Most overpriced season passes

[dlague]

Burke is $999 right now, which is just insane.

The Burke/Jay combo is $1,289.

Being an Epic Local pass holder for 4 seasons and with Epic in New England now, I do not get those pass prices!

Edit: changed to I do not get!

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[VTKilarney]

Being an Epic Local pass holder for 4 seasons and with Epic in Nee England now, I do get those pass prices

I think that they milk their captive audience as much as they can and don't even seriously try to sell passes outside of that circle.

 

[p_levert]

Holiday Valley $1,025.00 ($1,081 if you include nights).

Bristol Mountain $895.00.

Actually, Bristol is a worse deal as the skiing really s*cks there.

 

[Harvey]

I guess you guys are all saying you wouldn't pay $XXX for X mountain.

The price is only too high if ski area is not covering it's bills and it has unused capacity.

I'd never pay $50,000 for an Audi TT, but that doesn't mean it's over priced.

If you talk to the GM and skiers at Windham, they are quite happy thank you.

Maybe the thread should be called:

Places I'd never own a pass because the price is too high.

Question: who here would buy a pass at Windham if it was, I don't know $600?

 

[JimG.]

I guess you guys are all saying you wouldn't pay $XXX for X mountain.

The price is only too high if ski area is not covering it's bills and it has unused capacity.

I'd never pay $50,000 for a an Audi TT, but that doesn't mean it's over priced.

If you talk to the GM and skiers at Windham, they are quite happy thank you.

Maybe the thread should be called:

Places I'd never own a pass because the price is too high.

Question: who here would buy a pass at Windham if it was, I don't know $600?

$600 for a Windham pass would be a good value. But I still would not buy one.

I'm not trying to dump on Windham but an unrestricted Killington season pass is $1,000. $1,349 is highway robbery in comparison and I am not a price shopper.

But if someone loves Windham it is a small price to pay I guess.

 

[Harvey]

$600 for a Windham pass would be a good value. But I still would not buy one.

Translation: you are not a Windham customer. So your calculation of the value isn't really relevant to the pricing discussing that goes on in the board room. (Just using you as an example).

Most of us in a ski forum care about terrain and snow (and yea how close is it to home). That is clearly not the equation at Windham. Those customers care about something else.

What did you spend on your wife's wedding ring? Did you buy a diamond or a cubic zirconia? Is the diamond worth 10x as much? If you bought a diamond the answer is yes, for you.

 

[Cobbold]

I think that they milk their captive audience as much as they can and don't even seriously try to sell passes outside of that circle.

Confused, people think epic passes are expensive?

 

[ScottySkis]

Holiday Valley $1,025.00 ($1,081 if you include nights).

Bristol Mountain $895.00.

Actually, Bristol is a worse deal as the skiing really s*cks there.

For hoilday are those earlier season price from normal year
I think because they get a lot of Lake effect snow and being open 16 hours a day 7 day a week it be good deal to bad I live no where close to that hill

 

[djd66]

We rented a timeshare unit this summer at Jiminey.

You came to Massachusetts this summer? Did you quarantine for 14 days upon you arrival? (Those are the state rules for ANY out of state visitors) And what about your return to VT - did you quarantine for 14 days?

 

[VTKilarney]

You came to Massachusetts this summer? Did you quarantine for 14 days upon you arrival? (Those are the state rules for ANY out of state visitors) And what about your return to VT - did you quarantine for 14 days?

That wasn’t the rule when we visited and it isn’t the rule now. Travelers from COVID-19 lower-risk States are not required to fill out the Massachusetts Travel Form and do not need to quarantine.
https://www.mass.gov/info-details/covid-19-travel-order#lower-risk-states-

And Vermont showed Berkshire County as a “green” county at the time. So no requirement to quarantine upon our return.

It’s one reason why we chose the Berkshires.

“A” for effort, though.

 

[JimG.]

Translation: you are not a Windham customer. So your calculation of the value isn't really relevant to the pricing discussing that goes on in the board room. (Just using you as an example).

Most of us in a ski forum care about terrain and snow (and yea how close is it to home). That is clearly not the equation at Windham. Those customers care about something else.

What did you spend on your wife's wedding ring? Did you buy a diamond or a cubic zirconia? Is the diamond worth 10x as much? If you bought a diamond the answer is yes, for you.

I guess I should have read the title of the thread more carefully...overpriced is different from expensive which is where I was coming from.

Was not trying to take shots at Windham. Glad it works for those who ski there.

 

[Harvey]

I guess I should have read the title of the thread more carefully...overpriced is different from expensive which is where I was coming from.

Was not trying to take shots at Windham. Glad it works for those who ski there.

I wasn't taking a shot a you Jim. Not defending Windham either, just using it as an example.

Just saying that if something is overpriced, market pressure will bring the price down or the business will fail.

 

[JimG.]

I wasn't taking a shot a you Jim. Not defending Windham either, just using it as an example.

Just saying that if something is overpriced, market pressure will bring the price down or the business will fail.

Beauty is truly in the eye of the beholder.

 

[ss20]

I think Jiminey must get a lot of casual skiers who don't want to drive far - and are willing to pay a premium for the shorter drive.

That's the idea. I average 2 days a season there, less now than previous years. Trails are pretty steep but as said everything is groomed flat. Vermont is another 45 minutes. Not worth it to some people I guess.

I had a GREAT semi-powder day there last December. It snowed maybe 4" over the course of the day. Free re-fills and there were actually...SOME MOGULS which have always been rare but the past 5 years pretty much extinct from Jiminy.

 

[ss20]

I never understood the Windham hate. It has it's steep sections. I've always found a few bumped trails. There's a good amount of glades marked and unmarked on the bike trails through the woods. Really good glades. Two different pods with 1500'+ vertical and fast lifts.

I guess it's hated for being posh, flat, and over-groomed but I don't see it. OK I do see the rich man's playground vibe but ffs who cares?

 

[abc]

Being an Epic Local pass holder for 4 seasons and with Epic in New England now, I do not get those pass prices!

I don't get why you don't get.

You first pick a mountain you want to ski the most. Then decide how many days you'll ski it. Divide the pass with the day of ski, you get the price/day. Then you ask if that's acceptable.

Do it again on another mountain that you want to ski next.

If you can afford it, and use it enough, it's "right priced"! Whether that price is $100 or $1000. Just because another mountain has a pass for less is irrelevant. You only care about the mountain you WANT TO SKI!!!

Are any of them "overpriced"? For whom? And frankly, who cares???

To me, ALL of the season pass in the northeast are insanely expensive. I never bought a single season pass for a northeast mountain. My number of days skiing in the northeast just doesn't justify ANY pass!

But I've been skiing on season passes for nearly 10 years now. They were all western mountain(s) passes. First the Rockie Mountain Super Pass, then MCP, then Epic and finally Ikon when Alterra bought out RMSP. Some of these passes has northeast mountain components, I would use them. But my purchase decision was ALWAYS based on which WESTERN mountain I want to ski. The eastern mountains were just "freebies".

Last year, I was back on Epic. And the "credit" from the truncated season locked me into Epic this season. So I may spring for a Northeast Value pass only because it's cheap (less than $500 out of pocket). But if it weren't for the credit, I wouldn't bother.

To put it bluntly. I don't ski enough days in the northeast to justify these thousand dollar passes. Not even the $600 ones (Epic).

To me, even Epic Northeast is "overpriced"!!!

 

[deadheadskier]

I guess you guys are all saying you wouldn't pay $XXX for X mountain.

The price is only too high if ski area is not covering it's bills and it has unused capacity.

I'd never pay $50,000 for an Audi TT, but that doesn't mean it's over priced.

If you talk to the GM and skiers at Windham, they are quite happy thank you.

Maybe the thread should be called:

Places I'd never own a pass because the price is too high.

Question: who here would buy a pass at Windham if it was, I don't know $600?

Thread mainly inspired by the two places I first listed and personal experience.

When I lived in Portland, I had an ASC pass. I'm sure you remember they were very inexpensive. Shawnee Peak was the closest mountain to me and if the price was right, I would have bought a pass there to have the convenient option. Couldn't justify the price because the Shawnee pass cost more than the ASC pass and offered about 5% as much terrain.

Fast forward to today and the same story is true with Gunstock. Closest 1k+ vertical hill to me. I'd buy a pass there for the right price too. Can't justify it because a Gunstock pass costs more than my Northeast Epic Pass.

The Audi TT example is not the same as what I'm saying. The example there would be, you own 7 cars, 6 of them a good deal nicer than the Audi TT. You paid $45k for all those cars combined and yet Audi is asking $50k for the one TT.

Sent from my moto g power using AlpineZone mobile app

 

[Harvey]

Beauty is truly in the eye of the beholder.

Jim not sure what this means, but I want to make sure you understand I'm not trying not trying to be a jerk. I've watched this forum for years and have a lot of respect for you and dhs.

I am extra animated on this topic for reasons you might be able to guess.

 

[VTKilarney]

When I think of "overpriced", I am thinking in terms of "value."

For example, Burke is overpriced at $999. Their snowmaking is absolutely horrible and the pass only lets you ski one mountain. There are MUCH better value options out there.

Because the value is so poor, Burke has clearly resigned itself to targeting only their captive audience. This may not be a bad idea, because if they dropped the price they would probably lose a lot more money from their captive audience than they would gain in additional pass sales. But it also means that you aren't ever going to grow your base. So it may be myopic from that perspective.

Ideally, Burke should join a collective. A collective pass could be offered at a similar price, and Burke would reap additional hotel and F&B revenues. I'm shocked that they haven't done this yet.

 

[Boxtop Willie]

Ski Bradford. $699. 3000 vertical....inches (250 ft)