White Mountain Superpass: 2013-2014 Waterville, Cannon, Bretton Woods and Cranmore

[Smellytele]

My buddy got the same deal at Pats being an NEC student. You going to school there, work at the hill, or do they have other such hookups?

With free skiing at any hill Id be hard pressed to buy a pass anywhere else.

My wife runs the "ski school program" for our town and with that we the whole family gets free passes.

 

[witch hobble]

I like the pass a lot from where we ski as a family of 4. 3 ski areas under an hour away, on the same pass. With different attributes. We currently ski Cannon. We get 2 WV tickets with each pass already. We have friends who ski there, and enjoy it. BW would be a really nice addition for early season, and for the wife's preferences, and they have some glades to poke around in. I've never been there during a vaca week.

But the price difference between our early bird in state Cannon deal and this would be $1200 for the family of 4. So I don't think its gonna happen.

 

[riverc0il]

You guys sure demand a lot cost wise.

A NH local pass to Cannon runs round 500 for Cannon alone. For less than double you get way more. Even a full season Cranmore pass is like 400 bucks.

I don't see your logic at all. If you are a Cannon pass holder, you are skiing Cannon 10-15 days minimum to break even (assuming weekend pass price, break even varies depending upon mid-week deals one would have used). If you also wanted to ski BW, Waterville, or Cranmore... you could buy individual day tickets and get 7-8 days at those mountains or any where else you want and not be locked in. All assuming in state rate. For in state, this is not a good deal, IMO. Really bad, actually, unless you plan on skiing Waterville and Bretton a lot. I just don't see Cannon types spending more than 8 days at this other trio of hills.

 

[St. Bear]

Re: White Mountain Superpass 2013-2014 Waterville, Cannon, Bretton Woods and Cranmore

Hmm, plus no powder chasing at Magic or side cash to go to the Summit.

I think I may be coming around to your side.

 

[MadPadraic]

I'm seriously considering this pass for next year as a replacement for the Boyne pass. Waterville replaces Loon as the generic day trip hill; Bretton Woods is closer than Sunday River and has a similar season, and you get Cannon thrown in.

My opinion on Cannon: I have exactly one sticker on my helmet and it is from Cannon.

I'd miss April/May trips to Sugarloaf, buy Boyne prices ski and stay at about $0.30 more than just stay (screwing the pass holder), so it won't really cost more.

Also, we traditionally take an XC trip up to North Conway. Cranmore would offer a nice little diversion.

 

[Edd]

I'd miss April/May trips to Sugarloaf, buy Boyne prices ski and stay at about $0.30 more than just stay (screwing the pass holder), so it won't really cost more.

Truth. One of my few complaints when I was a Boyne passholder.

 

[xwhaler]

Truth. One of my few complaints when I was a Boyne passholder.

I think this used to be true but seems SR is trying to address the discrepancy. I'd think they could do well by offering cheap rooms to pass holders during early/late season when it's likely most of the hotels/condos are empty and not producing any revenue.
Get ppl to the mtn cheaply and they are likely to spend $$ on food/beverage during the quiet times.

http://www.sundayriver.com/VacationPackages/Packages/Winter/VIP%20Passholder%20Lodging.html

 

[Cannonball]

Based out of Lincoln I like this pass a lot but it's just too pricey for me. My wife currently has it as a student and it is a steal ($350ish)!! I'd probably pay ~$800 for it but not more.

I always have one form of Cannon pass or another. I've had the B&B pass before and I surprised myself by how often I decided to go BW. Great snow preservation, change of pace, etc. I usually end up hitting WV a few times a year when friends are there. I would hit more often if I had a pass there. Cranmore wouldn't be used much, but it would be nice to have a free option when over that way.

This is clearly targeted to steal Loon passholders. It's hard for any one of those Mtns to steal away Lincoln condo owners. As has been said here already, those families tend to camp out and are pretty happy with the convenience. This pass would offer so much more that it might override the convenience factor.

 

[zoomer]

The Granite Pass pricing is out and I think it stayed the same. $599 adult/$399 junior so for my family of four it would be $2000 vs $2800 for the superpass, or $2400 for Cannon only. Granite pass includes the rest of this season as well. The downside for the Granite pass is that for me it's 2:45 to Wildcat vs 1:45 to Cannon. I wish Cannon had better pricing for non-residents, the Granite pass is a much better value, but I'll probably go with Cannon only due to travel time. Anyone know a way to get a discount on a Cannon pass?

 

[riverc0il]

Burke/Jay is $699 currently and you get the rest of the season. $409 for junior pass. A touch less than the Granite pass for a family of two parents and two kids. I don't know if those prices include taxes or not, though. I think the White Mountain Superpass can't really compete with the Burke/Jay pass at $1000 less for 2 kids/2 parents... for those willing to keep driving past Waterville, Bretton, and Cannon. Tougher call on the Granite pass, I-93 skiers would certainly get to Burke easier than Wildcat with Jay not much further.

And then there is Boyne. Good multi-mountain options, nice to see this development.

 

[zoomer]

Burke is 3 hours for us, and at that travel time Sugarbush comes into play. The adult passes, at $1,049, come with a junior pass so it's on par with Granite and Jay/Burke price-wise, and then the Mt Ellen only pass is only $499 and also comes with a junior pass. I really like Mt Ellen at that price ($998 for family of four unless I am misreading), but 1:45 each way to Cannon is an easy day trip and SB is too far for a frequent day trip (for me).

 

[timm]

1:45 each way to Cannon is an easy day trip and SB is too far for a frequent day trip (for me).

In my mind I know the hour or so saved driving to Cannon vs Wildcat (or Black), is huge from a gas perspective (and exhaustion perspective), especially over a full season...still hard to ignore the Granite pass is three mountains for like $200 less, and Crotched is not too exciting but is so close.

Sugarbush has an awesome deal for people 19-29 too, it's under $300 I believe and you can add MRG for like $100. Possibly the best deal in the East if you're in your 20s.

I'll probably go passless again -- between Liftopia, multi day deals, coupons, etc, I don't come out much behind a passholder to any mountain and I have flexibility.

 

[EPB]

I picked up the Peak's "Classic" pass this past weekend that went on sale Friday and is good for the rest of this season. After a year without a pass, it was really a no brainer. $499 with blackouts on MLK weekend, the first weekend of Feb vacation and Dec 27-31. The ticket deals suck during those time periods anyway, and aside from MLK weekend, the other weekends are mere two day weekends that are prime to be skipped.

What's more, I had paid $100 for a two day ticket at Attitash / Wildcat the day before the day before the pass went on sale through Attitash's website (to be used on Sun and Mon). They comp'ed me the difference and I only ended up paying $399 at the register.

 

[Bostonian]

This pass does sound very flattering, although I have zero reason or for that matter interest in going to cranmore. While I haven't hit either Cannon or Waterville this year, the idea of have open access to both resorts and Bretton Woods (for the wife and little guy) sounds pretty awesome. It's too bad that Gunstock isn't bundled in with this pass as opposed to Cranmore, since it would truly be a Ski-93 pass...

I think next year I will re-up on the gunstock pass, too good to pass up at $399, and scout out the other mountains on discount days. Now the question is do I hit cannon this Saturday or Sunapee ? Decisions, decision..

 

[timm]

I picked up the Peak's "Classic" pass this past weekend that went on sale Friday and is good for the rest of this season. After a year without a pass, it was really a no brainer. $499 with blackouts on MLK weekend, the first weekend of Feb vacation and Dec 27-31. The ticket deals suck during those time periods anyway, and aside from MLK weekend, the other weekends are mere two day weekends that are prime to be skipped.

What's more, I had paid $100 for a two day ticket at Attitash / Wildcat the day before the day before the pass went on sale through Attitash's website (to be used on Sun and Mon). They comp'ed me the difference and I only ended up paying $399 at the register.

Damn I didn't see that one. Considering I am planning to hit Mt Washington Valley for four days this weekend, might pick it up -- with Wildcat's usual long season it will almost have paid for itself by the end of this season, nevermind next. If I pull the trigger, might consider doing one of the ski clubs with a lodge in North Conway.

 

[dlague]

I agree with most - the price is to high! Then again I think most season passes are often priced to high. Also the thought of being comitted to a single mountain or in this case 4 mountains is tough! We are targeting about $1400 in lift ticket costs for four of us this season (about 35 ski trips) and look at my signature - it is a decent list (for the most part)! We chase down and hunt for the deals and have gotten pretty good at it! So I pass on season passes! If you live close to a resort then - I get it! If you are a big mountain only skier - I get that too! I prefer variety!

 

[riverc0il]

It's too bad that Gunstock isn't bundled in with this pass as opposed to Cranmore, since it would truly be a Ski-93 pass...

The addition of Gunstock would make the Superpass a very good value. I think they need to be careful though with adding too many mountains, though. The more mountains you add, the more people are likely to show up because you are adding all of the other mountain's pass holders that opt for the multi-mountain pass to your roster. And the more mountains you add, the more people will likely splurge. Look at ASC, those areas were total zoos because ASC made the value too good, and as a result, their product suffered. Plus the mountains need to split revenues. If they keep adding mountains, some mountains may eventually not make up the lost margin in volume. Tough balancing act...

 

[LasersInTheTaiga]

My own 2c on this one. I have the 4NH College Pass this year (which is good at the same mountains as the Superpass). I can't really see the value in the full-priced version (I think i paid like $320 or so for mine). My home base is Cannon, and I have been to Bretton Woods and Waterville twice and once, respectively, this season. I wouldn't even think about going to Cranmore. If I'm going to drive over there I'd go to Wildcat.

I will say, though, early in the season, there were a couple of days that I started out at Cannon and it was so awful that I went over to Bretton Woods. I would rather ski an easy groomer with good snowmaking than a whatever-Cannon-was-doing-last-December. But would it be worth an extra 200+? Probably not.

 

[zoomer]

That's an interesting point about Cannon. Was it an off-year for them, or is the snowmaking just that bad? Would some long time Cannon pass holders chime in on Cannon's value? I would really like to make Cannon my home mountain but as an out-of-state resident it's pretty expensive to get passes for the family, and if it can't deliver consistently good conditions it doesn't seem worth it.

 

[timm]

Hello there fellow Jamaica Plain person.