2017-2018 Season Passes

[cdskier]

Trying to keep skiing affordable, I was all set to purchase Bolton Valley season passes next year. But then Sugarbush came out with their new pricing and, BOOM - we're now Sugarbush season pass holders.

Any predictions on how badly the new pricing - which seems to be the equivalent of opening the floodgates to the masses (including me and my large family) - will increase crowds next year?

Since many of the major resorts lowered prices, it is tough to say. I think it will shift the distribution of pass holders vs day ticket purchasers but may not necessarily increase crowds too much. Sugarbush also stated they were limiting the number of passes sold to prevent it from becoming too crowded.


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[Jully]

Did the Peak Pass increase $200 in price? That's a crazy jump!

 

[Edd]

Did the Peak Pass increase $200 in price? That's a crazy jump!

They did indeed.

 

[Jcb890]

Did the Peak Pass increase $200 in price? That's a crazy jump!

It looks like it. Wow, quite the jump!

 

[xwhaler]

Did the Peak Pass increase $200 in price? That's a crazy jump!

Yup!
Pays to buy early. Also the $99 down and billable installments feature is also now gone.

 

[Edd]

Yup!
Pays to buy early. Also the $99 down and billable installments feature is also now gone.

Really? I like that option. Surprising.

 

[deadheadskier]

One thing I don't believe has been mentioned regarding the Peaks pass is you can upgrade the pass any time you want at the rate schedule you buy in at. With that in mind I bought the Ranger at $499. If holiday week skiing at Wildcat looks much more compelling than Crotched, I'll pay the $100 to upgrade.

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[Jcb890]

One thing I don't believe has been mentioned regarding the Peaks pass is you can upgrade the pass any time you want at the rate schedule you buy in at. With that in mind I bought the Ranger at $499. If holiday week skiing at Wildcat looks much more compelling than Crotched, I'll pay the $100 to upgrade.

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I didn't know that. That's pretty cool and now I'm even more glad I did the same thing with the Ranger pass. Originally we were just planning to not do the blackouts on Peak Pass mountains anyways, but we'll see.

I also just noticed the 18-29 Drifter Pass is still the same $399 until December 15th. The 30+ crowd gets f'ed once again haha.

 

[JimG.]

Won't miss Hunter at all?

Not the skiing which is the most important reason to buy a season pass. Not at all.

Hunter is obsessed with grooming everything every day. Sure, when skier pressure is applied they allow a trail or two to bump up, but they groom those runs as soon as they have an excuse to do it. The only trails they keep bumps on, Lower K and Upper Crossover, now get half as much snowmaking as in the past and get thin and burned out by the end of February. The only other trail they allowed to bump up, Milky Way, is always in the shade.

Hunter has made it clear they don't value bump/expert skiers. They don't even allow for bumps to train their freestyle programs! Time to move on.

 

[deadheadskier]

I feel the same way about Attitash. They do let Grand Stand and Lower Ptarmigan bump up, but everything else gets groomed almost every day.

I wrote them to complain about them not leaving at least one of their "front four" expert trails ungroomed and got a response that more people would complain if they didn't groom those trails. I believe the primary reason is the core midweek skiers at Attitash are 65+ year old retirees who ski for three hours each morning and have no interest in moguls. It's such a shame as Upper Ptarmigan, Idiots Option and Tim's all have some serious pitch and would make for great bump runs. Tightrope less so, but it makes up for pitch with being narrower and having more character. Leaving just one of them alone would be a huge improvement

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[Jully]

I feel the same way about Attitash. They do let Grand Stand and Lower Ptarmigan bump up, but everything else gets groomed almost every day.

I wrote them to complain about them not leaving at least one of their "front four" expert trails ungroomed and got a response that more people would complain if they didn't groom those trails. I believe the primary reason is the core midweek skiers at Attitash are 65+ year old retirees who ski for three hours each morning and have no interest in moguls. It's such a shame as Upper Ptarmigan, Idiots Option and Tim's all have some serious pitch and would make for great bump runs. Tightrope less so, but it makes up for pitch with being narrower and having more character. Leaving just one of them alone would be a huge improvement

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I really don't understand why they don't let either Tim's or Idiots bump up. They are relatively similar trails when groomed. I would be confused if a substantial number of skiers complained if they stopped grooming one of them. It is a shame Ammo Pitch is so darn short.

The liftlines on Bear Peak aren't bad, but have more of a natural feel as opposed to a bump run.

 

[tumbler]

Trying to keep skiing affordable, I was all set to purchase Bolton Valley season passes next year. But then Sugarbush came out with their new pricing and, BOOM

I think the crowds will be about the same as this year. The quad packs have been driving up the crowds in recent years but when everything is open it is not bad at all.

 

[JimG.]

I believe the primary reason is the core midweek skiers at Attitash are 65+ year old retirees who ski for three hours each morning and have no interest in moguls.

This!

Attitash sounds like a Hunter clone.

 

[cdskier]

I'm glad Sugarbush doesn't have the Hunter and Attitash mentality! On a pretty consistent basis they have more ungroomed than groomed terrain and I think it works out well for them. Midweek they certainly have quite a few people in the "65+ year old retiree" category, but at the Bush it seems like that crowd skis the bumps quite a bit and isn't complaining that more should be groomed.

 

[deadheadskier]

I'm glad Sugarbush doesn't have the Hunter and Wildcat mentality! On a pretty consistent basis they have more ungroomed than groomed terrain and I think it works out well for them. Midweek they certainly have quite a few people in the "65+ year old retiree" category, but at the Bush it seems like that crowd skis the bumps quite a bit and isn't complaining that more should be groomed.

Attitash mentality I think you meant. You would be hard pressed to find a mountain in the East that grooms less than Wildcat other than MRG. Of their 48 trails, greater than 20 of those never saw a groomer all season. Those 20+ include several blue trails and even Stray Cat, which is a green trail that had bumps all season long.

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[cdskier]

Attitash mentality I think you meant. You would be hard pressed to find a mountain in the East that grooms less than Wildcat other than MRG. Of their 48 trails, greater than 20 of those never saw a groomer all season. Those 20+ include several blue trails and even Stray Cat, which is a green trail that had bumps all season long.

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Hah...whoops. Yes. No idea why I said Wildcat as Attitash was definitely what I was thinking of as it had just been mentioned.

 

[skimagic]

Trying to keep skiing affordable, I was all set to purchase Bolton Valley season passes next year. But then Sugarbush came out with their new pricing and, BOOM

I just had a similar thought trying to be a cheapskate, the Stratton value pass is 399, plus tax of course. I missed the Peaks equivalent ranger pass before the price hike so this will have to do. Its not the most exciting mountain, but flopping around on teleskis once in a while should make it fun. Max pass is still on the mind though.

 

[JimG.]

Attitash mentality I think you meant. You would be hard pressed to find a mountain in the East that grooms less than Wildcat other than MRG. Of their 48 trails, greater than 20 of those never saw a groomer all season. Those 20+ include several blue trails and even Stray Cat, which is a green trail that had bumps all season long.

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Would love If Wildcat was on MAX.

 

[boston_e]

I ended up going with Pico season passes for the whole family and we will do the Max Pass add on this year in order to mix it up a bit.

 

[prsboogie]

.
I also just noticed the 18-29 Drifter Pass is still the same $399 until December 15th. The 30+ crowd gets f'ed once again haha.

Ya I'd love to get fucked at the tune of saving two hundred dollars for an unlimited pass. Wahwahwah I'm a whinny mellinnial that expects shit for free.


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