2021-22 Season Passes

[mlkrgr]

They didn’t really drop the ball at the crotch.

Good to know. After all, the thought of switching it up with Sunapee and then taking a couple trips to Stowe at a minimum is quite a consideration.

 

[dblskifanatic]

Wawa raised their prices up for next year's season pass, but will go on sale on May 3. Looks like the rates increased $25-$90 depending on pass type and the "weekender" option is now removed.
Next year's GPS prices:
$639 gold
$439 silver
$319 bronze.

Paid $254 for a bronze past season for buying it during the summer, but $319 is still not bad. Epic Northesast pass at $479 is very tempting as Crotched is only 10 minutes shorter (but 15 fewer miles) from my house. Plus, the fact that I can get to ski during Saturday days for less than the price of a gold pass at Wawa... which is the only time that I can ski with my GF as she wants to go during the day. Kinda feeling a little uneasy with how Vail dropped the ball and I like the second grooming at night at Wawa.

What were the issues at Crotched? From what I have heard things were pretty good there.

 

[thetrailboss]

So Snowbird came out with their prices. Benefits dropped and the price held pretty similar to last year. One big thing--the passes that had an Ikon pass included now have it as an add-on at a relatively reasonable price but it is still an "upcharge". Additionally, there are multiple disclosures as to the fact that if one opts to "defer" one's Snowbird pass then the Ikon Pass will be deactivated. Additionally, it also states that the two both have to be active (you can't buy the Snowbird, cancel it, and keep the Ikon or vice versa). The reason? If you go onto Ikon's Facebook page you will see at least two reviewers who complained about how their "bonus Ikon Pass" did not work after they "got reimbursed" for their season pass. In other words, folks bought a Snowbird Pass with the Ikon, activated the Ikon, and later canceled the Snowbird Pass. As a result, this deactivated their Ikon pass. I do seem to recall seeing something that one could not do that.

 

[machski]

Schweitzer has joined the Ikon pass for next season.

 

[2planks2coasts]

Schweitzer has joined the Ikon pass for next season.

Nice little (yes, I know the mountain itself is huge!) addition, though the vibe there seems more Indy or Powder Alliance. The Ikon website list Schweitzer as a destination but still says "no access". I imagine it'll be a 5 day base/ 7 day full Ikon resort.

 

[skimagic]

Nice little (yes, I know the mountain itself is huge!) addition, though the vibe there seems more Indy or Powder Alliance. The Ikon website list Schweitzer as a destination but still says "no access". I imagine it'll be a 5 day base/ 7 day full Ikon resort.

Ikon Pass holders will enjoy up to 7 days of access at Schweitzer and Ikon Base Pass holders will get 5 holiday-restricted days. The partnership with Alterra replaces Schweitzer’s membership in the Powder Alliance reciprocal program, which brought the North Idaho mountain about 5,000 skiers per year over the last seven seasons. Schweitzer says it was the single most-redeemed destination in that alliance.

 

[jimmywilson69]

sounds like Ikon is paying more based on that decision

 

[skimagic]

I assume the locals will be going nuts- Shwiez set up a FAQ page, to address the crowding. its a great mountain with good terrain and a nice open bowl. A slightly smaller version of whitefish. I was hoping to return someday but I'll stick with the Spokane indy spots for now to see if the extra 14 chairs on one lift will ease the crowd. .

FAQs

You’re just bringing more people to the mountain I already love and it’s going to get overcrowded!​

The truth is that the area is growing whether we like it or not and our goal is to manage the growth at Schweitzer so the place, the feel and the vibe doesn’t change. Being a partner on the Ikon Pass just gives us the opportunity to invite our skier friends from other places to come enjoy Schweitzer too. And with the addition of the “Voyager Pass,” you can hit the road too and enjoy some world class mountains. It’s all about sharing the stoke. Independently.

The Ikon Pass does NOT offer unrestricted, unlimited access to Schweitzer. The Ikon Pass offers 7 days with no blackout dates and the Ikon Base Pass offers 5 days with some holiday blackout dates. The only pass that offers unlimited days at Schweitzer is a Schweitzer Season Pass.

One way to look at it: For 7 years, we were a part of the Powder Alliance and the most visited resort out of all 18 areas that were members. Powder Alliance generated about 5,000 visits across the season – that works out to an extra 40 people/day. On a mountain of our size, that number was easy to absorb. It will be very similar but given some improvements we plan to make, the redemption process at Guest Services will be much more streamlined.

As mentioned before, we know our area is growing. Spokane is growing, the Rathdrum Prairie is growing and Sandpoint is growing. That means more people on the mountain. We estimate that will see continued growth of about 5%-10% over the next couple of years. And we are going to work hard and make continued investments to help the mountain continue to absorb that growth.

Here are a few things we’re doing THIS YEAR to help:

1. We plan to spend over $250,000 to increase the capacity of the Stella Express by 15% (or 235 people/hour). This will be done by adding an additional 14 chairs to the lift.
2. We plan to spend almost $500,000 to upgrade our ticketing system to support Direct-To-Lift (DTL) tickets with RFID technology
3. We know it can get a little tight indoors at lunch, so we are going to expand our dining options. This includes the opening of Crow’s Bench, the new restaurant inside Humbird and we are excited to add an additional on-mountain food/beverage location at the “Chair 5 Saddle” – the saddle between the top of Stella and Down the Hatch.

Parking is already limited, now it’s just gonna be worse!

1. We plan to continue our expansion of the parking areas at the Fire Station and Roundabout lots. As mentioned above, this will increase parking by approximately 100 spots.
2. The new Humbird hotel has underground parking that will provide 50 additional spaces in the main lot for lodging guests.

 

[2planks2coasts]

I assume the locals will be going nuts- Shwiez set up a FAQ page, to address the crowding. its a great mountain with good terrain and a nice open bowl. A slightly smaller version of whitefish. I was hoping to return someday but I'll stick with the Spokane indy spots for now.

FAQs.......

That's interesting about them being the most visited Powder Alliance resort. Sugar Bowl left that group last year citing an imbalance in redemptions, with more people using PA benefits at Sugar Bowl than Sugar Bowl passholders using PA benefits elsewhere.

I do think they're smoking something if they think IKON is only going to bring them a similar number of skiers.

 

[machski]

That's interesting about them being the most visited Powder Alliance resort. Sugar Bowl left that group last year citing an imbalance in redemptions, with more people using PA benefits at Sugar Bowl than Sugar Bowl passholders using PA benefits elsewhere.

I do think they're smoking something if they think IKON is only going to bring them a similar number of skiers.

IDK, Schweitzer isn't that easy to get to. Other resorts that have become overcrowded have a much better road and air feed to them than Schweitzer has. Granted it is under 2 hours driving from Spokane Airport. But how many people outside of the PNW would relate that to Schweitzer? And there are no other Ikon resorts real close driving wise. 5000 Ikon guests may be a bit short, but I would be shocked if in their first year on the pass they saw much North of 3X that.

 

[cdskier]

sounds like Ikon is paying more based on that decision

If what we heard about Ikon's partner reimbursement model is correct and if Schweitzer got the same deal, then that "guaranteed $1M" that Ikon provides partners would absolutely be more than they could have made with 5000 skier visits from PA. To hit that amount with 5000 PA visits, they'd have to be paying $200/day which is double Schweitzer's own day ticket price and certainly not what they were getting from PA. Also if they got that same Ikon deal, then you'd have to think Ikon definitely expects to generate substantially more than 5K visits to Schweitzer.

 

[2planks2coasts]

If what we heard about Ikon's partner reimbursement model is correct and if Schweitzer got the same deal, then that "guaranteed $1M" that Ikon provides partners would absolutely be more than they could have made with 5000 skier visits from PA. To hit that amount with 5000 PA visits, they'd have to be paying $200/day which is double Schweitzer's own day ticket price and certainly not what they were getting from PA. Also if they got that same Ikon deal, then you'd have to think Ikon definitely expects to generate substantially more than 5K visits to Schweitzer.

IIRC, Powder Alliance redemptions don't bring an direct revenue at all. It's a reciprocal agreement mainly for marketing purposes. In one of the podcasts for the IndyPass, Doug Fish talked about how those types of agreements could be supplanted by something like the Indy, which provides some revenue.

 

[cdskier]

IIRC, Powder Alliance redemptions don't bring an direct revenue at all. It's a reciprocal agreement mainly for marketing purposes. In one of the podcasts for the IndyPass, Doug Fish talked about how those types of agreements could be supplanted by something like the Indy, which provides some revenue.

In that case, without a doubt Ikon is paying more

Definitely seems like a no-brainer for Schweitzer based on that from a financial perspective even if Ikon gave them a different/smaller deal (as long as they believe they can address the concerns about how many Ikon visits they'll have).

 

[thetrailboss]

If what we heard about Ikon's partner reimbursement model is correct and if Schweitzer got the same deal, then that "guaranteed $1M" that Ikon provides partners would absolutely be more than they could have made with 5000 skier visits from PA. To hit that amount with 5000 PA visits, they'd have to be paying $200/day which is double Schweitzer's own day ticket price and certainly not what they were getting from PA. Also if they got that same Ikon deal, then you'd have to think Ikon definitely expects to generate substantially more than 5K visits to Schweitzer.

So to be clear, I don't know if it is "guaranteed". It is upfront $1 mill. If it was "guaranteed" then every ski area would want in. I would imagine that the resort has to hit visitor benchmarks to keep its $1 mill.

 

[thetrailboss]

I assume the locals will be going nuts- Shwiez set up a FAQ page, to address the crowding. its a great mountain with good terrain and a nice open bowl. A slightly smaller version of whitefish. I was hoping to return someday but I'll stick with the Spokane indy spots for now to see if the extra 14 chairs on one lift will ease the crowd. .

FAQs

You’re just bringing more people to the mountain I already love and it’s going to get overcrowded!​

The truth is that the area is growing whether we like it or not and our goal is to manage the growth at Schweitzer so the place, the feel and the vibe doesn’t change. Being a partner on the Ikon Pass just gives us the opportunity to invite our skier friends from other places to come enjoy Schweitzer too. And with the addition of the “Voyager Pass,” you can hit the road too and enjoy some world class mountains. It’s all about sharing the stoke. Independently.

The Ikon Pass does NOT offer unrestricted, unlimited access to Schweitzer. The Ikon Pass offers 7 days with no blackout dates and the Ikon Base Pass offers 5 days with some holiday blackout dates. The only pass that offers unlimited days at Schweitzer is a Schweitzer Season Pass.

One way to look at it: For 7 years, we were a part of the Powder Alliance and the most visited resort out of all 18 areas that were members. Powder Alliance generated about 5,000 visits across the season – that works out to an extra 40 people/day. On a mountain of our size, that number was easy to absorb. It will be very similar but given some improvements we plan to make, the redemption process at Guest Services will be much more streamlined.

As mentioned before, we know our area is growing. Spokane is growing, the Rathdrum Prairie is growing and Sandpoint is growing. That means more people on the mountain. We estimate that will see continued growth of about 5%-10% over the next couple of years. And we are going to work hard and make continued investments to help the mountain continue to absorb that growth.

Here are a few things we’re doing THIS YEAR to help:

1. We plan to spend over $250,000 to increase the capacity of the Stella Express by 15% (or 235 people/hour). This will be done by adding an additional 14 chairs to the lift.
2. We plan to spend almost $500,000 to upgrade our ticketing system to support Direct-To-Lift (DTL) tickets with RFID technology
3. We know it can get a little tight indoors at lunch, so we are going to expand our dining options. This includes the opening of Crow’s Bench, the new restaurant inside Humbird and we are excited to add an additional on-mountain food/beverage location at the “Chair 5 Saddle” – the saddle between the top of Stella and Down the Hatch.

Parking is already limited, now it’s just gonna be worse!

1. We plan to continue our expansion of the parking areas at the Fire Station and Roundabout lots. As mentioned above, this will increase parking by approximately 100 spots.
2. The new Humbird hotel has underground parking that will provide 50 additional spaces in the main lot for lodging guests.

AMAZING that crowding is the concern with Ikon......

Jokes aside, Schweitzer is pretty damn remote. We went to CDA last year and Schweitzer was STILL like 90 minutes north. It is NOT easy to get to and nobody really lives nearby. I would certainly expect more visits, but probably not the crowding issues we see in CO and UT.

 

[Zermatt]

AMAZING that crowding is the concern with Ikon......

Jokes aside, Schweitzer is pretty damn remote. We went to CDA last year and Schweitzer was STILL like 90 minutes north. It is NOT easy to get to and nobody really lives nearby. I would certainly expect more visits, but probably not the crowding issues we see in CO and UT.

Couldn't you say the same about Jackson Hole, yet Ikon has brought in hoards of couch surfers and parking lot campers.

It may not be as close as Jackson is to SLC, but Seattle isn't that far and Spokane is an easy airport to fly into with mostly good weather. Then it's an easy drive across the border to Red Mountain in BC.

 

[jaytrem]

AMAZING that crowding is the concern with Ikon......

Jokes aside, Schweitzer is pretty damn remote. We went to CDA last year and Schweitzer was STILL like 90 minutes north. It is NOT easy to get to and nobody really lives nearby. I would certainly expect more visits, but probably not the crowding issues we see in CO and UT.

Worth the drive. Was there on April 1st, a Thursday. Forget about no lift lines, I think we had entire lifts to ourselves...

 

[thetrailboss]

Couldn't you say the same about Jackson Hole, yet Ikon has brought in hoards of couch surfers and parking lot campers.

It may not be as close as Jackson is to SLC, but Seattle isn't that far and Spokane is an easy airport to fly into with mostly good weather. Then it's an easy drive across the border to Red Mountain in BC.

Well, we shall see what happens.

 

[ss20]

@thetrailboss

Thoughts on Alta officially announcing going to paid parking reservations next winter?

 

[Tonyr]

Couldn't you say the same about Jackson Hole, yet Ikon has brought in hoards of couch surfers and parking lot campers.

It may not be as close as Jackson is to SLC, but Seattle isn't that far and Spokane is an easy airport to fly into with mostly good weather. Then it's an easy drive across the border to Red Mountain in BC.

I don't know if Jackson is a fair comparison but Schweizer is definitely going to have bigger crowds next season.

@thetrailboss

Thoughts on Alta officially announcing going to paid parking reservations next winter?

I believe it's going to encourage more people to stay at Alta's hotels at the base. When we visited Snowbird this year our plan was to stay in SLC and drive to Snowbird everyday. When we found out that parking reservations were needed unless you stayed at one of the hotels at the Snowbird base we switched our reservation.