Where to buy a season's Pass: MRG, Smuggs, Stowe...

O

ono

New member
living in burlington, options are as follows for college students:

$200 MRG
$425 Stowe
$300 Smuggs
$25 Bolton (no brainer for so little $$$ and being so close...)

what would you do and why? i'm pretty sure i'll do stowe, but i really have a soft spot in my heart for both smuggs and MRG. choices choices
 
No brainer, totally Stowe. While it is slightly more money, it is cheaper than the regular adult season pass at any of the other areas and a once in a lifetime deal. When else are you gonna cough up the $1200 (or whatever it is up to) for a Stowe season pass? Reading powderfreak's Stowe reports these last two seasons, I wouldn't have any second thoughts if I was a UVM student. Get a Mad Card for $119 so you can still ski three days there. I love me some Mad RIver and decided to become a Shareholder, but I would never get a Season Pass there due to the lines during peak weekends. Get the Bolton also for night skiing, but I doubt you'll use it much with a pass to any of the other areas listed. The other option is Jay this season had a Season Pass that was free at Bolton at night or something like that. Longer drive though. Smuggs is a great mountain, that is the only one I would consider vs. Stowe as a UVM Student. I personally would go with Stowe if I were you.
 
A report from this side of the fence...

The Stowe, ahem, 7-day pass at $425 includes somewhere in the neighborhood of 10-12 blackout dates which, at some level, feels far from 7-dayish to me but maybe I'm just dotting i's here.

Last year we offered full Jay Peak access and full Bolton Valley access, day and night, for $229. While you can certainly color me biased, having daily/evening access to Bolton and storm chasing opportunities at Jay, for half of what Stowe offers, is pretty compelling. Not sure where our rate will sift out this year but, if it goes up at all, expect it to be less than $20.
 
Steve,

While we are on this subject, you guys should start offering passes now for a discounted price. I would be more than willing to buy my pass now if I was going to receive some savings. It would be a great producer of off-season income.

Any thoughts on that?
 
yeah... stowe is a go. jay is a good mountain- but too far (carpooling is likely easier to find to stowe from burlington). smuggs is my childhood place- so maybe further down the line. or i'll get a bash badge ($129 gets $20 tickets all season, plus freeskiing after march 5th) and maybe a madcard too...

blackout dates suck, and thus, probably gonna get a bash badge. those dates suck much of the time to ski anyway (crowds)...

as for affording stowe's $1400 season pass to all you locals:

one thing, i know it's dirty trickery, but i know how to get that $425 pass from stowe and save big. enroll in community college classes (four classes=full time) get proof of this enrollment, get deferred tuition program...

then get a season's pass for $425. withdraw from community college same day (before deadline) for a full refund (maybe a $25 administrative fee will apply for said withdrawal) it would work for anyone (even if your a bit older just say you decided to go back to school, and wife/girlfriend is supporting you)...
it's kinda dirty, but last time i checked, stowe isn't exactly cash-strapped (i wouldn't consider doing it at an MRG or a smuggs type place)
people who are established can afford the $1200-1400, but not someone just graduated/starting out, or with financial constraints.

just a thought... i wouldn't condone such activity...
 
Two points here:

Thoughts on 'buy this year/get a discount' approach. If I'm selling $1,200-$1,400 passes it's a great idea as you protect your core-base of guests from being lured toward something that's much more affordable. Selling them at less than half that, all we'd do is leave money on the table, i.e., we'd be discounting passes that we'll sell in October, in all liklihood, anyway. Most of the people that lock up next season now are territorial to one mountain or another.

From a cash flow perspective it'd be nice to book some revenue now but it isn't important as booking it in September/October when, in general, cash flows are low.

Just my thoughts. I'm sure there are others.

Oh and lying and cheating to beat the system using the logic that 'they're not cash strapped' is, at best, spurious, and certainly doesn't match up well with the tones of vibe, stoke and karma that get peppered around this room with pretty liberal shakes.
 
steve@jpr":16zjs3xy said:
Oh and lying and cheating to beat the system using the logic that 'they're not cash strapped' is, at best, spurious, and certainly doesn't match up well with the tones of vibe, stoke and karma that get peppered around this room with pretty liberal shakes.
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Amen.
 
Those who pay $12-$1400 will also fork up $1mil for a quarter share in a mountain cabin at Stowe. It is kind of hard to charge that kind of money at Jay, there is not the demand as there is in Stowe and with the development it will be worth the money to some. I was one of only a few of my friends who actually left Stowe after college, most of them are still there. None of them will shell out the $1400, anyone with local knowledge get some sort of job at the mountain or through the SAA to save the money, a lot of companies offer the pass as a benefit. Jay is a skiers mountain, it is not a destination resort, you ski, have a beer and go home. Besides the mountain, there is not much else around besides JVI, Belfry, etc... To get anything you need to travel to Newport, Enosburg or even as far as Morrisville/st. J. Just my thoughts. How about a golf/ski combo, is that in the future?

Looking forward to a good weekend of skiing. The 29th will be impressive if the mountain makes it.
 
ono":3s393ffw said:
living in burlington, options are as follows for college students:

$200 MRG
$425 Stowe
$300 Smuggs
$25 Bolton (no brainer for so little $$$ and being so close...)

what would you do and why? i'm pretty sure i'll do stowe, but i really have a soft spot in my heart for both smuggs and MRG. choices choices
Click to expand...

Too bad the big pass- Stowe/Sugarbush is not around. We used to get it for about $325 or so.
 
ccskier":227mj1d0 said:
To get anything you need to travel to Newport, Enosburg or even as far as Morrisville/st. J.
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Why go that far? It sounds as if like many Jay visitors, your mind stops where the map does at the border. You can get to Magog within about 30 minutes by going the back way through Bolton Center and up the west shore of the lake for some incredible dining. Is La Papillon still around? That was the successor to Le Chat Noir, one of my favorite restaurants bar none. When I used to patrol Jay, living there Friday night through Sunday, almost every Saturday night was spent dining in Magog.
 
ono":18esjxss said:
$200 MRG $425 Stowe $300 Smuggs $25 Bolton (no brainer for so little $$$ and being so close...)
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I would choose Smuggs; Challenging terrain, snowmaking (that sometime is a good idea), nice vertical, some of the best glades in the east (that are not on the official map), don't have to deal with the rich and famous, laid back kind of feel. I would say it's a in-between with Stowe and MRG. A little area that rocks according to Powder mag. I skied there two years in a row; 1994 & 95 and have very good memories of it.
 
I would go with Stowe only because the offer they are giving you as a student is the best it will get . Once you finish school the price of Stowe will increase at a greater rate than the other areas . All the other areas will continue to offer specials and discounts after you finish school( MRG has Mad Cards, Jay and Smuggs also have special rates for all age levels) but not Stowe. For example the only way we can now ski at Stowe is the Ground Hog day special or take a bus with group rates.
 
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