How much is a single ski day worth? - 2018-19 version

[EMSC]

I've known about this since last week, but linked is an article about it. Anyone got more than $200 bucks in their pocket for a single ski day?

https://theknow.denverpost.com/2019/01/03/vail-beaver-creek-single-day-window-lift-ticket-price/205659/

[jasoncapecod]

I saw Stowe is around 150
No thanks..Unless you buy one of those nutty passes skiing in basically out of reach for most people..

That is why I have put most of eggs in the Mountain Bike basket.. No daily cost , unless you ride park. Riding park is cheap and a equal if not better adrenaline rush.

[jamesdeluxe]

Yeah, we started talking about this in the Solitude report.

[ChrisC]

Don't know if this source is missing East Coast resorts....

https://unofficialnetworks.com/2019/01/ ... JDMhZLs8TI

Top 10 Most Expensive Lift Tickets In The USA [2019]:
Vail/Beaver Creek – $209
Breckenridge — $189
Deer Valley — $180
Steamboat | Aspen | Park City| Mammoth — $179
Copper Mountain | Whistler Blackcomb — $178
Winter Park | Squaw Valley/Alpine Meadows | Keystone — $169
Heavenly — $164
Jackson Hole — $162
Northstar — $150
Sun Valley — $149

[EMSC]

Assuming list is accurate:

Top 10 Most Expensive Lift Tickets In The USA [2019]:
Vail/Beaver Creek – $209 Vail Inc owned
Breckenridge — $189 Vail Inc owned
Deer Valley — $180 Alterra Owned
Steamboat | Aspen | Park City| Mammoth — $179 Alterra |Alterra | Vail Inc | Alterra
Copper Mountain | Whistler Blackcomb — $178 Powd'r | Vail Inc
Winter Park | Squaw Valley/Alpine Meadows | Keystone — $169 Alterra | Alterra | Vail Inc
Heavenly — $164 Vail Inc
Jackson Hole — $162 Kemmerer Family
Northstar — $150 Vail Inc
Sun Valley — $149 Holding family

17 entries on the list: 8 Vail Inc, 6 Alterra, 3 others.

I guess you can call it as Vail Inc is the worst offender and Alterra is meeting everyone's expectations to follow Vail's lead (in a negative way).

[baldyskier]

[quote="jasoncapecod"]I saw Stowe is around 150
No thanks..Unless you buy one of those nutty passes skiing in basically out of reach for most people..

Seems like the ski industry is forcing skiers to buy the big passes in advance (Ikon, Epic Pass, Mountain Collective, etc.), which is a way to pass the risk of a poor season to us at a time when climate change increases that risk.

[Tony Crocker]

Most of the big passes have geographic diversity. Liz' first year with Mountain Collective was 2013-14. When we bought that pass in the prior spring we never dreamed that its first use would be at Aspen, but Colorado had the best December so that's where we went January 1-8.

The avid skiers are unquestionably benefiting from the current model. Two more personal examples:
1) The Mammoth Pass I buy anyway got Big Bear added to it in 2014.
2) That same Mammoth Pass is now an Ikon Pass, so now my Snowbird timeshare week is on it too.

As for the ridiculous holiday prices, on Mammoth Forum there are comments that Dec. 26-31 is not as crazy with crowds as in past years. One could argue that the people who are forced to ski that time frame by work/family constraints are having a better experience now.

And if you really HAVE to ski Dec. 26-31, the difference between an Ikon Full and Base Pass is $300. $300 to ski those 5 days strikes me as reasonable. And most of the people who HAVE to ski Dec. 26-31 know that long in advance.

None of the above contradicts the obvious problem that the current model is terrible for introducing new people to skiing.

[tseeb]

A correction to list @EMSC posted above is that Northstar is now charging $170 walkup. I bought buddy tickets for a couple visiting from Charlotte for Heavenly yesterday. $101 vs $146 advance purchase. Not many people buying tickets at 8:30 AM. It was their most expensive of their four days this week as they paid $90-something at Sierra on Tuesday using small ski shop discount, around $80 advance purchase at Homewood on Wed and $174 for two at Rose on Thurs taking advantage of $49 Ladies Day and $125 advance purchase. Tahoe Daily Tribune story at https://www.tahoedailytribune.com/news/ ... -200-mark/

[sierra_cement]

I spent the holiday black out period at Beaver Creek using the epic pass. The lift lines during the black out period were not as bad as Jan 2 to 5.

[kingslug]

You need to buy multiple location passes..thats it. They are variable enough to satisfy anyone.

[ChrisC]

I owned the Mountain Collective Pass for a couple of years - primarily due to access to Squaw/Alpine and Telluride and the pick 3 free days at one mountain. Over the years, I used it to do some short trips to Whistler, Jackson, Alta/Snowbird - and a longer trip on northern Powder Highway to Banff/Revelstoke. These short trips were mostly inspired by free ski days, conditions and cheap airfare.

The geographic diversity was really helpful. For example, last year I went to Jackson and Banff - when things were tragic in Tahoe, Utah and Colorado. Just gave up the days in Telluride. And free 'bad' days at Squaw do not sting as much.

Due to resort acquisitions and changing partnerships - I did not buy any pass for this year outside of a Telluride Card.

If anyone is in the ski industry and is going to attend the SIA / Outdoor Ski Retailer Show in Denver in late January - they have been selling the full Mountain Collective Passes for $99. My brother has purchased one the last few years.

[Tony Crocker]

If anyone is in the ski industry and is going to attend the SIA / Outdoor Ski Retailer Show in Denver in late January - they have been selling the full Mountain Collective Passes for $99. My brother has purchased one the last few years.

One of my Mammoth contacts was at SIA last year and arranged for me to get a Mountain Collective for $199. That got me a day at Revelstoke, 4 free days during Iron Blosam week and being direct to lift after that.

This year it would be too much overlap with our full Ikon passes. But as I've mentioned before base Ikon plus Mountain Collective is an attractive proposition, and even more so if you can get a deal on MCP.