Pricing psychology is waaaay overrated in the skiing industry. At some point it has to come down to basic ethics and I'm glad I'm not the one working in the Steamboat ticket window. I'll give an exception to Crystal, but I agree with Luke's comments that I don't believe Alterra is maximizing their profit by basically forgoing all legitimate day ticket offerings at some of their resorts. On the other hand, the Vail Resorts Epic Day Pass for $91 (was in the $70's range when excluding some of the top dog resorts?), has to be some of the most competitively priced single day lift tickets for big mountain skiing in the country. But when you think about it, even at that competitive price (which only a few years ago would have been considered a lot) they're still probably making way more money per skier visit than from their passholders.
The Epic Day is a great value, which is why it's even more frustrating that they still offer the $200+ version without steering folks toward the Epic Pass. Lift tickets are refundable and Epic Day Passes are not, but that's a huge price differential.
It’s not like destination resorts need price gouging day tickets to stay in business. No one outside the US does that, but even within the US, non-Epic/Ikon resorts (Alyeska, Wolf Creek, etc.) have day tickets _over holidays_ for under $100.
Vail & Alterra are just trying to drive more people to their passes, which will hurt them in the long run. And it’s allowed Indys to thrive and grow, because as it turns out, tickets don’t actually need to be that expensive for resorts to make money. Loveland’s 4-pack (which are legitimately 4 separate lift tickets that can be used by 4 different people on the same day if wanted) is $200 for a reason. By having ludicrous “rack rate” prices, Vail & Alterra are giving a distinct competitive advantage to everyone else who doesn’t.
Yeah... the only reason I discovered the Epic, Ikon and Indy Passes was because of The Storm! In past years, me (and my family too!) were just paying daily lift ticket prices when going to ski resorts that weren't our home mountain. I'm really shocked ski resorts haven't put out much word about the mega-passes besides a small handful of social media posts that get buried among all the "Upcoming Ski Season Hype" posts.
I don't think it would be a bad idea for example, for Alterra to buy a billboard in a skier/snowboarder-heavy city and advertise: "IKON PASS, access to 47 famous ski resorts" or something like that. I saw one of the local ski resorts in my area put up a billboard advertising their brand new high speed quad!
Also Stuart, you should write a glossary detailing all the antagonist Bros that appear in The Storm! We have Shush Emoji Bro, Freedom Bro, Free Market Bro, B-School Bro, Nobody-Pays-Those-Prices Bro, among others.
I dont know about the non advertising. Go to any mountain website of the Epic pass mountains, and the front page is essentially an advertisement for that pass.
That's true, but I've only really noticed the advertising picking up this year. And by the time most people check the ski resort websites, which is during the actual season to view weather, book lessons, lodging, tickets, etc, the mega-passes will have gone off of sale if that resort was a partner to one.
Glad I got you on the mega pass train! They are news to almost everyone I talk to. I know a lot of lapsed/infrequent skiers, and they look at the prices and get sticker-shocked out of even trying. I know that’s not you, but if someone who skis as much as you hadn’t heard of them, then there’s no way my friends who ski three days a year will.
Ha! Another good read, we can add another nine Bros to the list!
The sticker shock thing is definitely a problem. I have tried to get numerous friends into skiing and snowboarding, and in the end the ticket prices are what keep them out of skiing more than once a year or once every couple years, which of course doesn't allow them to become good enough to enjoy the sport and want to return - that beginner phase is the hardest part.
Mega passes are amazing for you and I that enjoy the sport heavily, but I can't imagine a first time skier committing to the price of a megapass or even a regular season pass. And that's of course, one of the numerous problems of having well priced season passes and mega-passes but horrific day pass prices.
Stuart, what mega-passes have you gone with, if any? Ikon Pass, Indy Pass, Epic Pass, or Mountain Collective? I'm still very unknowledgeable about east coast skiing.
Well.... I have, like, all the passes. Epic, Ikon, Indy, New York Gold Pass, and season passes to Mt. Peter and Mountain Creek. Some of those are media passes, mind you, so please don't use me as a roll model.
Holy mackerel! You're a complete madman Stuart, I kept pondering if I was going somewhat overkill by having two mega-passes and a season pass this year, hah!
You better have the best ski season known to man and write all about it!
Pricing psychology is waaaay overrated in the skiing industry. At some point it has to come down to basic ethics and I'm glad I'm not the one working in the Steamboat ticket window. I'll give an exception to Crystal, but I agree with Luke's comments that I don't believe Alterra is maximizing their profit by basically forgoing all legitimate day ticket offerings at some of their resorts. On the other hand, the Vail Resorts Epic Day Pass for $91 (was in the $70's range when excluding some of the top dog resorts?), has to be some of the most competitively priced single day lift tickets for big mountain skiing in the country. But when you think about it, even at that competitive price (which only a few years ago would have been considered a lot) they're still probably making way more money per skier visit than from their passholders.
The Epic Day is a great value, which is why it's even more frustrating that they still offer the $200+ version without steering folks toward the Epic Pass. Lift tickets are refundable and Epic Day Passes are not, but that's a huge price differential.
It’s not like destination resorts need price gouging day tickets to stay in business. No one outside the US does that, but even within the US, non-Epic/Ikon resorts (Alyeska, Wolf Creek, etc.) have day tickets _over holidays_ for under $100.
Vail & Alterra are just trying to drive more people to their passes, which will hurt them in the long run. And it’s allowed Indys to thrive and grow, because as it turns out, tickets don’t actually need to be that expensive for resorts to make money. Loveland’s 4-pack (which are legitimately 4 separate lift tickets that can be used by 4 different people on the same day if wanted) is $200 for a reason. By having ludicrous “rack rate” prices, Vail & Alterra are giving a distinct competitive advantage to everyone else who doesn’t.
It's a good point. Whitefish is another one: $89 max day ticket for a very good mountain.
Yeah... the only reason I discovered the Epic, Ikon and Indy Passes was because of The Storm! In past years, me (and my family too!) were just paying daily lift ticket prices when going to ski resorts that weren't our home mountain. I'm really shocked ski resorts haven't put out much word about the mega-passes besides a small handful of social media posts that get buried among all the "Upcoming Ski Season Hype" posts.
I don't think it would be a bad idea for example, for Alterra to buy a billboard in a skier/snowboarder-heavy city and advertise: "IKON PASS, access to 47 famous ski resorts" or something like that. I saw one of the local ski resorts in my area put up a billboard advertising their brand new high speed quad!
Also Stuart, you should write a glossary detailing all the antagonist Bros that appear in The Storm! We have Shush Emoji Bro, Freedom Bro, Free Market Bro, B-School Bro, Nobody-Pays-Those-Prices Bro, among others.
I dont know about the non advertising. Go to any mountain website of the Epic pass mountains, and the front page is essentially an advertisement for that pass.
That's true, but I've only really noticed the advertising picking up this year. And by the time most people check the ski resort websites, which is during the actual season to view weather, book lessons, lodging, tickets, etc, the mega-passes will have gone off of sale if that resort was a partner to one.
Man that is a great idea. There may be too many bros to catalogue, but here was an early effort at the exercise: https://www.stormskiing.com/p/the-10-people-you-meet-on-the-ski
Glad I got you on the mega pass train! They are news to almost everyone I talk to. I know a lot of lapsed/infrequent skiers, and they look at the prices and get sticker-shocked out of even trying. I know that’s not you, but if someone who skis as much as you hadn’t heard of them, then there’s no way my friends who ski three days a year will.
Ha! Another good read, we can add another nine Bros to the list!
The sticker shock thing is definitely a problem. I have tried to get numerous friends into skiing and snowboarding, and in the end the ticket prices are what keep them out of skiing more than once a year or once every couple years, which of course doesn't allow them to become good enough to enjoy the sport and want to return - that beginner phase is the hardest part.
Mega passes are amazing for you and I that enjoy the sport heavily, but I can't imagine a first time skier committing to the price of a megapass or even a regular season pass. And that's of course, one of the numerous problems of having well priced season passes and mega-passes but horrific day pass prices.
Stuart, what mega-passes have you gone with, if any? Ikon Pass, Indy Pass, Epic Pass, or Mountain Collective? I'm still very unknowledgeable about east coast skiing.
Well.... I have, like, all the passes. Epic, Ikon, Indy, New York Gold Pass, and season passes to Mt. Peter and Mountain Creek. Some of those are media passes, mind you, so please don't use me as a roll model.
Holy mackerel! You're a complete madman Stuart, I kept pondering if I was going somewhat overkill by having two mega-passes and a season pass this year, hah!
You better have the best ski season known to man and write all about it!