying walk up rates at a "destination" resort? No one. That's more of a "walk away ... now" rate.

If you are ever fortunate enough to hit the back bowls of Vail on a 12"+ powder day, you'd think its walk up rate, even at max vacation amount is worth every penny! They're that incredible

 

[snoseek]

If you are ever fortunate enough to hit the back bowls of Vail on a 12"+ powder day, you'd think its walk up rate, even at max vacation amount is worth every penny! They're that incredible

Don't forget about Blue Sky, those trees are awesome!

Vail really needs to operate somewhere back east. Or maybe they avoid that knowing the East Coasters will shell out the big bucks. Anything past 5 days seriously consider buying a pass.

 

[Abubob]

If you are ever fortunate enough to hit the back bowls of Vail on a 12"+ powder day, you'd think its walk up rate, even at max vacation amount is worth every penny! They're that incredible

Truly, no matter how incredible those back bowls are I cannot afford $140.00 for one day of skiing. However, as this thread hints at, if I were to purchase a package to ski Vail - flight, hotel and lifts all together the lift ticket portion would not be nearly $140.

 

[thetrailboss]

Not sure if they are bucking the trend with the exception of Black of Maine at $15 the others are smaller so I would expect to pay less. For example $64 for Suicide Six and $69 for Jay Peak - which would you pick!

FWIW most of Suicide Six's business, presumably, would be locals with passes and guests of the Woodstock Inn that own it. I think that $64 for it is ridiculous.

I know that T-Bar films was going to feature it in their debut feature on small town hills and I bit my tongue because it just is not the same as Cochran's, LOC, or Hard'Ack. Fortunately "United We Ski" does not have S6 in it.

 

[steamboat1]

Glad to see mountains like Black, Magic, and Suicide Six bucking the trend. If we want to see lift ticket prices drop we should support these mountains.

Don't forget http://www.middleburysnowbowl.com/tickets-passes/

 

[thetrailboss]

Don't forget http://www.middleburysnowbowl.com/tickets-passes/

+ 1

 

[bdfreetuna]

Truly, no matter how incredible those back bowls are I cannot afford $140.00 for one day of skiing. However, as this thread hints at, if I were to purchase a package to ski Vail - flight, hotel and lifts all together the lift ticket portion would not be nearly $140.

This. For one thing I don't give a crap about bowls unless they're freshly packed. For another thing I couldn't even ski every single trail and woods at Magic in a day for $49 or whatever it is.

Some people are obsessed with bowl and powder skiing. I consider it a novelty compared to the art of icy tree skiing. Lucky for my wallet, I guess.

For the record I am basically boycotting Stowe for their high prices. I have not visited Sugarbush South in a couple years. And I get a Killington Express card which sort of pays for itself plus I ski there early / late season. Otherwise I would not pay their normal prices.

Respect to Jay who has found a sustainable business model without ripping people off for day passes.

 

[BenedictGomez]

Some people are obsessed with bowl and powder skiing. I consider it a novelty compared to the art of icy tree skiing. Lucky for my wallet, I guess.

+1

It's all awesome, dont get me wrong, but if I had a choice for only 1 type of skiing, it would be tree skiing.

Respect to Jay who has found a sustainable business model without ripping people off for day passes.

"Free money via government program" does not a sustainable business model make.

What Jay currently has, is a short-term boom, which ≠ "sustainable".

 

[skiNEwhere]

I'm really curious to see the breakdown of where Vail's income comes from. I'd not exaggerating when I say that when I'm on the chairlift at Vail (not the other Vail Resorts), 25-33 percent of the time, the people on the lift are speaking French, German, or Italian. They must have some pretty attractive international offers.

 

[BenedictGomez]

I'm really curious to see the breakdown of where Vail's income comes from. I'd not exaggerating when I say that when I'm on the chairlift at Vail (not the other Vail Resorts), 25-33 percent of the time, the people on the lift are speaking French, German, or Italian. They must have some pretty attractive international offers.

That is odd. But what really blows my mind is how many Europeans ski at Stowe. I just dont get it.

 

[ScottySkis]

Whiteface mid week ticket is abive 80$ i am told. WTF midweek.

 

[ScottySkis]

That is odd. But what really blows my mind is how many Europeans ski at Stowe. I just dont get it.

p


+1 a lot of them i hear and see at Catamount. They dont all know about Vdrmont and bigger hills, to they talk to me lol. To answer your question i like the Mount because it close and kCk of weekend crowds. of the 3 Catskills hills all have better terrain then the Mount. They seem to have old snow making guns. local hil when Platty doesnt have natural ut cool Lt. to busy hills, and discount for 40$ any dsy of the yeR through Potter Brothers city stores.

 

[billski]

I'm really curious to see the breakdown of where Vail's income comes from. I'd not exaggerating when I say that when I'm on the chairlift at Vail (not the other Vail Resorts), 25-33 percent of the time, the people on the lift are speaking French, German, or Italian. They must have some pretty attractive international offers.

Well, here's a start. Vail is a publicly traded company MTN (NYSE)

"The demographic mix of guests is divided into two primary
categories: (i) out-of-state and international guests (“Destination”) and (ii) In-State. For the 2006/2007 ski
season, Destination guests comprised approximately 64% of the Company’s skier visits, while the In-State
market comprised approximately 36% of the Company’s skier visits. Destination guests generally purchase the
Company’s higher-priced lift ticket products and utilize more ancillary services such as ski school, lodging and
retail/rental. Destination guests are less likely to be impacted by changes in the weather, due to the advance
planning required for their trip, but can be impacted by the economy and the global geopolitical climate. In-State
guests tend to be more weather-sensitive and value-oriented; to address this, the Company markets season passes
to In-State guests, generally prior to the start of the ski season. For the 2006/2007 ski season, approximately 25%
of the total lift revenue was generated from the sale of season passes. The cost structure of ski resort operations is
largely fixed (with the exception of certain variable expenses including Forest Service fees, credit card fees,
retail/rental operations, ski school labor and dining operations); as such, incremental revenue generally has high
associated profit margin."
Source: 2006 Annual Report

and from the 2013 report:
"Lift revenue is driven by volume and pricing. Pricing is impacted by both absolute pricing as well as the demographic mix of
guests, which impacts the price points at which various products are purchased. The demographic mix of guests is divided into
two primary categories: (1) out-of-state and international (“Destination”) guests and (2) in-state and local (“In-State”) guests.
For the 2012/2013 ski season, Destination guests comprised approximately 56% of our mountain resort skier visits, while In-
State guests comprised approximately 44% of our mountain resort skier visits, which compares to approximately 57% and
43%, respectively, for the 2011/2012 and 2010/11 ski seasons."

and then there is this:
"International destination skiers are a large and growing segment of the skier visit numbers nationally. Direct flights from Europe to Denver and Salt Lake City make travel easy for Western Europeans and they are increasingly taking advantage of the cheaper dollar and more consistent snow pack of North America. This past year, Colorado Ski Country USA (CSCUSA) reported that international business was up 6.5 percent for the association’s members, and this doesn’t include Vail Resorts’ mountains, among which is Breckenridge, long a favorite of British skiers (I used to have to have to make pounds-to-stone conversion charts in our shops so we could rent to the Brits even back in the 90′s).

There is also a large influx of Latin American skiers that make the trip to the Rockies for skiing and in my years working and teaching in Vail and Beaver Creek, there would be times when a 1/3 or more of our guests were Spanish or Portuguese speaking. All of these international visitors add to the total skier visits but aren’t added to the total number of skiers in the US. Last year, CSCUSA stated that international visitors played a large part in lifting the skier visits in the state above those of the previous year. While it may be tempting to count on an increase in international visitors as an increase in skier numbers, this isn’t the case. International skiers visits are dependent on the strength of the dollar, political and social issues in their home countries, price of air transport, US visa restrictions and processes, and the quantity and quality of snow closer to home."
http://www.mrablog.com/explaining-ski-industry-demographics/

 

[MadMadWorld]

It's ridiculous that anyone would pay full price to ski at Vail. Lots of great mountains in that area that you could get 2 days of skiing for the price that Vail charges for one day. That's just me though and as long as people continue to pay, they will continue to charge.

 

[MadMadWorld]

This. For one thing I don't give a crap about bowls unless they're freshly packed. For another thing I couldn't even ski every single trail and woods at Magic in a day for $49 or whatever it is.

Some people are obsessed with bowl and powder skiing. I consider it a novelty compared to the art of icy tree skiing. Lucky for my wallet, I guess.

For the record I am basically boycotting Stowe for their high prices. I have not visited Sugarbush South in a couple years. And I get a Killington Express card which sort of pays for itself plus I ski there early / late season. Otherwise I would not pay their normal prices.

Respect to Jay who has found a sustainable business model without ripping people off for day passes.

Jay is helped a TON by not having to make a ton of snow. That dramatically effects the cost. They also seem to use the "wind hold" tag as a way to not run some lifts early/late season and when the traffic is low.

 

[skiNEwhere]

Not to mention, it not like you could even ski 1/4 of Vail in a day, even if you skied it from open to close