Who
Josh Bean, General Manager of Lee Canyon, Nevada
Date Recorded
Oct. 20, 2026
About Lee Canyon
Owned by: Mountain Capital Partners, which also owns:
Year founded: 1965
Pass affiliations:
Power Pass: unlimited
Power Pass Select: 12 shared days with Arizona Snowbowl, Purgatory – holiday blackouts apply
Power Pass Core: 4 shared days with Arizona Snowbowl, Purgatory, Brian Head – holiday blackouts apply
Base elevation: 8,510 feet
Summit elevation: 9,370 feet lift-served | 11,289 feet hike-to
Vertical drop: 860 feet lift-served | 2,779 feet hike-to
Skiable acres: 235
Average annual snowfall: 161 inches
Lift count: 7 (4 fixed-grip quads, 1 triple, 1 ropetow, 1 carpet)
In my conversation with Josh, I noted that Lee Canyon’s chairlifts were all built this century, a rare circumstance for an American ski area. That’s true, with an asterisk - the Sherwood triple arrived used at Lee Canyon in 2005, from then-sister resort Alpine Meadows (both were then owned by Powdr; Alpine Meadows is now part of Alterra’s Palisades Tahoe complex). If we include the machine’s dozen years in California (and we must), the Sherwood clocks in as Lee Canyon’s elder, at a still-not-so-old-for-a-fixed-grip-triple 33 years (I’m also not 100 percent certain that this is only the lift’s second life, as it may have been relocated to Alpine in 1993):
Why I interviewed him
Just three years after completing the intermediate-oriented Ponderosa expansion, Lee Canyon is adding the long-planned West Bowl pod looker’s right of Bluebird:
The new Skytrac fixed-grip quad serving the terrain will rise about the same number of feet as neighboring Bluebird and Sherwood, but will land a bit higher, finally edging Lee Canyon close to a four-digit vertical drop. Skiable acreage jumps from a modest 195 to a still-modest 235, though Lee Canyon has always lowballed its terrain footprint.
But owner Mountain Capital Partners (MCP) may just be pouring concrete for the mansion they want to build above. Well, the mansion is already built, Lee Canyon just needs an elevator to access the nearly 2,000 vertical feet of steep alpine bowls towering above the lifts. It could be America’s Kicking Horse or Revelstoke, a community bump promoted to international freeride destination, with the addition of a single megalift. Here’s Lee Canyon today, as shown on Google Earth, (which has not yet added the trails cut for West Bowl) - future lifts could run as high as the top of Lee Peak (Charleston Peak, rising in the distance, is the highest point in the county, and is not on anyone’s ski area plans):
The basic ingredients for mega-expansion - someone to build it and someone to ski it -are all there. Meaning we have an operator who would be happy to spend unreasonable sums of money to build an unimaginably awesome ski experience for the enormous numbers of skiers who already live nearby or could easily get there via Vegas’ gigantic airport. Lee Canyon sits close enough to Las Vegas that the Grinch could ride his fucked-up dog-deer sled from the top of Lee Peak to The Strip and loot enough cheer to cancel Christmas for a century. And MCP would like nothing more than its very own Snowbird or Jackson Hole (besides the one they already have in South America), to make their Power Pass go KaBoom. Resort officials have already begun talks with the U.S. Forest Service on a master development plan update that would sanction Lee Canyon’s transformation into Super Lee Canyon.
Of course this is America, not Canada, so instead of rapidly building Revelstoke or Kicking Horse on the site of its small ski hill, MCP is likely on a collision course with a righteous mob of pinecone enthusiasts, guardians of various species of endangered pebbles, astrologists and oil painters who need viewshed integrity to practice their craft, and like five cranky assholes whose idea of a fun ski day is hiking uphill for several hours wearing 50 pounds of gear for one powder run that they’d rather not share with all the dorks who like riding machines uphill. It woud be rad if I’m wrong and the USFS just says “wow this looks awesome” and everyone else says “it would probably be smart to maximize opportunities for organized, mechanized outdoor recreation in this three-million-person car-dependent shit-sprawl of American gaudiness so we have something on the fun-stuff-to-do spectrum that sits between Going Shopping and Getting Lost in the Desert,” but the more likely outcome is that we collectively fuck this up and fight about it for 25 years and in the end nothing happens at all.
Transcripts
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Zoom
Stuart Winchester: I’ll introduce you, and we’ll get into it. My guest today is the general manager of Lee Canyon, Nevada. Lee Canyon offers seven lifts on an 860-foot vertical drop.
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Stuart Winchester: The Mountain is one of 13 ski areas operated by Mountain Capital Partners in the United States and Chile.
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Stuart Winchester: He started as a summer worker in 1994, and has been with the mountain, with a few little breaks, went up to Park City ever since. Josh Bean joins us. Josh, welcome to the Storm. So awesome to have you. I have to say right off, Lee Canyon, I think, is one of the most.
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Stuart Winchester: beautiful ski areas in America, and I can’t imagine how cool it must be to look out your window and see that every single day.
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Josh Bean: No, it’s, uh, definitely an island.
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Josh Bean: the desert. So fun to drive up to every morning to get out of that desert floor and come up to 8,600 feet. Not a lot of people get to do that every day. So definitely a great place to work and a fun environment to be in.
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Stuart Winchester: Yeah. Okay.
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Stuart Winchester: Mm-hmm.
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Stuart Winchester: Yeah, I can’t overstate…
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Stuart Winchester: I think part of the reason I was so surprised is how close it is to Las Vegas. I came straight from the airport. The airport there is kind of a stinker. The bus took forever. Maybe I just had bad luck, or maybe it’s always like that to get to my rental car, but once I was in the car.
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Stuart Winchester: I don’t know, maybe I think it took a half hour, maybe a little more or less from the airport.
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Josh Bean: Yeah, it’s about 35 minutes from, uh, downtown Las Vegas, the Strip. Um, you know, our freeway systems are catching up, so it’s a… the travel’s easy to get up here, and you know, once you get outside of the city, you know, it’s a free-flowing highway right up to us, and.
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Josh Bean: Um, kind of a neat, uh, drive up here. You… you pass through, um…
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Josh Bean: it’s 6 different climate zones, so it’s the same as driving from Mexico to Canada in 16 miles. So, uh, a unique drive as well.
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Stuart Winchester: Mmhm.
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Stuart Winchester: Oh, wow.
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Stuart Winchester: It’s incredible. I just… everyone that looks at… I think Lee Canyon probably gets overlooked because of the small vertical. There’s obviously a lot more above the lifts, and we can talk about that in a bit, but do you find that folks.
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Stuart Winchester: once they get out there, they’re like, oh, wow. You know, it doesn’t have the stats, but it has that big mountain feel just because of what’s going on all around you at the end of that canyon.
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Josh Bean: Yeah, I think people, uh, come up and they’re a little awestruck at, you know, it’s like a mini version of the Alps, uh, just…
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Stuart Winchester: Yeah.
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Josh Bean: you know, protruding out of the desert floor, and, you know, it’s a very picturesque environment, and if you come here right after a storm, I think, you know, our off-piste stuff is something to be reckoned with on all the West Coast.
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Stuart Winchester: Mm-hmm.
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Josh Bean: Um, I know that…
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Josh Bean: Two of my top five days have been right here in a 160-foot vertical of just…
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Josh Bean: amazing powder that we get on those great years. And, you know, with El Nino looking like it is this year, we’re really.
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Josh Bean: for one of those seasons.
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Stuart Winchester: Yeah, 860 can ski plenty, and that’s a good enough pod. Let’s talk here, Josh, and for those watching on YouTube at Storm Ski Journal or on StormSkiing.com, this is Lee Canyon’s current trail map, and again, it’s a… the trail map doesn’t really do it justice, because above the lifts is, like, 2,000 feet of vertical. Again, we’ll get to that in a moment.
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Stuart Winchester: What I want to talk about first is this is last year’s trail map. If you have this year’s out, I’ve missed it, because you’re doing an expansion, the West Bowl expansion over here.
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Stuart Winchester: So let me bring that up and then Josh, you just tell us all about what you’ve been working on all summer. I mean, Lee Canyon just did an expansion. This Ponderosa expansion was new just a few years ago and now you’re doing another one. So just tell us about this. What’s going on? What, what kind, what kind of terrain are we getting?
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Stuart Winchester: Tell us about the lift, the vertical, everything.
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Josh Bean: So, yeah, it’s gonna take us closer to 1,000 foot vertical total. Um, it rises about 140 feet above, uh, the Ponder, or, uh, Bluebird lift.
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Stuart Winchester: Mmhm.
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Josh Bean: Uh, when we put in the…
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Stuart Winchester: Oh, nice.
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Josh Bean: Ponderosa pod, you know, that was to kind of cater to our beginner to intermediate skier. This is kind of a true, um…
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Stuart Winchester: Mmhm.
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Josh Bean: blue and, uh, black diamond ski pod. So, you know, really going after that… that enthusiastic skier that’s been wanting to see something different at Lee Canyon for years.
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Stuart Winchester: Mmhm.
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Josh Bean: You know, for me, this pot of skiing is going to make this place ski so much bigger than it does right now.
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Stuart Winchester: Mmhm.
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Josh Bean: And give everybody a chance to kind of get out there, um, and separate themselves from, you know, that beginner traffic, and really get some excellent skiing days in.
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Stuart Winchester: Mmhm.
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Stuart Winchester: Is this pod gonna have snowmaking right away? What’s the extent of your snowmaking right now?
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Josh Bean: So, yeah, this pod’s gonna come in with, uh, two of the main trails, uh, with snowmaking this year. Uh, we’re actually putting pipe in the ground today as we speak, so we’re working on the snowmaking.
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Stuart Winchester: Mm-hmm.
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Josh Bean: We’re pulling sand lines for the lift cable as we speak, and uh…
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Josh Bean: lift terminals are going in on tomorrow morning. So we’re getting close to seeing the finish line here.
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Stuart Winchester: Mm-hmm.
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Stuart Winchester: Wow.
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Josh Bean: We’re back ahead of schedule, so I think we’ll be skiing by December out there.
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Stuart Winchester: Man, you’re, uh, you really squeezed me in. I appreciate that, Josh, with so much going on out there. Do you have names for the trails yet?
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Josh Bean: Yeah, so the far skiers ride… we have 3 of the main trails done.
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Josh Bean: So we have, uh…
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Stuart Winchester: Mmhm.
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Josh Bean: We are affectionately calling Wild West Bowl as the chair name. And we’re going to have Gunslinger out to the right, Double Barrel under the left, and then Rifleman for our skiers left.
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Josh Bean: Um, and Double Barrel being a black diamond run, and the other two being, uh, true blues.
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Stuart Winchester: Mmhm.
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Stuart Winchester: Nice. How are the glades in here? Are these, uh, these sections skiable?
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Josh Bean: They’re gonna be skiable, um, we haven’t gone in there and done a ton of work yet, uh.
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Stuart Winchester: If you get snow.
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Josh Bean: Um, as we’ve kind of just been really focused on getting those three main runs done for this year, and weather permitting, we’ll get in there and do some glading. But it’s all skiable terrain that, uh, we’ve been skiing for years.
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Stuart Winchester: Mmhm.
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Stuart Winchester: Mmhm.
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Josh Bean: And to have lift access up into there is just gonna be phenomenal for the public and the community.
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Stuart Winchester: Yeah, I’ve not been in the trees a lot at Lee Canyon, so I… what I love about skiing the West Coast, California, Oregon, Washington, when you get into the trees that are really wide open, and of course they get hundreds of inches of snow, so it buries it. What’s your…
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Stuart Winchester: undergrowth look like? Because I’m in the east, and so the gla… if you don’t do glading, it’s just impossible to get in there. But is it possible?
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Josh Bean: Hi, Andrew.
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Josh Bean: Yeah, it’s different.
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Josh Bean: definitely, uh, it’s skiable. Our undergrowth isn’t bad. Um, like I said, we’ve been skiing this for years. There’s some ravines and gullies in there that are just phenomenal.
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Stuart Winchester: What’s it look like in there?
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Stuart Winchester: Yep.
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Stuart Winchester: Mmhm.
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Josh Bean: And, you know, as we get in there and glade that, it’s just gonna, you know, enhance that experience.
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Stuart Winchester: Mmhm.
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Josh Bean: But for right now, we’re just totally focused on trying to get those main runs done.
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Stuart Winchester: Mm-hmm. So you went with another fixed-grip quad. You have all fixed-grip lifts at Lee Canyon. Again, not a ton of vertical. They’re good, solid lifts. Uh, is there… has there been demand.
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Stuart Winchester: For that, or given the size of the hill, are people generally just indifferent?
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Josh Bean: Um, you know, I think that there’s some demand for it in the future, but right now, you know, with the links of these lifts, that grip cycle, people don’t really understand that, you know, lifts might be down for, you know.
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Josh Bean: more rapid NDTs of grips on detaches. And when you have these shorter runs, you know, the fixed grip just fits our profile much better than going to detaches.
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Stuart Winchester: So, looking now at…
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Stuart Winchester: Let me just bring up Lyft Blog here. Looking now at your Lyft fleet, so this is LyftBlog.com, this is my go-to site for Lyft information. Peter does a great job. So, looking at your current Lyft fleet, I mean, this is one of the newest in the country. If you have all twos in front of your install years.
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Stuart Winchester: you’re in really good shape. Josh, I mentioned you’ve been there since the 90s. Can you just talk to us about what it’s been like to watch the transformation from a bunch of hall double chairs.
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Stuart Winchester: to all modern lifts at this place that was, you know, kind of out of the way, tucked into the end of the canyon, but is slowly, as, you know, Powder buys it, and then Mountain Capital Partners buys it, is slowly modernizing and becoming.
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Stuart Winchester: a great urban ski area for a very fast-growing population.
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Josh Bean: Yeah, what it’s done for us is take away the lift line. You’re hard pressed to come up here even on a capacity day and have to spend more than five to 10 minutes in a lift line. Our uphill capacity is great.
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Stuart Winchester: Okay.
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Stuart Winchester: Mmhm.
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Josh Bean: We also use our dynamic pricing to try to, you know, make sure that people are comfortable when they come here. We try not to overpack it.
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Stuart Winchester: Mmhm.
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Josh Bean: So it’s definitely been fun to see.
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Stuart Winchester: Yeah. Okay.
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Josh Bean: Um, and then seeing somebody that, you know, hasn’t been here for years and just show up and look at this place and the transformation that’s undergone, uh, it’s so fun to see their face when they show up, and they’re like, oh, this is a… this is a real ski area right outside of Las Vegas.
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Josh Bean: And when you’re, you know, catering to, you know, close to 3 million people, right, right at your doorstep, you know, it’s given us the ability to convert a lot of, uh, never-evers and a lifelong, uh, ski and snowboard enthusiasts.
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Stuart Winchester: Yeah. Casey J: Yeah.
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Stuart Winchester: Did you start skiing or snowboarding at Lee Canyon? Was that your home mountain?
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Josh Bean: Yeah, it was my home mountain. I actually grew up, uh, just down the road. My grandparents had a house here in Lee Canyon, and grandpa had a little rope tow outside of the house, so that’s probably where I got my first turns, but definitely can find some old, uh, funny pictures of me roaming around here.
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Stuart Winchester: No kidding.
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Josh Bean: Uh, as a little kid on wood skis, and…
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Josh Bean: Learned to ski on Rabbit Peak.
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Stuart Winchester: What was… can you just try to describe Bleak Canyon for us through your child’s eyes, and then, uh, as a kid working there in the 90s, I mean, it’s just so fascinating to think about…
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Stuart Winchester: What it is and what it was.
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Josh Bean: You know, it’s always been kind of that little skier that could to me. You know, it’s always been a lot of fun to be at. It has a very home-like feel. You know, some dedicated locals for sure that have been skiing here their whole lives as well.
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Stuart Winchester: Yeah.
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Josh Bean: I mean, I think of families like the Zavalas that have been up here for years that are, you know, just…
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Josh Bean: Dedicated to this mountain, uh…
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Josh Bean: That you… you make friends here, and learn to ski here, uh…
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Josh Bean: Uh, and then take that to, to other, other.
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Josh Bean: mountains like Brian had and enjoy what you’ve learned at Lee Canyon and take it elsewhere, but it also is such a fun place to ski.
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Stuart Winchester: Mm-hmm.
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Josh Bean: Or your… your black diamond skier that wants to get out and get off-piste, and like you said, you know, having 2,000 feet above us, that is some of the best skiing on the West Coast, and I’ll argue that with all the Mammoth guys every day.
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Josh Bean: We seem to get a lift up there to access it.
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Stuart Winchester: So let’s talk about that, because I’ve had this conversation with James Coleman, and…
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Stuart Winchester: I know he wants to go big.
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Stuart Winchester: I don’t believe it’s in your MDP, correct me if I’m wrong.
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Stuart Winchester: Uh, but tell us about that terrain, uh, what’s up there, and what sort of machine you would need to access that terrain.
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Josh Bean: Um, so we are in the process of, uh, we have another MVP submitted right now to go further and bigger, um, and that’s going through the approval process with the Forest Service currently.
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Stuart Winchester: Mmhm.
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Josh Bean: Um, looking at, uh, all kinds of different versions of trim versus, uh.
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Josh Bean: detached six-pack to get to the ridge, and some other offerings within the permit area to spread out.
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Stuart Winchester: Mmhm.
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Josh Bean: towards the Foxtel Ridge area, which is, when you say gladed skiing, that’s the epitome of West Coast gladed skiing out there on the Foxtel side of things.
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Josh Bean: Then up above is, uh, yeah, looking at possible tramways, or, um.
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Stuart Winchester: Mmhm.
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Josh Bean: detached to get to the ridge above the Dolomite side as well.
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Stuart Winchester: That would be just incredible. So the terrain up there.
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Stuart Winchester: I got a look at it, but I didn’t get up there. The closest thing I would compare it to that I’ve seen is maybe the Height 2 stuff up at the top at Bridger Bowl. I’m not sure if you’ve been up there.
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Stuart Winchester: Or maybe some of the.
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Stuart Winchester: steeper stuff at Jackson, but what… how would you…
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Stuart Winchester: Is the terrain all that gnarly? How would you describe it? Is there anything you can compare it to that the listeners might be familiar with?
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Josh Bean: Yeah, I think you’re kind of spot on with both your analogies there.
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Josh Bean: Um, you know, the…
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Stuart Winchester: Mmhm.
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Josh Bean: The dolomite side, I would compare it to almost a Palisades-like terrain with three prominent main chutes coming down that are all skibble without mandatories.
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Josh Bean: And then you get into that cirque off the peak that’s kind of.
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Stuart Winchester: Mmhm.
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Josh Bean: Find a Cliffy, and pick your way through, uh…
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Josh Bean: a little bit more adventurous, more mountaineer-type skiing. Um, and then you have West Bowl that I think skis a lot like Bridger, like you’re… you’re explaining, you know, nice, steep, open terrain.
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Stuart Winchester: Mm-hmm.
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Stuart Winchester: Yeah, it’s, uh… here, I wanna just…
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Stuart Winchester: I’ll share a picture here to help folks see.
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Stuart Winchester: what we’re talking about, and… so, see, you know, you’re riding up the lift, and it’s a modest little lift, and I believe that this is, uh, chair 2.
00:20:29.000 --> 00:20:37.000
Stuart Winchester: And you just see all this above. So are we looking at any part of it where that lift would go?
00:20:36.000 --> 00:20:45.000
Josh Bean: You know, right now, we’re looking at different locations, but definitely trying to access that peak in the West Bowl area where your cursor’s at.
00:20:45.000 --> 00:20:51.000
Josh Bean: And then out to the left, um, we have an area called Three Springs, um, that is…
00:20:46.000 --> 00:20:47.000
Stuart Winchester: Okay.
00:20:51.000 --> 00:20:57.000
Josh Bean: Just phenomenal terrain that we’re trying to get a lift up to as well in the future.
00:20:51.000 --> 00:20:52.000
Stuart Winchester: Mmhm.
00:20:59.000 --> 00:21:11.000
Stuart Winchester: Yeah, this over here doesn’t look, uh, for mortals, but… but this looks like… is there, uh… is there a scenario in which there’s anything less than an expert way down, or is this kind of the…
00:21:11.000 --> 00:21:16.000
Stuart Winchester: You know, you better be ready when you go up kind of terrain and people have to self sort.
00:21:14.000 --> 00:21:23.000
Josh Bean: I think that we’re… we’re looking at two different options there, and trying to figure out if we can have an access road, or things like a cat track to get you off.
00:21:19.000 --> 00:21:20.000
Stuart Winchester: Yeah.
00:21:23.000 --> 00:21:32.000
Josh Bean: Um, of the Dolomite, uh, Three Springs area. But, yeah, that… that… those peak runs, you know, that’s gonna be…
00:21:32.000 --> 00:21:34.000
Josh Bean: You know, a know-before-you-go zone, and.
00:21:35.000 --> 00:21:37.000
Stuart Winchester: Yeah.
00:21:36.000 --> 00:21:39.000
Josh Bean: Nonetheless, you know, that’s kind of a.
00:21:39.000 --> 00:21:51.000
Josh Bean: not telling the whole story. That area fills in quite a bit, too. That was a springtime picture that we’re showing, and when those shoots are filled in, you know, it looks a little different than that picture tells the story, but…
00:21:46.000 --> 00:21:48.000
Stuart Winchester: Yeah, it was in May.
00:21:49.000 --> 00:21:51.000
Stuart Winchester: Mmhm.
00:21:52.000 --> 00:21:59.000
Josh Bean: Yeah, it can get a little dicey up there from time to time, but nonetheless, really fun skiing.
00:22:00.000 --> 00:22:08.000
Stuart Winchester: So, Josh, you know, again, you’ve been there three decades. Is Lee Canyon primarily still…
00:22:08.000 --> 00:22:10.000
Stuart Winchester: A locals mountain.
00:22:10.000 --> 00:22:15.000
Stuart Winchester: for Las Vegas, and do you think that if you went up, that that would change?
00:22:14.000 --> 00:22:34.000
Josh Bean: Yeah, I think it’s already changing, you know, with Vegas growing the way it has, and uh… that drive for outdoor recreation that, you know, Red Rock, Lake Mead, and, you know, being an international airport, that we’re seeing a lot more outdoor enthusiasts coming up here, you know, we’re seeing more of a Dawn Patrol-type atmosphere.
00:22:18.000 --> 00:22:19.000
Stuart Winchester: Mmhm.
00:22:35.000 --> 00:22:37.000
Stuart Winchester: Hmm. Okay.
00:22:36.000 --> 00:22:46.000
Josh Bean: pretty big groups of individuals going up and skinning and getting to that terrain already. I’d like to say that, you know.
00:22:42.000 --> 00:22:43.000
Stuart Winchester: Yeah, here.
00:22:47.000 --> 00:22:57.000
Josh Bean: We are a destination mountain to some already, but we’re primarily probably 60-40 locals to tourists. We see a huge influx from.
00:22:56.000 --> 00:22:58.000
Stuart Winchester: Mmhm.
00:22:58.000 --> 00:23:06.000
Josh Bean: Hawaii and Brazil, people that have never seen snow coming up and wanting to learn to ski.
00:23:06.000 --> 00:23:07.000
Stuart Winchester: Yeah.
00:23:06.000 --> 00:23:10.000
Josh Bean: But we’re also seeing, you know, that…
00:23:10.000 --> 00:23:12.000
Josh Bean: you know.
00:23:12.000 --> 00:23:25.000
Josh Bean: different type of skier coming out of Colorado and Utah that are moving to Vegas for job opportunities, and the tech boom that we’re seeing in Las Vegas is bringing a lot… a lot more, uh, of that type of behavior to the mountain.
00:23:27.000 --> 00:23:33.000
Stuart Winchester: Is there a way to get there from Vegas without a car? Do you run any shuttles, or is there any bus or anything?
00:23:31.000 --> 00:23:47.000
Josh Bean: We’re working on a shuttling service, uh, right now for this season. Uh, we have some different options on the table of, you know, uh, using some visitor centers on the other side of the mountain, and possibly, uh, the hotel on the other side as well for some park and ride situations.
00:23:35.000 --> 00:23:36.000
Stuart Winchester: Okay. Yeah.
00:23:47.000 --> 00:23:49.000
Stuart Winchester: Mmhm.
00:23:49.000 --> 00:23:55.000
Josh Bean: And then also talking with Uber and Lyft to try to get some dedicated cars that are going to come up here.
00:23:55.000 --> 00:24:05.000
Josh Bean: And then also, beginning the process of talking with the city area transit, and trying to get them to come up as well, and run a couple bus services out of Vegas.
00:24:07.000 --> 00:24:12.000
Stuart Winchester: Yeah, like you said, the drive was super easy. I don’t know…
00:24:12.000 --> 00:24:20.000
Stuart Winchester: how dicey that access road gets? I mean, it was very scenic and windy. Is that generally pretty tamed? Do your local guys do a good job with that?
00:24:18.000 --> 00:24:22.000
Josh Bean: Yeah, our local guys, uh, INDOT does a great job for us, um…
00:24:23.000 --> 00:24:31.000
Josh Bean: We also are very blessed that, uh, you know, we ski in the sun a lot up here. Um, you know, our storm systems come through.
00:24:23.000 --> 00:24:25.000
Stuart Winchester: Yeah.
00:24:30.000 --> 00:24:32.000
Stuart Winchester: Yeah.
00:24:31.000 --> 00:24:38.000
Josh Bean: And they’re quick and furious, so I always tell people to check, you know, our website.
00:24:38.000 --> 00:24:48.000
Josh Bean: We link to the NDOT notifications right off of there, so if it looks like we’re getting a storm, you know, you would definitely want to check, because it is a mountain road, and.
00:24:44.000 --> 00:24:46.000
Stuart Winchester: Mmhm.
00:24:48.000 --> 00:25:00.000
Josh Bean: you know, we see a lot of traffic out of Vegas that have never driven in snow before, um, so having their chains in the car and being prepared for anything is always a good recommendation.
00:24:55.000 --> 00:24:56.000
Stuart Winchester: Oh, really?
00:24:59.000 --> 00:25:00.000
Stuart Winchester: Yeah.
00:25:02.000 --> 00:25:19.000
Stuart Winchester: So you said it’s changing a little bit as far as the type of skier. MCP does have their own Mountain Capital Partners, the operator of Lee Canyon, has its own pass, the Power Pass. And so for listeners not familiar with that, it’s essentially their version of the Epic Pass, and it’s all of their mountains.
00:25:19.000 --> 00:25:35.000
Stuart Winchester: Plus, a couple of partners, like Sundance and, uh, and, uh, Monarch and Loveland. So, uh, do you get people from, I don’t know, Phoenix, maybe Southwest Colorado, because it’s drivable and it’s a novelty and something different?
00:25:33.000 --> 00:25:36.000
Josh Bean: Yeah, we see a little bit of that, um…
00:25:36.000 --> 00:25:46.000
Josh Bean: You know, we try to not market it as a novelty thing, because to us, you know, it is a phenomenal ski area in itself, so we’re hoping people are coming for that.
00:25:46.000 --> 00:25:47.000
Stuart Winchester: Mm-hmm.
00:25:46.000 --> 00:25:59.000
Josh Bean: but where else can you go have the Vegas nightlife, and then wake up in the morning, come up and have a powder day? I mean, there is some novelty to that, so we don’t ignore that, um, and we do cater to those people.
00:25:58.000 --> 00:26:00.000
Stuart Winchester: Mm-hmm.
00:25:59.000 --> 00:26:17.000
Josh Bean: But yeah, pushing that Phoenix crowd and trying to bring up the college students out of Flagstaff to take advantage of that power pass. And then as well as us trying to push our locals to venture out and go see purgatory and ski out in Colorado.
00:26:17.000 --> 00:26:18.000
Stuart Winchester: Mm-hmm.
00:26:17.000 --> 00:26:27.000
Josh Bean: And, you know, check out Brian Head on their way. You can do a full Southwest Loop, hit 6 different ski areas, and have a nice little trip for yourself, you know.
00:26:19.000 --> 00:26:20.000
Stuart Winchester: Mmhm.
00:26:25.000 --> 00:26:26.000
Stuart Winchester: Yeah.
00:26:27.000 --> 00:26:33.000
Josh Bean: In January, when those guys are, you know, seeing that El Nino flow coming their way.
00:26:35.000 --> 00:26:48.000
Stuart Winchester: Yeah, I don’t want listeners to get me wrong, I… when I say novelty, it’s… Lee Canyon’s a… you… it’s a serious alpine ski area, and it… it really feels like you’re up there, and I… I guess the reason I framed it that way is it…
00:26:48.000 --> 00:26:54.000
Stuart Winchester: It just was so much better than what I expected, given, you know.
00:26:54.000 --> 00:27:01.000
Stuart Winchester: my experience with, uh, urban adjacency areas. So, uh, definitely worth a run up there. So, if… if you’re… as you put this…
00:27:01.000 --> 00:27:09.000
Stuart Winchester: Just master development plan. I don’t know if it’s a whole new plan or an amendment through. What’s your vibe, Josh, on?
00:27:09.000 --> 00:27:17.000
Stuart Winchester: Forest Service’s openness to putting a lift up there, the local community, and potential, uh…
00:27:17.000 --> 00:27:21.000
Stuart Winchester: Uh, opposition to putting a lift up in that area.
00:27:20.000 --> 00:27:29.000
Josh Bean: Um, you know, right now, we’re just beginning, kind of, that scoping phase, and started to take the temperature on that, um, so I don’t want to speak too much to it, but, um…
00:27:25.000 --> 00:27:27.000
Stuart Winchester: Yeah.
00:27:29.000 --> 00:27:43.000
Josh Bean: I don’t think we’re going to see a lot of opposition. People are excited about growth and the opportunities for recreation in the Spring Mountains. There’s not a lot of places to go and have that experience.
00:27:45.000 --> 00:27:49.000
Josh Bean: one of one as far as key areas go in the Spring Mountains.
00:27:48.000 --> 00:27:49.000
Stuart Winchester: Mmhm.
00:27:49.000 --> 00:27:56.000
Josh Bean: Um, so I think that, you know, the Forest Service is obviously recognizing that, and uh…
00:27:56.000 --> 00:27:58.000
Josh Bean: You know, they seem to be…
00:27:56.000 --> 00:27:58.000
Stuart Winchester: Mmhm.
00:27:58.000 --> 00:28:06.000
Josh Bean: on board and just going through the process on what the next steps are to make sure that we all complete these projects.
00:28:06.000 --> 00:28:08.000
Josh Bean: Jon.
00:28:08.000 --> 00:28:13.000
Josh Bean: Take respect for the land, but also open up opportunities for people to come out and recreate.
00:28:15.000 --> 00:28:29.000
Stuart Winchester: So, Josh, I want to share the trail map again here, because I mentioned you just did this… this Ponderosa pod a couple of years ago, and now you’re doing West Bull. What’s the skier traffic been like? Is…
00:28:29.000 --> 00:28:44.000
Stuart Winchester: as you upgrade all these lifts, and you’ve added snowmaking, and you’re on the power pass, and uh… you know, you have more terrain, and the word about the hike up gets out. Have you seen that in skier visits? Is Lee Canyon getting more volume than it once did?
00:28:43.000 --> 00:28:51.000
Josh Bean: Oh, of course, yeah. We were coming off a record season last year. We’re seeing season path growth this year as well.
00:28:52.000 --> 00:28:53.000
Josh Bean: Um, so…
00:28:53.000 --> 00:28:54.000
Stuart Winchester: Oh, really?
00:28:53.000 --> 00:28:57.000
Josh Bean: You know, the secret’s out, and people are…
00:28:57.000 --> 00:29:01.000
Josh Bean: Uh, are definitely coming and enjoying it. We’re…
00:29:02.000 --> 00:29:17.000
Josh Bean: you know, hopeful that that continues to grow, and we continue to offer them new and better things as they come up and see the new Lee Canyon. And, you know, MCP’s Freedom to Ski initiatives, you know, that’s what we’re all about, is making sure that.
00:29:17.000 --> 00:29:21.000
Josh Bean: We get people up here, um, and…
00:29:21.000 --> 00:29:31.000
Josh Bean: convert kids from, you know, that early stage where they get to ski for free into lifelong, uh, enthusiasts about the Alpine environments that they can go to.
00:29:34.000 --> 00:29:41.000
Stuart Winchester: Yeah, the kids ski-free thing is huge, and Vegas, growing as it’s grown, has…
00:29:41.000 --> 00:29:57.000
Stuart Winchester: somewhat rebranded in some ways to be more family friendly, and obviously you have a lot of kids in the area. That power pass is free for kids up to 12. I mean, that’s incredible. Do you work with local schools to promote that, or do you just kind of see it happening organically?
00:29:55.000 --> 00:30:10.000
Josh Bean: It’s twofold. It’s organically happening. And we also make sure that the local schools throughout the community know about it. And we work with CCSD to make sure that kids are aware of that.
00:30:11.000 --> 00:30:20.000
Josh Bean: And then ultimately just trying to get parents to get their kids up here and do something for them and get them out of that urban environment up into the mountains.
00:30:20.000 --> 00:30:22.000
Josh Bean: Whether it’s mountain biking or skiing.
00:30:24.000 --> 00:30:31.000
Stuart Winchester: I mean, it’s remarkable that your past sales are growing. Is that for Lee Canyon only, or is that MCP as a whole?
00:30:29.000 --> 00:30:33.000
Josh Bean: Uh, it’s MCP as a whole, but Lee Canyon’s on the fore.
00:30:31.000 --> 00:30:33.000
Stuart Winchester: For PowerPass.
00:30:33.000 --> 00:30:35.000
Josh Bean: Uh, we’re, we’re seeing…
00:30:35.000 --> 00:30:40.000
Josh Bean: astronomical growth out of the Vegas community, so…
00:30:40.000 --> 00:30:41.000
Josh Bean: It’s, uh…
00:30:42.000 --> 00:30:44.000
Stuart Winchester: What’s…
00:30:44.000 --> 00:30:53.000
Stuart Winchester: Yeah, what’s remarkable about that to me, Josh, is all of MCP’s resorts, with the exception of Willamette Pass, are sort of southwest.
00:30:53.000 --> 00:30:54.000
Stuart Winchester: And… and…
00:30:54.000 --> 00:31:10.000
Stuart Winchester: You know, all of them had a pretty crummy winter and Lee Canyon closed in March. And as I mentioned, I was there skiing in May a couple of years ago, and it wasn’t your closing day. I think it was May 6th. And I think you had a week or two in after that.
00:31:10.000 --> 00:31:13.000
Stuart Winchester: But MCP is really…
00:31:13.000 --> 00:31:27.000
Stuart Winchester: all about pushing the seasons as long as possible. I don’t know if that bought you a lot of goodwill, but why do you think your season passes are up after a bad year? Because Vail said theirs are down 10%, and they have.
00:31:27.000 --> 00:31:31.000
Stuart Winchester: a lot of offset in the Midwest, in the in the Northeast, where they had good winters.
00:31:30.000 --> 00:31:46.000
Josh Bean: I think it is our commitment to ensuring as long of a season as we can provide. You know, last year, the February summer, as I like to call it, you know, hit us pretty hard in the Southwest. You know, it was unseasonably hot for all of February.
00:31:34.000 --> 00:31:36.000
Stuart Winchester: Yeah.
00:31:47.000 --> 00:31:48.000
Stuart Winchester: Yeah, I think so. Yeah.
00:31:47.000 --> 00:31:55.000
Josh Bean: but we’re also, uh, I think the first resort, uh, in North America to be 100% open last year.
00:31:55.000 --> 00:32:01.000
Josh Bean: And that’s our commitment to our guests, is to make sure that, you know, our snowmaking is used.
00:32:01.000 --> 00:32:11.000
Josh Bean: proficiently, and, uh, we’re getting… getting things done in the… the weather windows that we have, and that’s MCP’s philosophy across all the mountains, uh…
00:32:11.000 --> 00:32:12.000
Josh Bean: If…
00:32:12.000 --> 00:32:20.000
Josh Bean: people don’t know, there’s always an internal push to be the first one open and get those bragging rights amongst…
00:32:20.000 --> 00:32:32.000
Josh Bean: not only, uh, all the resorts in North America, but, uh, we definitely want to beat each other, um, to being open. And I think that season pass holder really respects that and sees that.
00:32:22.000 --> 00:32:23.000
Stuart Winchester: Right.
00:32:35.000 --> 00:32:48.000
Stuart Winchester: So the last thing I want to talk about today, Josh, is just MCP, even if you’re not a pass holder, they do make it very attractive to come ski. And I’m going to do one more screen share here because I want folks to see this.
00:32:48.000 --> 00:33:03.000
Stuart Winchester: Uh, because look at these prices for MCP right now. They start at 9. This is, uh, Lee Canyon, right? And this is November right here. And, uh, the, the, the midweek prices of 23rd, 26 are 9. Weekend is, is, is.
00:33:03.000 --> 00:33:09.000
Stuart Winchester: 29 to 39, and you… as you go down, I mean, if you want to buy for Christmas week right now.
00:33:09.000 --> 00:33:27.000
Stuart Winchester: the most expensive ticket’s $55 on December 26, and, you know, I’m just going through these for those seeing the screen shares. You can see most of January and February for $9 right now. So, just talk about this initiative, and I think you get a $10 gift card, too. So, just talk about this. I mean, this seems crazy to me.
00:33:27.000 --> 00:33:31.000
Stuart Winchester: But talk about these lift tickets and why you’re doing it.
00:33:30.000 --> 00:33:36.000
Josh Bean: Uh, you know, it’s just that, uh, freedom to ski. We want to make sure that we’re not pricing people out of, uh, a sport.
00:33:36.000 --> 00:33:38.000
Josh Bean: You know, I think we’ve seen…
00:33:38.000 --> 00:33:39.000
Stuart Winchester: Mmhm.
00:33:38.000 --> 00:33:40.000
Josh Bean: you know.
00:33:40.000 --> 00:33:42.000
Josh Bean: Traditionally, uh…
00:33:42.000 --> 00:33:57.000
Josh Bean: ski areas come in, and they price most families out of being able to come up and enjoy the mountains. MCP has gone the complete other direction. On those $9 tickets, you hit the nail on the head with that. We offer a $10.
00:33:58.000 --> 00:34:03.000
Josh Bean: Rebate with that, so we’re paying you a dollar to come ski on those days, and uh…
00:34:03.000 --> 00:34:08.000
Josh Bean: you know, I see people starting to take advantage of that.
00:34:08.000 --> 00:34:14.000
Josh Bean: Um, it’s… it’s phenomenal to watch that grow through those ticket prices as well, and seeing, uh.
00:34:14.000 --> 00:34:20.000
Josh Bean: You know, a parent company that’s so devoted to making sure that we don’t price people out of… out of a sport.
00:34:20.000 --> 00:34:26.000
Josh Bean: Uh, you know, I think you can compare it to golf, and it’s the exact opposite, that, you know.
00:34:27.000 --> 00:34:35.000
Josh Bean: They don’t want to see people join their sport, and we’re out here saying everybody’s welcome, and $9 tickets are kind of proof in the pudding there.
00:34:37.000 --> 00:34:42.000
Stuart Winchester: And so that’s the starting price, right? And then they go up from there, so you don’t…
00:34:42.000 --> 00:34:45.000
Stuart Winchester: Over saturate the mountain.
00:34:43.000 --> 00:34:51.000
Josh Bean: Yeah, I mean, it’s not gonna be unheard of that we’ll have a $200 ticket price as well as things start to sell out.
00:34:50.000 --> 00:34:52.000
Stuart Winchester: Mm-hmm.
00:34:51.000 --> 00:34:57.000
Josh Bean: Um, so it’s that plan early, you know, plan ahead, and get those cheap tickets.
00:34:58.000 --> 00:35:13.000
Josh Bean: in on that season pass, because, I mean, that just guarantees your days at a price. Um, and so, I think we’re seeing, you know, two-fold growth there because of that pricing structure, not only on the season pass, and I think that we’re the only company that hasn’t.
00:35:15.000 --> 00:35:26.000
Josh Bean: gave a price increase on our season passes year over year. Um, we stayed pretty steady with it, and here we are again, uh, leading the way on season pass sales in the industry.
00:35:28.000 --> 00:35:44.000
Stuart Winchester: Yeah, I think it’s four years in a row, holding steady. All right, Josh, hey, I really appreciate the time. I know you’re super busy. Good luck with that expansion. I can’t wait to come check it out, take a couple laps with you, and good luck with the growth of Lee Canyon in general, man.
00:35:44.000 --> 00:35:52.000
Stuart Winchester: It’s fascinating, and I’ll be rooting for you guys. So thanks, Josh. You crushed it. Great job. Thank you.
00:35:50.000 --> 00:35:52.000
Josh Bean: Alright, thanks for having me, appreciate it.
