Vail tickets top $80!

[Z]

Rode there and BC all season on my lifty roommate's pass. Even with scanning they never figured out that "he" was making alot of runs while "he" was working the lifts all day.
Once you're up past the Gondi or the rastabahn you're rarely checked up top.
Now go get some young maggots !

This is generally true. But if he were to call in "sick" on a day you were making runs with his pass, he'd be fired on the spot. When you are not at work they always check to see if your pass was scanned....

[Ireallyliketoski2]

This is generally true. But if he were to call in "sick" on a day you were making runs with his pass, he'd be fired on the spot. When you are not at work they always check to see if your pass was scanned....

Damn, I'd be screwed if my company did this.

[MakersTeleMark]

ASPEN - When the Aspen Skiing Co. raised its single-day lift ticket price to $82 last week it was temporarily the highest among U.S. ski resorts. Vail wasted no time trumping Aspen by raising its price from $77 last week to $85 this week.

[Kevo]

Give me a break. Most major resorts in Colorado are in excess of $75 if you pay the window price for a ticket. If I had to pay window price, I would much rather pay $85 to ski Vail than $78 to ski Keystone.

[Core Shot]

$245 now.

Such a bargain!!

[lowsparkco]

$245 now.

Such a bargain!!

I remember this thread.

300% inflation in 15 years. Wow.

[paulster2626]

So in 15 years they will be $750. Crazy.

[byates1]

I'm calling big sky for the first 500$ day ticket. After the new tram, a few years...Boom, 500$ on peak days.

[The AD]

This is amazing. $80 was outrageous at the time!

[Soups]

Yeah. What a flashback. Wow.

[funkendrenchman]

This makes me feel really old.

[leftfield]

I think Vail/BC same day, peak price is supposed to be $275 this season

[Core Shot]

I remember this thread.

300% inflation in 15 years. Wow.

Well. Technically it’s 200% inflation.

But yeah. The price did triple.

It’s the mega passes. When Mountain Collective started up, you got a chance to buy half off tickets. All of a sudden window prices jumped to three figures. Then epic and ikon pushed it off the chart.

What really sucks is ski travel bums. Say you’re an ikon, but you’re passing through vail and you want to check it out or meet some friends you are fucked.

It really is sad.

[lowsparkco]

Well. Technically it’s 200% inflation.

But yeah. The price did triple.

It’s the mega passes. When Mountain Collective started up, you got a chance to buy half off tickets. All of a sudden window prices jumped to three figures. Then epic and ikon pushed it off the chart.

What really sucks is ski travel bums. Say you’re an ikon, but you’re passing through vail and you want to check it out or meet some friends you are fucked.

It really is sad.

It has to be the most unusual pricing model of any commodity I am aware of.

Seems there should be a better way, but I’m not sure what that would look like.

Most locals have access to free or cheap tickets, but I get what you mean. It’s definitely effecting where all the vanlife crowd posts up.

[The AD]

What really sucks is ski travel bums. Say you’re an ikon, but you’re passing through vail and you want to check it out or meet some friends you are fucked.

You need a little forethought, but both passes offer multi-day options (Epic Day and Ikon Session). Some of the Ikon resorts aren't included, but most are. So buy an Epic or Ikon and then just buy a few days on the whichever one you didn't buy the full pass.

[goldenboy]

Solid bump.

Of course there were plenty of $2k passes back then, too. Passes are insanely cheap, for better or worse.

[The SnowShow]

Curious: what would you all prefer: the current model of basically two mega passes or cheaper day tickets ($80-100) at all resorts like it was?

[paulster2626]

Curious: what would you all prefer: the current model of basically two mega passes or cheaper day tickets ($80-100) at all resorts like it was?

Cheaper day tickets, please.

[Core Shot]

Solid bump.

Of course there were plenty of $2k passes back then, too. Passes are insanely cheap, for better or worse.

I have an old friend at Stowe

He was so happy his pass went from $1,700 to $800
I tried to tell him it wasn’t going to be good
Now he has to buy a $400 parking pass due to weekend crowds. Lol.
I guess he’s still better on money. Not so much on traffic both on the hill and on the access road.

[The AD]

The full Ikon and Epic both give you a few buddy passes, too, right? So that would be the other option for bumming. A six-pack goes a long ways.

[paulster2626]

I have an old friend at Stowe

He was so happy his pass went from $1,700 to $800
I tried to tell him it wasn’t going to be good
Now he has to buy a $400 parking pass due to weekend crowds. Lol.
I guess he’s still better on money. Not so much on traffic both on the hill and on the access road.

What's it like there during Xmas week? My buddy told me all excited that he's taking his wife and 2 small kids to Stowe on the 27th. I tried to sound happy for him and I hope it all works out, but I'm thinkin "ehhh, if things are like what I think they are, you probably couldn't pay me to walk in to that shitshow."

At least he will get us some Heady Topper.

[baron]

I remember this thread.

300% inflation in 15 years. Wow.

It wouldn't be bad if our wages went up 300%

[altasnob]

Curious: what would you all prefer: the current model of basically two mega passes or cheaper day tickets ($80-100) at all resorts like it was?

The moment in time this all started was 1996. That year, Vail (which already owned Beaver Creek) purchased Breckenridge and Keystone and then started to offer the "buddy pass." I moved to Colorado the first year of the buddy pass and you literally had to buy the pass in groups of four, in person, at Christy Sports. There was a line out the door to buy the pass.

After the buddy pass, the MBA bean counters at Vail started crunching the numbers and realized they make way more money selling cheap, multi-resort passes in large quantities, along with very expensive day tickets, than they do selling small numbers of expensive season passes and cheap day tickets. The goal was to bring as manny people as they can to the resorts because where they really make money is not the skiing, but all the crap at the base.

Vail started expanding their empire and the Epic Pass was born. Not to be outdone, Private equity money felt they could do what Vail is doing better than Vail and hence Alterra and the Ikon Pass.

What I worry about is the monopolization of the ski industry into either Vail or Alterra. People seem happy with the cheap multi-resort passes. But what happens when these passes are not so cheap? What happens when your closest mountain is a Vail or Alterra owned resort and you are stuck with their corporate bullshit?

[The AD]

The moment in time this all started was 1996. That year, Vail (which already owned Beaver Creek) purchased Breckenridge and Keystone and then started to offer the "buddy pass." I moved to Colorado the first year of the buddy pass and you literally had to buy the pass in groups of four, in person, at Christy Sports. There was a line out the door to buy the pass.

My uncle used to road trip from Michigan just to buy that pass.

[Bunion 2020]

$ 2300.00 for my gold pass at Big Sky. That includes unlimited Tram access and they threw in a marginally useful IKON pass (No Alta, JHMR, Aspen or Sun Valley and no option to upgrade).

Day rates are still crazy and they don't include the Tram upcharge. Yesterday it was $ 30, next week it will be $ 60-90 and according to the website day rates are....



Fuck skiing is expensive if you allow it to be. Glad I got about 3600 days in as a paid to ski employee.