Season Pass Wars

Lots of good thoughts going on here. Too many for me to comment on.

Anyways, I cannot comment too much since a lot of my specific knowledge comes from working for Powdr/Alpine Meadows. And i just cannot speak.

However, from listening to a lot of Telluride studies - locals are very important.

Skier day wise: any mountain is above 25%+ local - so your pass price is important.

And when you want to pay a transient workforce $6-8/hr for Xmas to maybe April 1st - yes, a very high season pass price makes sense as a benefit. And if you lower your pass, you have unfortunately increased you minimum wage. Especially if all visas are gone for the year.
 
EMSC":2ujnxtys said:
Would AltaBird suddenly get a lot more skiers than PC area or Brighton if all dropped pass pricing? or would visits to all of them go up?
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In these discussions, please stop referring to "AltaBird" as a single resort. Alta and Snowbird are two distinctly different resorts with a distinctly different gestalt. While there is a large overlap segment that buys the combined pass (whether day visitors or season pass holders), there are also two starkly partisan camps who will only ski (and in one obvious case, ride) at one or the other.
 
I think the reference to AltaBird is generally appropriate when referring to snow/terrain, which in combination are in a class by themselves for lift serviced skiing.

With respect to lift ticket sales/attendance, I suspect very few day tickets are sold on a combined basis because:
1) There is a significant price premium
2) Both areas are large enough to keep the typical visiting skier busy one area at a time.

For the locals it's a different story. If I lived there I would absolutely have the combined season pass. I do wonder how the season passes are distributed due to the partisan camps though.
 
Tony Crocker":3403zyx0 said:
For the locals it's a different story. If I lived there I would absolutely have the combined season pass.
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What's the price difference again? $1400 combined vs Alta and Snowbird individually?

And how much to go over to the other for one day?
 
jamesdeluxe":3nicn4ip said:
Tony Crocker":3nicn4ip said:
For the locals it's a different story. If I lived there I would absolutely have the combined season pass.
Click to expand...

What's the price difference again? $1400 combined vs Alta and Snowbird individually?

And how much to go over to the other for one day?
Click to expand...
Alta and Snowbird alone each are around $1K. If you have a pass for one, I think the upcharge for a day at the other is on the order of $30, but I'm not entirely sure (I've always bought the combined pass).

But to further confuse the issue, Alta's pass price drops to ~$700 Feb 1 and the Bird has a ~$500-something pass starting March 1 and a $279 spring pass starting March 31.
 
The interesting items in this years release are:

No direct cost increase -acknowledgement that they will need front range visits even more next year due to bad economy.

But, 'Stealth' cost increases in cost of buying the friend tickets (was $45, now $50). I use these for my wife.

Most interesting, must be physically present to buy (new). vs the 'epic' pass which anyone can buy over the internet and will 'lock' people in to their 08-09 vacations very early (while giving Vail the $$ up front). Less possibility for revenue variation in general and especially if a poor snow year develops.

Given the 1 week at most visits by large numbers (vs the now reduced price for locals), most likely a very good business decision - unintended consequences not withstanding.

And I just know Admin was waiting for me to jump on this thread :wink:
 
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