PSA: 2024-2025 Ikon Renewal

[KustyTheKlown]

windham still being in is surprising and im very glad to have a catskills option for early season groomer days where stratton and windham ski the exact same.

 

[djd66]

lol. sorry. we here in the east like our ikon passes. they have been responsible stewards of our mountains. our access is better than its ever been. we mostly avoid the epic problems.

Completely agree and I still do not understand the whole "Alterra Sucks" thread.

 

[machski]

Renewing full Ikon. Surprised to see Windham still on board and glad to see Arapahoe on the limited plan.

For now with A-Basin as sale isn't final yet. For what it's worth, they have put Crystal back on the Unlimited status with a full IKON.

 

[NYDB]

Completely agree and I still do not understand the whole "Alterra Sucks" thread.

You have to read that thread from the perspective of East Coasters who moved to Utah. Since they are now 'Locals' they have to blame something for the crowds.

they can't blame themselves so they have to blame the sinister and nefarious 'Alterra' and the Ikon hordes ruining their beloved cottonwood canyons.

If I were in their shoes I be pissed at something too

 

[thetrailboss]

lol. sorry. we here in the east like our ikon passes. they have been responsible stewards of our mountains. our access is better than its ever been. we mostly avoid the epic problems.

Completely agree and I still do not understand the whole "Alterra Sucks" thread.

You have to read that thread from the perspective of East Coasters who moved to Utah. Since they are now 'Locals' they have to blame something for the crowds.

they can't blame themselves so they have to blame the sinister and nefarious 'Alterra' and the Ikon hordes ruining their beloved cottonwood canyons.

If I were in their shoes I be pissed at something too

So as I said in the Alterra Sucks thread, just wait. I will check in with you all after the implementation of dynamic pricing, paid parking, deferred maintenance at Alterra's eastern resorts, and watching your pass $$$ going to their western properties. I am a patient observer. You may think it is easy to dismiss my criticism, but I will watch and wait.

 

[skiur]

How does $1,249 get to almost $1,300? Why not just round to $1,500? It only costs $1,149 with renewal.

A bargain compared to season passes at Jackson, Aspen, Killington etc or big resorts in Europe.

How's it a bargain for Killington? My K pass was $1150 this season.

 

[KustyTheKlown]

So as I said in the Alterra Sucks thread, just wait. I will check in with you all after the implementation of dynamic pricing, paid parking, deferred maintenance at Alterra's eastern resorts, and watching your pass $$$ going to their western properties. I am a patient observer. You may think it is easy to dismiss my criticism, but I will watch and wait.

our scenarios are so completely different. you are in a major and growing city that is surrounded by ikon resorts within like 30 miles. and your ski areas are largely down narrow dead end avalanche prone canyon roads where you cannot build or create extra parking.

our ski areas are in bumfuck nowhere. nothing around for miles except for VTer fucking his sister in the truck-bed of his plow rig.

its not going to play out the same at all.

 

[thetrailboss]

our scenarios are so completely different. you are in a major and growing city that is surrounded by ikon resorts within like 30 miles

our ski areas are in bumfuck nowhere. nothing around for miles except for VTer fucking his sister in the truck-bed of his plow rig.

its not going to play out the same at all.

Re-read my comments. Yes, you will have more folks, but that's not the issue for you. You are all the frogs in the pot while the heat is slowly being turned up until it is too late. Ask the locals at Squaw, errr, Palisades, how they have liked KSL/Alterra since purchasing the place from the Cushing family.

 

[Hawk]

The renewal at Sugarbush is $1,149 with MA sales tax it is $1,221. I have no issues if no one renews. Yes much to expensive. ;-)
Don't threaten me with a good time!
You will never hear me complain about this cost. I have golf friends that spend 3 to 4 times this cost a season to play different cources. My boat friends spent Twice this in gas for a 3 month season.
I skied 7 days in Kitzbuhel and loved everyday. Wasn't thinking of cost saving there. I also think that the grand majority of people that ski don't look at every dime. They look at it as the cost of doing business. The business of fun!

 

[Hawk]

I was curious. Iooked at my credit card history. last season Sugarbush IKON renewal was $1099. Now is it $1149. $50 Bucks! So in reality 4.5%

 

[crippity]

As all of us know here the megapasses are so bad in the long run. Now a guy like me who has been mastering tickets/passes/system for ever has to make real life hard choices. With two high school hoopsters they are both at 4 days each on season and my wife only 2. My son is 17 losing interest, would rather hang home with crew/chicks as you can understand. i used to get them full ikon and indy and when younger epic as well before we bailed on vail. And i would go full because the girls would do a deer valley trip over MLK. Tremblant is annual trip and that gets jeopardized by hoops. Getting base saves me a grand and then their is the angst of the huge xmas dump (that never happens) and btw they will have hoops practice anyway. after this long useless diatribe i would be smart getting them nothing but the thought of not having a pass and paying full is PIA. could go back to ski VT 4 pack and just get buddie passes for tremblant. THat would prob be the smart call.

 

[ss20]

At $600 with the renewal discount, I'm nearly priced out of the mountain collective pass. I'll get 6 days in on it this year plus a 50% discount extra day by the end of this season.

It's funny because I'm essentially in the same boat as a majority of the casual mega pass holders in that I only get non-alta skiing in 5-8 days a season . And that category has gotten much more expensive in the past 10 years I've been on mega passes. And I've done Max, Ikon, Indy, and MC... nearly everything but Epic if I feel the squeeze I'm sure other casuals are in the same boat.

 

[BenedictGomez]

As all of us know here the megapasses are so bad in the long run.

Actually there are a few people who disagree, but it's tough to tell if they're propagandists or sincere

 

[djd66]

Actually there are a few people who disagree, but it's tough to tell if they're propagandists or sincere

I’m sincere.

pre-alterra: I paid around $1000 for my sugarbush pass. If I wanted to ski killington, or anywhere out west I paid out of pocket $1000’s of dollars

post-alterra: I buy 1 pass for around $1100 and I can ski a shit ton of mountains all on that pass. Skiing with my family, that is a ton of value.

given the crappy snow year we are having in the east, this is like an insurance policy and offers a ton of flexibility.

how does this suck?

 

[AdironRider]

It sucks for UT because they bought into an idea that they apparently were moving to some quaint little ski town and not one of the 10 fastest growing metro areas in the country.

I personally think I have been quite clear that Alterra and Epic have been good for business, but crappy for the jaded local. For 99% of ski customers, the product is fantastic. For the 1% of the ski population it sucks because they expect their personal ski area to lose money so they can ski on chairs on 1 foot pow days and pay less for a burger than they would pay to make it themselves.

The thing with jaded locals is there is always some other boogieman ruining their vibe. Pre-ikon, everyone hated Jerry Blann at Jackson. Before that it was the evil ski corp for doing things like making Sublette a quad chair. Before that it was getting rid of single ride tram tickets. Now that Jackson has limited Ikon redemptions and mostly fixed the crowding problem, the locals have moved on to bitching about putting a groomer next to the alta chutes. Tomorrow it will be something else.

Although, I must admit, it is pretty funny to see Benedict's total lack of self awareness and act like the know it all local when he hasn't even been there a full ski season yet. For a guy that knows everything you'd think he'd know how dumb that is.

 

[Hawk]

I’m sincere.

pre-alterra: I paid around $1000 for my sugarbush pass. If I wanted to ski killington, or anywhere out west I paid out of pocket $1000’s of dollars

post-alterra: I buy 1 pass for around $1100 and I can ski a shit ton of mountains all on that pass. Skiing with my family, that is a ton of value.

given the crappy snow year we are having in the east, this is like an insurance policy and offers a ton of flexibility.

how does this suck?

I am another one. Put me in this camp. I pay the same as DJD but add early ups. Over the last few years I skied 60ish days a year which included 7 days in Europe each year, multiple trips to Killington, Sunday River and a few days at the Loaf. I also skied Snow Bird a few long weekends and for a week just before covid. HUGE beneifit to me. Also at Sugarbush we will now get lift replacemetns and snowmaking upgrades that were financially not in the cards before. This is fact not fiction. So yes a fan.

 

[crippity]

Im huge fan as well and maximize and travel all over. My comment on not good is for long term of the sport. We all know how the game works and they get our money now for next year. Its great for our wallets. Its not good for the growth and future of the sport. When the casual skier wants to go with a buddy and a lift tickets is hundreds of dollars it wont help grow it. Yes their are the small indy and indy type places but again, the casual or non skier doesn't know the what's and where's.

 

[thetrailboss]

It sucks for UT because they bought into an idea that they apparently were moving to some quaint little ski town and not one of the 10 fastest growing metro areas in the country.

I personally think I have been quite clear that Alterra and Epic have been good for business, but crappy for the jaded local. For 99% of ski customers, the product is fantastic. For the 1% of the ski population it sucks because they expect their personal ski area to lose money so they can ski on chairs on 1 foot pow days and pay less for a burger than they would pay to make it themselves.

The thing with jaded locals is there is always some other boogieman ruining their vibe. Pre-ikon, everyone hated Jerry Blann at Jackson. Before that it was the evil ski corp for doing things like making Sublette a quad chair. Before that it was getting rid of single ride tram tickets. Now that Jackson has limited Ikon redemptions and mostly fixed the crowding problem, the locals have moved on to bitching about putting a groomer next to the alta chutes. Tomorrow it will be something else.

Although, I must admit, it is pretty funny to see Benedict's total lack of self awareness and act like the know it all local when he hasn't even been there a full ski season yet. For a guy that knows everything you'd think he'd know how dumb that is.

Seriously, you are the site's biggest troll. You have been for years. You talk out of both sides of your mouth. You bait people. And your latest position is that folks who have concerns about the megapasses are completely wrong because it's all population growth. I call bullshit. Big time.

Jackson status update after a blackout holiday weekend:

Literally less than half the crowds. 5 tram waits were 2 tram waits. Half time thunder lifts.

Ikon is the entire problem. We had just as much pow, if not more this weekend than last and it was a holiday and less than half the people showed up.

And this is what AR really thinks of you IKON passholders:

Ikon has brought hoards of cheap beaters who don't spend money except to park. I'm not confident enough to say this will fix the problem though.

Yep, IKON is great for business. You've always loved it. No way that you would be a complaining local.

Jackson did give us Ikon base passes as a bribe to try and shut us locals up after last year. They then sent a notice via email in late July that you had to claim it by August or you wouldn't get one. Who checks their season pass emails in the middle of July? Approximately no one. They also welched on anyone who got a pass paid partially by their employer. Great job guys, that is about as close to a bait and switch as you can get without being one.

The real problem though is when you pay 1500+ to ski Jackson for a season, you don't leave to go ski low angle groomers in Colorado with worse snow.

Hypocrite. This is all a stunt to taunt people.

Focus on selling knives and not trolling folks here when you get bored. Leave the Magic skiers, BG, me, and the "cheap beaters" in this room alone. Your impressing the internet with the "Mr. Know It All" routine was old yesterday. We don't allow trolls here. Period.

 

[teleo]

I'm on the positive side. 70-80 days total and am lucky enough to have 20 or so of those out west. Jackson this week, copper next and aspen after that. all included on about what I paid for just sugarbush before. (Yes, I know, rough life)

 

[AdironRider]

Seriously, you are the site's biggest troll. You have been for years. You talk out of both sides of your mouth. You bait people. And your latest position is that folks who have concerns about the megapasses are completely wrong because it's all population growth. I call bullshit. Big time.



And this is what AR really thinks of you IKON passholders:


Yep, IKON is great for business. You've always loved it. No way that you would be a complaining local.


Focus on selling knives and not trolling folks here when you get bored. Leave the Magic skiers, BG, me, and the "cheap beaters" in this room alone. Your impressing the internet with the "Mr. Know It All" routine was old yesterday.

For a lawyer, you have pretty poor reading comprehension a convenient willful ignorance of nuance. Go back to not making partner and bitching about your poor life choices.

Now here is where the nuance steps in. Instead of quotes from 4 years ago out of context, here is the reality. Jackson immediately put a cap on visitation, fixed the crowding problem. It is also a premier area and is the selling point of the pass, not some mid tier like solitude next to a population base of 1.5 million people. It is not an apples to oranges comparison. But yet here you are complaining about charging for parking. Deal with it, its a limited resource. Bitching about pricing changes when the pass is still cheaper than anything there previously for similar access, or a myriad of other shit that every fast growing area deals with that you are a direct contributor to making worse.

Like it or not, SLC is going to have crowding issues that aren't going to get solved if Alterra goes away. You still have the backcountry nimbys that prevent any sort of interconnect solution between resorts. You have the water issue, where those mountains provide all the water to rely on to survive. You have access issues where every resort is in a dead end canyon with avalanche danger. And you have the ignorance issue, which is you.

My advice: move again if you hate it so much. I moved to a ski area 2 minutes from my house with zero lift lines, good times, and a dearth of jaded locals like you fucking things up for the rest of us. Its refreshing.