It would be a way for the remnants of AIG to cash out and leave the business. Though Mr. Starr would be rolling in his grave.
It would also spell an end to Stowe's Mountain Collective membership.
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Vail to buy Stowe?
- Thread starter deadheadskier
- Start date
It would be a way for the remnants of AIG to cash out and leave the business. Though Mr. Starr would be rolling in his grave.
It would also spell an end to Stowe's Mountain Collective membership.
bdfreetuna
New member
This makes the most sense. People who want to ski backcountry and end up at the other resort's base should be able to lift their way back without cost or hassle. Why not?
But a full interconnect, I agree along the same lines as K and Pico analogy.
benski
Active member
Vail should be broken up. The extra competition would help bring down lift ticket prices. I doubt there are many benefits to such large scale operations for ski areas.
As for the interconnect idea. The lift would be slightly shorter than the Breckinridge Peek 6 connector lift so I guess it would be reasonable by there standards.
As for the interconnect idea. The lift would be slightly shorter than the Breckinridge Peek 6 connector lift so I guess it would be reasonable by there standards.
dlague
Active member
Pretty sure that the mountain collective pass losing Stowe is not a big deal. Losing 2 days of skiing in the east. I never found MC Pass to be attractive.
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Not sure I agree. Their walk up ticket prices may be high, but their Epic pass options are hard to beat for people interested in skiing the resorts in Vail's portfolio.
dlague
Active member
They sell a boat load of passes and breaking it up probably would jeopardize that.
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Jully
Active member
Vail is by far the most efficient resort operator in North America IMO. They've proven there are VAST benefits to large scale market share and management. Why do you think there aren't benefits?
Jully
Active member
Hah!!
SnowRock
Active member
Wouldn't be too sure of that. It was the tipping point for me to purchase it when they added Stowe and I personally know a few folks who did the same. To have a mountain part of that pass that I could drive too and already hit about 10 times a year made it a no brainer. I'm sure there are others like me that made the purchase when they added Stowe.
Don't love the idea of a vail purchase... having been up there between Christmas and New Years it seemed like the road/parking infrastructure was maxed out this year. Hadn't seen anything like it before in all my years going up there since I was in high school... would imagine with the epic pass you would add to that crowd.
benski
Active member
Diseconomies of scale. Unless you want to use market share to increase prices I don't see many benefits since not much can be centralized.
dlague
Active member
What benefits are we talking about? I love our benefits. $609 and we have access to a lot of great mountains including Whistler, Park City, Tahoe and the resorts in Colorado. Practically unlimited.
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benski
Active member
Don't you have the Mountain Collective, and Max passes too for mountain owned by different operatores along with smaller local deals like Solitude and Brighton. But i am shocked to here its that cheep. Its not for sale so i can't see the price on there website.
The regular Epic Pass was $809 I believe at the early price. Don't believe that one had any restrictions on their US resorts. The Epic pass sales do incredible volume, although I believe the thought is that many of the passes are not used for tons of days (i.e. some easterners buy them and only take a few trips out west, which still is enough to cover the cost of the pass). But Vail also counts on people spending money on lodging, food, etc as part of their business model.
VTKilarney
Well-known member
The chicken hasn't hatched yet, but where are all of the people who have always insisted that Vail would never buy a resort in the northeast? I've seen many such posts here.
4aprice
Well-known member
I had heard a rumor that Vail was looking into buying Stratton, so maybe there is more interest in the east then previously thought.
A couple of areas in the east might cause me to look into it. What I wonder is will moves (or potential moves) like this force some of the "independents" (Smuggs, Bush, Jay etc) to team up for survival? Like I said in the Max Pass thread, I'm loving my season so far and planned the whole thing around those options.
Alex
Lake Hopatcong, NJ
A couple of areas in the east might cause me to look into it. What I wonder is will moves (or potential moves) like this force some of the "independents" (Smuggs, Bush, Jay etc) to team up for survival? Like I said in the Max Pass thread, I'm loving my season so far and planned the whole thing around those options.
Alex
Lake Hopatcong, NJ
ss20
Well-known member
The Epic Pass is the reason why we have inexpensive multi-mountain passes. Very beneficial for the consumer.
I dont think Vail owning Stowe and/or Stratton is going to put anyone out of business. There are only so many beds, parking and so much uphill capacity that either of them can handle. If anything the potential overcrowding of the ski vacation experience will drive people to other mountains.
Jully
Active member
Right, because centralization is the only possible benefit of large scale operations like Vail...
Jully
Active member
I mean, someone's gotta be there doing the overcrowding though!!
I wonder if it would drive easterners to take more western vacations similar to how the Texas family takes 2 ski trips instead of one with the Epic pass because the lift tickets are already paid for.
I never had a serious opinion one way or the other until reading Ski, Inc recently. When I read Chris Diamond say he believed Vail would eventually look to enter the northeastern market, I thought someone with his insider knowledge and experience probably had a better grasp of things than people on this board saying they never would.
