Most expensive lift tickets

[kingslug]

I would imagine they talk t o each.

 

[Smellytele]

I have a few friends I ski with who don’t have season passes and never look for deals. If I find them a deal they will take it unless they have to go on line and buy it themselves. You can lead a horse to water but you can’t make them drink.


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[benski]

I would imagine they talk t o each.

Yeah. They do. The mountain collective resorts all meet together. Alterra must meet with its pass partners.

 

[abc]

Really, for people who only ski one weekend a season, the cost of the lift ticket don’t really matter. It’s another form of “going out to hang out”.

It’s people who ski semi-regularly, the cost add up.

For those who ski a lot, season pass. End of story.

There was an about 10 year gap when I only ski once or twice (or zero) a season! I didn’t care the price because it’s a once in a blue moon thing.

But I’ve been the “semi-regular” most my skiing years. So I felt the price increase acutely. But I can also tell those of you living in the north country, for us living away from snow, lift ticket price isn’t the only cost. Lodging is just as much an issue. That had also gone up enough that I endedup curtailing my skiing in the northeast in favor of the west. I’ve been going the lodging+lift ticket “package” route for a long time. Completely oblivious of the years when day ticket shot through the sky. I was late to the multi-mountain pass. I contemplated quitting skiing when even the package price became ridiculous.

But now, with the multi-mountain pass, I can still be a semi-regular at a price I can afford. And my choice of where to ski actually got better. And I end up skiing more.

Plus, I still pay the reasonable day ticket price to ski independent mountains like Plattekill etc. I only avoid the high prices of mountains belonging to the “other” pass.

So, I’m not entirely sure if the sky is indeed falling...

Perhaps, could it just be a process of reshuffling of skiers to indi vs corp that we’re seeking?

 

[machski]

The one thing high prices do block out are those of us who have variable schedules and can't necessarily lock down ski weeks out west until we are into the season. I would love to take my wife to Vail or Breck/Keystone, she would love it. But I can't guarantee I can get her school breaks off out in advance. Sure, we could buy Epic local but Stowe is a bit of a drive and none of those give me an extended season like Icon does at K in the East, or a good distance option like Tremblant (sometimes that pays off, though not so much this year). So unless I get the vacation week I need when my annual vacations are awarded, I just can't see buying an Epic pass ever. And without that, I am not skiing Epic resorts ever as well with the costs they have now.

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[abc]

I am not skiing Epic resorts ever as well with the costs they have now.

there’s nothing wrong with that.

I had not skied any of the Epic resorts for 10 years, with the exception of 2 years ago when I got laid off and had the entire season to ski. That was the one year in the past 10 that I bought a Epic local. The other 9+ years I simply didn’t ski at any of the Vail mountains! And that’s fine by me.

And I’m sure it’s fine by Vail too that I don’t ski their resorts for 9 out of 10 years.

 

[BenedictGomez]

I would love to take my wife to Vail or Breck/Keystone, she would love it. But I can't guarantee I can get her school breaks off out in advance.

Same deal, my wife's a teacher, so our only opportunity for a western trip each year is Spring Break.

 

[BenedictGomez]

Long-term I believe these passes will have a negative effect on the ski industry.

Not the passes themselves, per se, but the corresponding artificial inflation in single day lift ticket prices that is the "stick" part of this pass strategy. I cannot envision a scenario in which this does not have a decreasing effect on the number of people trying the sport who will then go on to become dedicated skiers.

The single day lift pass, has always been, and still is, "the gateway drug" to skiing. The average non-skier is not going to try a beginner package, and the next day shell out $900 or $700 for a form of an EPIC pass or even $600 or whatever for a Mountain Collective pass. Even worse is the fact that many people's virgin experience with the sport is not with a beginner package at all, but with a single day ticket & a rental. Many of these people (most?) will never make it to a ski resort with $170 single day tic.

There is really no way for an analyst to model this, the numbers are too great and the dispersion is too geographically variable and too large, but if this pass world we're living in persists, in 12 or 15 years from now overall skier visits are down, I will not be surprised.

 

[deadheadskier]

I believe I've read that the total number of skiers/boarders is the same as the 1980s. So basically the industry has relied on population growth to tread water.

I agree, the rising day ticket costs will eventually drive down the number of people picking up the sport. This should be of great concern as baby boomers age out of the sport.

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[abc]

But before the boomers age OUT of the sport, they’re aging INTO the sport, big time!

The low season pass stretagy worked great for the boomers who’re retiring and better yet, semi-retiring!

I agree in the medium to long term, it’s going to be a problem. But which industry do you know that looks beyond 10 years? For the next 10 years, the boomers are going to ski LOTS of days! Whoever captures that demographic will reap the best benefits.

There maybe a shake up of the industry in a couple decades, when the last of the boomers age out of it.

 

[BenedictGomez]

which industry do you know that looks beyond 10 years?

Pretty much all of them.

 

[abc]

Yeah, right!

If they had, they wouldn’t have had their pants down by all the internet commerce which changes the entire society!

But perhaps they think they look, but they’re actually seeing their own reflection of the “glory” past in the mirror?

 

[Smellytele]

Long-term I believe these passes will have a negative effect on the ski industry.

Not the passes themselves, per se, but the corresponding artificial inflation in single day lift ticket prices that is the "stick" part of this pass strategy. I cannot envision a scenario in which this does not have a decreasing effect on the number of people trying the sport who will then go on to become dedicated skiers.

The single day lift pass, has always been, and still is, "the gateway drug" to skiing. The average non-skier is not going to try a beginner package, and the next day shell out $900 or $700 for a form of an EPIC pass or even $600 or whatever for a Mountain Collective pass. Even worse is the fact that many people's virgin experience with the sport is not with a beginner package at all, but with a single day ticket & a rental. Many of these people (most?) will never make it to a ski resort with $170 single day tic.

There is really no way for an analyst to model this, the numbers are too great and the dispersion is too geographically variable and too large, but if this pass world we're living in persists, in 12 or 15 years from now overall skier visits are down, I will not be surprised.

The multi resort passes may help out small ski areas that cater to beginners - feeder hills.

 

[kingslug]

Check out liftlines forum ..see what Alta looks like today..

 

[Zermatt]

Check out liftlines forum ..see what Alta looks like today..

Can you link it, I can't find it.

 

[kingslug]

Try ...firsttracksonline.com

 

[thetrailboss]

Check out liftlines forum ..see what Alta looks like today..

Shitshow. 90 minute drive up; 90 minutes back sliding down the canyon. Gadzoom at midday:




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[kingslug]

Oy
Might have to start hitting powder mt and Snowbasin..with Sundance thrown in once in a while

 

[abc]

You do know Snowbasin had now gone to Epic?

 

[kingslug]

Thus..my plan.
Ala/Bird is my favorite..but I'm not going to deal with that insanity.
Hitting park City first week in March..