Ikon Pass

^^^^ Can not post publicly. Send me a PM. I'll get some info from you. You renew on the ikon pass site. The group buy is now officially open. Prices will increase May 10th. Open through September. Send me a PM for details.



As for the duopoly and overcrowding with gapers, it truly sucks for those who live in a ski town and there is only one choice to ski, say like Crested Butte. Once your hill is in the mix, there is really nothing you can do. Every season I consider buying a pass to Dodge Ridge or Bear Valley instead of Kirkwood, but I have good friends who have had a place at KW for decades and it is a very cheap place for me to stay (we basically pay utilities). As much as we love the hill, we would for sure try out a smaller place for a few seasons to avoid the crowds.

We usually end up with an IKON, because we enjoy Mammoth so much and tend to get down there for a week mid winter, for spring break and for late spring/ early summer skiing. While we also like OV and Alpine, we rarely head that way due to the massive traffic and crowd issues up there mid winter. KW at least has very limited parking, and once on the hill, if all the lifts are running, it is very uncrowded.

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Originally Posted by Ottime

^^^^ Can not post publicly. Send me a PM. I'll get some info from you. You renew on the ikon pass site. The group buy is now officially open. Prices will increase May 10th. Open through September. Send me a PM for details.



As for the duopoly and overcrowding with gapers, it truly sucks for those who live in a ski town and there is only one choice to ski, say like Crested Butte. Once your hill is in the mix, there is really nothing you can do. Every season I consider buying a pass to Dodge Ridge or Bear Valley instead of Kirkwood, but I have good friends who have had a place at KW for decades and it is a very cheap place for me to stay (we basically pay utilities). As much as we love the hill, we would for sure try out a smaller place for a few seasons to avoid the crowds.

We usually end up with an IKON, because we enjoy Mammoth so much and tend to get down there for a week mid winter, for spring break and for late spring/ early summer skiing. While we also like OV and Alpine, we rarely head that way due to the massive traffic and crowd issues up there mid winter. KW at least has very limited parking, and once on the hill, if all the lifts are running, it is very uncrowded.

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KW is a classic example of why I hate these passes, despite being a hypocrite and joining the masses this past season. KW is my fave place in Tahoe to ski, but I also like Squawlpine and have a fried who moved right near Mt Rose .

I have the Ikon because I have been skiing Alta/Bird,Solitude, and sometimes Jackson forever, and ski Killington or Sugarbush most often at home. But that means if I go to Tahoe now ,it's prohibitively expensive to ski Kirkwood. When we used to go to Tahoe we would base out of South Lake and alternate between KW , Squaw, Alpine and the occasional hungover post bad decision gambling at Lakeside Inn day at Heavenly. Trying to do that now would cost double a pass.

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Originally Posted by Ottime

As for the duopoly and overcrowding with gapers, it truly sucks for those who live in a ski town and there is only one choice to ski, say like Crested Butte. Once your hill is in the mix, there is really nothing you can do. Every season I consider buying a pass to Dodge Ridge or Bear Valley instead of Kirkwood, but I have good friends who have had a place at KW for decades and it is a very cheap place for me to stay (we basically pay utilities). As much as we love the hill, we would for sure try out a smaller place for a few seasons to avoid the crowds.

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Holy shit man, I had not really played this chess game out and this is an eye opener for me.
In a different way, Jh is potentially gonna go this way. No real local competition and the ability to set stupid prices so as to maximize income and minimize output. Even now they've begun to run out of season passes early because out of towners will buy the full season pass to spend 2 weeks on the hill.
Local weekend warriors and daily skiers get locked out of availability earlier than ever now.

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Originally Posted by Djongo Unchained

Holy shit man, I had not really played this chess game out and this is an eye opener for me.
In a different way, Jh is potentially gonna go this way. No real local competition and the ability to set stupid prices so as to maximize income and minimize output. Even now they've begun to run out of season passes early because out of towners will buy the full season pass to spend 2 weeks on the hill.
Local weekend warriors and daily skiers get locked out of availability earlier than ever now.

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Im not gonna lie, Ikon made Jackson a stop for us a few weeks ago cause why not, we were out there and found lodging pretty cheap. That three night stop made it so I’ll be back next year for a week. Watching people slide on their ass down Corbetts was a fucking disgusting site to see though. Bunch of beater ass losers that shouldn’t even of been there. Tram Todd made the entire trip worth it though, and the rip through the backcountry with a couple local legends that happen to be my buddy’s cousins.

I do have over 60 days on my ikon this year so far and 6 weeks left of skiing in SoVt, so that at least makes mine very justifiable.

So people complain when they sell too many passes. People complain when they limit passes and they can't get one. People complain the passes are too cheap so everyone buys one. People complain that passes are too expensive. Basically skiers complain, except when they're skiing.

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Originally Posted by old goat

People complain.

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This

What’s the deal with ICON. I want to ski again. I’m ready to pull the trigger through palisades. Was there some group thing I should wait for?

So Crystal pass is still $1800. Debating going Ikon and seeing if I can use the F&F codes on myself. At least that gets me a few days at Alpental.

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Originally Posted by GuyonaBuffalo

What’s the deal with ICON. I want to ski again. I’m ready to pull the trigger through palisades. Was there some group thing I should wait for?

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definitely pull the trigger and go to palisades, it’s great. If you like 45 min lift lines and California.

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Originally Posted by old goat

So people complain when they sell too many passes. People complain when they limit passes and they can't get one. People complain the passes are too cheap so everyone buys one. People complain that passes are too expensive. Basically skiers complain, except when they're skiing.

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Heh. This needs to be quoted.

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Originally Posted by old goat

Basically skiers complain, except when they're skiing.

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Who are we kidding, Supermoon is right. "People complain"

I complain while skiing all the time. Lines are too long, why aren't they forcing full chairs, why'd patrol run a practice sled down the only good snow on the mtn, WTF are the park rats wearing?, on an on..

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Originally Posted by TahoeJ

Heh. This needs to be quoted.

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Old goat post of the year

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Originally Posted by old goat

So people complain when they sell too many passes. People complain when they limit passes and they can't get one. People complain the passes are too cheap so everyone buys one. People complain that passes are too expensive. Basically skiers complain, except when they're skiing.

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Complaining is very effective. Crystal was Ikon unlimited, which meant it was extremely crowed. But enough people complained that they got rid of Ikon unlimited, and it is now an empty country club (but the complaining doesn't go away, it just moves somewhere else). I would love to see Alterra's balance sheets to see how much money they are willing to lose to satisfy the complainers. From Alterra's standpoint, the goal is to reach that maximum level of complaining where the customer is butt hurt, but not so butt hurt that they take their money somewhere else. It's a never ending battle of tweaking prices, parking/reservations, black out days, unlimited/restricted, and novel ideas we haven't even thought of yet, in an effort to reach a sustainable, equilibrium level of complaining.

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Originally Posted by ApexSkua

So Crystal pass is still $1800. Debating going Ikon and seeing if I can use the F&F codes on myself. At least that gets me a few days at Alpental.

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Crystal Pass gets you Alpental days too

(that $1800 includes an IKON pass)

All of the complainers are too busy complaining to realize that the best skiing value in North America is anywhere in western Canada not named Whistler. Only gasoline is expensive, while food, lodging, and even lift tickets are relatively cheap. And with small local populations coupled with the fact that most American skiers go to Whistler, the western Canada interior has N.A's the least crowded ski resorts.

There is even a good selection of Ikon resorts in western Canada: Red, Revelstoke, Panorama, Sun Peaks, Lake Louise, Banff/Sunshine, Norquay.

Western Canada is great for people who live not too far away and can drive their own car. Not too great for the masses flying in from the East Coast, who have to fly in to small, remote foggy airports or rent a car and drive from Vancouver/Calgary/Spokane. That's the only thing preventing these Canadian resorts from jacking up their daily lift ticket price like their American counterparts.

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Originally Posted by altasnob

Western Canada is great for people who live not too far away and can drive their own car. Not too great for the masses flying in from the East Coast, who have to fly in to small, remote foggy airports or rent a car and drive from Vancouver/Calgary/Spokane. That's the only thing preventing these Canadian resorts from jacking up their daily lift ticket price like their American counterparts.

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Bingo. Really want to do interior BC like Revy or Panorama or Red, but its a logistical nightmare from the EC.

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Originally Posted by yeahman

Old goat post of the year

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The year is still young. And only 20 months until the next election.

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Originally Posted by old goat

The year is still young. And only 20 months until the next election.

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Don't let it go to your head.

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Originally Posted by Duffman

Bingo. Really want to do interior BC like Revy or Panorama or Red, but its a logistical nightmare from the EC.

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I've thought about road tripping up there for several seasons, but it is still a very long drive from Santa Cruz, CA. One of these days, I'll make that happen. But it won't be cheap in time or money. But those three are my dream road trip.

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Originally Posted by Ottime

I've thought about road tripping up there for several seasons, but it is still a very long drive from Santa Cruz, CA. One of these days, I'll make that happen. But it won't be cheap in time or money. But those three are my dream road trip.

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If you really want the dream road trip, then keep Red and Revy and substitute Panorama (among the least snowfall in B.C.) with Whitewater (among the most snowfall in B.C.)

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Originally Posted by SoVT Joey

definitely pull the trigger and go to palisades, it’s great. If you like 45 min lift lines and California.

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So you've never skied Tahoe or Mammoth huh, that's a shame

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Originally Posted by Duffman

Bingo. Really want to do interior BC like Revy or Panorama or Red, but its a logistical nightmare from the EC.

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I've ski'd in BC but never any of these spots so I've been eyeing this loop outta Calgary, pretty easy to fly in there and rent a car.
Castle, Fernie, Panorama, Kicking Horse, Lake Louise, Sunshine, and maybe Fortress as it's rumored to reopen next season.
The AB resorts get less snow and Fernie is lower and gets rain sometimes but maybe some day it'll all line up.

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Originally Posted by Ottime

We usually end up with an IKON, because we enjoy Mammoth so much and tend to get down there for a week mid winter, for spring break and for late spring/ early summer skiing. While we also like OV and Alpine, we rarely head that way due to the massive traffic and crowd issues up there mid winter. KW at least has very limited parking, and once on the hill, if all the lifts are running, it is very uncrowded.

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Wading through this thread is tough.

What’s the over/under on mammoth? Break even # of days on full ikon? Weighing against a day tix at $170.

Is there a deal to buy now for next season and use it this spring?

I work at a local indie resort and the fam gets passes, which rocks! It’s truly the only way we can financially make it happen. I dream of skiing mammoth more and grew up skiing there. But I also wanna ski with friends at bear valley and KW. There’s no tix reciprocity from mammoth cuz my local ski hill is not alterra-owned.

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Originally Posted by bodywhomper

Wading through this thread is tough.

What’s the over/under on mammoth? Break even # of days on full ikon? Weighing against a day tix at $170.

Is there a deal to buy now for next season and use it this spring?

I work at a local indie resort and the fam gets passes, which rocks! It’s truly the only way we can financially make it happen. I dream of skiing mammoth more and grew up skiing there. But I also wanna ski with friends at bear valley and KW. There’s no tix reciprocity from mammoth cuz my local ski hill is not alterra-owned.

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$1059 if you can find a group buy somewhere /$170 = 6.2 days