Powdr is going FastPass at Copper, K, Snowbird and Bachelor

[thetrailboss]

Looks like someone might have used a FastPass at Oktoberfest. Uh oh......

Lehi woman killed in Little Cottonwood Canyon rollover accident

A woman died Sunday evening after a rollover crash in Little Cottonwood Canyon.

www.fox13now.com

 

[thetrailboss]

Typical Cumming. He throws his minions under the bus and asks them to address "the confusion" on FastPass. There is no confusion.

POWDR Presidents Address 'Confusion' Over Fast Track Controversy | Refunds Offered for Those Still Not Happy - SnowBrains

Fast Tracks was only announced last week, but has already got a petition against it and has received criticsm from a US Senator.

snowbrains.com

The funny thing is that Snowbird passholders did not get this "clarification" message from POWDR.

 

[BenedictGomez]

We will achieve this by having very limited quantities of Fast Tracks available daily, generally less than 2% of total skiers.

Less than 2% of total skiers huh, maybe they should just rename Fast Track tickets ,"1%'ers".

Oh.....wait.... no that's probably not the branding they want here.

 

[BenedictGomez]

I don't support the program, but I think folks getting as pissed as they are is a little amusing.

I feel the same as you mostly, expect given the relatively small bump in ancillary revenue from this (assuming they're telling the truth) it sure seems like a penny-wise-and-pound-foolish business decision.

 

[thetrailboss]

Less than 2% of total skiers huh, maybe they should just rename Fast Track tickets ,"1%'ers".

Oh.....wait.... no that's probably not the branding they want here.

That's going to be in the next "clarification" message.

And why make everyone angry when only 2% of your clientele would even use this stupid thing?

 

[deadheadskier]

That's going to be in the next "clarification" message.

And why make everyone angry when only 2% of your clientele would even use this stupid thing?

I guess they miscalculated.

Overall I think the idea here is to appeal to a higher spending crowd, not so much for the fast tracks add on revenue, but the other things those folks might buy.

Perhaps it's 7-8 figure slopeside real estate. Maybe they wouldn't consider buying real estate like that at a place like Killington because of how busy it is. But, if you can cut the line? Not a bad option.

There are other areas in life that improve your experience over the masses for a fee. I've got a friend with club season tickets to the Patriots. A huge benefit to it is devoted parking with 15 minutes or less departure after the game vs waiting hours.

I'm kinda of the opposite of those high dollar folks. Much of the time, I just assume ski a Mom and pop type place to avoid the mess all together. Appreciation for such has only grown with the Epics and Ikons buying everything up.

 

[thetrailboss]

I guess they miscalculated.

Overall I think the idea here is to appeal to a higher spending crowd, not so much for the fast tracks add on revenue, but the other things those folks might buy.

Perhaps it's 7-8 figure slopeside real estate. Maybe they wouldn't consider buying real estate like that at a place like Killington because of how busy it is. But, if you can cut the line? Not a bad option.

There are other areas in life that improve your experience over the masses for a fee. I've got a friend with club season tickets to the Patriots. A huge benefit to it is devoted parking with 15 minutes or less departure after the game vs waiting hours.

I'm kinda of the opposite of those high dollar folks. Much of the time, I just assume ski a Mom and pop type place to avoid the mess all together. Appreciation for such has only grown with the Epics and Ikons buying everything up.

An interesting point that was made on KZone was that POWDR did not announce this "improvement"--it was revealed indirectly via the WSJ and then other media outlets before POWDR made the initial announcement. Weird.

 

[x10003q]

I disagree. I think it will be small, but not insignificant.

What's interesting in Mike's note is he said it'll be capped at roughly 2% of daily skier visits. On Killington's most insane Saturday of the year that's roughly 15,000 people. That's 300 people with a Fast Pass. 10 lifts at Killinton will have Fast Pass lanes. Let's go conservative and say 250/300 of those people will be skiing at a time...that's 25 Fast Pass people per lift. That's not exactly insignificant. Going conservative again we'll say it takes 10 minutes for a lift ride up and 10 minutes to get down... that's a Fast Tracks person entering the lift queue roughly every 45 seconds. So in a 20 minute lift line you'll see about 30 people cut in front of you.

smdh

Using your math -adding 30 people onto a lift with a capacity of 2500/hr is a 1.2% increase. In other words no increase. There is way more traffic on lifts from seasonal programs, ski school daily lessons, and, for some lifts, racing. This is a non-issue.

 

[Harvey]

I'm kinda of the opposite of those high dollar folks. Much of the time, I just assume ski a Mom and pop type place to avoid the mess all together. Appreciation for such has only grown with the Epics and Ikons buying everything up.

This.

 

[ss20]

Using your math -adding 30 people onto a lift with a capacity of 2500/hr is a 1.2% increase. In other words no increase. There is way more traffic on lifts from seasonal programs, ski school daily lessons, and, for some lifts, racing. This is a non-issue.

30 people in a 20 minute period. 90 people in an hour. To me it's a small deal but not insignificant.

It will be a big deal when they sell a bunch of these passes on a mid-winter weekend and then have half the lifts down for ice or wind. Or on zero degree weekends when all the Fast Pass people are lapping the few enclosed lifts.

 

[Harvey]

How long does it take to load 90 people on a fixed grip quad?

 

[Smellytele]

How long does it take to load 90 people on a fixed grip quad?

22+ chairs

 

[Harvey]

How many minutes is that.

 

[jaytrem]

How many minutes is that.

Probably 5 minutes with stops. Less on a expert area chairs, more on primary chairs where families hang out.

 

[machski]

30 people in a 20 minute period. 90 people in an hour. To me it's a small deal but not insignificant.

It will be a big deal when they sell a bunch of these passes on a mid-winter weekend and then have half the lifts down for ice or wind. Or on zero degree weekends when all the Fast Pass people are lapping the few enclosed lifts.

It should be noted they don't just show up n the fast pass lane and get right on. K is saying that lane has to alternate with all the others. So it's not an immediate load when you are in front of the fast lane. Not defending the move, just trying to clarify it a bit.

The fun part will be if this sticks and then they apply this concept to lodge dining, etc. That will really be fun.

 

[Smellytele]

What would be nice for lodges is either allowing ordering food online and then you just walk in and pick up your order or calling ahead to reserve a table a run or 2 before you come in.

 

[machski]

What would be nice for lodges is either allowing ordering food online and then you just walk in and pick up your order or calling ahead to reserve a table a run or 2 before you come in.

That would be great. But would you pay an extra $20 or $30 a day for that perk? Wait, if not Power someone else is bound to try that.

 

[Smellytele]

That would be great. But would you pay an extra $20 or $30 a day for that perk? Wait, if not Power someone else is bound to try that.

No I was thinking of me not them.

 

[thetrailboss]

Probably 5 minutes with stops. Less on a expert area chairs, more on primary chairs where families hang out.

Probably longer than that. 5 minutes would be about 15 seconds per chair.

 

[x10003q]

30 people in a 20 minute period. 90 people in an hour. To me it's a small deal but not insignificant.

3.2% - still insignificant. All they have to do is reduce the number of empty slots going up the line when they blend the fast past holders into the line.

It will be a big deal when they sell a bunch of these passes on a mid-winter weekend and then have half the lifts down for ice or wind. Or on zero degree weekends when all the Fast Pass people are lapping the few enclosed lifts.

Now you are talking about situations that might not happen.