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Paying extra $$ for all day VIP lift access?

drjeff

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Would you? Say it was an extra $25 on top of your lift ticket or an extra seasonal upgrade fee for your pass, and the VIP lift served all the terrain of the mountain and would operate the full operating hours of the resort that day? If you didn't have either the pass type or paid the daily upgrade fee, you couldn't ride the VIP lift?

Just curious as to people's feelings on this.....

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dlague

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If that was the case then I would not go there! This is a new way to get more $$ out of people who have more disposable cash and omits those who barely can afford it! Snobbish! However I would pay a fee to have valet parking!
 

twinplanx

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There own lift is a bit much... Special liftline privileges, like line cutting might be worth a nominal fee

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ss20

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I always thought of this idea...
Once a month, the mountain charges $30 extra on a midweek day. The typical skier would be driven away by the 100-120$ ticket (depending on the mountain), while those who do pay get uncrowded lifts, lodges, and slopes. Season pass holders wouldn't be allowed unless they paid $30.

This "flashpass" would only work at the most crowded of mountains (Watchuset, Smuggs, MRG, Stratton, etc.), where people would be willing to pay $50 to skip the 20 minute+liftlines. 50 bucks sounds steep, but if it was any cheaper too many people would do it and the "general, regular lift ticket" public would get pissed when every other chair is filled with the "flashpass" people.
 

tnt

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I could see the market for it, but it would really douche up the vibe I would think.
 

deadheadskier

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not a fan of the concept

skiing is exclusive enough of a sport as it is.

If people want their own private lift, take a midweek day off and you'll essentially have one pretty much everywhere in the Northeast.
 

tnt

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not a fan of the concept

skiing is exclusive enough of a sport as it is.

If people want their own private lift, take a midweek day off and you'll essentially have one pretty much everywhere in the Northeast.

Yeah, pretty much.

As much as I hate to admit it though, I would pay a bump for an express lane on weekend family trips to over crowded PA mountains where the vibe is already pretty much shot...
 

snoseek

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Yeah they do this at Copper. I'm not a fan. One of the things I like about skiing is that a group of different people from different walks of life can mingle, ski around the mountain and for just that day it has nothing to do with who has a better career, bigger house ect....this seperates people, a carbon copy of what our society is becoming. No thanks
 

tnt

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Yeah they do this at Copper. I'm not a fan. One of the things I like about skiing is that a group of different people from different walks of life can mingle, ski around the mountain and for just that day it has nothing to do with who has a better career, bigger house ect....this seperates people, a carbon copy of what our society is becoming. No thanks

Yeah, it would really suck rubbing shoulders at the bar after, and you're bitching about the lift line and some douch chuckles and says "you should have coughed up for the VIP pass...."

But really, I'm shocked more places aren't doing this already.

But like DHS said, for tons of places in the NE - at least north of the poconos, it's only an issue a handful of weekends.
 

snoseek

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I could also see this sorta thing as a perk for high end real estate also. Fact of the matter is if you want to skip lines and are wealthy, like real wealth, then skipping lines is already possible. It's called private lessons and most places do this.
 

Cannonball

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Negative. For the follow three reasons, in this order:
1) if you need to do this you are skiing at a too crowded resort
2) if you can do this you have to much money to burn and should be spending it in more productive ways
3) if you want to do this you are a douche
 

deadheadskier

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One of the things I like about skiing is that a group of different people from different walks of life can mingle, ski around the mountain and for just that day it has nothing to do with who has a better career, bigger house ect....this seperates people, a carbon copy of what our society is becoming. No thanks

100% this. Couldn't have said it better.
 

BenedictGomez

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I dont think the VIP lift would work (in the east at least) because there's not enough terrain to begin with. You'd end up hurting your market in a way far larger than the ancillary income the $25 would bring in.

The Flash Pass Disney idea however, I dont have a problem with. I'm not wealthy enough to pay for it, but if it unlocks an additional revenue stream for the mountain I see nothing wrong with it. Again, however, I think there's a serious risk to alienating more $$$ AWAY from your resort than additional money you'd be bringing IN to your resort via that strategy. It's one thing for Disney to slightly annoy some people who go there once every 4 to 10 years, it's quite another for a ski resort to do the same to people who go there every 4 to 10 days, etc...
 

catskills

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Almost every ski area has VIP express system. You see it and its right in front of you. Your just not paying attention.

If you paid the extra dollars for a ski or snowboard instructor class then you have access to an express line for instructors and their class. If you want to pay for individual single instructor class, then you and the instructor can go anywhere and not have to wait in line. Western ski areas with trams let their instructors with their class on the first tram car before the rest of the public, guaranteeing they get first powder tracks in the morning.
 

jaytrem

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How do you defy geography in order to have one single lift serving all terrain of a mountain? Unless it's a tiny mountain...


My feeling is you've had too much to drink! :)

He didn't come up with this question out of thin air. The Mt Snow GM asked this question on the pass holder site. Apparently they're seriously considering trying it with the Grand Summit Express. If it works out on their tests days it could be an every weekend thing next year.

Personally I hate the idea.
 
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