2017-2018 Season Passes

[snoseek]

The pass for the epic local is what the full epic was just a few years ago. Vail is steadily marching to hook em and fleece em.

 

[dlague]

The pass for the epic local is what the full epic was just a few years ago. Vail is steadily marching to hook em and fleece em.

Well if they increase it by $30 per year then I am OK

 

[Zermatt]

Mountain Collective looks like 2 days at Alta and 2 days at Snowbird next season.

 

[TheArchitect]

Mountain Collective looks like 2 days at Alta and 2 days at Snowbird next season.

It is. They changed it from last year. It's what helped push me over the edge to buying it. I'm already trying to decide if I'm doing Alta, Snowbird and Snowbasin next year or Alta, Snowbird and road trip to Jackson Hole. I've always wanted to ski JH.

 

[snoseek]

IMO 4 days in LCC is a big deal for a lot of people. That pass keeps getting better and better.

 

[Zermatt]

IMO 4 days in LCC is a big deal for a lot of people. That pass keeps getting better and better.

Can't wait for my two days at Thredbo. Long weekend in Australia, bringing the kids. Leave Wednesday, land Friday. Ski Saturday and Sunday. Leave Monday and arrive back home on Sunday. Totally worth it.

 

[Not Sure]

Can't wait for my two days at Thredbo. Long weekend in Australia, bringing the kids. Leave Wednesday, land Friday. Ski Saturday and Sunday. Leave Monday and arrive back home on Sunday. Totally worth it.

Isn't it Summer for them ?

 

[Jcb890]

Can't wait for my two days at Thredbo. Long weekend in Australia, bringing the kids. Leave Wednesday, land Friday. Ski Saturday and Sunday. Leave Monday and arrive back home on Sunday. Totally worth it.

Do you have plans to go to Australia for a long weekend anyways? If not, how is 2 days of skiing/riding worth it when you're traveling ~24 hours each way and spending $1200+ per plane ticket?

Then again, all of these trips even just to go West are borderline insane when you think about the costs and logistics involved... but this is what we love.

 

[Zermatt]

Do you have plans to go to Australia for a long weekend anyways? If not, how is 2 days of skiing/riding worth it when you're traveling ~24 hours each way and spending $1200+ per plane ticket?

Then again, all of these trips even just to go West are borderline insane when you think about the costs and logistics involved... but this is what we love.

#sarcasm

 

[Jcb890]

#sarcasm

That was going to be my first question/sentence in my post, but I didn't want to come off as being a jerk. :grin:

 

[Zermatt]

That was going to be my first question/sentence in my post, but I didn't want to come off as being a jerk. :grin:

Adding those resorts is a joke, like it's some sort of gift from them. How many people actually use those days in Australia and NZ? I suppose there are lots of Aussies that come here for the winter and couch surf and maybe use the days back at home.

 

[Jcb890]

Adding those resorts is a joke, like it's some sort of gift from them. How many people actually use those days in Australia and NZ? I suppose there are lots of Aussies that come here for the winter and couch surf and maybe use the days back at home.

IMO, the only way the Mountain Collective pass makes sense is as an added bonus for those who were already going to buy season passes from the mountains on there. Like for the people who ride/ski at Sugarbush and would buy season passes there already... they get a good deal. 2 days of lift tickets at each place isn't really enough to help make it worth it with the way its laid out and where the locations are. The only area that it makes sense for is Utah because you could in theory hit the 3 different mountains in 1 trip and make it worth it. Even still, you're at $66.66 per day if you do Alta, Snowbird and Snow Basin. I'd say that's "worth it", but is it an amazing deal? Another option that makes somewhat sense is Banff and Lake Louise, but you're at $100/day for 4 days going that route. However, if you did both the 3x Utah resorts along with Banff and Lake Louise in the same season, you'd be doing well at $40/day.

If you decide to do more than the 2 included days, you'd be raising your daily average paying 1/2 of the window price, but those mountains are quite pricey and usually tough to find deals at.

Again, just my opinion. I'm trying to find the best pass deal(s) and trying to see how this one is a good option.

 

[xwhaler]

Couldn't you do Sugarbush 3 days + Alta 2 days + Bird 2 days + snowbasin 2 days? 9 days total
That would bring the daily average to $44.33 which is not bad
Not as good as Max but I think there is some value here

 

[St. Bear]

I always viewed Mountain Collective first and foremost as a marketing initiative. Whereas the Epic Pass is driving revenue through season pass purchases, MC is about positioning your mountain with other top end destinations.

Now, I think it could make sense for a Western based skier. Say you live in SLC and ski Solitude/Brighton. This would give you 6 days in Utah, JH is only 4 hours away. Aspen is 6 hours, I think. Maybe not what everybody would do, but it's doable if you're looking to expand your variety, or maybe take a long weekend or two with the family.

 

[Jcb890]

Couldn't you do Sugarbush 3 days + Alta 2 days + Bird 2 days + snowbasin 2 days? 9 days total
That would bring the daily average to $44.33 which is not bad
Not as good as Max but I think there is some value here

Sure. Either way though, you HAVE to travel to get any value out of the deal and you also HAVE to travel to Utah or Alberta, Canada to get your average down. A pass which has New England options (like the MAX Pass), you could get your daily average under $40 with staying entirely in New England.

 

[xwhaler]

Sure. Either way though, you HAVE to travel to get any value out of the deal and you also HAVE to travel to Utah or Alberta, Canada to get your average down. A pass which has New England options (like the MAX Pass), you could get your daily average under $40 with staying entirely in New England.

Oh, I don't disagree at all. The Max pass is a far more compelling product and one that if I didn't have 2 young kids would be all over in a heartbeat.

My brother buys the MC pass and skis out of Sun Valley. He gets his 3 days and then just uses it to get 50% off every follow up visit.
He's does very well for himself though so saving $ and scouring skiing on the cheap threads like his older brother has little value to him.
SV daily walk up tix are $125 so if he does a 10 day season out there it costs him $83/day. Since he cares little about finding the best possible deal he's happy paying $83 to ski per day instead of $125.

I think there is probably some market for folks like this.

 

[Jcb890]

Oh, I don't disagree at all. The Max pass is a far more compelling product and one that if I didn't have 2 young kids would be all over in a heartbeat.

My brother buys the MC pass and skis out of Sun Valley. He gets his 3 days and then just uses it to get 50% off every follow up visit.
He's does very well for himself though so saving $ and scouring skiing on the cheap threads like his older brother has little value to him.
SV daily walk up tix are $125 so if he does a 10 day season out there it costs him $83/day. Since he cares little about finding the best possible deal he's happy paying $83 to ski per day instead of $125.

I think there is probably some market for folks like this.

A market for what folks? People that don't care about their money or don't care to figure out math?

Even still, he's doing it wrong if Sun Valley is his home mountain and the only mountain he wants to ski.
https://www.sunvalley.com/mountain-passes

Their 15 day pass for $959 puts you at ~$64/day, going 15 times.
Their full season pass is $1,899, so unless you're going ~30+ times, your daily rate won't get below the $64/day for the 15 day pass.

If he uses his MC pass nowhere else, he is essentially paying more than the window price for lift tickets if window price is $125 since $399/3 = $133. If he goes a total of 10 times, he's paying $980 out of pocket ($399 includes 3 days + $83 x 7 days). So, you'd still be better off buying the 15 day pass and using it 10 times.

 

[Jcb890]

Now you're into the conundrum of looking at price per day versus overall cost. If you're happy with what Peaks offers, then that is the best deal and it only gets better. If you get a Max pass, at least some of those days would come at the expense of days on the Peak pass.

Speaking of Max, any info on when pricing for that will come out? I don't remember when it was released last year.

I think it may have been another thread where we were discussing Wachusett and the MAX Pass. I re-sent my email from last week and got a response today. It sounds like it'll be just about the same as last year, but they may include the Silver pass this season which could be an option... but it might just be because the Silver pass is going up in price. Not sure yet. Here's their response:

Jake –

I understand your thoughts but, as was the case last fall, the minimum pricing for the MAX Pass ad-on is set by Max Pass not us.

The Bronze falls under their required minimum price so there is really nothing we can do to include it in the program. Once our new pricing is set for next year, we can determine what will qualify. It will likely be the Gold and Silver. You may wish to share your concerns with the folks at MAX Pass but we are just following their requirements for what is allowed to include the add-on.

Sincerely,
Tom

 

[SnowRock]

I normally average about 10 days on mountain at Stowe (includes an annual fam trip at New Years and an annual friends trip). I used to get the VT Travel Club card for Stowe/others but they added blackouts during the NYE time frame at Stowe. SO for me, when Stowe was added to the MC I purchased it. This season, using my 3rd day at stowe I have 17 days (11 at Stowe, 3 at Jackson and 3 at Bird). Obviously the trips are expensive beyond just lift tickets, but without worry of dates or blackouts that puts me at just under 60 a day for those 3 mountains. Could someone do better? maybe, but would probably require a good amount of work.

 

[deadheadskier]

Lost in this conversation is that pass decision isn't always about economics. Where people prefer to ski is probably a larger driving force for the average skier given that most people ski less than ten times per year.

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